Nope, nobody is suggesting that you abandon everything that came before.
I think a few are misunderstanding the intent of this thread. It is not as basic as “who’s music did you like at various stages of your life”. I am instead looking for periods where a given artist rose above everything else, grabbed you by the spleen, and did not let go for a good, long time (if ever).
For example, I added Paul Simon to my timeline. I’ve always liked and appreciated Simon & Garfunkel, and I adored “There Goes Rhymin’ Simon” and “Sill Crazy After All These Years.”
And then “Graceland” came out. Once I got a whiff of it I was off the the races. I was working during that time with a fairly long commute and I would listen to half on the way into work and the rest on the way home. Virtually every day. Every damn day for weeks and weeks. Then I went deeper into his catalog, gobbling up everything Paul Simon I could find. I loved it all, even his 1965 “Songbook” album and the critically tepid “One Trick Pony” soundtrack.
Of course I listened to and even loved a lot of other music during that period, but Graceland owned me.
Beatles: Oldies phase when I was in my middle school years in the early 80s. The Beatles were, of course, easy to idolize and less likely to get you weird looks than a 1983 kid outspokenly into ? and the Mysterions. Don’t get me wrong, I was legitimately into the Fab Four, I just recognize that it was also low-hanging fruit.
Simon & Garfunkel: My growth from middle schooler into morose sensitive and misunderstood teenager was shepherded along a good way via Simon & Garfunkel. I am a rock; I am an island.
Pink Floyd: An obvious place for many a teenager to land as evidence by this thread. Listened to all the albums, listened to the solo stuff, read biographies, hung posters in my dorm room, gazed longingly at the ads in Rolling Stone for a 24K gold plated CD of DSotM.
10,000 Maniacs: College was a transition from Classic Rock to college/indie music and the deepest hooks were implanted by Natalie Merchant & 10,000 Maniacs. She’s so smart & deep, man. They were already on their last album before I got on the train but I quickly consumed the back catalog of New England Liberal Very Important Music and she never lost traction throughout my move into the 90s women indie music scene which eventually coasted me into…
Rilo Kiley: Poster children for 2000s indie for me, I once again consumed the full catalog and spent many, many hours on Jenny Lewis and Blake Sennett noodling on at length about bad relationships and the travails of young adulthood. Though I have a couple years on them, I was full up on bad relationships & travails enough to easily relate. Jenny Lewis eventually lost me post “Acid Tongue” though “Rabbit Fur Coat” was one of the first vinyl albums I bought for the current collection. Extra trivia: Lewis & Merchant are tied for most concert from me (for both their solo & band work).
Fever Dolls: Spotify says they were my most listened to act of last year so who I am to argue? Small act out of Boston but I love their stuff. Sadly, they only really have one album and promised “new music” in 2023 so I’m not optimistic for Album Two though they do still perform in the Boston/DC area sometimes. A few months ago, I discovered that the core duo put out earlier music as Iron Eyes Cody and was all excited to have new songs. They sound like they were recorded and mixed in a furnace room but, damn it, it’s all I got!
Despite any tongue-in-cheek depreciation, I still like all of 'em and would listen to a track (or see a show) by any of 'em today and appreciate the place they had in my life.
Three Dog Night>BTO>Kiss>Atlanta Rhythm Section>The Who>Frank Zappa>Bob Dylan>Captain Beefheart>The Band>Velvet Underground>Old School Blues, acoustic and electric
Ah, in that case I guess I have to say that has never happened to me.
I have always listened to a variety of music, but I can’t say that any one artist has ever dominated my listening.
NKOTB - Pearl Jam - Moist - Our Lady Peace - Nine Inch Nails - Tool - Strung Out (still firmly imbedded in my spleen; favourite band) - The Mars Volta - No Use For A Name - Rise Against - The Flatliners
Really there are so many that I associate with long periods of time or meaningful moments in my life, but that’s the list that came to my mind more or less without effort.
I thought of putting The Refreshments in there, as they were the soundtrack of my life for a good year or so, but that’s less out of profound love for them than the fact that I had an old beater car and FIZZY FUZZY BIG AND BUZZY was trapped in the tape deck and couldn’t be ejected.
Beatles/Beach Boys/Motown - 70s pop radio - Beatles - Led Zeppelin - Dixie Dregs - Chick Corea - Charlie Parker - 70s Pop Radio.
I was casually listening to the Beatles when I was 3 or 4. In the late 70s, they were my my main listening pleasure until I discovered Led Zeppelin. Later as a music student, jazz took over. Today, I tend to prefer the music of the 70s over anything on the radio today, although I still listen to a lot of jazz as well.
My sister once remarked to me that I like a lot of different music, but I what I really dig is chick singers (it was the 70’s). I tend to listen obsessively to a new “discovery” for a period of time, then settle in to coming back to them regularly. So here is the progression of my obsession:
(60’s) Tammy Wynette →Kitty Wells →Dolly Parton → Linda Ronstadt →(70’s) Patsy Cline → Barbara Keith → Emmylou Harris →(80’s) Lucinda Williams → Concrete Blonde →(90’s) Neko Case → Sinéad O’Connor →(00’s) P!nk →Bebe→ Imelda May → (10’s)ZAZ → Lauren Ruth Ward → LP → Sierra Ferrell → Beth Hart →(20’s)ZZ Ward →Brandi Carlile →The Veronicas →Olivia Rodrigo
Blue Danube Waltz (had no idea who composed it when I was 10) > Kenny Rodgers > Def Leppard > Yes > Psychedelic Furs > Faith No More > Yes > Muse > dEUS > everything by Mike Patton > Yes
Bach —> Chopin —> Chuck Berry —> Paula Abdul —> Led Zeppelin —> Nirvana —> Pixies —> Smashing Pumpkins —> The Smiths —> Stereolab —> Sleater-Kinney —> Wire —> The Police —> Kanye West —> Redd Kross
It’s kinda all over the place, with lots of bands in between. The longest and most obsessive phases are Zep, Pumpkins, and Sleater-Kinney. Oh, and I was just knee deep in the Police during Covid for some reason.
Wow, I destroyed many sets of car speakers cranking “What They Say” until their coils fried, and I think Teen Babes From Monsanto might be the best cover collection, ever. I did not see that coming at the end of that list. How’d you get into them so late?
I first heard them around my Nirvana phase, c. 1992. “1976.” I listened to them on and off in early college, 93-94, even bought “Phaseshifter.” But I wasn’t really into them more obsessively until about a year or two ago. I bounce around a lot in my music eras, as you can tell. I saw them this past summer at a show here in Chicago with about 400 people, and it was one of the best shows I’ve ever seen. The new album is killer.
This is a really interesting questions, thanks OP!
little kid: You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown soundtrack
kid listening to dad’s records: Arlo Guthrie
adolescent: Frank Zappa
teen: listened to Zappa half the time and hardcore punk half the time; I’ll pick DOA to represent that genre
college: Camper Van Beethoven
Cherry Poppin’ Daddies (local band, saw live dozens of times in a few years)
George Clinton
Johnny Cash
Bob Dylan (always a big fan but especially during the early '00s renaissance)
Polkaholics (another local band I saw a bunch of times)
Grateful Dead/Furthur (listened to them a lot since college but became really obsessed during the first Obama administration)
Beastie Boys (yes, I didn’t discover them until the second Obama administration, go figure)
Vampire Weekend