What was your 'keystone' album?
- Thread starter musicman56
- Start date
Chad Allan and the Expressions “Hey Ho (What You Do to Me). Probably the first album I bought with my own money, perhaps age 12. Chad Allan dropped out, Burton Cummings came on board, Randy Bachman stayed, and the band became the “Guess Who”, perhaps best known for the ‘American Woman’ single. Before that Chad’s lead vocals, and Bachman’s innovative-for-its-time guitar riffs carried “Shakin’ All Over” to the charts, becoming a much covered and much karaoke’d song.
After that, I rated my part-time jobs through my teens by the number of albums I could afford per week.
Oh, yeah - I could have selected from the Beatles Help, Fresh Cream, or Led Zep 1 & II, or Hendrix’ “Are You Experienced”, ‘Stones Let it Bleed, or Best of Buffalo Springfield, or Mississippi Fred MacDowell: Live in London, Muddy Water’s Fathers and Sons, BB King’s ‘Indianola Mississippi Seeds’, or Crosby Stills and Nash, or The Band ‘Music from Big Pink’.
But local band “Chad Allan and the Expressions” got me started. And played local clubs too.
After that, I rated my part-time jobs through my teens by the number of albums I could afford per week.
Oh, yeah - I could have selected from the Beatles Help, Fresh Cream, or Led Zep 1 & II, or Hendrix’ “Are You Experienced”, ‘Stones Let it Bleed, or Best of Buffalo Springfield, or Mississippi Fred MacDowell: Live in London, Muddy Water’s Fathers and Sons, BB King’s ‘Indianola Mississippi Seeds’, or Crosby Stills and Nash, or The Band ‘Music from Big Pink’.
But local band “Chad Allan and the Expressions” got me started. And played local clubs too.
MichaelC
pfm Member
What is more, no one I knew at that time had Hawkwind on the radar. From that point I quickly worked my way through the back catalogue. Doremi became a big favourite as did Levitation, and then the concerts. Hawkwind then led me to explore Gong, and in turn the Canterbury scene. I was already very much into Rush but I cannot for the life of me think how I stumbled upon Steely Dan or Neil Young. It was, back then, simply a matter of exploring, taking queues from friends or what was heard on the radio (invariably Caroline or Luxembourg).
Mullardman
Moderately extreme...
Good grief this is difficult...
All through the 50s I felt deprived. I was born 1949 (Birth of the vinyl single). Other people had record players.. other people had radios which could receive more than just piped in cable stuff from Rediffusion. There was none of this in our house. Good food, clothes, shoes etc. were seen as priority.
Add in.. I was not only fascinated by music... but also by its means of reproduction.
Early 1960s I got my hands on a wind up portable 78 player and a few very old records.
A bit later I was given lots of 1940s swing and other popular stuff on 78 which had been collected by my parents and assorted uncles/aunts. I loved all of it. Anything which was music was OK.
Finally. in around 1962 we acquired a Dansette.
Dad bought endless Jim Reeves LPs... plus stuff like The Sound of Music, South Pacific etc.
I still had no money.
Eventually I got my first ever LP. 'The Duke in Harlem' Ellington stuff from the late 1920s. I still have it.
A bit later.. R&B from the Marquee.. Alexis Korner... Then 'The Ray Charles Story'
Then it went into Renbourn/Jansch. MJQ. Brubeck.
Although I always loved the Beatles and so on.. I didn't buy their albums at the time. Everybody had them and money being so tight.. I preferred to buy other stuff.
So.. do I have a 'keystone' album?
I really can't think of one in particular... All the music was out there..
All through the 50s I felt deprived. I was born 1949 (Birth of the vinyl single). Other people had record players.. other people had radios which could receive more than just piped in cable stuff from Rediffusion. There was none of this in our house. Good food, clothes, shoes etc. were seen as priority.
Add in.. I was not only fascinated by music... but also by its means of reproduction.
Early 1960s I got my hands on a wind up portable 78 player and a few very old records.
A bit later I was given lots of 1940s swing and other popular stuff on 78 which had been collected by my parents and assorted uncles/aunts. I loved all of it. Anything which was music was OK.
Finally. in around 1962 we acquired a Dansette.
Dad bought endless Jim Reeves LPs... plus stuff like The Sound of Music, South Pacific etc.
I still had no money.
Eventually I got my first ever LP. 'The Duke in Harlem' Ellington stuff from the late 1920s. I still have it.
A bit later.. R&B from the Marquee.. Alexis Korner... Then 'The Ray Charles Story'
Then it went into Renbourn/Jansch. MJQ. Brubeck.
Although I always loved the Beatles and so on.. I didn't buy their albums at the time. Everybody had them and money being so tight.. I preferred to buy other stuff.
So.. do I have a 'keystone' album?
I really can't think of one in particular... All the music was out there..
kjb
Proof reading not always a strength
Now that’s an album I’d like to hear...
I went back to change this but thought - pah , I quite like the mistake.The trouble with being an impatient pedant is I can spot other people's errors a mile off but am hopeless with proofreading anything I write and am forever missing typos or autocorrect changes.
I'm really enjoying this thread. It's interesting to see how others share the less obvious journeys in the development of their listening , more often than not away from the mainstream, and the way that sometimes records which in the scheme of things are not of great consequence can have such an effect on what people go on to listen to. It seems its rarely "the great albums" that tell the most personal stories.
Darren L
Egalitarian
Growing up we watched TOTP and my older brother was into the Police, ELO, Boston and Hawkwind, so I had a little exposure to non-chart music, my parents had very few records and no real interest in music though they used to listen too Bridge over Troubled waters every Sunday (really loudly) while making the dinner.
My first LPs were David Bowie, Space Oddity, Hereos & Ziggy, (still got them) I can't remember exactly what order, I possibly bought all three together with Xmas or Birthday money, this would have been around Xmas 83-84. As there was very little in the charts that interested me at this stage I started to read the NME and listened mostly to indie and alternative bands, towards the end of the eighties and early nineties I started getting into some heavier stuff, mainly grunge bands. I would say my keystone albums were the Bowie albums.
My first LPs were David Bowie, Space Oddity, Hereos & Ziggy, (still got them) I can't remember exactly what order, I possibly bought all three together with Xmas or Birthday money, this would have been around Xmas 83-84. As there was very little in the charts that interested me at this stage I started to read the NME and listened mostly to indie and alternative bands, towards the end of the eighties and early nineties I started getting into some heavier stuff, mainly grunge bands. I would say my keystone albums were the Bowie albums.
musicman56
50 years hifi & vinyl junkie
Exactly! You've hit the nail on the head. This why I like to ask people this question - it often produces an unexpected reply. Few people cite Dark Side of the Moon as their keystone. It's more likely to be a long forgotten 2nd division band live at somewhere now demolished. Or something. Fascinating!
The trouble with being an impatient pedant is I can spot other people's errors a mile off but am hopeless with proofreading anything I write and am forever missing typos or autocorrect changes.
I'm really enjoying this thread. It's interesting to see how others share the less obvious journeys in the development of their listening , more often than not away from the mainstream, and the way that sometimes records which in the scheme of things are not of great consequence can have such an effect on what people go on to listen to. It seems its rarely "the great albums" that tell the most personal stories.
Tony L
Administrator
There was a clique of us at school who really liked Hawkwind, Gong and a fair bit of prog, plus a lot of UA stuff like Man, Groundhogs, Nektar etc. Space Ritual was my route in and I still far prefer the first four albums to anything that came later. Camel and Caravan too. I tried Rush at the time, even went to see them (Farewell To Kings), but they haven’t stood the test of time for me at all, I couldn’t listen to it now, but that is the same for most ‘rock’. Still love the old Hawkwind & UA stuff etc. That’s something different somehow!
Thinking a out it I can actually trace a lot of this stuff directly to Reaction Records in New Brighton; a wonderful second hand record shop in the ‘70s run by a couple of cool hippy biker types who were very kind to curious little kids like us and gave us lots of suggestions as to where to look next. We could just trade whatever it was back in the next week if we didn’t like it. I learned a heck of a lot from that shop.
PS Thinking about the thread title/concept again I should really add the A Sample Of Blue Notes compilation from 1987. As stated upthread I’d dived out of ‘pop’ very early as a kid, it just wasn’t for me and still isn’t. I’ve always lived out in the left-field somewhere, but this was really the diving board to what I still buy and listen to the most today. The one thing that probably shaped my taste the most. It was bought on a whim for £1.99 and I ended up buying every album on it along with countless other related ones. It really opened the door wide, which is exactly what a good compilation should do. I later gave it away as it had fully served its purpose.
MVV
pfm Member
Two for me. One set a musical pattern that I never stray far from: Jonny Cash at San Quentin. So most of my record collection is American and my musical tastes come from that. Got it for Christmas when I was twelve. The other is The Clash which provided the mind set that has had the biggest impact on my life. People forget what early punk was particularly in the north, it was having a short haircut, drainpipe cords from the Army Stores, charity shop clothes, irreverence, being honest, rejecting artifice and decoration. There weren’t any punk fashion shops in South Yorkshire in 1977 and the Pistols album seemed to take an eternity to come out.
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Seeker_UK
Feelin' nearly faded as my jeans
Now that got me thinking. Dad had DSOTM pretty much the day it came out and I can remember being scared by it (the voices, the whooshing synth noises in 'On the Run') when he played it on one of his 'music evenings' (ie when Mum went out to work). At the same time, there were synthesizer-driven hits in the charts by Chicory Tip, Hot Butter, The Peppers, Kraftwerk so all in all, there was a lot in the background that got me interested in Electronic music but it wasn't until I heard that one TD album that it 'clicked' and realized that you could get whole albums of that stuff.
My mom hated H, most to do with the hairdo (I wasn't allowed to have long hair until it wasn't cool anymore), of course I loved him! Electric Ladyland could probably be counted as my keystone album. Or CSN&Y Deja Vu or Queen II or The Tubes first LP or...
gustav_errata
pfm Member
Although I had been intently listening to albums from maybe 11-12 years old, probably the most formative album for me was Orbital's "In Sides" at ~15 years old. By 14-15 I was already getting into electronic music, not really of the "dance" variety, but when I got "In Sides" I just dove in headfirst and didn't listen to anything outside of electronic, IDM, ambient, etc for years. However, although "In Sides" was probably the album, I would be remiss in not also mentioning Autechre's "Tri Repetae++" (the US release of "Tri Repetae" with the "Anvil Vapre" and "Garbage" eps on a second disc) and Future Sound of London's "Dead Cities", since those played right alongside "In Sides" and helped shape my tastes for years to come.
gary
pfm Member
Keystone album - KISS Alive ! 14 or 15 year's old, loved the gatefold sleeve and the crowd photo inside. Looking back, awful production but opened my eyes to music other than the top of the pops. Ditched forever once i bought Genesis - Trick of the tail, spent all summer at 15 listening to that.
Tony L
Administrator
I did much the same when that sort of stuff started to arrive from the late ‘80s, for my it was KLF’s Chill Out, Orb Journey To The Centre Of The Ultraworld, FSOL Lifeforms, Speedy J Ginger, FUSE Dimension Intrusion, 1st Orbital & Aphex Twin album etc. I’d buy pretty much everything in Warp’s Artificial Intelligence series. An amazing time. It all just really clicked with me.
Aged about 13 or 14 in around 1970 a slightly older friend lent me Hot Rats by Frank Zappa. I'd only heard my parent's two albums (West Side Story was one), Top of The Pops and my older brother's Who and Rolling Stones singles until then. I was amazed that a 'song' could last more than 3 minutes and didn't have to have words!
gustav_errata
pfm Member
Needless to say, I very quickly ended up with most of those albums!