my mum and i had a simon & garfunkle sing-a-long in her car today and it got me thinking about how much my music taste was influenced by the songs i heard when i was a kid and how many bands/albums bring back really specific memories even though i was really young at the time.


what music hold specific memories for you?
what music takes you back to your childhood? what music did your parents/older brothers/sisters play when you were a kid?


i don't have many memories of my dad but most of them involve music. i remember hearing the police and the eagles and the doors in his car all the time. when i was sick and my mum was at uni, he'd take me with him to his office and he'd play jimi hendrix, allman brothers band, chicago, phil collins and the woodstock soundtrack and read me poetry.

my mum played the commitments soundtrack in her car constantly for about a year when i was four or five. i also knew the words to just about every song by james taylor and eric clapton by the time i was five thanks to my mum. she also played the beatles, the rolling stones, bob dylan (blonde on blonde always makes me remember being about four or five and playing with lego in the lounge room at our old house), john denver and simon & garfunkle a lot. i remember her putting them on this really old record player when i was about 4.

when i was about seven my brother would play me everclear and smashing pumpkins and, a bit later, nirvana. he taught me to play santa monica on his guitar when i was about nine. they've been one of my absolute favorite bands ever since.

my mum used to play that all the time. me and my sister used to hide it from her. the cover was so boring so i didnt like it.

i wasn't allowed to watch the movie until i was about 11 because it had too much swearing in it. i used to sing it really loud in the car but in mustang sally i thought it was "take me to the river and watch me drown" so my mum would be like uhh those aren't the words. i didn't believe her until she actually showed me the lyrics when i was 8 or 9.

Patsy Cline and Connie Francis remind me of being young, my mum would listen to them alot, especially if she was ironing or doing bits around the house, and whenever I hear either of them it really takes me back.

My cousin loved the Smiths and I used to go to her house alot, and I always associate them with her to this day because she has their albums on cassette and used to force me to listen to them whilst I protested that I wanted to listen to Kylie Minogue instead.

Madonna's Material Giirl and watching American Bandstand...Getting ready to go to the mall..Typical Saturday mornings in the 80s..

oh yea and I had a babysitter who loved to play Twisted Sister alot...I remember looking at that album with Dee Snider eating that chicken bone (or something) and thinking wtf??