Music Mondays - Where do our musical influences begin?

I truly think everyone's musical influences begin at home with their families. Whether it be your mother singing in church leading you to love gospel music or with her sharing an awkward story about how you were conceived at a Grateful Dead or Def Leppard concert, it is the first musical influence you get. I know that for me, this is certainly the case.

For the purpose of giving you a timeframe of these musical influences, I was born in 1971.

My mom was somewhat into country music. She would often put on records and yes, even 8-tracks, of Johnny Cash, Charlie Pride, Kenny Rogers, Freddy Fender, The Charlie Daniels Band, and Eddie Rabbitt, as well as many more. I think to this day I could still sing every word of Fender's "Wasted Days and Wasted Nights." The first film I ever saw in a movie theater was when my mom took the whole family to see Coal Miner's Daughter in the small local one-screen theater.

I got similar influences from my grandparents, which is probably why my mom liked country. We would go to their house, which for a time was right across the street, and on the TV would be The Barbara Mandrell Show, some Grand Ole Opry-related show, or perhaps a game show like The Price is Right or The Joker's Wild, which is probably where my love of game shows and trivia comes from as well. Another game show often seen at their house was a popular one at the time called Fandango. It was hosted by country music artist Bill Anderson and all of the questions were about country music history. For a time, my grandfather was stationed in Texas. While there he frequented Gilley's, which was founded by artist Mickey Gilley. The story behind the huge pair of longhorns always mounted on the wall of their home was that Gilley himself gave them to my grandfather to thank him for his service and friendship. Who knows if the story was true, but hey, growing up, it was a cool story to hear.

While the extreme like of country music didn't really carry over to me, I have always like Cash, Rogers, Daniels, Rabbitt, and some others. I also have a great appreciation for some other country music. It also makes it easy to like newer artists like Blake Shelton or Luke Bryan.

When I was seven or eight years old, I got my very first record player. It was all self-contained in a little blue case that opened up. Along with it I got a small selection of records. There were some of what I would call the first audio books, but for kids. They came with a normal storybook, but also had a 45 rpm record that told the story and dinged when it was time to turn the page. There was also a mix album that had Queen's "We Are The Champions/We Will Rock You" on it. Other songs by The Bee Gees, The Village People, and that "Disco Duck" song were also on it. My favorite album of the bunch, however, was "Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron" by The Royal Guardsmen. I almost bought a copy of it a few years ago just to check it out again. I remember songs like "On Top of Spaghetti" on it as I sit here and think about it. Just like the rest of my musical interests, it was a wide mix of things.

I grew up with four siblings -- three brothers and one sister. They were all much older than me, the next youngest being ten years older than me. This was because they are technically half-siblings who had a different father who passed away long before I came along. My brothers and sister seemed to have a bigger musical influence on me.

My sister was always into the more radio pop of the era and disco, as well as artists like Barbra Streisand, who was her favorite artist. I vaguely remember sitting in the yard of her friend's apartment, which coincidentally was across the street where my grandparents would later live, on sumer nights with the radio playing James Taylor, Dan Fogelberg, and more. She often babysat me while my mom was at work in the laundromat (which was also across the street on a different corner).

I think my biggest musical influences come from my brothers though. Like any other boy, I think I aspired to be like my big brothers. With my family there was always someone around. Each of my siblings would move out for a time, but generally they would wind up back home with mom, sometimes together, other times one at a time. Of course with me being younger, I was still at home with her.

My first musical memory related to one of my brothers was when all but one of the five of us were living at home. They had friends over and were doing stuff a young child really shouldn't know about. (Don't worry; the music they were listening to should help you realize what I mean!) I got my first exposure to Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon that night. It was that same memory that I believe I got my first exposure to the band KISS. Of course both bands are now in my top five favorites. Weird how that works.

My brother Eddie (the second oldest) has had much influence on me. Early on, and I suppose this would technically be the first musical memory I have, he recorded me on my fourth birthday soon after I had lost all four of my top front teeth. The set list consisted of "Chantilly Lace" by The Big Bopper and "Help Me, Rhonda" by The Beach Boys. I can still hear the haunting sounds of my four-year-old self slurring and lisping "I ain't got no money, honey!"

Later in my life Eddie got one of those new fancy CD changers that held 300 CDs. He did his best to fill all those slots, too. At times he would just hit shuffle play and let it go. There were so many great ones in there, but the main ones that come to mind was some more Beach Boys, Brenda Lee, Al Green, The Four Seasons, and back to some country for Conway Twitty. It was all mainly stuff I still like a little on some level.

My brother Jimmy (the youngest of my siblings, 10 years older than me), who was the main one behind the Pink Floyd and KISS story above, was more of an influence through his then-girlfriend, my eventual sister-in-law, Carol. She was one of the best influences, I suppose ,because along with her, I not only got my childhood best friend Lenny, but they also had two other brothers, and all of them had extensive record collections. From Carol and family I discovered artists like Queen, Styx, and Billy Joel, all of whom are also high on my favorites list. As for Lenny, that is a whole other story. We stayed friends for so long that most of our own musical choices came from one another.

This leaves my oldest brother, George. He had a HUGE music collection, and as such was a huge influence on my musical choices. He came back to live at home and wasn't happy about it. He liked his privacy. He wound up putting a padlock on the door to his room. I suppose it was a good choice since he had a nosy little brother who always wanted to get into his stuff, and yes, found a way to still get into his room when he was gone. I would break in and just sit and listen to song after song, always risking being caught. Luckily, his biggest collection was on cassette, so it was easier to get stuff put away in a hurry when I had to.

The music I discovered through him is a vast list of greats. We lived in central New Jersey, so at the top of the list I suppose should be Bruce Springsteen. He had his stuff before it was cool to have his stuff, so I discovered The Boss prior to the "Born in the USA" rush. Others on the list included classics like Queen, The Kinks, The Eagles, The Who, and of course a wider selection of Pink Floyd to the more eclectic acts like Slade, Ian Hunter, and Warren Zevon. It is his fault I can sing "Roland, The Headless Thompson Gunner" and "Excitable Boy" and not just the basic "Werewolves of London." Another artist he discovered before most was Prince. It has led me to have a love of Prince since even before he hit big with "Little Red Corvette" and "1999."

Another influence from my mom was Rod Stewart. The first album I ever bought with my own money was Rod Stewart's Greatest Hits. I have owned that album in some form at least five or ten times throughout my life. Shaun Cassidy is another influence that was my mom's fault. All I know is there was an 8-track we wore out!

All in all, I am happy about the musical roots my family has given me. It has led me to so many other great musical choices of my own, many of which we will hit upon in future Music Monday posts, as well as how friends and yes, girls, can also influence you into liking certain music.

Now tell me about your biggest musical influences. Who were your influences in your youth? What artists have stuck with you your entire life because of them?

Photo and Video Sources:

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