How much of your youth music do you still listen to?

I think I like more of the music I liked in my teens- late 1960s/early 1970s- than I did at the time.

This is a terrible judgement to level, but I was driven to revisit what I had first overlooked by the sheer amount of drivel I heard in the decades that followed. I don't view this as my tastes closing down, because most of the time, I'm not disdaining newer music for being too weird or different- I'm disdaining it for its familiarity, for being such a poor imitation. So feeble that even songs, artists, and bands from the 1960s and 1970s who were considered not particularly outstanding- mediocre, even- often sound markedly superior. All too often, I feel as if I'm stuck in a place between bands that appear sincerely committed to trying to make music of their own design but are slipshod or incompetent at cultivating the vocal, instrumental, and songwriting talents and skills required to distinguish themselves in making durable original contributions; or artists who do have some talents and skills who put themselves entirely at the service of The Industry, in order to churn out mostly contrived Product- typically masked by a stage presentation of either existential "edginess"/sensationalist overkill or the embrace of Vegas Babylon road show decadent hedonism, purposefully constructed with the exclusive goal of attracting as many of those gullible 15-22 year old youth market consumer dollars as possible. The Society of the Spectacle.

There's always new music around that is good, some of it astounding. But the proportion of it that's derivative continues to increase. And in my opinion, many of the musical and performance values that are being most emphasized by emulation these days are the ones that I always found to be the least appealing.

 

I was born in 1948 and experienced first hand the transition from pop music to R&B and rock and roll. Then to rock, soul and psychedelic, etc. I do listen selectively to artists and songs from my youth, and more frequently to artists I liked in the mid to late ‘60’s. A couple of things I’ve noticed as I’ve gotten older. I have the patience and openness to explore artists from the 1950’s to early 1970’s (and later) that I either wasn’t aware of, or “didn’t have time for,” which has greatly expanded my musical vistas, and enjoyment. I’ve also slowly expanded the genres that I favor - to include more world music, spiritual jazz and some more current rock. All in all, what I listen to is definitely rooted in my youth, but certainly not limited by it or to it.

 

I have been buying new music constantly for 40+ years, so I don’t often have the chance to listen to older albums from my youth. But, I do go back listen to artists that I plan to see in concert. For example, I’ll be seeing Paul Simon and James Taylor at Hyde Park this summer, so I’ve been playing the Simon & Garfunkel box (although it’s a bit before my time). The other day, I heard that part on Bookends, where “Save the Life of My Child” segues to the intro of “America”, and I had to stop what I was doing and listen to it again. Man, that is some gorgeous music.

 

My collection is my youth, as I never want to grow up. LOL!

But seriously, back in the teenage days of my life, most of my friends were off listening to Skynyrd, Queen, Cooper and the rock leaning sounds of that time. I, on the other hand, was listening to and really getting into a lot of what my older than usual aged parents had in their collection, (there is a 16 year gap between my brother and I) which was Sinatra, Johnny Mathis and Sergio Mendes & Brazil '66. Naturally, every friends parents at that time had albums by Herb Alpert & The T.J.B. and I still play all of that stuff all the time today. I also got turned onto a lot of great sounds thanks to my brother, who was listening to Motown, Stax and then later The Allman Brothers and Bowie. Of course, I always listen to my beloved Beatles stuff and a LOT of "radio friendly" music from the '60's and '70's. I found that my own musical favorites outside of what I've already mentioned, were a lot of singer/songwriter stuff. I can easily put on an old Andrew Gold or Stephen Bishop album and feel right at home. Through the years I've discovered a lot of great music by singers and groups that I never thought that I would ever care for and I still welcome anyone to try to turn me onto something that I've never heard before.

It's funny about music these days for me, as most of my friends have ditched their main sound systems and have either gone the route of monthly music subscription services or they just play music from their computers using headphones or one of those BOSE WAVE Radios. The only time that I EVER wear headphones anymore, is either when I'm on the air at a radio station or I'm downstairs recording a piece of voiceover production for someone. I just can't get into music unless it is filling me (and the room that I'm in) up with it. I want to hear that bass note, I want to feel those drums. Headphones cheat me out of all of that. I also feel the same way about sound systems that only have "sweet spots". If I have to sit within a range of 5 inches either side of my seat to hear everything properly, then that to me is a bulls$% sound system. Turn on the old tube amp, fire up the Klipsch speakers and let the music play and it doesn't even have to play loud, even though that is the way that most people who have heard old heritage Klipsch speakers feel that it should be. Hell, if I turn my 20 watt tube amp up past twelve noon, then there is something really wrong! Of course I'm rather lucky, as my wife enjoys listening to music, so she often enjoys when I just throw on something, as long as its NOT John Denver or Kraftwerk's "Autobahn" and then she gets pi$$ed, as she can't stand either.

 

not a ton ... I was very into the Yes/Genesis thing in my teens, I will revisit every once in a while but don't follow either versions of the current Yes, and of course Genesis doesn't exist. I moved on to REM, Sonic Youth, Stereolab as time went on (none of which exist any more either) and then in more current times Arcade Fire, Decemberists, Islands, Wilco and others. I have always remained with King Crimson, though, they did enough good new music over the years, and currently touring and releasing, to keep me interested

 

If youth means before I was a teenager, aside from occasionally revisiting some stuff from the radio and siblings... no.

As a teenager, it took about one year for my tastes to develop where the majority of the music I listened to stayed with me. Bands like Linkin Park... no, Dream Theater, no, though beginning with the progressive rock thing I had when I was 16, everything essentially is still being played. So for the past five years, most albums that came to me have kept getting plays over time.

 

Almost none, i grew up in the 90's and listened to euro-dance music before i got myself a musical education.

I still listen to:
- Blur/Oasis
- The Beatles
- Some French singers/bands

 

My biggest change is that I have developed quite a consuming taste for jazz trios (piano, bass and drums) and artists like Bill Evans, Hank Jones and The Great Jazz Trio, Chick Corea's trios, Red Garland, etc. Only my wife knows about this. Also listen to much more jazz, but of the fusion variety. Miles Davis still eludes me in all his forms.

Other more recent artists (but not really surprising) are the Tedeschi Trucks Band, Phish and all things Neal Morse (particularly Transatlantic), even while I am not a Christian.

 

I loved and listened with a passion in my youth to Led Zep and Floyd etc . My Dad thought we and them were just a bunch long haired dope smokings hippies , which was wide of the mark,sort of. Now I'm older than he was then , I realise and am conscious of the fact that todays music is as meaningful and special to the younger people of today as was ours back then. I can't bide listening to some ,though not all of todays music , like my Dad couldn't cope with the culture and music of my youth.
In my opinion , which is maybe completely wrong but, the ratio of gimmicky dross versus quality music is probably the same now as it was back when I was a youth , as it was when my Dad was a youth and as it will be when our Great Great Grandchildren will be youths.
Same as it ever was.

 

True, even back then I didn't like the majority of the music I heard on the radio hence my record collection.

 

I listen to almost none of the music I listened to in high school. I don't even own much of it anymore. Off the top of my head, I have some Beatles albums still but it's been over 10 years since I listened to any of them, and that was because I found one in a thrift store.

My musical taste expanded in college as I was exposed to more. I still like a lot of the music I got into then, but I've heard it enough that I don't really listen to it much anymore. Since the late 70s, I've always been searching for something new to hear. Back in the 80s, even though my tastes were expanding, I still listened to rock most of the time. Now days, I rarely listen to rock. Even rock that I haven't heard from the 60s and 70s doesn't interest me much. When I buy new to me music from back then, 1 or 2 listens is more than enough, so I've pretty much stopped buying it.

I find a ton of non-rock from the past that I live and a ton of new music I love as well. There's so much great new music, I find it impossible to keep up.

 

I still listen to most of it. However, you don’t see me listening to the DeFranco Family much anymore.

 

All you need is hair metal, corporate rock, and a '78 Trans Am with Pioneer Super Tuner/Cassette and you are all set.

 

Apparently a lot of folks are in that boat, which makes it more of a chore for those of us who do want to listen to that stuff, who are (at least relative) completists, and who have moved on to streaming.

Want to hear the complete Mac Davis studio discography on streaming, for example? You're going to be spending a lot of time tracking down or ripping digital versions and then uploading them.

 

I listen to a lot of '60s, '70s and '80s stuff, with a handful of '90s favourites thrown in (ironically as this thread passed I'm listening to Another Miracle by One Ton, which is from 2002).

I'm not sure what qualifies as my "youth". They say that many people stick with what they liked from ages 15-21. In my case it was more like 7-14, which is about 1962-68. That is definitely my favourite period for music.

 

It's funny, a lot of the music of my youth I still listen to and love -- Beatles (together and solo), John Prine, Arlo Guthrie, Alan Price. But some artists, I pretty much stopped listening to along the way, though I liked them a lot at one point -- Cat Stevens, Jethro Tull, Steely Dan. Not sure what to make of that.

 

When I was in my early 20s, I had very little disposable income and, at the time, used CD stores were all the rage so I saw my racks of CDs as an opportunity to prune my collection while still getting a little something back to take care of my essential needs and, in some cases, indulge in purchasing a "new" used CD to add to my collection. In retrospect, I very much regret ever selling back any of my discs and, over the ensuing years, I have reacquired many of those previously discarded discs.

Whether the music I loved as a youth is genuinely great or indelibly imbued in nostalgia, I can't say. For me, it doesn't really matter. I like what I like and I don't like what I don't like.

As a middle-aged person, I don't pursue new acts with the same zeal that I did as a young person but I still very much enjoy discovering new music. This winter, I attended a concert by The Killers and another by Jason Isbell and, on Friday, I'll be attending a Judah and The Lion concert. None of these acts were around when I was young.

But I have to qualify the word "new" to include music that is simply new to my ears, which includes both old music from artists I was not familiar with as a youth (like Lee Clayton or Lucinda Williams) as well as unfamiliar music from artists I enjoyed as a young person. For example, in light of the recent news about Lindsey Buckingham's ouster from Fleetwood Mac, my interest in my Fleetwood Mac collection has been rekindled. But instead of listening exclusively to the same five Rumours line-up albums, I'm now enjoying their "middle years," which is a period I didn't pay attention to at all as a young person. Similarly, I was nuts about Eric Clapton when I was a teenager. I caught him in concert for the first time early on the Journeyman world tour and was blown away. At the time, I gravitated toward his fiery guitar heroics on albums like Disraeli Gears, Wheels of Fire, Blind Faith, his first solo album, and Layla. These days, I find myself newly exploring his mid- to late- '70s catalog, which I never really paid much attention to in my younger years.

 

Hey @Bobby Morrow, did you see that Robbie Dupree's first two albums are being reissued on CD this week? With bonus tracks, of course, so I've ordered both of them. I'll be curious to compare the mastering with the Japanese CD I got recently.

 

Most of it.

 

I listened to three albums this evening, one a concert from 1981 (my youth) and one a 2007 release and the last a 2018 release.

Is this a typical day for me? I don't know, probably not. I would say I'm about 60/40 youth music to new but there is a lot of music I listened to in my youth that I no longer care to hear so I'm perpetually "updating" my collection as some older music just doesn't do it for me anymore and that has been replaced by the newer stuff I find.

Thankfully I've never lost that sense of musical discovery.

 

I didn't know that! I don't have the Japanese reissue, just the original European CD. Sounds great, but only if you crank it.

Will check out the new versions. Thanks.

 

I was born in 1961 and love the music from my youth still. Artists like America, CSN, Supertramp, Boston, Pink Floyd, Queen, The Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, Foreigner, ELO, Billy Joel, Michael Jackson, The Who, The Kinks, Neil Young, Boz Scaggs, The Steve Miller Band, R.E.M., Dire Straights, Chicago, Kansas, Journey, etc. I find today's music to be much less enjoyable to listen to. In fact, I can't stand Hip Hop/Rap which is so popular today. I would rather listen to silence. Oh, and I love 60's music too....my older brother from my dad's first marriage got me into that.

Since my youth, I have come to love Classical and Jazz. These genres fill my need for "new" music......

 

I'm more the case of Benjamin Button. My pre-teens consisted of hair bands like Motley Crue, Def Leppard, Poison, etc. My teens became Zeppelin, Beatles, and Jimi Hendrix. College was Pink Floyd, Grateful Dead, & Steely Dan. Now its Hank Mobley, Bill Evans, the occastional Monk, Dexter Gordon, Coltrane, & Miles. Every now and again I'll pull out Tesla's 5 Man Acoustical Jam on imported vinyl to make my wife happy.

 

Most of it. I still have many of the records I bought back in junior high and high school--over 40 years ago--and still spin 'em regularly. But the music that's had the greatest staying power for me is the stuff I discovered/enjoyed from my college years on (late '70s through the '80s). I also continue to seek out and find scads of great new music. I also enjoy a lot of music that was long gone before I was born.

 

Enough to make it worth keeping.