What Song Got You Listening to Your Favourite Bands?

Apr 10, 2014
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December 2017, I caught the last half of this song on Triple J while at work and was super impressed. I took down the artist and title and went home and listened to the rest of the song + all their other work, and truth be told I've never gotten into a band as fast as I did with this one. Safe to say I was instantly hooked.

They instantly became one of my favourite bands ever and I know them and all of their songs inside out like a hardcore super-fan.

 
Apr 28, 2008
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Autechre - Kid A reviews led me to Amber

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - Fifteen Feet of Pure White Snow video

Ella Fitzgerald - When Kiarostami's Like Someone in Love trailer was released, I think I mentioned something about a "Bjork cover" (oh dear). That was when Ella entered my radar, although didn't do anything about it for another 2 years.

In the mid 00s a lot of revival/NME bands were having breakout singles played on Video Hits on the Sunday Morning (Channel Ten at the time were good for that sort of thing). That was how I got into Wolfmother (Mind's Eye) and Bloc Party (Two More Years), among others. Whilst not favourites, they were essential to my final year of high school, and I got all my friends into them.

I watched the film The Sunnyboy in 2014 before I had ever heard a song from the Australian band. The following year I became obsessed.

Radiohead's No Surprises video briefly popped into the rage top 50 in xmas '97, and so that video stuck with me over the years, ultimately got me to give them a try 7 years later.

I wasn't particularly a Madonna fan (I think I had just got into Like a Virgin), until I heard Live to Tell during a showing of At Close Range on HBO in Indonesia in 2009. That song stuck with me, and within 12 months she was in heavy rotation.
 
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djrossie16

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Mar 15, 2009
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With Nirvana probably Smell like Teen Spirit lol
With Radiohead probably Creep lol. Can't really remember how exactly with both but i'd wager this way!

Is this Love - Bob Marley
Between the Bars - Elliott Smith
Bittersweet Symphony - The Verve
Glorybox - Portishead

Liking RHCP a lot when I was younger some of the bands them and Frusciante covered got me looking into those bands proper:
Castles Made of Sand - Jimi Hendrix
Search and Destroy - The Stooges

Both The Doors film and the Joy Division Ian Curtis film Control made me look deeper into those bands catalogues and become a fan.
Also many times watching the Jools Holland show on foxtel and seeing a great live performance provoked me into looking up that band more. Off the top of my head from Jools Holland songs like Human Being by The Beta Band and Two Weeks by Grizzly Bear.
 
Can't be entirely sure about the artists from the 70's because I was around 7/8 years old when they first came out.

Bryan Ferry - Let's Stick Together. The first song I remember liking when I was around four, I would race out to the loungeroom and turn the volume up whenever it was on. Still love this song.

Blondie - Fan Mail. Opening track from Blondie's second album Plastic Letters.
Devo - Satisfaction. Cover version of Rolling Stones classic.
Kate Bush - The Man With the Child In Her Eyes.
Heart - Barracuda.
Roxy Music - Love Is The Drug.

Falling Joys - You're In A Mess.
The Clouds - Cloud Factory.
Curve - Coast Is Clear.
BRMC - Whatever Happened To My Rock 'n' Roll.
 
Lying in my bedroom, heavily stoned, with a speaker pointed towards my head on each side of the bed.
Listening to ‘Three Hours of Power’ on JJJ. Loud.
Cue a brand new track ‘Killing in the Name of…’
Blew my ******* mind!!!! Then the ‘* you, I won’t do what you tell me!’ ending. Mind double blown. It was just so powerful for its time.
Went straight to the record shop and bought the album the next day and never looked back.
 
May 25, 2009
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Rise Against-Give It All. It was on Need for Speed Underground 2 and I really liked it. I found it on Youtube, came across some of their other songs and have been hooked ever since.
Megadeth-Symphony of Destruction. This time it was a remix of the song on Smackdown vs Raw 2006 that got me to look for the original.
 
Aug 27, 2014
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Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - Breakdown. The only song I liked on first listen when a mate lent me his copy of their debut album. Needless to say it grew on me.

Cold Chisel - Bow River. Radio.

ZZ Top - Entire Eliminator album really. JBHiFi had a massive sale one day and I picked it up for $8. The first 4 songs really sealed the deal.


Fleetwood Mac - Don't Stop. Radio.
Eliminator was awesome album but think I first listened to them by seeing the fun videos on late at night in early to mid 80's.
Tom Petty never had albums but enjoyed the songs I heard on radio.
Tom Petty and Stevie Nicks I just seen other day on duet of Stopping Dragging My Heart around. Just a great song I must of heard before I too young to know what it was but seeing it on a video the other day just made me know I loved it as a little kid without even knowing whom was singing.

Cold Chisel I sure I just heard from so many different sources but mainly just played by people at parties and backyards and it just gets into your soul.
They had broken up by the time I was even conscious of music. I think I just about have every album. Maybe the only band I have every album. Mostly on cassette tapes from mid 80''s.. Man, Swingshift the live album got a serious work out in mid to late 80's and just love the music live or studio.

Back in Black by AC/DC is another album I just played and played in mid to late 80's. I had Fly on Wall that came later but Back in Black and earlier stuff with Bon Scott I just love the whole feel of them back then. Never really got albums after Fly on Wall as Back in Black and earlier stuff I loved too much to need more...

Some bands or musicians I a slow burn on. I might hear one or two songs I like but never really get into them too a lot later.
U2 and Prince certainly music I listened to more in late 80's and early 90's than early 80's but love both.
Us New Year's Day I liked a lot. I probably did not take much notice of whom the band was when first heard it but years later it stands out as my first real memory of U2 music but took until Achtung Baby album for me to ever buy an album.

Prince I think the guitar riffs and singing in Let's Go Crazy were just awesome but actually did not really buy any albums until late 80's Seen video of Sign of Times which live concert footage and was hooked. Go back and listen to Purple Rain album and remember played it a lot on long drives out of Melbourne and just feel in love with all of it but I think Computer Blue such an awesome thing to listen to I was hooked since.

Red Hot Chilli Peppers, I had heard Give it Away on radio and enjoyed but one of my older brothers got me the album Blood Sugar Sex Majik for Christmas and like Purple Rain and Back in Black it an album I just could not get enough of. Maybe Funky Monks sealed the deal as one song in particular.

Midnight Oil probably Power and the Passion song.
Stand In Line sealed the deal too.
 
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No single song actually , but "Iron Maiden - A Real Dead One" as whole.
Two Minutes to Midnight.
Run to the Hills.
Two songs instantly think of when think Iron Maiden.
I think I had some album called Powerslave. Not even sure where it is. Probably another thing I had on cassette tape in mid 80's
 
Aug 27, 2014
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If I look back it more albums that grab me to love a band or artist or maybe just hearing or seeing live.
As so many artists , bands and singers can be one or two hit wonders it probably takes a bit for me to really get convinced a musician has got the goods I going to fall in love with more and more.
 
Sep 15, 2011
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More recently;
Bloodbuzz, Ohio got me progressively making my way through The National's back catalogue.
Fill in the Blank was a cracking song that led me to download the Teens of Denial album before digging up the more obscure indy releases.
And I was hooked on Gang of Youths from the moment I heard The Diving Bell.
 
Jul 14, 2005
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More recently;
Bloodbuzz, Ohio got me progressively making my way through The National's back catalogue.
Fill in the Blank was a cracking song that led me to download the Teens of Denial album before digging up the more obscure indy releases.
And I was hooked on Gang of Youths from the moment I heard The Diving Bell.

High Violet seemed like the first time casual music listeners were paying attention to The National. I remember maybe ten people in my year level individually seeking it out and becoming fans. Felt like 3 years early it was the same story with Kings of Leon and Because of the Times.

I got into them pretty quickly once I'd heard Apartment Story. Feel like for the past decade I've found a new favourite National song ever 6 months - their back catalogue is that good, songs work as both singles and in the context of an album.

Fill In The Blank was the first CSH song I heard, but found Will's voice pretty grating at first. Seeing them perform Drunk Drivers/Killer Whales on Fallon made me want to seek them out.
 
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