Your very first song.

[LeakyValve]

Was thinking the other day what song really first grabbed me as a sprog. Cannot recall anything earlier than this making a thorough impression on me.
I still love it.
Can anybody recall what first drew them into the joy of the universal language?
Or even your earliest memory of your favourite racket. Something maybe your mum and old man always played.

 

[brutus76]

Mum playing ABBA and the Grease soundtrack flat out over and over when I was 2 in 1978/79

 

[deanc]

Dad was a big fan of Dean Martin, Mum preferred Eengelbert Humperdinck and the Seekers.

Their albums and hits were regulary played at home, specifically when they had friends over. As a kiddie I had no idea what/who I was hearing until years later. Two of their favourite tracks from the respective artists enclosed.

Related, my earliest memory quering their taste in music was asking why they didn't like rock n' roll? Dad said; "We like music you can respectfully dance to (i.e. Waltz etc.) not that nonsense that people jump around like idiots to..!"

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

My parents don't really listen to music. Would have talk radio or sport on in the car

So my first experience of music where I noticed it was through movies - Back to the Future (Huey Lewis), Never Ending Story theme. Still didn't really listen to much

Friends at school started listening to music before I did and drew me in. A couple of songs I recall them belting out at lunchtime were Epic by Faith No More and Poison by Alice Cooper.

 

[Mesc]

My old man used to always play "Wings" flat out on family road trips. That's probably the first memorable music I was exposed to.

 

[Roobs321]

We didn't even have a TV, let alone a vinyl collection or home radio, so I wasn't much exposed to pop culture music. But my father was a pastor in my early childhood so singing along in church is where music begins for me, and gospel/soul has never really left my taste.

This jumps out as the first one, was the most ubiquitous christian praise congregational crowdpleaser in the early 90s, even the little kids could muster a few lines by heart. Could definitely sing the chorus by the time I was 5, and tended to pop up no matter where you went.



Therefore the gospel anthemic stuff on car radio would appeal to me and with REM & U2 often on radio then, if there is one song I recall liking on radio by '93 at the latest as a very young thing it would be this. On any long road trip it was bound to pop up once or twice and it felt comfy, very twilight autumnal vibes. I'd often be reading something in the backseat and this also complemented that well.

 

[LeakyValve]

We didn't even have a TV, let alone a vinyl collection or home radio, so I wasn't much exposed to pop culture music. But my father was a pastor in my early childhood so singing along in church is where music begins for me, and gospel/soul has never really left my taste.

That would be a good way to gain some confidence in singing. Belting out some joyous and raucous gospel piece with the congregation rather than some buttoned-down hymn.
Must have been an interesting childhood.

 

[DEVO]

I was 4 years old when this song was released and when ever it came on the radio I'd run into the Diningroom and turn it up and sit in front waiting for Jerry Hall's "Texas holler". Loved the song as a kid, and it's still one of my favourites 45+ years later.

 

[deanc]

I was 4 years old when this song was released and when ever it came on the radio I'd run into the Diningroom and turn it up and sit in front waiting for Jerry Hall's "Texas holler". Loved the song as a kid, and it's still one of my favourites 45+ years later.

Similarly - I was maybe 5yo when I heard my older sister play this catchy tune that I would mimic walking around the house; 'Pleased to meet you, hope you guess my name' and Mum intitialy not knowing where this came from would reply; 'pleased to meet you too'...

I would not learn of the artist or the song title until years later and then more years later realising what an iconic composition it was for the time...

 

[Spearman]

going back into the mists of time, I remember from my parents, Born Free by Andy Williams and Jonathan Livingstone Seagull by Neil Diamond caught my attention. On my own, I loved the Unicorn song, the Banana Splits theme, and Snoopy vs the Red Baron.

I do remember being in G3 and hearing that the Yellow Submarine movie would be on TV and that I wanted to watch, but my parents said it wasn't for kids or something. Discovered the Beatles later.

 

[smasha]

Probably Happy Birthday.

 

[stax on the mull]

We were kids kind of left to our own devices in the lounge room. No TV but we had the radio on the the backround. It was the late 60's but the local radio still played older hits.

Tequila by The Champs is the first one I remember liking because it seemed odd the way the tune suddenly stopped for the one lyric and then started up again.

 

[DIG]

The first single I got someone to buy me was a record single, not sure what they’re called - 7 inch? Bizarre Love Triangle - New Order. Pretty cool considering I was so little.

Later, the first cassette I bought was John Cougar Mellencamp’s The Lonesome Jubilee which I still think is a quality album .

Later again the first CD I bought was Belinda Carlisle’s Runaway Horses.

Apparently my music taste peaked when I was 5!

Earliest music, well my parents had s**t taste, Cliff Richard, John Denver types so I was influenced by my older brothers, one of which bought MJ’s Thriller when it came out on record. I think Beat It is my first memory of a song I liked. He liked Bryan Ferry, Simple Minds, Phil Collins, U2. My other older brother liked Midnight Oil, INXS, John Mellencamp, Foreigner, Def Leppard. All mainstream rock. I followed their tastes mainly until Grunge came.

 

[Roobs321]

That would be a good way to gain some confidence in singing. Belting out some joyous and raucous gospel piece with the congregation rather than some buttoned-down hymn.
Must have been an interesting childhood.

Yeah, it was that sort of time I guess, my parents were boomers and grew up into that cultural trend for contemporary worship songs. Nice to have extrovert parents unafraid to belt out some tunes. Things changed quickly, they were young then (eldest child).

 

[Pweter]

Get A Job by The Deltones stands out as one of the earliest songs I can remember hearing mum and dad play

 

[Purple7x08_24]

Dad had a huge vinyl collection and I always used to listen to Alice Cooper, Jean Michael Jarre, Time by Pink Floyd.
My first vinyls were
FYC - She Drives Me Crazy
Bobby - McFerrin - Don't worry Be Happy
First songs I loved as a kid were on the tour of duty album (No idea what drew me to it, I think I asked for it) I think whiter shade of pale was my song. I have always loved those 'nice' songs
Whiter Shade of Pale
We Gotta get out of this place
California Dreamin'
House of the Rising sun
chillamatt

 

[RedmanWasHere]

Definitely Don't Cry For Me Argentina as done by Madonna.

 

[deanc]

Definitely Don't Cry For Me Argentina as done by Madonna.

I never was a big fan of Madonna's pop career. Then she had a break, a child and looked to expand into other areas which included such projects as the movie Evita.

Evita was by far Madonna’s best vocal work, which she acknowledges was thanks to months of operatic vocal training she undertook to prepare for this, which resulted in Madonna developing an upper register that she didn't know she had.
Never before or really thereafter did we witness her perform like this - her rendition of 'Don't Cry for me Argentina' is sublime.

 

[MatthewB]

dad is a Neil Diamond fan and i heard this alot and i played it alot on vinyl when i was younger



dad has this as a single for some reason, my sister and i played it alot



these 2 songs stand out

 

[footyfan1978]

I remember my mother loved Nana Muskuri, I am sure I butchered her name but some singer famous in 70's.
My Dad I think listened to kind of folk music. I remember some old singer Harry Secombe used to be something he liked.
I just knew the names but not really the music. I remember there was also some Scottish Highlands music of some kind that one of them also liked. I think I liked it as a toddler as remember it fondly for some reason even though I not really conscious of what it was.
However, when Judith Durham died recently, another person I did not know, I heard some Seekers songs on tv and youtube and thought wow, I remember hearing this amazing folk type music as a little kid and probably even sang along to it. I only remembered this when I saw some of their songs played such as I will never find another you...,

Cancer got both my parents at different points so that no longer with us so I do not know which one of them was more into The Seekers, maybe both of them were but when I saw it on tv a couple of months back, I thought wow, this is like my first memory of music as a toddler as their must have been an album of theirs in our household in 70's that was played often enough for me to remember it now.





However, in terms of topic of whole thread, my own independent liking of music I recall was in early 80's. My older siblings watched Countdown and the like so I heard stuff like Abba, Queen, Rod Stewart, Led Zeppelin, Status Quo, Bay City Rollers and Oliva Newton-John from late 70's but for some reason my own independent conscious liking of any music is hearing some Cold Chisel album played out some outside party in some summer night. I do not know what album, maybe Swingshift but hearing about half an hour of it played with a lot older people in a backyard in front of a nice barbeque I just loved the music. It just grew on me instantly. Maybe it was the song Forever Now or Tomorrow I heard first. It was certainly from some concert, but I could just feel the raw live vibe of the music and fell in love with it. I actually did not know Cold Chisel had broken up already. My first album as a teenager that I purchased with pocket money was probably Barking Spiders live album by them, that was probably released after they broke up or the first sold album of Jimmy Barnes called Bodyswerve. Cold Chisel did not exist so it was closest thing to them that was out new at time. My love of hard, bluesy rock sort of comes from there. I developed other taste for other genre later on but it still my first love of music that I consciously remember.

 

[Spearman]

Get A Job by The Deltones stands out as one of the earliest songs I can remember hearing mum and dad play

LOL We had Sha Na Na with their own show back in the 70s and of course watched American Graffiti many times during those years. Great music.

 

[Spearman]

My older sister had some 45s that she never listened to as far as I remember, so I started to. There was a Motown label with Smokey Robinson Tears of a Clown, an Apple label from Badfinger, The Archies LOL, and its too hard to accurately remember the others.
My first actual acquisitions Tubular Bells and Aerosmith on 8 track. I won one of them from a radio first caller giveaway LOL. At that age 14~15, I got Aerosmith for Dream On, jr. high slow dances , I also bought Edgar Winter Group for Frankenstein. My first real rock song. Finally after that I got hooked on the Beatles and the die was cast.

The Tracks of My Tears was the B-side of Tears of a Clown. Great soul primer.


Frankenstein

 

[sherb]

This is the first song I remember hearing as a kid. And I remember where I heard it too. I would have been about 5 years of age.

Peter Noone (lead singer) still tours by the way.

 

[Gough]

Help Is Its Way by LRB and the Overture to the Barber Of Seville thanks to an opera head dad.

 

[sherb]

Help Is Its Way by LRB and the Overture to the Barber Of Seville thanks to an opera head dad.

That's a pretty good introduction to music. They were a great Australian band. I still have their debut single, which was a hit here (but before they cracked the US market, so it didn't chart there).