Musical Moments

I listen to a lot of music. I have since I was a kid. I wish I could figure out some way to count how many songs that I have listened to, and while I'm wishing, what the songs were; a wish that would combine my love of music with my love of statistical analysis... (those of you that really know me, know how I am with numbers and counting)
While I can never hope to get my wish, I do have some precious music-related data stored throughout my life. For instance, the first 45 rpm I ever bought - that's right, I'm old enough that I remember buying singles on vinyl - was the single "Shout" by Tears For Fears, with a b-side of "Songs from the Big Chair". The first 33 rpm long play (that's what 'lp' means) was "Thembi" by Pharaoh Sanders, and the first shrinkwrapped (to be read "brand new") 33 lp I bought was "Thriller" by Michael Jackson. The first cassette I bought (lp - never bought a cassette single) was "Like a Virgin" by Madonna. The first cd I bought was "The Doors" by the Doors (this is kind of up in the air, since I actually bought several at the same time, but believe this was the first one I listened to). For what's it worth, I also remember where and when I bought the above and who was with me when I bought them. If only I had that kind of recall for what I studied in college... (Okay, doubters, in order: K-mart, 1986, father and brother; Next to New, 1984, mother; Ben Franklins, 1985 - a couple of years after it came out, no one; Ben Franklins, 1986 - this was also already out for several years, noone; Musicland, 1990, college buddy. Here's a bonus for reading what's in the parentheses - first digital download was the Star Wars Main Theme by John Williams, 2006, fiancee and cats.)
I seem to have not logged what the last record, cassette or cd that I bought were, nor do I recall what the first of each that I was given as a gift was.
It should come to no surprise to you that I recall quite distinct moments in time when I heard music that changed the rules of the game, so to speak. There are surprisingly few. I have heard lots of music that I really like, a small portion of which I liked on the first listen. I think of my music listening experience to be like a bell curve, especially first listens. There are very few songs that I love or hate on the first listen. Just examining the songs that I love from the first hearing, they generally fall into three categories - songs from artists who've already caught my attention, novelty / one-offs (what I often think of as guilty pleasures songs and new songs. For example, I am a fan of the band Modest Mouse and when they put a new album out there are usually several songs that I love on my first listen to, which is not surprising since I already know that I like the style of music and love quite a few of theirs songs. Often these are bands that I had to to grow to love and are the vast majority. The novelty / one-offs are like the song "Not My Name" by the Ting-tings. I heard it the first time at an REI while doing some shopping, I believe was Christmas related. The final category is new songs, ones which have proven to be the first of many songs I love by a particular artist, such as "Human Behavior" by Bjork or "99.9 Fahrenheit" by Suzanne Vega. It's from this last category that the game-changers have come, though two will need a little bit more explanation.
In chronological order then, here are the big five.
#1) "Riders on the Storm" by the Doors
It is likely that I heard a Doors song before this one, but it would have been on the radio and dismissed by me. In 1984, my mom bought the double-album "Best of the Doors". I had just gotten a combination AM radio / phonograph. She had listened to the album while I was at school. I remember asking if I could take it to my room to listen to while I did homework (which meant that I was really just going to read or play with toys because in 1984 all of my assignments were finished at school). I put the record on, and never got around to doing whatever else it was I was going to do. Powered by a driving bass line played on organ and lyrics that made sense but at the same time spoke to need to read between-the-lines, all wrapped up in Morrison's voice which was lower than anything I had heard at that point (not counting Bowser from Sha-Na-Na of course).
#2) "Tangled Up in Blue" by Bob Dylan
This is the other choice that needs a little explanation. This was not the first Dylan song I had ever heard, it was the third. It was 1990, and I was a freshman in college. Every weekend when one of the guys in hall wanted to drink, he would blast, "Rainy Day Women #13" which everybody knows by the lyrics "Everybody must get stoned". I hated that song, and still don't listen to it. It's amusing the first couple of times you hear it, or if you are with someone who is hearing it for the first time, but when the drunk guy across the hall plays it over and over and over every Friday or Saturday night all semester long, it loses it's sparkle shall we say. The other Dylan song which I had heard and neither loved nor hated, liked nor disliked, was "Subterranean Blues". It took me years to unravel and appreciate that song. It was directly responsible for my signing up and taking "History of the U.S. since World War II" my junior year. One of my friends made me a tape of "Blood on the Tracks" to which "Tangled Up in Blue" is the opening track. It blew my mind. No chorus, just a line repeated at various points throughout what I thought and still think is a really good story.
#3) "Once" by Pearl Jam
I bought this album having never heard of the band, nor of grunge at that point. I recall that I was at Musicland to pick up the R.E.M. album and they were having a sale of buy two and get the third either free or at significantly reduced price. I decided to pick up a second album that I had been thinking about - the new Black Crows album (their first). After that I just walked up and down the rows. I saw a sign that said, "New". I looked at the album, asked the clerk what they knew about them, he had never heard of them, and decided that was a pretty good criteria.
I didn't actually listen to the album until the weekend, there had been an issue with my R.E.M. album - the cd was stamped as R.E.M. and put in an R.E.M. case, but the music was not R.E.M., it was the newest album from Biz Markie (I would later be informed, as I was unfamiliar with him at that point). The store wouldn't take it back because I had broken the seal. I ended up convincing the manager to actually pop into a player and listen to it. I wasn't even asking for my money back, just the album from R.E.M. He ended up giving me a final offer of 50% off buying the album. I said no, went home to my dorm, called a buddy and told him what had transpired. He ended up coming over, and decided that this was a cd that was going to be worth money and offered me $20 for it which I took and went back to the store and used to buy a new R.E.M. album, which I insisted be tested before I left the store. That's how Pearl Jam didn't get listened to until the weekend.
It was a Saturday night, and I wasn't the partying type at that point. My roommate was gone for the night. Most of my neighbors were gone as well. So, I lit some incense, turned off all the lights except for a lamp in the corner of the room and put on a new album which I was committed to listening to with a critical ear, even though I am sure that I would have rather been hanging out with my friends. But as the album started, I knew that I had made the right choice. It was more guitar heavy than anything else I was listening to at the time, but not in the heavy metal kind of way that I had heard so often growing up. It was more like a garage band, but more layered, and then Eddie Vedder starts singing. There was so much raw emotion in that voice that I was transfixed. The lyrics themselves would have been enough to hook me - do deep and so personal. I didn't even lay down on the bed (the only furniture in the tiny room except for the horribly uncomfortable desk chair). I let the song finish and started it over before even giving the rest of the album a listen. I think I listened to that album at least three times that night, and was on the fourth time through when I fell asleep.
#4) "Jane Says" by Jane's Addiction
I missed "Nothing Shocking" when it came out. I had heard of Jane's Addiction, but as much bad as good. It wasn't until a buddy of mine Junior year - late '92 / early '93 dragged me to a listening room in the library to listen to this "great new album" he had gotten. It wasn't new, but new to him, having been out for several years at that point. We had on these giant headphones that provided amazing sound quality as well as cutting out all outside noises. He popped the cd in and picked "Jane Says" through choosing random play. It was amazing. It seemed accessible like a pop song, but was definitely rock with latin and funk influences. Farrell has a unique voice that you either love or hate, and I loved it. The lyrics seemed so real. Here's a story about a prostitute - it's not "Pretty Woman", it's about how she's hooked on drugs, dreams of the day when she can get out of her line of work, and both hates and loves her pimp. I was already into the L.A. sound at that point - the Red Hot Chili Peppers, everything coming out on SST, but nobody was just telling it like it was without preaching about change. We vowed to make music like that right then and there.
#5) "Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)" by Arcade Fire
 I was listening to the local alternative rock radio station and in the middle of a set they played this song. It was 2004 and we were just back from Minnesota and in fact just newly into our apartment. I was doing something on the computer (big surprise I know), and just stopped. Here is this very densely layered, yet fast and energetic song that is relating a story on one level and critiquing a culture on another. The vocalist sounded so sincere that it almost hurt. I listened intently after the song was finished to hear the name of it and that of the artist. I struck out and was unable to go online to check for a playlist at that time. I listened more hours than I normally would have over the next day or two to find out who and what I had been listening to. In the meantime I had told my girlfriend about this fantastic new song that I could only describe. I didn't do a very good job.
 The next weekend or perhaps the one after that, we were riding somewhere with her brother, and the song came up on his playlist - but before it played, he was excitedly telling us about this great new Canadian band he had discovered. I think he may have bee a little disappointed that I had already heard the song, but the song and the album and the band's other albums are all so incredible that I think he got over it.

 There are a number of other songs that were greatly influential on my outlook, but nothing else that just grabbed me, slapped me silly and put me back down headed in a better direction.