#1093: What Are the Earliest Pieces of Music You Remember Loving?

RECORD STORE TALES #1093: What Are the Earliest Pieces of Music You Remember Loving?

We are all shaped by our earliest experiences, whether we admit it or not.  What were the first songs and pieces of music that you remember loving?  Let’s have a look at 10 of mine, from my pre-heavy metal years!

10. The Doctor Who theme.

I grew up with the third and fourth doctors:  Jon Pertwee, and Tom Baker.  In particular I remember the Baker years as the most important to my childhood.  I asked my mom to knit me a long brown scarf like Baker’s Doctor wore.  I also remember sitting in front of the TV and recording the intro music to Doctor Who, so I could rewind and play that tape whenever I wanted to.  The music was all synth, and entirely spooky, cool and catchy.

9. John Williams’ scores.

Star Wars was first.  Empire was second.  Raiders was third.  Those three soundtracks made up the majority of my musical listening for years.  I didn’t own any other records.  Just John Williams.  When you consider the impact that Holst’s The Planets had on Williams, and heavy metal too, it is no wonder that heavy metal music would later speak so clearly to me.

8. Joey Scarbury – “Theme from The Greatest American Hero (Believe It or Not)”

My earliest musical loves all came from TV or cinema.  This was the first non-Williams record I owned, on a 7″ single.  Mike Post co-wrote the song, and he would figure into the career of Van Halen much much later.  “Believe It Or Not” was a pleasant pop song with an irresistible chorus.  The B-side was a ballad called “Little Bit of Us”.  I hated it.  I remember playing the single at 78 RPM to see if it would make the song any better.  It didn’t.

7. Magnum P.I. and The A-Team theme songs.

Here’s Mike Post again, with the theme music to Magnum P.I. starring Tom Selleck.  Funky electric guitar hovered behind a bouncing string section playing the theme.  It was like my John Williams soundtracks had collided with rock instrumentation.  I would sit in bed and hum these themes, singing myself to sleep.  And guess who was behind the A-Team’s music?  Also Mike Post!  Military drums and more symphonic theme greatness.  I was well on my way, wasn’t I?  These two themes were critically important to the whole action TV show genre.

6. Michael Jackson – “Beat It” and “Thriller”

Like every kid in the mid-80s, I loved Michael Jackson.  It would not be an exaggeration to claim that every kid in my grade liked Michael Jackson to a certain degree.  He had a number of hits on the radio, including “Say Say Say” with Paul McCartney, which I was frustrated to find was not on my Thriller cassette.  Of course, I had no idea who Eddie Van Halen was yet, but he was in my head, playing the “Beat It” guitar solo without my knowledge.  Michael’s songs were perfectly written and produced.  His videos were groundbreaking, but I hadn’t seem them yet.  I wasn’t even sure what he looked like at first.  Tabloid photos always showed a gaunt Jackson hiding from the cameras.  Once we saw his videos, I was shocked at how effeminate his speaking voice was, for a guy who sang so powerfully.  Yet, I only played two or three songs on the tape.

5. Culture Club – “Karma Chameleon”

Hot on the heels of Jackson was Boy George.  “Karma Chameleon” was impossible to forget, and I could care less about any of his other hits.  I had the Colour By Numbers cassette and never played it except for one song.  The album cover shocked me!  I thought Culture Club was synonymous with Boy George – a one-man band.  I had no idea there were other members, or what they looked like.  I liked the tune, but this band was not for me.  Eventually I would erase both Jackson and Boy George, and record other things on their tapes.

4. Styx – Kilroy Was Here

“Mr. Roboto” was the song that hooked me, but the album itself was pretty good:  “Cold War”, “High Time”, “Don’t Let It End (Reprise)”, “Heavy Metal Poisoning” and “Double Life” were awesome rock songs!  As before, I had no interest in the ballads.  I played them once or twice, and just skipped them from then on.  Styx were the first band with multiple singers that I liked:  Dennis DeYoung, Tommy Shaw, and James Young.  I wonder what influence this would later have on my love of KISS.  Styx were bombastic and huge.  The gatefold album came with lyrics, which I studied as if they were containing deep hidden meaning.

3. AC/DC – “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap”

I recorded this song from my best friend Bob, along with “The Mighty Quinn” by Manfred Mann, and if memory serves, “Ooby Dooby” by Roy Orbison.  I might be wrong on that last one, but AC/DC was the one I kept playing over and over, sometimes to irritate people.  I remember distinctly telling people I liked the chorus because the singer sounded like “he had a frog in his throat”.  My classmate Alan Runstedtler said “I like songs with the guy with the frog in his throat!” and so did I.  It was pure comedy and novelty to me, but the guitars lay the groundwork for what would come later.

2. John Fogerty – “The Old Man Down the Road”

MuchMusic had arrived!  I had no idea who Fogerty was, or that he was in a legendary rock band called Creedence Clearwater Revival.  All I knew was that he had a really, really cool music video on TV, and I couldn’t stop watching it.  The upbeat bluesy song with rattling slide guitar seemed cool to me.  I decided that I liked John Forgerty based on that one song.  I was slowly discovering rock music, and the last song on this list was the last one I loved before going full-metal in 1984.

1. Quiet Riot – “Cum On Feel the Noize”

I didn’t know what they looked like.  I didn’t know anything about their prior history, the two Japanese albums, or Randy Rhoads.  All I knew was I had finally found “my thing”.  My sound.  Bombastic, big, loud, catchy, well-written, and perfect.

Without Quiet Riot, I may never have taken my next tenative steps:  Helix, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and W.A.S.P.  All much heavier than Quiet Riot.  Without Styx, I might never got gotten into Quiet Riot.  Without John Williams, I might never had dug into Styx.  Who knows?

I loved Quiet Riot well past their best-before date.  I remember other kids at school making fun of me for calling Quiet Riot my favourite band.  “They’re out!” laughed Ian Johnson.  “Duran Duran are current!”

Fuck Duran Duran.

My journey into metal was natural and organic.  I don’t know if those kids from school even listen to music anymore.  Their loss.

24 comments

  1. Now you got me thinking. I would have to think long and hard about a top ten but I think the first two musical pieces I remember is the themes to Gilligan’s Island and definitely number one is Batman with Adam West.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  3. I was talking about this with my dad (born 1955) and he was talking about early 60s songs like Peggy March’s “I Will Follow Him” and Booker T. & The MG’s “Green Onions”. I’d say my earliest memories of songs I loved were Britney Spears’ “Oops I Did It Again” and “Baby One More Time”, Enya’s “Only Time”, and right around that time there were a couple more classic rock ones Santana’s “Smooth” – that one’s one of my favourites. I also really loved Phil Collins’ Tarzan soundtrack. My teacher in grade 3 would play the Tarzan soundtrack all the time.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. I have to tell you Angie, Hit Me Baby One More Time was Peter Kerr’s #1 “One” song on Friday night. Her impact was huge!

      I too grew up on Phil Collins – but not the same song. For me it was “Easy Lover” from Phil Collins and Bailey!

      Thanks for the comment Lana!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  4. That is the only Dr. Who that I know. They used to show his episodes on PBS back in the 80’s and I watched a bunch of them. On the Greatest American Hero, I have 2 45’s. One of them is either for you or Rob if I can find other stuff to send since shipping cost so much.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  5. Interesting topic, Mike. I relate to a lot of your examples. My own experience was that my parents were barely aware of rock or even pop music and so growing up I was mainly exposed to classical and folk music until I started hearing music at the houses of friends or school events. I remember I didn’t even know John Lennon was in the Beatles when he died and I read about in Time Magazine and heard tributes on the radio. The first record I remember liking was All-Star Hootenanny, a various artists collection on Columbia Records (1964) which introduced me to Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash, the first Peter, Paul, and Mary album (Columbia, 1962), and various Joan Baez and Jean Redpath albums my parents had. The first LP I had of my own was one by a less well-known folk singer named Tony Saletan I saw on TV (PBS). When I started getting interested in rock and pop a little later it was because of commercials I used to see for K-Tel collections on TV. The one that I liked best and got as a present was called “Dimensions” (1981) which featured artists like Journey, Styx, Daryl Hall and John Oates, and Gary Wright. I also became interested in Queen during this period and remember hearing “Another One Bites the Dust” on a car radio, and then being disappointed to discover that my new favorite song was already old and one could not find the 45 single at Record Town! Later I tried the same thing with Fleetwood Mac’s “Rhiannon” but by then there was a reissue program and I was actually able to get that one which was the start of my singles collection (I also started buying new songs I heard on the radio, mostly from the chart countdown shows by Casey Kasem and Dick Clark I used to listen to).

    Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone

    Like

    Reply

  6. I liked Wham! a ton. Couldn’t really explain why.

    Walk This Way by Run-DMC and Aerosmith feels like one of the first things I really liked that my parents wouldn’t have known about or been into.

    I don’t remember this, but this is what my dad texted me when Roger Whittaker died about six weeks ago:

    “Hey son. Roger Whittaker passed away. I know it doesn’t mean much to you but when you were a baby you loved Mammy Blue. Before your mom and I put you to bed we would sit you on the couch downstairs. Put on headphones (yes they had them that long ago) and we would crank up Mammy Blue. You would smile and sing along. Of course you couldn’t pronounce Mammy Blue but you sure tried. I’ll never forget the grin on your face when we played that song for you. Every night.“

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  7. Loved TV Themes as a kid. Too many for me to mention. Dr Who scared the crap out of me. Weird Al and The Monkees were probably the first two “bands” I was into. Then Video Hits on CBC was a huge early influence. Michael Jackson, Cyndi Lauper, Huey Lewis, and DLR were early favourites.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  8. I remember dropping everything and running to the radio whenever the chicken version of In the Mood was on. That’s right it was bawk bawk bawk all the way through. This was the first example of sampling that I ever heard in the early 70s. My Dad only listened to country music so it must have been on a country music station despite the original being big band.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a reply to Jat Storey Cancel reply