# The "Magic Age" where you find your musical taste



## Hamstrung (Sep 21, 2007)

Interesting if short article on where people find their musical taste. Obviously there's a lot of room for individual experiences but I tend to agree that most (not necessarily all) of what I hold dear in music I discovered between age 15-25. 

http://mic.com/articles/96266/there...il&utm_term=0_51f2320b33-f396e43970-285417121


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

For me it was likely from 14 to 18 years of age.

The music I listened to during that period remains my favourite.


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

I'd have to say 15 to 25 also, mostly. Im my late teens I discovered Zep and Henrdix, etc. In my early 20s i discovered progressive and fusion. (1.e. Mahavishnu Orchestra) That part stays with me too. I really didn't start listening to AC/DC and Allman Brothers until I was 50. Now that stays with me. I have also discovered Gov't Mule and Joe Bonamassa at that age too. The internet was responsible for the last 15 years.


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

I would say mine started at around 10 and finished up around 60. Yes, I'm 60.


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## puckhead (Sep 8, 2008)

> until about age 24, when they reach the peak of musical taste acquisition.


in the years I was 21 to 24.
- Pearl Jam - Ten 
- Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dreams
- Afghan Whigs - Gentlemen
- Soundgarden - Badmotorfinger, Superunknown
- Radiohead -Pablo Honey
- Alice in Chains - Dirt, Jar of Flies
- Screaming trees - Sweet Oblivion



there's a good chunk of my Desert Island list.


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## 4345567 (Jun 26, 2008)

_________________


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

Got a lot of classical and folk music growing up, from my parents, siblings, and formal music lessons. Discovered rock in my early teens, and jazz a few years later. That pretty much covers what I like the most. There are enough artists and recordings in those to keep my mind occupied for the rest of my life.


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## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

Looks like I'm a Boney M fan for life. Shit.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

There's really three or four questions to ask:
- when did you "lock on" to popular music?
- how much have you supplemented your tastes since that time?
- how much has the majority of music actually changed since then?
- how much do you tend to select from what's available in a manner that maps onto your initial tastes?

So, like my first grad school supervisor, your tastes may have "locked on" to the Everly Brothers (who are unlikely to release any new music due to the death of one of them), but you may find yourself selecting contemporary alt-country, or even light pop, that has a similar approach to vocals and production; perhaps without even realizing the similarity.

I liked to joke that puberty begins not with growth spurts, the emergence of hairs where you never used to have any, or various unintended bodily fluids leaking out. Rather, it begins when you started listening to the radio, because that would signify a point where one began to think in terms of social/group identity, social competitiveness, and possible futures. Grabbing a hairbrush, and mimicking singing in front of the mirror in your bedroom with the radio blaring (or a badminton racket as guitar), reflected which social subgroup you felt a part of, how cool you felt you could be, and your dreams come true. And, as I've blathered on about before, adolescents tend to confuse how they feel with the validity of information, treating things that excite them as necessarily "right", "best", or simply more justified. I doubt that many 14 year-olds listen to the radio anymore, or at least not in the way we did in the 60's, but I'm confident that there is something fulfilling a reasonably similar function in their life.

While I remember seeing Elvis on Ed Sullivan, and radio tunes like "Telstar", "Wipeout", and "Red River Rock" grabbed my attention, my life was changed by the events of Feb. 9, 16 and 23, 1964, as were so many. And listening to the radio (which generally only provided about 90 minutes of "youth music" per day) became an obsession. Although popular music has become more outlandish in many ways, the audience was generally less segmented then, such that radio stations, and playlists, tried to play a little of everything. By the mid-1970's it seemed like FM rock stations had become a little more uniform in their playlists.

By the time I was 24 (Levitin's "peak" age), I had been in bands, been a member of the Societé de musique contemporain in Montreal, and seen some of the most outlandish that serious 20th century composers had to offer, gone to see Miles Davis, Mahavishnu (2x), Janis Joplin, the Allmans (with Duane), Paul Butterfield, the Beach Boys, the Who, BB King, Roland Kirk (thrice!), Sonny Greenwich, Yes, Frank and the Mothers (6x), Chuck Berry, Lenny Breau, Ron Hines, John Hammond, Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane. And that's a partial list. The bands would play everything from "Last Kiss" (J. Frank Wilson), "Little Red Riding Hood" (Sam the Sham), to "Sail on Sailor" (Beach Boys), "Layla" (non-acoustic version), what felt like the entire "Mad Dogs and Englishmen" album, and "King Kong" (from the Uncle Meat album).

Of course, by the time I was 24, Kiss had yet to hit their stride, so I never got into them, and still can't see the appeal, although I was partial to much of what was going on in soul music and punk at the same time. And I may be one of only a small handful of people here who remember, and like, the Fugs.


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

mhammer said:


> And I may be one of only a small handful of people here who remember, and like, the Fugs.


Life is like a bucket of s***. Yes. There is an urban myth about an on stage gross out contest between the Mothers of Invention and the Fugs. Do you know if this truth, myth or blown out of proprotions. I'd rather not say how I heard it ended.


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## Guest (Aug 18, 2014)

I remember that myth as being between FZ and Alice Cooper.
Never happened. As FZ wrote in his autobiography, 
“For the record, folks: I never took a sh*t onstage, and the closest I ever came to eating 
sh*t anywhere was at a Holiday Inn buffet in Fayetteville, North Carolina in 1973.”


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

I definitely remember hearing this story about being between FZ and the Fugs. The Fugs won, apparently, according to the myth. 



laristotle said:


> I remember that myth as being between FZ and Alice Cooper.
> Never happened. As FZ wrote in his autobiography,
> “For the record, folks: I never took a sh*t onstage, and the closest I ever came to eating
> sh*t anywhere was at a Holiday Inn buffet in Fayetteville, North Carolina in 1973.”


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

...and the Fugs were largely beat poets who formed a band.

One of the quirks of the pop music industry has been the cyclical re-emergence of "gimmick music. It will come and go every couple of years. During my own youth we had David Seville in has various guises, as well as "They're coming to take me away", and an assortment of Beatles-related fake-interview gimmick releases, Chuck Berry's "My dingaling", Susan Christie's "I love onions", Norma Tanega's "Walking my cat named dog", Sam the Sham's "Little Red Riding Hood", Li'l Jimmy Dickens "May the bird of paradise fly up your nose", et al. Then there seemed to be a lengthy period without many or maybe even any such tunes charting (apart from maybe the country charts), all of which gave Dr. Demento the opportunity to showcase such tunes as distinctively different. Eventually Weird Al came along (courtesy of Dr. Demento), and gimmick tunes started to return.

All of which makes me wonder if the perceived legitimacy of gimmick tunes varies by when you hit adolescence. I would imagine that some people could have gone through much of their adolescence without a single funny goofy tune on the charts.


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## Lincoln (Jun 2, 2008)

I never thought about it in terms of age before but it sounds possible - at least in my case anyway. One older sister was all about Elvis, the next older sister was a Beatles fan, next inline brother was into Simon & Garfunkle and Santana, and the brother closest to my age was Neil Young all the way. Everybody was blasting thier music, but it was the Neil Young that stuck.


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## keto (May 23, 2006)

I've gone thru many evolutions in my taste, though at 51 I have sorta slowed down on that now. But what has stuck with me most is what I heard first around and just after the age of 30 up to 40 or so.


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

While at 14 I was start developing a musical taste of my own, it started earlier.
But a lot of stuff I liked at that age, I no longer do (Some of it I do like though)
There's also a connection I do feel to some of those songs--due to memories, events, etc.

But I've added new musical tastes all along-even after that
I lot of stuff I listen to now I discovered after that time.
And I've developed a greater appreciation of some styles I never used to like.
So some of it fits me, some doesn't-which is not surprising, as people can be quite different-and there are always exceptions.


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## Guest (Aug 19, 2014)

My parents had music playing a lot (Sinatra, Martin, Big Band stuff).
For me, it started with Saturday morning cartoons. The Monkees,
Banana Splits, Josie and the Pussy Cat's .. that kinda stuff. My first
rock album was a x-mas gift from my aunt. Hot Rocks - Rolling Stones.
1050 CHUM was the station to listen to. 
Then I heard Black Sabbath.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

laristotle said:


> My parents had music playing a lot (Sinatra, Martin, Big Band stuff).
> For me, it started with Saturday morning cartoons. The Monkees,
> Banana Splits, Josie and the Pussy Cat's .. that kinda stuff. My first
> rock album was a x-mas gift from my aunt. Hot Rocks - Rolling Stones.
> ...


You need this album...gives you both in one package: http://www.amazon.com/Saturday-Morning-Cartoons-Greatest-Hits/dp/B000002OYG


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## Guest (Aug 19, 2014)

lol. tnx mark.











1. The Tra La La Song (One Banana, Two Banana) - Liz Phair With Material Issue  2. Go Speed Racer Go - Sponge  3. Sugar Sugar - Mary Lou Lord With Semisonic  4. Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? - Matthew Sweet  5. Josie And The Pussycats - Juliana Hatfield And Tanya Donelly  6. The Bugaloos - Collective Soul  7. Underdog - Butthole Surfers  8. Gigantor - Helmet  9. Spider-Man - Ramones  10. Johnny Quest/Stop That Pigeon - The Reverend Horton Heat  11. Open Up Your Heart And Let The Sun Shine In - Frente!  12. Eep Opp Ork Ah-Ah (Means I Love You) - Violent Femmes  13. Fat Albert Theme - Dig  14. I'm Popeye The Sailor Man - Face To Face  15. Friends/Sigmund And The Seamonsters - Tripping Daisy  16. Goolie Get-Together - Toadies  17. Hong Kong Phooey - Sublime  18. H.R. Pufnstuf - The Murmurs  19. Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy - Wax


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

I have it at home on a cassette. Terrific album. Here's Joey and Co. doing Spiderman.

[video=youtube;i5P8lrgBtcU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5P8lrgBtcU[/video]


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## Guest (Aug 19, 2014)

that was cool! tnx for posting.


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## djmarcelca (Aug 2, 2012)

When I was 11 I started playing, first song.... Easy to Tame by Kim mitchell

whom I thought was amazing on guitar. As I've gotten older and better on guitar, I've realized, he was and still is. 

When end I was 16 I heard S.R.V for the first time. Ever since I've been a fan of hot guitar blues. 
Jeff Healey blew my mind 
Billy gibbons is still a fucking mystery to me. 

I guess I by passed the shred heads in the 80's and was firmly in the blues or rock camp. 

Funny cause I learned a fair bit of Surfin with the alien album. Mostly to learn to play fast.


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## cheezyridr (Jun 8, 2009)

For me, i cant remember a time without music being important to me. At 4-6 it was the beatles, and motown. As i got older my tastes have changed as i did. I used to go to my sisters room while they were at school and play their records knowing i'd get beat for it later. But i just cant live without it. Once i got better at concealing it, i began to sample my brothers stuff. Their stereo was much nicer. And they also had nice headphones. Oh man being 14 and having older bros. And sisters i was lucky. I always had plenty to read and lots of music. Life wasn't easy but i was blessed that way for sure.


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## hardasmum (Apr 23, 2008)

I'm with you on this. While the "Magic Age" helped form my musical tastes, I'm just as excited about some new music now as I was twenty years ago.

Some of the music of my youth doesn't even hold up today and in some cases is cringe worthy!



nkjanssen said:


> I can proudly say that I am constantly finding new music to obsess about just the same way I obsessed about the stuff I was listening to when I was between the ages of 15 and 25. I'm 43 now. I have friends who listen to the exact same music that they listened to when were in their teens and it boggles my mind. I'd die of boredom listening to same few albums again and again decade after decade.


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## Option1 (May 26, 2012)

hardasmum said:


> I'm with you on this. While the "Magic Age" helped form my musical tastes, I'm just as excited about some new music now as I was twenty years ago.
> 
> Some of the music of my youth doesn't even hold up today and in some cases is cringe worthy!


Wot he sed.

Neil


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## fredyfreeloader (Dec 11, 2010)

hardasmum said:


> I'm with you on this. While the "Magic Age" helped form my musical tastes, I'm just as excited about some new music now as I was twenty years ago.
> 
> Some of the music of my youth doesn't even hold up today and in some cases is cringe worthy!


Cringe worth, cringe worthy, "How Much is That doggy in the Window" cringe worthy, that and many other great song will live on forever. There were some mother fucking ugly/stupid songs in the 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's just like today, only we could understand most of the words back then.


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

mhammer said:


> I have it at home on a cassette. Terrific album. Here's Joey and Co. doing Spiderman.
> 
> [video=youtube;i5P8lrgBtcU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5P8lrgBtcU[/video]


The thing about their version is that when I heard they were doing it I imagined it in my head, and when I heard it--it was exactly as I imagined it.
(Which is a good thing.)


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

There's only one thing missing.

There used to be a decent glossy mag called "Musician" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musician_(magazine)) One of the issues, I remember, had a sort of op-ed piece on the last page, where the writer described all the Ramones tunes as starting with either "I wanna..." or "I don' wanna....". He went on to imagine the Ramones doing a Noel Coward tribute: "You're the top, you're the top, you're the top...hey...hey...hey".

Not sure how one would fit in "I wanna..." or "I don' wanna...." to the Spider-Man theme, though.


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## DrumBob (Aug 17, 2014)

I agree. At fourteen and fifteen, I was totally into British and American rock, and had discovered blues after coming through the back door, courtesy the Stones, Pretty Things, Yardbirds, Butterfield Blues Band, etc. The music I listened to in the mid-60's is still the music I like best.


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## Stratin2traynor (Sep 27, 2006)

I can't say that I have a particular musical taste or that it developed between 15-25. Music has always been fascinating to me. I like pretty much everything as long as it sounds "good". Meaning a good recording. I love live music, no matter what is being played. I listen to pretty much everything; classical, death metal, 80's hair metal, classic rock, blues, jazz, top 40, prog, country (thanks to a recent thread where the OP posted a CMT video featuring John Mayer and Keith Urban). 

Like a previous poster stated, I can't understand how some people can listen to the same albums over and over and over and over...That blows me away and sometimes makes me think that I am missing something. But then I start shuffling through my playlist and forget about all of those doubts.


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## LanceT (Mar 7, 2014)

Stratin2traynor said:


> ...But then I start shuffling through my playlist and forget about all of those doubts.


There's a song in there, Springsteen maybe.


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## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

For the most part between the ages of 10 and 20. I was born in the UK in '52. Certainly some odds and ends through the 70's and a bit less so as time progressed. I can't stand what passes for most of the "music" these days. Yes, I'm an old fart.


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