The Loves of My Musical Life
It's been a while since I've written here about anything at length, but lately I've been thinking a great deal about all the bands that have had the most impact on me over the years. I have written before about my lifelong long affair with music, and I've loved a lot of bands and solo artists in my time. If I tried to name them all, not only would I accidently leave someone out, but we'd be here all day. So, that's not the purpose of this post, but I do want to highlight a few bands in particular that stand out as the loves of my musical life - the ones that had the greatest impact on me in my childhood and into my 20s, and they still do decades later. Their music is still in regular rotation in my car, and now I have the full circle joy of listening to them with my own kids.
The only solo artist I'll mention here is Michael Jackson. Because I have to. It all started with him. He was the first artist I ever fell head over heels for, and he remains my favorite artist of all time. If I could only listen to one artist for the rest of my life, it would likely be him. The entire Thriller album took hold of me at 9 years old and never let go. To this day, I can listen to MJ no matter what mood I'm in - happy, sad, angry, or chill - and his music always fits regardless. His death affected me unlike any other celebrity passing; I was not OK for a while. And since my daughters were so young (one was a toddler, and I was still pregnant with the other), I naively thought they wouldn't have a full understanding of his magic. But that was silly. After all, they have me for a mother, and my husband is a big fan too. So, they definitely grew up on Michael Jackson, and he's my younger daughter's favorite of all time too, so we obviously did something right!
The Jacksons: This is why I say MJ started it all. My love of Michael Jackson naturally led me to explore his other music pre-Thriller, and I especially loved the Jackson Five's Motown stuff - so much so that I started listening to my mom's old J5 vinyl albums and claimed them for myself. I still have them now, and she has not let me forget that they are rightfully hers! The Victory album was released in the middle of my deep dive into all things MJ, and I absolutely loved it. Again, I got it on vinyl (my own copy this time!), and I still have it. The Jacksons became my first favorite band, and I had posters all over my wall. I also had my brother (8 years younger than me) able to identify each Jackson brother by name by the time he was a toddler. I doubt he still remembers them all now, but he definitely knew them then! I was so proud.
New Edition: My next loves were New Edition. I could not get enough of NE. Again, there were posters all over my wall, and my pre-teen heart adored them. I loved everything they did as a group but also their solo work, especially BBD and Bobby Brown. This was the start of my boy band appreciation, although I don't think we called them that at the time. But NE, like the Jackson 5 before them, have inspired so many other groups to follow in their footsteps, and it's no wonder why. They are still among the best to do what they do. And fun fact: I've seen more concerts than I can remember in my lifetime, but New Edition was my first. My dad took me to see them when I was 12 years old. Like I said, that was the first, but I've also seen them a few other times since then.
Living Colour: This one was huge. Life-changing. And still is. LC remains my favorite band ever. At 15, i saw them perform on Saturday Night Live. I was watching with my brother, and after, we were both like, "What was THAT!??" Here were 4 Black men completely rocking OUT on national TV. It was unlike anything we'd ever seen. We weren't sure what to think, but I was curious enough that I began to explore them more, and the more I saw, learned, and heard, the more I fell for them. In no time, Living Colour was virtually an obsession, and if the number of LC t-shirts I still own and wear regularly is any indication, they still are. It's no exaggeration to say their music c h a n g e d my life. Changed how I looked at music. Changed how I looked at the world. Just monumental. I learned so much just from listening to the words to their music and listening intently to countless interviews they've done. Also, full circle, I've had the chance to introduce my husband and kids to the band in person and spend time with them on multiple occasions. The fact that they know who I am blows my mind every time I think about it. Teen and college me would never have believed any of this would be a thing. Middle-aged me actually feels like it's a dream too! But these are not only solid musicians, they are good humans. So when I hear people say not to meet your idols, I'm so glad I can look to LC and say they not only met my expectations, they exceeded them. No disappointment here. Nothing but love.
Skid Row: Let's be clear. This is only for Skid Row WITH Sebastian Bach. Skid Row is nothing without Sebastian. But after falling in love with LC and exploring hard rock more, Skid Row entered the picture, and they were everything. Sebastian was just so beautiful and charismatic, and I loved their music too, which was a bonus. More posters, more t-shirts, more love...all for this band. And that love continues now, at least for their time with Sebastian as their lead singer.
Red Hot Chili Peppers: For a few years in high school and college, practically my every thought was Living Colour/Skid Row/RHCP. Those were my 3 bands, with honorable mention to Pearl Jam. A couple of friends turned me on to the Chili Peppers during my senior year of high school, and I was all in. Blood Sugar Sex Magik was huge then and was basically my gateway drug into the world of RCHP. Like Living Colour's Vivid before it, it blew my mind and sucked me right in. Then came the deep dive into their previous albums. Every time I hear them now, I'm reminded of that time in my life when I lived and breathed those 3 bands.
Hootie and the Blowfish: There was a window of time in the '90s when Living Colour broke up (I know, everything always goes back to them!), and I was pretty depressed about it. Nothing sounded good to me in music, which was/is not like me at all. Thankfully, LC is back together and as fierce as ever now, but during that time when I was searching for my love of music again, Hootie came along. I remember seeing the video for "Hold My Hand" on TV and being especially intrigued by Darius Rucker. There was something different about him that caught my attention, and after that, I was listening to Hootie all the time. Their video for "Only Wanna Be with You" in particular struck a chord. It brought me out of a serious funk; I was laughing so hard by the end of it that I couldn't be sad anymore. I'll never forget that, and I can't talk about bands that have most captured my heart without mentioning this one. To all that, I’ll add that Hootie is largely responsible for me starting to listen to and perform country music. Although I grew up in Nashville, it wasn’t until I got into Hootie and they talked so much about country music that I became a country fan too.
Blessid Union of Souls: Somewhere during the Hootie pandemonium, there also came along a band called Blessid Union of Souls. Most people know them from songs like "I Believe" and "Hey Leonardo (She Likes Me for Me"), but when I think of them, I just think of my friends. But when it started, I was just a fan who went to their shows. And I showed up enough that we got to know each other. I have such wonderful memories of hanging out with them in my 20s, memories that will stay with me for the rest of my life. Again, such great guys as well as great musicians. I'm thankful to still be in touch with them all these years later, and to see the original lineup back together again is a dream come true.
Backstreet Boys: Last but not least, I have to include BSB in this list. Besides New Edition, they're definitely my top boy band, and although I was already in my mid-late 20s when they became really popular, I loved them like the teens did. And still do, as I continue to love all these bands. I'd been a casual Backstreet fan at first. I worked in a record store (remember those???), and we'd play their first album in the store. I liked it well enough that I bought the CD for myself but still wasn't so invested that I knew the band members' names or anything else about them...until Saturday Night Live. SNL struck again! BSB was on the show singing "I Want It That Way" soon after their Millennium album was released, and when they got to the part near the end where Nick belts out, "Don't wanna hear you SAAAYYYYYY...," I was immediately smitten. I went about the business of finding out anything I could about him and BSB in general after that and became a bona fide BSB Girl for life.
Like I said, there have been countless bands and solo artists who've influenced me over the years, including a whole slew of newer artists that I love - in part, because of my daughters but also some of whom I've discovered on my own. But these particular bands won my heart during my formative years when I was just getting started, and I guess that's why they stand out most to me and made it onto this list. I always say music was the first love of my life before I met my husband. These bands (and MJ!) are a huge reason why.
stormborns
izzy806
tangentwithtanner
titsay
