Music

I've been catching up on BBC4's Born to be Wild documentaries on American rock over the last couple of days. It got me thinking about the music that really influenced me. I was brought up listening to the best 60s music possible Hendrix, Stones, Dylan and many many more. But the music that I was discovering between the age of 16 - 20 was British indie and American grunge.

There are some records that I remember hearing for the first time and being just transfixed by them. Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana was one as was The Drowners by Suede, Sheela na gig by PJ Harvey, Geek Love by Bang Bang Machine and Glory Box by Portishead. Songs that I had to go out and buy as soon as I could so I could play them over and over again. I mean these were breathtakingly different records. I was always hearing stuff I loved but these were just so different.

You couldn't instantly download them or watch them on YouTube. Even in the early 90s I thought MTV's Sunday night indie show was the epitome of cool! In fact I bought Smells Like Teen Spirit, The Drowners and PJ Harvey's album Dry on vinyl! I left Dry in the back of the car in the sun and it warped slightly making it tricky to play properly but I managed to get it to play!

The only way to find out about new good music was to listen to late night radio shows like John Peel or for a while Mark Goodyear and then Steve Lemacq on Radio One, the MTV indie show on Sunday nights (but I only got to see that if I babysitted for families who had Sky) or by going to see bands, or student night at Ritzy on a Thursday where DJ Dave DD might play something new (especially if it was by a Yorkshire band like Cud) or through word of mouth or through reading NME. In fact I sometimes discovered new bands because the "cool" kids in the sixth form would be singing their songs. That sounds so quaint I know but it's how I first heard the Pixies Gigantic! (That was another I must have that record moment - I heard a sixth form band perform covers of Gigantic and Here Comes Your Man.)

Of course my friends and I were always making mix tapes for each other so we could share the music we'd found or borrowed from the library. You couldn't just pay 99p for the track you'd heard you had to by the single or the albumn. When I first started buying records (1988) singles were £1 or £1.20 so taking into account inflation over the last 25 years they were pretty expensive. Albums were anything from £5 - £7. By the time I stopped regularly buying singles and albums on CD they were a lot more expensive.

Now I hear something I like on 6Music, and yes I still have those - I must have that - moments with music. The last one was Reflektor by Arcade Fire. I heard it on the radio and immediately downloaded it. I could have added it to a spotify playlist if I'd wanted of course. It was instant. I then had to wait a while until the album was out. But that just downloaded as soon as it was out automatically.

I'm not knocking this new technology. Far from it. I wish it had been around when I was a teenager or am I ... there was something about having to be patient and have determination and great detective skills when it came to ferreting out good music. Having to listen to the radio as the only real way of hearing music and for it to be about listening (rather than watching) I remember not knowing what PJ Harvey looked like for some time until she was featured in NME! So in a way I think it's a shame that things are so instant now but I wouldn't want to go back to how it was!

 

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