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[Zoctan]

Grateful Dead
The Beatles
Yes
Beach Boys
Classical (Bach, Mozart, etc.)

Most of this was played by my father, who was a lot more into music than my mother. He really influenced my tastes. We have a very similar taste in music and I owe my tastes to him.

 

[Whitebison]

Lots of Pink Floyd ,Mike Oldfield and Dire Straits.

 

[Masterphoenix]

Pink Floyd
Journey
Boston
Supertramp
ACDC
Rolling Stones
More Pink Floyd

 

[demon]

Bands that stand out in my mind, mostly listened to when in the car with my dad...

The Beatles
The Who
Pink Floyd
Led Zeppelin
The Moody Blues
Crosby, Stills and Nash

To a slightly lesser extent:

Rolling Stones
Hendrix
The Doors
Eagles/Joe Walsh
Queen
Bob Dylan

 

[MIMIC]

Whitney Houston
Mariah Carey
Toni Braxton
Patti LaBelle
Luther Vandross

Mostly my mom. My dad listened to a lot older stuff.

 

[youngwerther]

Dad liked 70s and 80s shit-rock, Boston, Journey, Styx, Wings, Van Halen, Molly Hatchet, Ted Nugent, Def Leppard, ACDC, Deep Purple. Dad had a Trans-Am, cut off t-shirts, a badass stereo and a hell of a lot of beer.

Basically I grew up with the worst musical tastes imaginable and it was awesome

 

[AzureSkies]

Dad:
The Who
Whitesnake
Iron Maiden
Rolling Stones
Queen

A lot of 70-80s rock, and I think this helped develop my love for classic rock, metal and prog.

Mum:
80s cheesy disco music, which I have worryingly developed a guilty pleasure for as I know way too many tracks thanks to carrides when I was younger.
Queen
Top 40s music

Seriously, my mum has a hatred of any classic rock (outside of Queen) or metal, it's hilarious how little she knows. She thought that Kiss were literally a black metal band due to their makeup and that Deep Purple were practically thrash metal.

Conversations with her about music are great.

My Step Dad (although he's only been in my life for four years), has a pretty great music taste:

Pink Floyd
David Bowie
Genesis
Queen
Meat Loaf

He also likes a lot of the same music as my Mum, but it's pretty nice to be able to actually have conversations with a parent about Pink Floyd and Queen that actually knows what they're talking about.

 

[Dishwalla]

Dad listened to 70s favorites like Led Zeppelin, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Aerosmith, Allman Brothers, Bad Company, Eagles, Journey, Montrose, and Santana. Mom(who is younger than my dad) listened to 80s crap like Motley Crue, Poison, Quiet Riot, Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, and Guns N Roses.

I like pretty much everything my dad listened to, and generally dislike everything my mom listened to(except Motley Crue).

 

[HermesPan]

And did it influence your musical taste at all?


I was born in 1975 to hippies. I distinctly remember a selection of artists and albums that my mother played during my entire childhood growing up in the 80's. I can sing every song on every one of these albums to this very day.

Simon and Garfunkel - Greatest Hits (1972)
Janis Joplin - Greatest hits (1973)
Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon (1973)
Dr. Hook - Sloppy Seconds (1972)
Jeff Beck - Blow By Blow (1975)
Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds (1978)


My parents, like many people it seems, hit a wall with music and never got into anything past a certain point in time. This meant there was nothing from the 80's played by my parents. They never got into disco, or 70's funk. The didn't touch 80's music like Flock of Seagulls, Madonna, the Punk scene, or any of the new rock n roll/hair bands in the late 80's. They literally just listened to a select few artists and never branched out or grew/evolved with the music of the time.

As for myself, I was into everything except what they liked. I hated Janis Joplin and S&G when I was a kid (I like them now though!). I listened to Top 40 and recorded dozens of tapes from songs off the radio.

I can pinpoint the exact age I was really, really into music. It was 1984 and I was 9 years old. Fat Boys, Run DMC, Prince (Purple Rain!), Van Halen, Madonna, and Ray Parker Jr singing motherfuckin' Ghost Busters. The Car's Heartbreak City? I loved that shit. I listened to it so much I wore out the tape. I could go on and on. The year 1984 is my reference point for my entire life based on the music.

My musical taste has always been really diverse and eclectic considering that my parents had such a tiny palate. When I was in my early teens I started to discover older music like The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, The Who, and Pink Floyd's other work. I was dumbfounded that my parents had omitted such fantastic artists from their musical library. They had no excuse! This was what they would have grown up on! Also around this age I was really into rap which had really come into it's own. I had pretty much grown up with the genre itself.

When grunge and the alternative music scene exploded in 1991, I was 16yrs old. Do you have any idea how fucking awesome it was to be 16yrs old with an entirely new genre of music is introduced to the world? It was fucking amazing, that's what it was. I was at the right place at the right time in history and I took full advantage of it too.

Anyway, a funny thing happened just prior to this. My dad changed jobs and had a 45 minute drive to and from work. So, he really got into music. And man, he listened to everything. The first time I ever heard Soundgarden (Ultramega OK 1990), Red Hot Chili Peppers (Mother's Milk 1989), or Jane's Addiction (Nothings Shocking 1988), it was from tapes my dad gave me. He was on the bleeding edge but was completely unaware that scene was going to blow up. He bought his music based solely on how cool the band name and cover art were. I'm totally serious. He still buys his music based on these same two essential criteria to this day.

It was an amazing time to grow up as far as music was concerned. Looking back, I'm glad my parents had pretty good taste in music. I mean, my wife's parents listen to Air Supply, Hall and Oats, The Carpenters, and Folk Music!

I was born in 1980 and my parents basically listened to the same stuff. My dad was into the Doors, Floyd. . .Mom enjoyed Chicago and more disco type stuff and my Uncle who lived with us was into Yes, Rush and Kiss. I recall pulling out all their albums and being amazed by the albums.

Also MTV came out around this time and it was always on the TV. My parents definitely had an influence on me musically and I was taught music and piano, guitar and all that.

I branched off into Punk, Metal, rap and Industrial on my own but I frequently listen to Classic Rock and NewWave like its my job and thats directly because of my parents.

 

[whatsinaname]

Abba
Boney M

 

[besada]

Folk and old country music.

 

[wenis]

my mom and dad share a love of R&B/Soul/Funk/Disco so that's what car rides with both of them were like. If I was with just my mom it'd be more 60/70's Pop and Classical and my dad would be into more 60's-80's Rock/Blues.

 

[DominoKid]

My dad bumped a lot of Talking Heads & Chic. I'm guessing he used to party a lot as a youngin. I took to that stuff pretty well. He also listened to a shitload of classic rock, and as such I know way more about classic rock than I care to. I hate classic rock. The knowledge comes in handy in trivia though.

My mom was into that neo-soul, R&B, house music mainly. Funny thing is she actually got me into Kanye. She bought College Dropout because he wasn't a "thug rapper" like 50 Cent. I hated it for a while on the premise that if my mom liked it that he had to be wack but I came around about a month later. She pretty much hates Kanye now because he's fucking w/ Kim Kardashian.

Of course they like Motown & disco music. What old black person doesn't? I don't know what the hell my parents were doing when rap blew up from like 80-95. I had to put them on so much shit. They like some stuff I've thrown their way, but for the most part they're on that "rap is crap" bullshit.

 

[Pryor]

I'd have to say my parents taste have had a massive impact on my taste in music though having said that their taste seemed to be like chalk and cheese.
My Mum loved Elvis and still does to this day. My Dad was very much into bands like Def Leppard, Iron Maiden and to a lesser extent Meatloaf.

My dad had 1 album though that when I heard it had a larger impact than anything else. It was the soundtrack to the film Good Morning Vietnam. I think it was the first time I have ever listened to an album and felt moved by the songs.

 

[teruterubozu]

Dad:
Marhavishnu Orchestra
Tangerine Dream
Ten Years After
King Crimson
Yes
Jethro Tull
Black Sabbath
Emerson, Lake & Palmer

Mom:
Björk
King Crimson
Mother Tongue
Coil
Brian Eno

Wow your parents are cool! That must have been an amazing record collection in your house.

I'm surprised by the mention of Mother Tongue - the LA-Austin band that used to have Jesse Tobias on guitar (before he went to Chili Peppers and Alanis Morisette). That's some obscure shit yo! My buddy used to share a rehearsal space with them so that's why I know their name, but I haven't heard that name in years!

 

[BossLackey]

Classic Rock baby. Now it's one of my favorite genres. So many good songs from that era.

 

[tekumseh]

My Dad loved country music, Buck Owens, Merle Haggard, and particularly, George Jones. My Mom, on the other hand, really loved classical and opera, especially Mario Lanza. I didn't care for country music until I got into my mid 20's, but i did take to classical and opera. It's probably no wonder that my favorite band of all time, then, is Queen.

 

[Adam J.]

Dad was listening to a ton of Motown and 60's rock, which I kind of hated when I was little (love both now).

Mom always listened to U2, Springsteen, Journey, The Police, and Tears for Fears. She also secretly loved Guns N Roses but forbid me and my younger brother from listening to the tapes because they had parental advisory stickers (lol).

 

[sonicfan]

It's weird, but I don't really remember my Mom and Dad ever listening to music in the house at all when I was a kid. But they did have a fairly large record collection, mostly pop music/musical/Herb Alpert type of stuff from the late 50's and early 60s. I have all those old records, but most of them seem ruined, as it looks like my older brother and sister must have played Frisbee with them or something, they are so scratched up.

But I did find a few that the plastic wrap on them were not even opened. One I remember was the Everley Brothers greatest hits or something, and another other was a live recording of Pete Fountain done in the French Quarter at some night club in like 1962. I did open the Pete Fountain one up and played it, it did sound amazing actually if you like that sort of music...

 

[KittyKittyBangBang]

Steely Dan, James Taylor, Simon and Garfunkel (and just Paul Simon) and an Anne Murray Christmas CD are the only thing I can remember my parents listening too. They didnt listen to a lot of music

 

[Lumpy Onion]

Talking Heads
Dire Straights
The Cure
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Rolling Stones
Beatles
Devo
Michael Jackson

Overall some damn good music that I could easily listen to today.

 

[Gustav]

Wow your parents are cool! That must have been an amazing record collection in your house.

I'm surprised by the mention of Mother Tongue - the LA-Austin band that used to have Jesse Tobias on guitar (before he went to Chili Peppers and Alanis Morisette). That's some obscure shit yo! My buddy used to share a rehearsal space with them so that's why I know their name, but I haven't heard that name in years!

Wow - I didn't know they were obscure or anything. My mom grew up in Poland and immigrated to Germany at the age of 22. She couldn't possibly have a clue of the LA (or Austin for that matter) music scene. I must ask her were she got Mother Tongue from.

 

[Celegus]

Classic rock, which I despise. To each their own, but I sure don't miss having to hear it anymore.

 

[Sobriquet]

The Beatles. Willie Nelson. Soul, Funk, and R&B.

 

[ChubbyHuggs]

Ace of Base, Bee Gees and Selena.

 

[SillyEskimo]

I have a reason behind making this thread. I have children of my own now and my oldest, at age 6, wants songs on her ipod all the time. It is a completely bizarre mish-mash of songs like:

YMCA - Village People (Played at a wedding, she loves this to no end)
Lights - Ellie Goulding
Into The Ocean - Blue October
Got More - Eskmo
A bunch of pop songs by female vocalists

From movies she watches:
The instrumentals from Coraline
Some Disney tracks
Misty Mountain Song - The Hobbit (she plays this nonstop!)

Anyway, I can pinpoint where her exposure to certain songs came from, while others I have no clue.

It occurred to me that I do not listen to music the same way my parents did or even when I was younger. It's no longer about listening to both sides of a record or tape in their entirety, but instead music today is just a list of singles. All I play in my car is mix CDs of mostly heavy metal and alternative, while my wife picks up the pop songs and Disney stuff in her car.

I just wonder how differently my kid's musical taste will develop due to how we access the medium today.

 

[Fruitster]

I can remember my dad played a lot of Bowie. Also things like The Who, Rolling Stones, Hendrix, ELO and Queen. A bit of Bob Marley too.

 

[Sol..]

When I was too young to remember my mom used to blast stuff from the underground house scene in new york. By the time I got old enough to have a chance to enjoy that stuff she had moved on to Acid Jazz. For a good 5 to 10 years it was

Jamiroquai, Incognito, Brand New Heavies, Omar, St. Germain, Kruder and Dorfmeister, and the like.

She played it so much that I hated it for so long. So early on in those years i went and found refuge in pop music. Eventually I transitioned out of that phase and by the time I was about to go to college I ended up enjoying all that stuff I hated and started sharing music with my mom. In some way i'd like to think her tastes back then influences mine now but I listen to way too much random shit to know for sure.

 

[AceOcelot]

So much Peter Gabiel, it was crazy

My Dad listened to a lot of Pink Floyd and Steely Dan

... but mostly grew up with Peter Gabriel.

 

[JAGII]

My mom listened almost exclusively to Christian Gospel and Adult Contemporary music -- Ray Boltz, Bill Gaither, Twyla Paris, etc.

My dad loved blues-based Classic Rock and occasionally Prog Rock, particularly Alice Cooper, J. Geils Band, and Rick Wakeman.

That makes my dad sound like a hard-partying ex-burnout, but he's always been a very quiet and serious guy. My mom is exactly the middle-class conservative her listening tastes suggest.

It's interesting to look back on this because I'm a pretty big music buff and hate most of my parent's music -- I've come around to Alice Cooper and (some) J. Geils, and I my mom and I agree on old country music now. My son is just entering middle school and taking an interest in music, and he's (thus far) following some of my musical tastes -- Beatles, They Might Be Giants, Otis Redding, Talking Heads. I'm waiting for the day when he decides that all my stuff sucks.

 

[Buddha Beam]

My mom mostly listened to (and still does) The Beatles, Monkees... that sort of late 60's/early 70's pop rock music.
My dad has always been more into the rock oriented stuff, like the Rolling Stones, Spirit and a bunch of others I'm not sure about. He got into blues a lot when I was in my teens, too.

I was more influenced by my mother, I'd say. I have a strong preference towards stuff like The Divine Comedy, The Cardigans, Jamiroquai, Ben Folds, Space, Scott Walker, etc. I prefer The Beatles over the Stones too

edit: My parents are actually both really musically inclined, now that I think about it. They both play guitar, my dad plays a bunch of more instruments and even released an album. He also owns over 30 guitars. It's kind of weird that I have no musical talent... although I used to DJ when I was 17 and 18 years old.

 

[obin_gam]

Wow - dat cover art

You've aint seen nothing yet. Theres an entire blog dedicated to just the horrible cover art for that particular genre: Horrible Cover Art

 

[DrSlek]

Frank Zappa
The Travelling Wilburys
TISM
Bread
Pink Floyd
The Beatles
The Rolling Stones
Led Zepellin
Jimmy Hendrix
Blue Oyster Cult
Creedence Clearwater Revival

 

[TUROK]

My dad started to listen to a lot of music that I brought home when I was about 10 onwards. From the things I brought home, he especially liked:

Guns n' Roses
Sepultura
Biohazard
Machine Head

That's fucking awesome.

My mom didn't listen to much music, but my dad always listened to Los Bukis, Los Temerarios, and Gloria Trevi. Not sure how many Gaffers will recognize those names.

They didn't really influence me, since I mostly listen to metal, but I do appreciate the first two as artists.

 

[Dicer]

Air Supply

Avatar material...

Mom: Barry Manilow, Anne Murray, and Scorpions?!!?!?

Dad: Cream/Zappa and the like...

 

[RC]

The kind immigrants listen to.

 

[lingiii]

Talking Heads. Moms love Talking Heads.

ask yours.

 

[Toa TAK]

The 80's and Enya/Enigma.

 

[Kisaya]

My dad was a big 80s pop and rock fan. I remember always looking through this big bin he had full of vinyls and CDs. I believe Bryan Adams was his fave x)

My mom really liked boybands xD New Kids On The Block was her everything hahahaha

 

[Vermillion]

Assorted Christian music.

Wasn't bad. My musical taste is kind of eclectic, though.

 

[Coreda]

Can't remember hearing anything being played when I was little except for Bach, Noel Coward and Michael Jackson. However there were many other records lying around the house, Peter Gabriel, ELO, Genesis, etc.

 

[The Real Abed]

'70s and '80s classic rock. Whatever was on the Top 40 back then.

Which is why I love that kind of music now. But only from the '70s and '80s.

 

[Lotto]

My mom didn't really actively choose music to listen to but my dad would always play Pink Floyd, Roger Waters, Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, and threw in some random folk/traditional Indian music. I do have an appreciation for all kinds of music because of my dad and, thanks to the internet, I've been able to discover a lot of cool/interesting stuff I wouldn't have otherwise.

 

[Fritz]

Lots of Classic. Every Sat/Sun morning and for tea as well.

Then they owned the odd pop album. I remember ABBA and Queen and Genesis best ofs. My mother also was a bit of a Roger Whitaker fan but my father (rightfully imho) loathed him. So I think her album got one listen around Christmas. She probably blasted the hell out of Whitaker when we were at school/work though.

My step mother is pretty open to music. I recorded a mixed CD for her and since she LOVES M.I.A.'s Paperplanes.

 

[freenudemacusers]

my moms was all about scorpions and van halen etc.

which was awesome because one of those scorpion records had a topless chick stretching chewing gum off her tits and into her mouth on the inside liner. this was a very important image for me as a adolescent.

 

[dog$]

My Dad Mostly Listened To The Standard 60s/70s Rock Stuff, With A Few Touches Of Contemporary Albums (this Being The Mid 80s At The Time) - His CD Collection Mostly Had Stuff From Stevie Ray Vaughan, ZZ Top, Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Robin Trower, Supertramp, Paul Simon, Genesis. Then There Was A Few Elton John CDs In The Mix Too, And I'm Pretty Sure Those Didn't Belong To My Mother. Otherwise, No Jazz, No Classical, And Nothing Too Modern For The Time Otherwise.

My Mom's Prime Area Of Listening Was The Smooth Jazz Type Of Music That Came Out. Sade And Anita Baker Had A Few Albums, And There Are Tracks From Them Which I Distinctly Recall Hearing Often In The Car Radio.

 

[SystemBug]

Kenny Rogers...lol

 

[pitcairn55]

I was born in 1968. My dad was obsessed with classical music, and to a slightly lesser extent, modern jazz. I pretended to hate it all, but lots of it was pretty great, especially the 20th century Eastern Bloc classical stuff, and most especially Prokofiev. My mum was much less into music generally, but she loved Simon and Garfunkel, Abba, The Sylistics, The Carpenters, stuff like that.

One of them – my dad I think – was also massively into Steeleye Span, which as a little kid I absolutely adored. Under the influence of my teenage sons, I mainly listen to shouty guitar music these days, but every now and again I stick a bit of Steeleye Span on. I think there will always be a place in my heart for folk rock songs about witches and murderous elves and getting press-ganged into fighting for Lord Nelson.

 

[Dark Octave]

My mom listened to a lot of Motown

David Ruffin

Marvyn Gaye

Dianna Ross

The Temptations

And then Japanese songs that she sang and recorded.

Dad didn't really listen to music.

 

[joeyjoejoeshabadoo]

I was born in 81 and my mom would listen to 70's rock while my dad was a 60's soul guy. As they got older it was "Smooth Jazz". Which is weird since, A) the music is fucking terrible and B) they were divorced yet still decided at about the same time Kenny G was great.