Pick up to 10 Albums from BEA to Represent Your Childhood - Music

baystateoftheart
Neil Young as a butternut squash

Age: 29
Location: Massachusetts

I've been thinking about how different peoples' early experiences with music can have a formative effect on their tastes throughout life, both through overt nostalgia and by developing a sense of what constitutes "good music." With that in mind, which albums did your parents (or older siblings) play the most around you when you were in elementary school and younger? Which albums would represent your childhood? I would exclude music made solely for kids, unless it made a big impression on you.

Here are mine, in rough order:

1. Northwest Passage by Stan Rogers
2. The Ultimate Collection by The Temptations
3. Tapestry by Carole King
4. The Beatles (The White Album) by The Beatles (the first half only)
5. John Denver's Greatest Hits by John Denver
6. Graceland by Paul Simon
7. Hits by Joni Mitchell
8. Arkansas Traveller by Michelle Shocked
9. She's So Unusual by Cyndi Lauper
10. Photographs & Memories: His Greates... Jim Croce

(I avoided including the album covers because I know having a lot in a row annoys some people.)
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benpaco
Who's gonna watch you die?

Age: 27
Location: California

This is actually a really cool thread, I like this idea a lot. Some of these were more just because of one song but I heard the full album at least once and pre-youtube my music intake was nearly nothing, we only had a few cassettes we'd just play on repeat really.

1 Rubber Soul by The Beatles
2 Digimon Soundtrack by Various Artists (while this had the digirap it was mostly ska punk)
3 Sweet Baby James by James Taylor
4 OK Go - OK Go
5 Abbey Road - The Beatles
6 American Idiot - Green Day
7 Soul's Core - Shawn Mullins
8 Imagine - John Lennon
9 Monkey Business - Black Eyed Peas
10 Blink 182 - Blink 182

EDIT: There was a John Denver album for me too that should probably be here instead of Soul's Core but I can't remember what album. My mom adored him and he actually died in the town I was born in - we went to his memorial when I was about 9 months old, I was on the news as the "youngest mourner" supposedly.
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. . . 2016 . . . 2015 . . .

Things I Make

RoundTheBend
I miss the comfort in being sad

Location: Ground Control

This is really good timing... I'm realizing that the beginning of my musical cognition probably started about when I was 4-5 (or maybe it was 6 and my family was listening to these albums in later years).

And I just finished the 80s right around the time these memories are fresh. Some are when I'm like 5 years old and probably up to 14 years old.

Oh and I have 2 brothers and 2 sisters, so I just did a few things they showed me when I was a kid.

In no particular order (and this is not just the artist or song, it was the album my whole family or a member of my family listened to.

1. Family The Joshua Tree by U2
2.Family Graceland by Paul Simon
3. Dad Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles
4. Dad The Doors by The Doors
5. Dad: various best of collections he'd pick up at gas stations of Little Richard, Everly Brothers, Ray Charles... early rock and roll basically.
6. Sister Nevermind by Nirvana
7. Sister Cosmic Thing by The B-52's
8. Sister Welcome To The Beautiful South by The Beautiful South
9. SisterThe Trinity Session by Cowboy Junkies
10. Brother Mozart: Eine Kleine Nachtmusik / Sympho...harmoniker
11. Brother Mahler: Symphonies 1 & 4 by Harold ... Orchestra
12. Brother Farmhouse by Phish
13. Brother Europe '72 by Grateful Dead
14. Mom Dangerous by Michael Jackson
15. Mom Gypsy Kings... (can't believe they aren't on this site???)

The song Sitting on the Dock of the Bay reminds me of my Dad.

Last edited by RoundTheBend on 05/01/2016 05:15; edited 1 time in total

RoundTheBend
I miss the comfort in being sad

Location: Ground Control

benpaco wrote:

This is actually a really cool thread, I like this idea a lot. Some of these were more just because of one song but I heard the full album at least once and pre-youtube my music intake was nearly nothing, we only had a few cassettes we'd just play on repeat really.

1 Rubber Soul by The Beatles
2 Digimon Soundtrack by Various Artists (while this had the digirap it was mostly ska punk)
3 Sweet Baby James by James Taylor
4 OK Go - OK Go
5 Abbey Road - The Beatles
6 American Idiot - Green Day
7 Soul's Core - Shawn Mullins
8 Imagine - John Lennon
9 Monkey Business - Black Eyed Peas
10 Blink 182 - Blink 182

EDIT: There was a John Denver album for me too that should probably be here instead of Soul's Core but I can't remember what album. My mom adored him and he actually died in the town I was born in - we went to his memorial when I was about 9 months old, I was on the news as the "youngest mourner" supposedly.

I'm guessing some of this is your parents and some of it is older siblings? Cool stuff.

RoundTheBend
I miss the comfort in being sad

Location: Ground Control

@baystateoftheart

Looks like we both grew up on Graceland.

alelsupreme
Awful.

Gender: Male
Age: 27

I couldn't for the life of me pick out 10 albums because pretty much only my dad listened to music in my family when I was a kid.

Greatest Hits I, II & III - The Pla...n by Queen
Bat Out of Hell by Meat Loaf
How The West Was Won by Led Zeppelin
Blizzard Of Ozz by Ozzy Osbourne
Greatest Hits by The Human League

Latter was something I purchased actually, but he was the one who introduced me to them. His tastes definitely influenced mine to some degree when I was first getting into music but not for long I wouldn't say. He's really into Mumford & Sons now for some reason Confused

WildHorses

Gender: Male

Fortunately, I was born into a (big) family with a taste for music. I had plenty of influences, from my parents, cousins, uncles, etc...

These albums have to be the one's i most listened as a kid around the house and some family dinner parties and stuff. (I will exclude some Portuguese band albums because most of them aren't even listed here at BEA)

- The Rolling Stones - Wild Horses (Dad) (also Still Life was playing a lot)
- Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here (Dad) (also Final Cut and DSOTM)
- Dire Straits - Making Movies (Dad) (in the case of Dire Straits, my dad had all the records, but Making Movies was the one that influenced me the most.
- Bruce Springsteen - The River (Dad) (sometimes would just put the greatest hits)
- Santana - Abraxas (Dad) (Also Supernatural was out in that time)
- Billy Joel - The Stranger (Mom) (also The River of Dreams)
- Roxy Music - Flesh and Blood (Mom)
- Sade - Lovers Rock (Mom) (I was already 10/11 at this time but also huge influence)
- Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Green Day, Alice in Chains (cousins) (Hard to come out with just a record, they introduce me to Grunge and Punk)
- AC/DC - Highway to Hell (uncle) (had a crazy metal head of a uncle! thank god!)

benpaco
Who's gonna watch you die?

Age: 27
Location: California

sethmadsen wrote:

benpaco wrote:

This is actually a really cool thread, I like this idea a lot. Some of these were more just because of one song but I heard the full album at least once and pre-youtube my music intake was nearly nothing, we only had a few cassettes we'd just play on repeat really.

1 Rubber Soul by The Beatles
2 Digimon Soundtrack by Various Artists (while this had the digirap it was mostly ska punk)
3 Sweet Baby James by James Taylor
4 OK Go - OK Go
5 Abbey Road - The Beatles
6 American Idiot - Green Day
7 Soul's Core - Shawn Mullins
8 Imagine - John Lennon
9 Monkey Business - Black Eyed Peas
10 Blink 182 - Blink 182

EDIT: There was a John Denver album for me too that should probably be here instead of Soul's Core but I can't remember what album. My mom adored him and he actually died in the town I was born in - we went to his memorial when I was about 9 months old, I was on the news as the "youngest mourner" supposedly.

I'm guessing some of this is your parents and some of it is older siblings? Cool stuff.

I don't actually have any older siblings! Beatles was a combo of parents, digimon was just something that was in a theatre and I loved, Taylor is my mom, OK Go was my cousin introducing us to a thing called "youtube" back in like 06 and us then buying the album as a family, Green Day was a friend of mine from 2nd grade (as with yellow card but that was just that one song people know), Shawn Mullins' Lullaby was the singular song my younger brother liked growing up, imagine was the first cd I was given, I think we had a few by then but that was a gift to me and special, and black eyed peas and blink were my mom liking Gone Going and I Miss You respectively and buying the albums. Denver was my mom too. My taste is now much closer to my dad's, but that's somewhat less child friendly I suppose
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. . . 2016 . . . 2015 . . .

Things I Make

Space-Dementia

Elvis: 30 #1 Hits - Elvis Presley
1 - The Beatles
The Very Best of Ray Charles - Ray Charles
Gold - Abba
Romanza - Andrea Bocelli
ELO's Greatest Hits - Electric Light Orchestra
Simon and Garfunkel's Greatest Hits - S... Garfunkel
Super Hits - Johnny Cash
The Best of the Beach Boys - Beach Boys
Felicita - Al Bano & Romina Power

If you start playing virtually any song off any of these albums I will immediately start singing along. These ten albums are all I listened to for the first like nine years of my life.
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These are my favorite albums right now.

RoundTheBend
I miss the comfort in being sad

Location: Ground Control

Space-Dementia wrote:

Elvis: 30 #1 Hits - Elvis Presley
1 - The Beatles
The Very Best of Ray Charles - Ray Charles
Gold - Abba
Romanza - Andrea Bocelli
ELO's Greatest Hits - Electric Light Orchestra
Simon and Garfunkel's Greatest Hits - S... Garfunkel
Super Hits - Johnny Cash
The Best of the Beach Boys - Beach Boys
Felicita - Al Bano & Romina Power

If you start playing virtually any song off any of these albums I will immediately start singing along. These ten albums are all I listened to for the first like nine years of my life.

This is a pretty awesome list.