EddieM wrote:
Schizoid Man wrote
(snip)
This isn't really an answer to your question but to me at least personally,
my "earliest" recollection of songs that had the greatest emotional affect
to me were these songs below which I'm quite positive I heard around
the late, late '60s (1969?) when I was a toddler.
Dominique by those three Singing Nuns
When I think of this song, all I can hear is "Dominique, 'nique,
'nique" etc.
Constantly by Clif Richard
Richard and the Shadows really had no US impact back then. Never heard
this song.
Thank You Girl by The Beatles
I'll Get You by The Beatles
I should Have Known Better by The Beatles
The Beatles not only did a great job of their own songs, but great
cover versions too.
These are really lovely songs listening to them now that I'm older, but
when I try to bear in mind the earliest moments I first heard them, I remember
being so terrified -- 'cause I didn't know what they were saying or talking
about
yet they were shouting (The beatles)
When I was a kid, I remember seeing them on the Ed Sullivan TV show. I
wouldn't have said it this way back then, but everything about the
Beatles (at least in their early days) just seemed so great that it
made sense for them to take over the music business. They even came out
with an entertaining, yet really different, sort of movie soon
afterwards.
or pleading (C. Richard) and crying (so
it
seems to me) with the singing nuns. Well, that's how I interpreted it then.
Interesting comments...
But what I really think attracted me to this songs which made them exceptional
for me through these years is their rather simple and tuneful melodies.
In retrospect, I've come to realize that often what I'm enjoying and
listening for are melodies. One of the reasons that punk rock didn't
attract me much was that it was so much about attitude, not about
melodies.
I was reading some book and the author pointed out that Nirvana, while
conveying a lot of the punk attitude, had a lot of songs with good
melodies.
Btw, some of the songs above came out in the early 60s.
Don't worry, a lot of readers here are old enough to remember!
So when I listen to any one of this songs I can recall back the time
when I was crawling on the floor and looking up at everyone in the house
cooking... etc...etc.
A lot of my memories of the Beatles and other '60's bands involve my
friends, older siblings, and their friends, all of whom seemed to know
what was new and cool and were happy to share with me. A lot of my
friends who had older siblings were exposed to rock music by the older
siblings, just like I was.
So I guess the question is, what was the earliest song or songs you heard
that had a certain emotional affect to you.....
Anything from the first few Beatles albums. From there, I got
interested in the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, the Byrds, Buddy Holly
(already dead by then, of course), etc. But we also had folk music
(like Peter, Paul & Mary), Motown stuff (from the Supremes, Four Tops,
Temps, etc.), a little James Brown (who was a little extreme for me),
the Monkees, some Top 40 singles from people associated with Phil
Spector and many others, and classical and opera records at home too.
We also had some interest in Buck Owens and Johnny Cash, especially
after Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash started working together and
country-rock (the Band, the Byrds) emerged. So that lead us into
country.
Although I was kinda a music snob briefly in my teens, I've tried to
keep an open ear and mind and not think about who was and wasn't cool.
Trying to do that has enabled me to hear lots of great and interesting
music, even when it wasn't music or artists that my peers liked.
BTW, in rock these days, I nearly always buy any CD from:
Bettie Serveert
Coldplay
Ivy
Paco
Semisonic
Shivaree (Thanks to recommendation in Stereophile of "I Oughta Give You
a Shot in the Head for Making Me Live in this Dump." Couldn't resist
that title and it turns out I really like the band also.)
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