Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

What music do/did your parents listen to?

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    #51
    There was always music in our house. My mum loved opera and show tunes. My dad loved the big bands We were exposed to them all and I still love them.

    There was an uncle, my mum's brother, who loved country so from him I got an appreciation of Hank Williams, Jimmie Rogers, Webb Pierce, Kitty Wells, so many others.

    Another uncle, my dag's cousin, was into the blues and her introduced me to Muddy, the Wolf, Robert Johnson...

    And then, for my birthday, 6 I think, I was given a small transistor radio. I discovered rock and roll and the world shifted ever so slightly on it's axis.

    All of that is still in there, always will be. I consider myself lucky.

    Comment


      #52
      Originally posted by Gerontophile View Post
      Sinatra, Dino, Perry Como, Andy Williams. The Platters, Shirley Bassey, Ella Fitzgerald, Sam & Dave.

      Most importantly, Matt Monro.
      Matt Munro. Cool.

      Comment


        #53
        My mum’s favourite records are Sylvester’s You Make Me Feel and The Bottle by Gil Scott Heron. Which are both stone genius. My dad is an Alan Parsons Man. Oy. Apart from Stones rolled gold comp and Abbey Road wasn’t much I wanted to tape from their collection as a teenager but. Lots of Deacon Blue/Dire Straits/U2/Hue and Cry/overproduced Aztec Camera 80s guff in between the Zuma/Harvest/blood on the tracks lps.

        Comment


          #54
          Almost forgot, the only New Wave band that my Dad had time for was Devo, primarily because of their cover of 'Satisfaction'. I got him into UK Second Wave ska and some of the psychedelic surf acts like Man or Astro-Man; otherwise it was a one-way street.

          Comment


            #55
            Originally posted by Bordeaux Education View Post
            Hold on, does that count? In which case, I have been on quite a few occasions with my Mum to the ballet which we both love - once, The Nutcracker Suite and, once, the Bolshoi doing a compilation/Greatest Hits type show.
            It was more of a reminiscence about my mum really.

            Also, ballet isn't music in the way opera is. I don't make the rules.

            Comment


              #56
              It serves a different function, I guess. To be danced to rather than as backing for singing. Despite that, some ballet scores (The Rite of Spring, for example) work perfectly well as concert pieces. Talking of which, it's unlikely I would ever have listened to that if my Dad hadn't been somewhat in to classical music. Though Stravinsky is as far into the 20th Century as his taste in classical goes. He use to go to the Proms regularly, but has stopped in the last decade as, on the increasingly rare occasions when they programme a piece that he knows and likes, they almost always pair it up with something much more modern in an attempt, presumably, to expand the audience's musical horizons. He is resolutely uninterested in having them broadened, so has stopped attending completely rather than having to endure anything written in the last 50 years. We are not talking Classic FM style here, Andre Rieu's name is mud, but rather then Vienna Philharmonic's New Year's concerts. The TV got turned to that yesterday.

              Not that that modern=terrible rule applies to popular music, which is still his bread-and-butter. Key bands are mostly from the 70s and 80s mainstream. The top ones would be Dire Straits and Queen, or more specifically Mark Knopfler and Freddie Mercury. Also Pink Floyd, but all from after the Syd Barrett psychedelic era and quite a lot post-Roger Waters as well, ABBA, ELO, Fleetwood Mac, Led Zeppelin, etc. Punk and Glam barely featured at all, with the only glam being early Queen (and I think that was a back purchase after getting interested by their rockier stuff) and the only vaguely punk records were The Pretenders. He has repeatedly stated he finds the hagiography of David Bowie baffling, for example. Not that he thinks Bowie is untalented as such, but just not at all engaging. His reaction is just *meh*. There are also a fair few 60s records in his collection as he was a teenager then, particularly The Beatles, much less The Rolling Stones. About the only more recent band to featured significantly are Del Amitri.

              The collection of LPs is very much my Dad's. It's of an OK size, but not massive. I would estimate it at ~150-200 records. There might be some in there were originally my Mum's possessions rather than his, but as far as I can tell this would be a handful at most. Her taste seems rather less well defined as a consequence. She does tell a story of buying some Beatles singles on a holiday to the UK in the mid-60s (i.e. when the Prague Spring made such a trip possible). These were incredibly precious possessions when she got back to Prague. But, despite that, she leant one of them to a 'friend', and when it was returned it was no longer the Beatles single but St. Winifred's School choir or something equally appalling. She is still angry half a century later! In recent years, with downloads and the like* her tastes have been somewhat clearer, and somewhat to my surprise it turns out she kind of likes Country music. Johnny Cash is her absolute favourite. She is also a significant fan of Leonard Cohen. Her tastes are much cooler than my Dad's...

              * - my Mum worked in the tech industry, and did so in a technical capacity. She has a distinct geeky streak to her.
              Last edited by Janik; 02-01-2019, 11:37.

              Comment


                #57
                Dad was a couple of years older than mum and was into big bands, Glenn Miller, James Last, Frank Sinatra and some light classical. Although we had records in the house, none was ever played except at Xmas,when a little light jazz or Bossa Nova would come out if we had people round. He had a great dislike for "modern music" and if my brother or I ever received an LP for Xmas or a birthday, we really had to wait until he went out of the living room before we could play it. In the car, the radio would be on constantly, Radio 2, and most things post-1963 would be viciously critiqued until mum would tell him to “think of the children”.

                Mum was a bit more modern and liked the Beatles until about Revolver, when they suddenly “lost it”. She once asked me to explain a Dylan lyric to her and the expression on her face couldn’t conceal her contempt for both His Bobness and me. Still, last year I took her to the Abba musical for her birthday and to my surprise we both loved it.
                Last edited by Aitch; 02-01-2019, 12:54.

                Comment


                  #58
                  My dad bought four LPs in his life: A Best of Roger Miller, "Hey Brother, Pour the Wine " by Dean Martin, a collection of Sousa marches and "Night Flight to Venus" by Boney M.

                  Comment


                    #59
                    Imp's post had me thinking about this question in terms of influencing one's kids. When my daughter was 4 or 5 she wanted her own mix CD. The songs were all stuff my wife and I had been playing in the house or the car (Ramones, The Clash, New Order) or something that she heard on college radio that she liked (Tegan and Sara, Ben Kweller). As she got older and wanted to sing along with her friends (whose parents mostly had crap musical interests), she was all about Top 40. Unfortunately, my wife liked singing along in the car as well so she now listens to mostly top 40. Now my daughter tends to listen to more mainstream types of alternative rock. I don't really know the bands she likes so I guess not totally mainstream in terms of popularity or radio play but they all tend to sound like heavier versions of Cold Play. There are only two bands that I have played for her where she has wanted to rip the CD and put the albums on her phone: Modern Life is War (a hardcore band from the 2000s) and Annabel (an indie rock/emo band). The latter made sense but the former was quite surprising.
                    Last edited by danielmak; 03-01-2019, 02:18.

                    Comment


                      #60
                      Born 1937 and 1940 respectively, they both loved crooners tho Dad saw Eddie Cochrane and Gene Vincent in his Glasgow dancehall phase (some great pics of him in made-to-measure suits and quiff, c58).
                      When stationed in Singapore late 60s he followed advice to buy hi-fi equipment and I remember cracking up with bro and sis in the showroom when the salesman played Alvin & the Chipmunks and “What’s New, Pussycat?” so we got those as part of the deal.
                      Xmas and New Year guests from then on were treated to Sinatra, Como, Monro, Diamond, Denver, Jones (Tom and Jack), Bridge Over Troubled Water, 1812 and Nutcracker, Billy Connolly, Glen Campbell, Best Film Themes, Everly Bros greatest, the Spinners (not Detroit, sadly), The Corries. I can picture every sleeve.

                      As we got older I think some more were bought for us- TOTP covers compilations, some K-tel ones, a Neil Sedaka for me (!) but sharing a bedroom til I was 15 also meant my big brother’s Elton John obsession plus Supertramp, Wings and some Beatles.

                      Late in life Dad was staying over in Barrhead with his wee brother a fair bit and got a cd of Irish songs they obviously bonded/drank to but the vinyl collection stayed intact and most of the cds were the same stuff.

                      Gero’s reminded me of another- Williams. And there was a Peter, Paul & Mary with “Puff, the Magic Dragon” on it.
                      Last edited by Felicity, I guess so; 03-01-2019, 07:55.

                      Comment


                        #61
                        Classical in our house. Mahler was my dad's favourite.

                        The first piece of music I was sat in front of and made to listen to was "Peter and the Wolf". My mum preferred classical too but wasn't quite as hardcore and purist as my dad. She would occasionally get into what might be termed pop classical. She loved Sky when they appeared on the scene. And Tubular Bells. From time to time she'd hear me play something that she didn't hate and tell me it sounded quite nice. This inevitably meant the for the next 2 or 3 birthdays and Christmas I'd buy her albums which she never listened to. She still owns a bunch of untouched Pink Floyd records that resulted from her once quite liking the instrumental bit of Shine on You Crazy Diamond and foolishly telling me so.

                        Comment


                          #62
                          Originally posted by adams house cat View Post
                          Matt Munro. Cool.
                          Monro, and yes, I know. (Sorry, ahc, that always irked me)

                          FIGS, sounds like we had the same parents as half of Scotland.

                          And yes, Amor, my dad did indeed love Otis Redding.

                          (There was a huge amount of dross too, but I blocked that out with the Beatles (Thanks sis))
                          Last edited by Gerontophile; 03-01-2019, 09:16.

                          Comment


                            #63
                            Originally posted by TonTon View Post
                            I don't make the rules.
                            Are you sure? I had always assumed you did.

                            Comment


                              #64
                              When my brother and me were growing up, my mum and dad listened constantly to Led Zep and The Who - which meant that we instantly hated them. It took a long while for us to warm to either band (we were rebels, man...). When we cremated him last year, he came in to 'Mr. Blue Sky' and departed with a bit of Billy Joel. We couldn't quite work out what went wrong.

                              Comment


                                #65
                                My dad was already thirty by the time rock 'n' roll broke, so had little truck with it all. He was all about classical - especially Wagner - when we were kids, while my mother (rightly) liked Nat 'King' Cole and had a number of show and musical collections.

                                She (and the old man to a much lesser extent) accepted the brilliance and craft of The Beatles, but had no real interest in pop music otherwise. My dad surprised me in 1976, however, by coming out as a fan of Glen Campbell - which I think reflected his love of the American outdoors as much as anything else. (My sister and I then bought him several GC albums for birthday/Xmas, which I suspect missed the point somewhat.)

                                But I think we did this a couple of years back?

                                Comment


                                  #66
                                  Originally posted by Jah Womble View Post



                                  But I think we did this a couple of years back?

                                  I did have a cursory look before starting the thread, and found nothing relevant, but sorry if I went back over old ground. Just one thing, though: when we say that "we did this..." isn't this a bit akin to excluding, albeit unintentionally, anyone relatively new to the forum? I'm sure you don't mean it in this way, but on other forums I've been on there's often been a sense at times of the old boys' club in operation. (No evidence of that here by the way.)

                                  Comment


                                    #67
                                    “Stuff we’ve done before” is part of the fabric of OTF I reckon.

                                    And some of the anecdotes here are priceless.

                                    Comment


                                      #68
                                      I often find (here and elsewhere) that I'm happily enjoying and contributing to a thread, and then when the "we've done this before" link goes up, I click through and see that I enjoyed and contributed to the original thread too.

                                      Comment


                                        #69
                                        It was more the 'quite recently' aspect of this that I was flagging up. No bother either way, tbh.

                                        Comment


                                          #70
                                          Originally posted by Jah Womble View Post
                                          My dad was already thirty by the time rock 'n' roll broke, so had little truck with it all. He was all about classical - especially Wagner - when we were kids, while my mother (rightly) liked Nat 'King' Cole and had a number of show and musical collections.

                                          She (and the old man to a much lesser extent) accepted the brilliance and craft of The Beatles, but had no real interest in pop music otherwise.
                                          Ditto-ish. Although my parents were a little younger; only early twenties when rock'n'roll started. I think that my father had a bit of a trad thing going in the fifties, his mother once mentioned it, but he never did.

                                          Comment


                                            #71
                                            When we did this thread, I knew I had missed some regulars I used to hear in the background at Dad’s, but I couldn’t mention them here as I had no idea who they were, or what they were called. This weekend I discovered the culprit: Herb Alpert & His Tijuana Brass. These three sum my Dad’s music better than anything I mentioned originally:
                                             
                                            Last edited by Sits; 25-04-2021, 10:27.

                                            Comment


                                              #72
                                               

                                              Comment


                                                #73
                                                 

                                                Comment


                                                  #74
                                                  Originally posted by caja-dglh View Post
                                                  He was mostly into ELO and REM while I was alive
                                                  I suppose this was a typo.

                                                  Comment


                                                    #75
                                                    My mum had a little interest in music, so it was some surprise when, on her deathbed, her last cogent words were, "I've got a funeral to go to, and I expect to hear Maggie Mae played at it."

                                                    My dad's really abiding music love is jazz. He was a decent trumpet player in his younger days and played in some bands. He recorded a few 78s, which my sister was able to get digitised and put on a CD for him a few years back. They sounded like they were recorded in a submarine or something, but the quality of the music wasn't really the point of the exercise.

                                                    I have two really glaring formative musical memories. After years of living in council flats with thin walls, my dad resumed his trumpet playing after we moved out of London and into a house at which noise wasn't an issue. Every night at eight o'clock he would vanish upstairs and just noodle on his trumpet for an hour. We always knew that time was coming to an end when we heard the trumpet break from "A Kiss To Build A Dream On" by Louis Armstrong drifting down the stairs. At first it took him two or three goes to get there, but he always did in the end.

                                                    Now, I don't really know how important it is to people learning other instruments, but jazz is really, really important in drumming, even if you've no intention of ever playing it. And it turned out that years of this music being the soundtrack to everywhere I went with my parents had some benefits. When I started playing, I already had an understanding of swing and of groove. It turbo-charged by development as a musician.

                                                    The other major formative moment for me was the influence of my sister. She's nine years older than me, and even though her musical taste wasn't radical in any way whatsoever, she was still a pop kid when I was first discovering my love of music and kept me on the straight and narrow for a while. When I was about seven, we started pooling my pocket money and the money she made collecting glasses at weekends, and going together to buy a couple of records every weekend. 1979 was a good year to be doing this. Thanks to her, my musical induction was Darts, The Police, Madness, The Specials, Buggles (Video Killed The Radio Star was the first record I bought, almost certainly because Trevor Horn had those big plastic glasses, and as a kid wearing them who would periodically be bullied over it I was delighted by the fact that there were people like him and Elvis Costello, who wore them unapologetically) and a whole bunch of others.

                                                    My musical taste fell off a cliff when she met the guy who ended up being my first brother in law and our Saturdays of going to Woolies in Enfield Town every Saturday lunchtime came to an end. My friends would probably argue that they've never really recovered.

                                                    Comment

                                                    Working...
                                                    X