When and how did you discover 'Your' Music?

In My Humble Opinion
41

I went to my friend Fabrizio’s house one day and he starts showing me some of his tunes. I listen to one CD, entitled “Go.”

“Wow,” I said. “What is this band?”

“This is just one guy. Moby,” my friend said.

I’ve been a growing techno/electronica/house/whatever-you-call-it fan ever since. (I’ve also had dwindling appreciation for any new pop/rock)

I would also like to mention what Fabrizio’s friend Lee says often: “I refuse to listen to any music made after 1975.” I kinda have to agree with him, considering everything popular made in my lifetime. To get the whole idea, see “Almost Famous.”

42

I have so many different kinds of music that I like, but when I was around 12-13 I broke away from what my parents listened to.

My kid brother, a year younger than me, often spent his summer days at his friend Brad’s house. Brad was my age. Since no other kids lived around us, I would go there with my brother and just hang out while they played games and stuff. Brad had a collection of Weird Al and Presidents of the USA tapes. I found them to be interesting-looking so I asked if I could borrow them.

I was hooked.

Then, the summer before I turned 14, I had a good friend at church named Devin in my puppet group. We were both slightly antisocial so we were good for each other. She listened to a lot of Nirvana, and she LOVED the Smashing Pumpkins. I only knew their “Bullet with Butterfly Wings” song and only vaguely. One night, it happened to come on the radio, and I quickly rushed to tape it (oh, the days before Napster…). I listened to it. And listened to it.

I must have listened to that danged song 20 times in a row. I was enthralled with the strange whiny voice, the powerful and ethereal guitars. Since Devin was in Texas by now on vacation, she’d email me, talking more about these Smashing Pumpkins. As soon as she returned, I borrowed “Siamese Dream.” Then I found out that good ol’ Brad had a copy of “Melancholy and the Infinite Sadness.” Wowzers! I was madly in love with this band.

When Jonathan Melvoin, their keyboardist, died of a drug overdose, a lot of publicity was done on them. I thought it was horrible that this guy had died, but at the same time I was ecstatic because the more publicity, the more pictures of Billy Corgan I saw. Man he was hot!

Though Devin moved out of my life long ago (she sort of turned psycho, her mom kicked her out so she moved to Texas and only god knows what she’s up to now), she left a legacy to me. Now at 18, I own all the Smashing Pumpkins cds, posters, and any pictures I can get my hands on. I absolutely love their work and their talent, and it’s a shame that I never got to see them in concert. :^(

43

Geez - everybody else seems to have had their music for-like-ever. I found mine about a year ago, thanks to my teenage daughter. After years of playing classical (piano, violin) and listening to various good stuff off and on, I came to realize that Rob Zombie is Really Me. My daughter asked me not to tell anyone, but what the hey.

44

Come on. You honestly think such an excellent band like that will stay apart forever? I bet you your sig that they’ll reunite within twenty years. It’s not like the Eagles Hell Freezs Over tour, where no one ever thought they’d reunite. I think they will. They already alluded to it in their final performance.