# Your Favorite Music, from birth to the present

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-music-from-birth-to-the-present/364035>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [July 11, 2006, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-music-from-birth-to-the-present/364035 "2006-07-11T15:31:48Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\
**Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-music-from-birth-to-the-present/364035/1 "2006-07-11T15:31:48Z")

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The idea is to list your favorite musical artist or band at each stage in your life. Though of course we all liked lots of stuff along the way, try to keep it down to your main obsessions. Approximate your age as well as you can remember.

Birth to age 4(?): Jim Croce and The Carpenters  
Age 4 to 13: add Barry Manilow  
Age 14: Kate Bush  
Age 15: Ratt  
Age 16 to 19: Iron Maiden  
Age 19 to 32: Pink Floyd  
Age 32 to 35: The Alan Parsons Project, ELO, Blue Oyster Cult

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**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\
**Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-music-from-birth-to-the-present/364035/2 "2006-07-11T15:48:32Z")

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\< 12 - No real interest in music.  
12- 14 - Elton John, Beatles  
14 - 16 - Kiss, Kiss, and Kiss  
16 - 18 - The Cars, Alice Cooper, more Beatles,  
18 - 25 - The Doors, Stones, Who, Moody Blues  
25 - 35 - Everything recorded between say, 1967 and 1974. (CDs arrived on the market.)  
35 - present - Pretty much the same, but with allowances for Johnny Cash, Gordon Lightfoot, Neil Young, The Dubliners, and lots of other folksy-type stuff. Although I really don’t listen to music much anymore.

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**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\
**Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-music-from-birth-to-the-present/364035/3 "2006-07-11T16:04:14Z")

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\< 5: Whatever my mom was playing on the stereo  
5 - 10: Motown music (mainly Stevie Wonder and Smokey Robinson)  
10 - 15: R&B and rap (Public Enemy, NWA, etc.)  
15 - 17: Added jazz to the above (Miles Davis, Count Basie, Thelonious Monk) and Sting  
17 - 22: Added alternative music (Green Day, Nirvana)  
22 - 25: Some classic rock (Pink Floyd)  
25 - 31: Mostly Sting

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**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\
**Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-music-from-birth-to-the-present/364035/4 "2006-07-11T16:05:43Z")

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Ooops…and most definitely Alan Parson’s around 18 - 25…

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**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\
**Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-music-from-birth-to-the-present/364035/5 "2006-07-11T16:44:46Z")

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Good thread.

\<10 ABBA, Neil Diamond, Barry Manilow (my mother’s favorites)

11-12 KISS, AC-DC’s “Back in Black”

13-15 Mainstream top 100. Lots of Australian rock/pop, especially Cold Chisel, Midnight Oil, Australian Crawl, Icehouse, Mental as Anything, Split Enz (NZ) etc., etc. Also 80s New Wave stuff that was constantly on the radio; heaps of typical 80s one-hit wonders.

16-20 Above music, plus Dire Straits, U2.

21-25 Mainstream rock; celtic and folk music (traditional and otherwise). Also: Beautiful South, Pogues, Spirit of the West, Barenaked Ladies, Loreena McKennitt, REM. Began to take an interest in jazz, blues, and hip-hop.

26-30 Continued above trends, and also got into 90s alternative/mainstream rock, including Pearl Jam, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Powderfinger, etc. More blues and jazz, including Bill Evans, Charlie Parker, Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Billie Holiday, Nina Simone, Stan Getz, Django Reinhardt, early Tom Waits.

30-36 Continued above trends, adding more jazz and blues as well as more pop and rock. Decline in purchases of Celtic and folk music (although still listen to the ones i have). Latin jazz and afro-cuban stuff. A bit more hip-hop, although i’m still no expert. Introduction to punk. Artists added to rotation include: Tori Amos, Orishas, X, Ani Di Franco, Tracy Chapman, Elliot Smith, Buzzcocks, Sierra Maestra, Conjunto Cespedes.

Also, since my early 20s i’ve consistently added bands from my youth and from before i was born that i never really listened to first time around. These include the Beatles, ELO, Supertramp, Alan Parsons Project, Fleetwood Mac, Neil Young (early stuff), and latin rock artists like Santana, Sapo, etc. that were big in the early 70s. I’d heard all these artists before, of course, but having their albums is different to hearing the occasional song on the radio.

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**Author:** ![Small\_Clanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@Small\_Clanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Clanger)\
**Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-music-from-birth-to-the-present/364035/6 "2006-07-11T17:07:07Z")

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> [@Dung Beetle](#):
>
> try to keep it down to your main **obsessions**.

OK chief, just the obssesions\*

0 - 14 **The Beatles**  
14 - 16 **Pink Floyd + Syd**  
16 - 18 **Led Zeppelin**  
18 - 19 A strange mix of stuff **The B52s** and **The Motels** (!) come to mind.  
19 - 25 **The Soft Boys**  
25 - ish Went though a **Stevie Nicks** period around here somewhere  
30+ Brief flirtations with **Catatonia** , **Moloko**. . .

Currently listening to: **System of a Down** , **Polyphonic Spree** , but not obsessively. I haven’t had a “favourite” band since the _Soft Boys_ period, the only band in the list I don’t really like anymore are the Motels (Total Control was a good song though).

\*which means skipping Steely Dan, Frank Zappa, The Who, The Smiths, Bach, Mozart Beethoven and that crowd, Charlie Parker/Bop. . .

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**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\
**Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-music-from-birth-to-the-present/364035/7 "2006-07-11T17:13:53Z")

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> [@Dung Beetle](#):
>
> …try to keep it down to your main obsessions.

Oops, missed that bit of the OP. Sorry.

Main obsessions, from above post: KISS, Cold Chisel, Dire Straits, Pogues, Beautiful South, Tori Amos.

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**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\
**Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-music-from-birth-to-the-present/364035/8 "2006-07-11T18:27:11Z")

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Eesh. I’ve gone through tons of phases.

Earliest years: The Bee Gees.  
10: Duran Duran  
12: Howard Jones  
16: Depeche Mode & New Order  
18: Pink Floyd & Def Leppard  
19: Information Society  
21: Utah Saints  
24: Sunscreem  
27: The Grid  
31: Antiloop

I haven’t really been inspired enough to pick a “favourite” in any of the music since then, though I’ll often stick on many of the above (except for Bee Gees – that is an era I have been trying to forget) or occasionally a random few tunes from Zombie Nation or Darude or some other such band. (I tend to listen to music on my iPod by band or by genre rather than just mixing it all up. It somehow offends my sense of propriety when some thumping trance comes on right after a classic 80s tune. :))

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**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\
**Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-music-from-birth-to-the-present/364035/9 "2006-07-11T19:14:29Z")

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Birth thru Nursery School: Children’s Music Guild

Elementary School: Ferde Grofé, Tchaikovsky, Holst, Beethoven  
Junior High: …& Wagner, Rachmaninoff, Rimsky-Korsakoff, Vaughn-Williams, Grieg

High School: finally discover rock! Yes, Led Zep, Pink Floyd, Alan Parsons, Styx, Kansas, Queen, etc… (still kept enjoying classical)

20s: more rock; + discovered new age: George Winston, Kitaro, Alex de Grassi, Georg Deuter, all that Windham Hill stuff. Also hybrid classical/newage stuff like Stomu Yamashta. And Ravel.

30s: all that + stir in a little folk & bluesy stuff: Joni Mitchell, Holly Near, Indigo Girls, Joan Baez, Michael Hurley, Melanie, Pentangle, etc

40s: all that & Jane’s Addiction, Switchblade Symphony, Tori Amos, Vonda Shephard, Beth Nielsen Chapman, Garbage, vintage stuff like Mamas & the Papas and the Turtles and Tommy James & the Shondells, etc etc

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**Author:** ![dwc1970](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@dwc1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwc1970)\
**Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-music-from-birth-to-the-present/364035/10 "2006-07-11T19:52:24Z")

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[ul]  
[li]Age 2: “Song Sung Blue” by Neil Diamond. My parents tell me I loved this song at that age, so I will take their word for it. I also liked listening to the Carpenters, Captain and Teneille and Fifth Dimension records that my mother often played.[/li][li]Ages 6-12: Kiss, Aerosmith, Boston, Styx. Most of these bands I was exposed to from listening to what my older sister listened to. Admittedly, I liked some of the disco songs of the era, too.[/li][li]Ages 12-14: Motley Crue, Quiet Riot, Def Leppard, ZZ Top, The Police[/li][li]Ages 14-16: Dokken, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Ronnie James Dio, Rush[/li][li]Ages 16-20: Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Metallica, Anthrax, Yes, Deep Purple[/li][li]Ages 20-22: My girlfriend at the time convinced me that all the heavy metal music I was listening to was corrupting me, so I went through a period at this time when I was away from the rock music scene. I introduced myself to the realms of classical, new age and jazz. I became fond of Tchaikovsky, Mannheim Steamroller, David Lanz, and several artists under the Narada music label.[/li][li]Ages 23-30: I returned to my roots as a rock music lover, with an expanded appreciation for the other forms of music I discovered in my early 20s. Today my tastes are inclusive of everything above. In addition I added Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Stone Temple Pilots, Nirvana and other grunge acts to the lineup during this era.[/li][li]Ages 30-36 (present): Mastodon, Mudvayne, Staind, Alexisonfire, From Autumn to Ashes, Nonpoint, Tool, Emporer, Dimmu Borgir, Borknager and several others I have heard on my cable music channels. I’ve also discovered early Genesis and other prog rock acts from the 70s that I am fond of.[/li][/ul]

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**Author:** ![Lisa-go-Blind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Lisa-go-Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa-go-Blind)\
**Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-music-from-birth-to-the-present/364035/11 "2006-07-11T19:53:00Z")

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I’m 21:

0-10: **The Beatles** (thanks to my Dad)  
11-12: **Spice Girls**  
12-14: **The Beatles** (again - but this time hardcore)  
15-17: **Talking Heads**  
17-21: **Belle and Sebastian**  
18-20: **The Magnetic Fields**  
20-21: **Blur**

I tend to burn through artists. **Abbey Road** was my favorite album for those few yearrs in middle/high school, but I haven’t listened to it all the way through since. I haven’t willingly listened to the Spice Girls since I was 12, and listening to Talking Heads now is rare - I pretty much just stick with tracks off **More Songs About Buildings and Food** and **Fear of Music** , but it still doesn’t feel the same and sometimes approaches excrutiating if I’m not in the mood. I decided to drop The Magnetic Fields off the list because though I still love them, I think their recent work is sort of dull, and I can’t stick to a band’s back catalogue forever. Blur’s a band I’ve liked for a while but I just recently “got” them and became obsessed.

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**Author:** ![TheBoneyKingofNowhere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@TheBoneyKingofNowhere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheBoneyKingofNowhere)\
**Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-music-from-birth-to-the-present/364035/12 "2006-07-11T19:58:45Z")

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4-7 : Billy Joel  
8-13 : Poison, Motley Crue, Warrant, Def Leopard  
14-18: Stone Temple Pilots, Pearl Jam, Nirvana  
19-20: Tripping Daisy, Sponge, Pink Floyd  
21-29: Radiohead

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**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\
**Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-music-from-birth-to-the-present/364035/13 "2006-07-11T20:08:21Z")

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age 3: ABBA, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat  
8: The Nutcracker, “Elvira” and “Tainted Love”  
10: Cyndi Lauper  
13: Tears for Fears  
14: Depeche Mode  
15: Oingo Boingo, the Cure  
16: Danish bands you’ve never heard of, and Boris Grebenshikov  
18: Sarah McLachlan  
20: all that plus a bunch of modern rock things  
25: Loreena McKennitt, real Celtic music  
30: now getting into classical, folk, and playing Oingo Boingo when I’m in the car alone with no kids

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**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\
**Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-music-from-birth-to-the-present/364035/14 "2006-07-11T20:58:20Z")

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> [@dwc1970](#):
>
> [ul]  
> [li]Ages 30-36 (present): Mastodon, Mudvayne, Staind, Alexisonfire, From Autumn to Ashes, Nonpoint, Tool, Emporer, Dimmu Borgir, Borknager and several others I have heard on my cable music channels.[/li][/ul]

I’m 43 and have never heard of one of these bands. :eek:

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**Author:** ![zoogirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b9bd4f/32.png) [@zoogirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoogirl)\
**Post date:** [July 12, 2006, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-music-from-birth-to-the-present/364035/15 "2006-07-12T05:50:05Z")

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0-5) “Walk Right In” "What’s New Pussycat’ and “She Loves You”, the latter two thanks to Ed Sullivan.  
5-10) My friend’s sister’s stuff and kid’s records. “Gitarzan” was a favorite.  
10-14) AM radio fare. Whatever was on. I also loved Sonny and Cher. Matter of fact, my first concert was them in '74.  
14-present) Alice Cooper. I always gotta have my Alice.  
14-20) Queen, Deep Purple, Led Zep, Gordon Lightfoot, Nazareth, The Irish Rovers, The Runaways, Black Sabbath and folksongs.  
20-43) Oldies ('50’s and '60’s,) Big Band Swing and even older stuff on '78.  
43-present) Back to harder rock. More Alice, learning about Classic Metal and even a little current stuff - Rap and dance music.

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**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\
**Post date:** [July 12, 2006, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-music-from-birth-to-the-present/364035/16 "2006-07-12T06:11:18Z")

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Birth to age 2: The Clash, Devo, The B-52s (thanks, Dad)

Age 2 to 4: Olivia Newton-John, Culture Club

Age 4-8: Nik Kershaw, Cyndi Lauper, Elvis Costello

Age 8-10: Debbie Gibson, Tiffany (erg), and… uh… Michael Penn

Age 10 -13: INXS, more Cyndi Lauper, Syd Barrett, old favourites come back

Age 14-17: Smashing Pumpkins, **Blur** , Green Day, Pet Shop Boys, Bjork, NIN, Primus (I had a LOT of obsessions at this time)

Age 18-21: The Vandals, NOFX, Dead Kennedys

Age 21-23: **Blur** still holding steady, Esthero, Air, Graham Coxon

Age 23-25: KMFDM, Razed In Black, Assemblage 23

Age 25-present (28): Gorillaz, **Blur** , PSB, A23, Beborn Beton, old favourites remain current favourites

Blur have been my favourite band since 1994, and though I don’t listen to them as often now (though Modern Life Is Rubbish is in my CD drive at the moment), and prefer Gorillaz (still faithful to Blur by one connection!), I have a very, very soft spot for those boys. I’m also a font of Blur trivia up until about the _13_ era. Kind of sad, really.

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**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\
**Post date:** [July 12, 2006, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-music-from-birth-to-the-present/364035/17 "2006-07-12T06:33:55Z")

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I’m 33.

Up through early teens: Whatever was on the radio. I wasn’t lucky enough to have anybody with interesting tastes make an impression on me.

Mid to late teens: R.E.M.

Late teens through early 30s: The troika of Husker Du, The Replacements and Superchunk

Currently: Billy Bragg

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**Author:** ![dbygawdcapn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dbygawdcapn/32/3995_2.png) [@dbygawdcapn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dbygawdcapn)\
**Post date:** [July 12, 2006, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-music-from-birth-to-the-present/364035/18 "2006-07-12T15:57:30Z")

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\<5 - Nino Temple & April Stevens - because I think this is the only record my parents owned.  
5-10 - Charles Mingus - because all the kids was groovin to Mingus…and playing marbles.  
10-12 - Black Flag - because everyone in middle school was a punk.  
12-17 - Hasil Adkins - because he is crazy and high school was crazy.  
17-22 - Bessie Smith - because college give me the blues.  
22-30 - Violent Femmes - because I forget what eight was for.  
30+ - James Booker - because once you’ve been to N’awlins dey ain’t no turning back.

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**Author:** ![DaddyTimesTwo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@DaddyTimesTwo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaddyTimesTwo)\
**Post date:** [July 12, 2006, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-music-from-birth-to-the-present/364035/19 "2006-07-12T16:29:44Z")

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I don’t know what I listened to as a child. There was a record player in the basement along with a lot of 45s (“Gimme Dat Ding” anyone?) that my oder brothers and sisters left there along with a bunch of old albums (Jim Nabor’s Christmas Favorites, for instance).

Pre-MTV: classic rock that my older brother listened to  
high school: Doors, Moody Blues and some MTV new wave  
college: Moody Blues, other classic rock stuff  
early 20s: grunge stuff, REM, blues  
late 20s-early 30s: not much changed, and not much music either (got married, got kids, got busy!)  
mid-late 30s (now): got broadband, and am catching up the stuff i should have been listening to all those years (my whole life basically)! Cool stuff from the 80s I missed, Replacements, Violent Femmes, cool stuff from now, The Hives and others I can’t think of.

I had some brief obsessions in the early 80s for Scandal and The Jam (although this was not very deep, I just really liked a couple videos on MTV “Absloute Beginners” and “Town Called Malice”). I don’t obsess about much these days.

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**Author:** ![Webner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/0ea827/32.png) [@Webner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Webner)\
**Post date:** [July 12, 2006, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-music-from-birth-to-the-present/364035/20 "2006-07-12T17:48:33Z")

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0-12 - No real favorite; if anything Pink Floyd, which my Dad played in his car.  
13 - Prince, Duran Duran  
14 - Tears for Fears, Michael Jackson  
14-16 - The Beatles  
17 - ELO, Supertramp, The Eagles  
18 - The Cars  
19 - Jan Hammer, David Bowie  
20 - Genesis, Dire Straits

Back to the eighties pop that drew me to music in the first place.