Where Did You Find Music?
Posted by New_Dealer8376@reddit | GenX | View on Reddit | 168 comments
When I was 15 or 16 I saw all of the John Hughes films; Breakfast Club, 16 Candles, Pretty in Pink, etc. While I absolutely adored those soundtracks, I was always looking for out of the way music. I remember distinctly in the intro to Breakfast Club there was graffiti on a stairwell and the back of a notebook and in both places The RaveUps was scrawled. I had no idea what the scrawlings meant, but mentioned it to my best friend at the time whose father owned a record store. He overheard our conversation and said oh yeah, The RaveUps are a fun band and pulled out their album to play for us. I then discovered that the live show Andy and Ducky went to see was the RaveUps in 16 Candles. I loved that album so much! How did you guys find random music before the internet and Spotify? Anyone else love the RaveUps as much as I did?
irishgator2@reddit
Regular radio, college radio, soundtracks, friend’s mixtapes, and 120 minutes on MTV
Lead_or_Follow@reddit
FM radio
classicsat@reddit
I listened to the radio. On one of my good Hi-Fi tuners that could pull stations from all over.
And of course what few outlets I had for music videos (I did not have cable or satellite, so no MTV or MuchMusic) . Most were pop oriented, but I took them.
Smart_Butterfly_7845@reddit
My mom had vintage vinyl from the 60s (Beatles, Stones, Beach Boys) and then my older brother built a collection with Led Zep, Floyd, Jimi, The Who...everything. This was in the hey day of 1970-80s FM radio and the onset of MTV in a life without social media. Music was a connector for kids around the neighborhood.
ancientastronaut2@reddit
Back in the day, KROQ was the place. The late night shows and guest DJs often played more obscure stuff, while during the day it was more hits. But I also listened to other stations, and had a lot of influence from my parents and older siblings, as well as my brother in law.
Stephvick1@reddit
There was always music in our house, my mom loved opera and classical and the Beatles, my father liked Dylan, the Stones , The Doors and Blue Grass. My Stepfather is a classically trained pianist. My friend’s mother loved Donavan and lots of other 60’s music. I loved listening to the radio and pestering my older sister about the new records she just got like Zeppelin, Aerosmith (the first band I truly was into).
moneyman74@reddit
Mostly just the radio and what other kids listened to at school. I remember a 'dirty raps' tape that was passed around to every kid in school. No idea if that music is lost to history or what became of it.
Shoehorse13@reddit
I grew up in SoCal so had KROQ and 91X to guide the way.
bloodinthecentrifuge@reddit
I remember seeing Rodney Bingenheimer at Canter’s in like 1998. It was so cool. Yeah KROQ and 91X were great
A_friend_called_Five@reddit
How I became a lifelong Beatles fan was when a friend passed me a mixtape that his friend had given him. This was mid-to- late 80s.
Uncle_DirtNap@reddit
Hang out in record stores.
erilaz7@reddit
I went so far as to get a job in one. I've been introduced to lots of new music by playing things that looked interesting and by hearing what my co-workers played and recommended. And even what customers recommended; that's how I discovered the awesomeness of Sheila Chandra.
erilaz7@reddit
Radio was my primary source in my teenage years. Trips to L.A. and the Bay Area — and then moving to Berkeley for college — gave me access to better stations with more interesting music. I discovered two of my all-time favorites (Siouxsie and the Banshees and X) on KROQ on a trip to L.A. during my senior year of high school. The Dr. Demento Show was also crucial.
Music video shows on TV. My family didn't have cable, so I rarely saw MTV, but there were some interesting shows on broadcast TV in the '80s that introduced me to artists like Kate Bush and Lene Lovich.
Recommendations and tapes from friends. That's how I discovered Shonen Knife and Cocteau Twins, for example.
Music magazines like Rolling Stone, Spin, and BAM. Later also British imports like Melody Maker and NME.
And finally, working in a record store for a large chunk of my life turned me on to all sorts of great music. It also made me aware of how much music I simply can't stand.
New_Dealer8376@reddit (OP)
I just saw X here a few years ago, they are still terrific!
erilaz7@reddit
They are! I was right up front (as usual) when they came to Berkeley in December 2024, and I just saw John Doe solo at a small venue in my neighborhood earlier this month.
StatisticianWhich147@reddit
"The Cutting Edge" - IRS Records' TV show hosted by Peter Zaremba aired once a month, Sunday night on MTV. It was the predecessor to "120 Minutes". I discovered so many great artists through that show. You can find clips on YouTube.
9inez@reddit
Music mags, local music oriented “newspapers,” record stores, friends that worked at record stores, live shows, local college radio stations, 120 Minutes. I was not into mainstream radio after about 1982, as punk and its evolution overtook my preferences.
legerdemain07@reddit
In elementary school, I used to watch Friday Night Videos and listen to Casey Kasem’s top 40 on Sunday mornings religiously. The skating rink in our town also kept up on the popular songs fairly well. Once I got into junior high, it was more about what was playing on MTV. By high school, it was word of mouth from my friends.
Ok-Offer-541@reddit
Are you my twin?! I did all this! 👆🏼
Select-Belt-ou812@reddit
a guy I knew told me about Arthur Brown, and I never looked back. he's well in his 80s, still going strong, still releasing albums, still incredible range, and literally nearly every genre
ShookMyHeadAndSmiled@reddit
I was lucky enough to see him with Carl Palmer's ELP Experience in a prog fest with Yes and Asia. He's an interesting character.
Select-Belt-ou812@reddit
he lived in texas for a while - in the late 80s/early 90s? - became a professional therapist and would, after a while of treatment, write songs for folks about their trauma and healing and sing the songs for them ! I wish in so many ways that I had known then what I know now, lol. I had tickets to 3 of his shows around England some years back but my longtime partner got cancer - she's ok so far now - and we had to abort the trip! my one and only chance to be a groupie for a weekend :-)
Myfreakinglyfe@reddit
Music was a HUGE part of my childhood. My dad was a musician. He played piano, guitar, banjo and the harmonica. He was also a first tenor with a gorgeous voice. So he was either playing music or we were listening to records. And we had everything…classical, rock and roll, country, jazz, blues, musicals and movie soundtracks. My parents also had a subscription to Rolling Stone magazine for many years. I didn’t need to look for music as it found me. It was a wonderful way to grow up.
claradox@reddit
My dad had a Wurlitzer jukebox, and collected one-hit wonder 45’s. He would also play a game with me when I was a kid: when a song started, he would see if I could name the song, the artist, and whether or not it was a one-hit wonder. While other kids were listening to the radio, Dad was playing the first albums of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Four Tops, and The Temptations. Thanks to him, I saw The Rolling Stones fifth-row center. I knew the songs in the Dirty Dancing soundtrack thanks to him, and the double-album soundtrack to The Big Chill played in our car every time we rode down to Myrtle Beach.
Dad was my DJ.
We have continued to toss music back and forth to each other for my whole life. I turned him on to Taylor Swift, Melissa Etheridge, and grunge, and got him set up on Apple Music. He introduced me to the Discogs website…and still has a jukebox in the house.
He’s the coolest. He turned 81 last week, and still does things like randomly sing snippets of Pearl Jam while he is puttering around the house, imitating Eddie Vedder’s growl and emphasis. “Don’t call me daughter, not fair to me…”
claradox@reddit
A little trivia: The RaveUps were included in both movies because they were one of Molly Ringwald’s favorite bands.
hemibearcuda@reddit
Our first stop in every mall was the record store.
That was the best way to discover music that you would likely never hear on MTV or the radio.
For example, I'm a big Iron Maiden Fan since the mid 80's. Other than headbangers ball at 1am, you'd never hear any Iron Maiden music on the radio or MTV. if they dropped a new album, you wouldnt know unless you saw the demo in the record store or read about it in a magazine.
introvertednurse75@reddit
I have listened to music all my life. My dad's hobby is as a musician and growing up, I got to hear his band play. I listened to the radio and when MTV came out I watched it. My best friend had older brothers and we would sneak into their room and play their music (hard rock and metal). She and I also started going to a local music instrument store. Like a small guitar shop. They had some actual well known musicians come play there, along with some local bands. We would go hang out there and we met some of the guys there that worked there and were also in a local band.
Key-Cattle-2866@reddit
I grew up in town that was so small we couldn’t get cable TV so I didn’t have MTV. I used to read Spin and Rolling Stone to discover new music that sounded interesting. I lived about an hour from Birmingham, Alabama and would read The Birmingham News. The entertainment writer had good taste in music and I found things by reading his music and concert reviews. When I discovered R.E.M. and U2 around 1983 it really helped define the musical taste for the rest of my life. When I moved away for college, it was the first time I could watch MTV and 120 Minutes became my favorite sow. The college radio station was really good and we had some great concerts on campus when I was in school.
EnnazusCB@reddit
I had a punk friend and listened to records at her house
ChiliSama@reddit
A local radio station on Sunday nights from 11PM to about 2AM, they had a DJ that played Indie/Local/Alternative/even Hard Core Punk. I recorded as much of it as I could so I could share and not worry about falling asleep.
Ok-Somewhere-766@reddit
My father. He was in bands from the age of 14 and had encyclopedic music knowledge.
Honeybee71@reddit
My best friend had MTV and an older brother who listened to metal.
Fudloe@reddit
My friends. Their cool older siblings or uncles & aunts. Coming out of car windows in the parking lot of my school. Movies (as mentioned), scanning the radio dial (because college and local stations weren't all owned and programmed by the same corporation who owned the record labels and sold the tickets and DJs were actual, real, live human beings who played what they wanted- although this can now be found- literally millions of independent broadcasters on the web). Because the cover art of an LP looked cool, totally by accident and totally by mistake.
Honestly, the only difference between how I found new music then and how I find it now is that I have to take a slightly more active role in the process, sometimes.
MichaSound@reddit
The Rave Ups and the Psychedelic Furs were two bands that Molly Ringwald loved (and i think she might have been dating one of the guys from The Rave Ups when they made Pretty in Pink?), and that’s how they came to be in the movie.
yanknga@reddit
I was in Atlanta in HS and college. Atlanta had a couple of really good radio stations like WRAS at Georgia State. They played all sorts of new or obscure bands. Being not too far from the Athens, GA music scene also helped with new music.
Grand_Taste_8737@reddit
When ai started learning to play guitar, GnR, Metallica. Lol, couldn't play it at all then, and now, let's just say Slash and Kirk have nothing to worry about. I still enjoy it but have switched to learning more acoustic songs by Eagles, CCR, etc.
kalalukamahina@reddit
Grandpa had a record store. Classical, jazz, and kids music every birthday and holiday. Also, album rock/long form FM radio; then in elementary school a friend’s mom had a fantastic collection of 33 1/3 LPs of Motown and disco and folk. My friends in high school introduced me to prog and metal.
Atlantean_truth@reddit
Word of mouth usually through friends. Take for instance my family moved to a different town in 1986 when I was 11 and met a guy named Jason whose parents were well off and he had a really extensive eclectic music collection of tapes with everything from the Butthole Surfers to Motley Crue to the Sex Pistolsto Jimmy Hendrix he had everything. Also music stores were a treasure trove of discovering music. All the employees were usually music nerds who knew about every band you could ever think of. Back then you had to really search out for things your self and discover something.
NPC261939@reddit
Four years old in my dad's Dodge Aries station wagon. Black Sabbath came on and radio and I was immediately hooked.
Ok_Industry3016@reddit
Radio, CDs, concerts.
arthousepsycho@reddit
Usually radio and music magazines for me. NME, Melody Maker, Kerrang. John Peel’s radio show was massively influential on my listening in my teenage years. Then music channels too once they came along.
dadsgoingtoprison@reddit
When I was a kid my dad was a youth director. I was always around teenagers. I was into the music they listened to. This started in the early 70’s.
Bartlaus@reddit
Well, up to a certain point my main source was the radio, and whatever other people around me were playing. So, mostly whatever was popular in the mainstream. However I flipped metalhead shortly before I turned 16, and let me tell you, being a metalhead in a rural bit of Norway in the late 80s was a bit random. (Note: this was a few years before the whole Norwegian black metal scene got started so that wasn't a thing yet.) Main sources for new music were occasionally hearing something played by one of the two or three other metalheads in the area, or the one weekly hour of hard rock/metal programming on the national radio (I sat by with a blank tape to record each program in case some of it was good, actually discovered several long-term favourite bands this way). In addition there were magazines talking about bands and new albums and stuff, as well as some random tapes I bought from record stores simply because the covers looked interesting.
JJQuantum@reddit
I have 3 older siblings who are all Boomers. They listened to music when I was little that I liked. Around 7th grade I started listening to their music and realized about 90% of what I liked that they played was the Beatles. That started me down the road of listening to music.
Significant-Theme253@reddit
If I remember correctly, ads in magazines and on the radio. My husband used to trade music with people all over the world. The only way he could get something, is if he had something someone else wanted. He recorded concerts all over from local bars and various other venues and then traded with others. He has even had band member reach out to him over the years.
New_Dealer8376@reddit (OP)
This should be its own stream! Need to know more
Significant-Theme253@reddit
Sure. Anything. We are older now, so he has just about everything... I mean, if you said you wanted to hear the Beatles in London in 19xx. My hubby would go get it from his collection. It's 40 years old and he's switched from cassette to CD. He also quit trading and just started buying anything he was missing. Many good finds at thrift stores.
SarahJaneB17@reddit
Geez. First my parents, who listened to the Rat Pack, and then Burt Bacharach and The Carpenters, though I didn't appreciate that music at all then.
Then sitting up late in middle school watching The Midnight Special and Don Kirschner's Rock Concert on the weekends.
Music magazines from the 7-11, Creem, The Record, and later Spin.
Then MTV and my local college radio, plus my choice in friends that were into alternative music. Midnight Movies like Rock and Roll High School and The Kids Are Alright, Quadrophenia.
And finally, clubs. Alternative music nights during the week at the more popular clubs, and places like The Swamp Club and Masquerade in the Tampa Bay area.
And now, I have an appreciation for the Rat Pack, The Carpenters, and Burt Bacharach. Thanks Mom and Dad.
chinalover31@reddit
Headbangers ball every weekend. I have 20 vhs tapes from those days.
elkniodaphs@reddit
"What's this you have playing in the store?"
"Hüsker Dü."
"One Hüsker Dü, please!"
heliskinki@reddit
Hah. Similar experience to me age 17. After spending my young teen devoted to metal, I was visiting a 2nd hand record store and they were playing Husker Dü. The store had recently stocked the entire Dü back catalogue.
I went home, collected most of my metal collection and traded it in for the entire HD discography, which I still own to this day.
heliskinki@reddit
The radio.
Ok-Sport-2558@reddit
Friday Night Videos
cl0ckw0rkman@reddit
Alice Cooper on the Muppet Show! Played Welcome to My Nightmare.
Blew my mind!
Changed my life!
It originally aired when I was too young to remember but at six years old I saw it and the next week of my life I wanted to hear nothing BUT Alice Cooper. My parents being awesome. Let me chase that dragon. I got into Cooper and Ozzy and KISS.
My older sister was in to whatever pop music was on. Dad got me into 60s and 70s rock. My mother listens to jazz and old school R&B.
But Alice Cooper singing Welcome to My Nightmare on the Muppet Show opened up a brand new world for me.
CptBronzeBalls@reddit
120 Minutes on MTV
dreaminginteal@reddit
Radio, including the local university stations, my HS lounge's jukebox, and my mom's record collection...
pushing_past_the_red@reddit
I would get thrasher magazine and look at all the band tshirts in the back and choose from the artwork I liked best.
jumpinoutofmyflesh@reddit
Standing at the magazine rack while mom shopped for groceries. I would scour every music rag. Add in local radio (mainstream and independent stations) and ultimately, word of mouth.
TheVioletEmpire@reddit
I have always known music. My life has always had a soundtrack. I've been told my father played James Brown to my mother's pregnant stomach.
cheesusismygod@reddit
MTV was literally my babysitter. My parents would turn it on and leave us to our own devices. My parents also loved music and played it alot, but mostly MTV and the radio. And now I have myyh Spotify set up for reccomendations, so it plays my Playlist and then throws in a new song I might like based on my Playlist. That is how I find new music usually nowadays.
Illustrious_Stick_57@reddit
Yes! And it exposed me to so many different genres. 120 Minutes was my favorite but I also found new music through Yo MTV Raps and Headbanger’s Ball.
cheesusismygod@reddit
Right? No matter what time of day, music was playing and you found so much cool stuff to listen too!
maroongrad@reddit
the soundtrack to Monopoly Tycoon 😄
ShookMyHeadAndSmiled@reddit
I have become a fan of so many acts after I saw them on Saturday Night Live.
Tinyberzerker@reddit
My dad was a DJ on the radio and in bars and I tagged along from a very young age. He taught me how to mix records properly. He had 1,000's of records he would lug around in wooden crates. I blew his mind when I presented him with an iPod in the 2000's.
Ceorl_Lounge@reddit
College Radio and late night MTV, but I'd also read press and buy (that was the case with Disintegration) or get tipped off by a friend (how I learned about The Smiths). Very occasionally I'd catch WHFS out of Annapolis which was like magic. Good times... now I'm going to drift off to sleep listening to The Cure.
Ollyollyoxenfreed10@reddit
Local college radio was huge for me. Movie soundtracks were also a gateway. Mix tapes from friends. My high school BFF’s sister was a college DJ in Athens, GA and drug us to soooooo many great shows.
Alovingcynic@reddit
We had professional musicians in the family, who listened to EVERYTHING under the sun and brought home new recordings all the time. My great uncle worked in the big band era, and worked with greats, and his son, my cousin, was in a big rock band and was a session musician who played on hit records throughout the '70s and '80s. My dad played guitar and had broad tastes in music and had a perfect ear. The one great thing about childhood was the exposure to amazing music of every kind. To this day I will listen to everything.
ahutapoo@reddit
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/live/bbc_6music A lot of great different music
Feisty-Lifeguard-550@reddit
Really young , my mum has the radio on all the time and they had a mad collection of records, we all loved music , I remember going to see Grease and I was obsessed and Blondie, ABBA , my parents had a greatest hits of Motown , of country and just went from there. I think the first record I bought was Xanadu, I love all music bar thrash metal. Went to a ton of concerts in my teens and still go to them. I love music , it’s my religion
New_Dealer8376@reddit (OP)
Omg Xanadu! I had every 45
Feisty-Lifeguard-550@reddit
No way , same !!! And mines was all starched with the two pence piece on top of the stylus so it wouldn’t jump.
New_Dealer8376@reddit (OP)
Our parents could have been friends
Feisty-Lifeguard-550@reddit
And we had Top Of The Tops in the UK and the streets would literally clear , it was huge so heard all the different artists on that too.
KindaKrayz222@reddit
In my head!
jojowasher@reddit
Radio, and then MuchMusic when it came along.
freerangeXkid@reddit
I worked in a comic/indie record shop in HS. I can't believe I got paid to read comic books and listen to rare records of music you'd never hear on the radio. The guy who ran the record shop part refused to sell anything Top40 and I was introduced to everything from The Misfits to Miles Davis
Ok_Transition7785@reddit
The radio? What else?
Beneficial-You3416@reddit
We had a very small, very local radio station that when the weather was right we could pick up. Found REM that way.
blackbird24601@reddit
img. Am 54. Lake county has 98.3.
SOO GOOD
thundercloset@reddit
Mom, dad, aunts and uncles, friends, the college radio top 20 (?) in the back of Rolling Stone, and going to record stores. Oh, and MTV!
TifCreatesAgain@reddit
John Hughes movies!
Wild_Read9062@reddit
Columbia House Record Club
😛
No, but seriously…
Pre-1980: My parents record collection and local radio (Los Angeles always had good radio)
1980-1985: TV (MV3, Friday Night Videos), Movies, local radio (KROQ in Los Angeles)
1986-1989: Friends (mixed tape sharing), movies, TV (MTV), local college radio. I was in a small town, so I lost KROQ, but they had a decent college station with about 3 listeners. ‘Alternative’ as a genre name for music hadn’t been set, but we all knew what it was. Great times.
New_Dealer8376@reddit (OP)
Love this breakdown, reliving my youth!
Wild_Read9062@reddit
In some ways, I actually think it was easier to discover music back then because of it wasn’t recorded in a studio ($&$), it was almost unheard of, so by today’s measure, there wasn’t that much out there to discover. You could know about most of what music was released during the 80’s in the 80’s.
Today, it’s technically easier to discover stuff (Spotify, YouTube), but there’s just so much music that I can’t keep up.
I stumble on stuff I think is new and it’s from 2012 or 2018 (roughly a decade ago).
MotoXwolf@reddit
My Dad was into music that was from people who were 10 years younger than himself even though he grew up with 50’s and early 60’s stuff, he got into the late 60’s and 70’s stuff, so i was exposed to stuff like The Beatles, Pink Floyd, The Mothers, Frank Zappa, and the Jazz revolutionaries of the 60’s and 70’s. So as a young boy I learned an appreciation for a broad range of music. I was always tuning in on the AM radio in the early years and catching the sounds of the 60’s and 70’s. Then, in the early 80’s I was a teen branching out because of older brothers and the Boom of FM radio DJs. Radio stations like 91X would play “Alternative” music like The Cure or Depeche Mode and all kinds of Ska and Reggae as well as New Wave. I would buy albums on vinyl and record them as mixed tapes on cassette to play on my Sony Walkman. One of the best things was to go to the local music store and thumb through albums and just take a chance on something because the album cover spoke to you. It was the Wild West of Music and I was Gold Rushin’ those days!
New_Dealer8376@reddit (OP)
That’s kind of what I miss, just going into a store and finding a cover that “spoke” to you
Raccoon_Ascendant@reddit
CHOM FM, a Montreal radio station. They played everything.
TripMaster478@reddit
I honestly don't remember but I was that guy. All my friends came to me and my other friend Clive for suggestions, and I was the guy that always got the tickets for shows.
TripMaster478@reddit
Saw some pretty cool bands at the University bars. Bootsauce. Jesus Jones. The Odds a crapton of time (once they came out as a KISS cover band to be their own opener. Crazy times).
ApplicationUpper9229@reddit
College radio, ‘zines, local clubs, word of mouth.
CampVictorian@reddit
My grandparents’ Victrola, mechanical musical instruments and the theater organ at our city’s historic movie palace. My musical tastes have wandered around a bit over the years, but my heart is still solidly aligned with late 19th and early 20th century popular tunes.
polishprince76@reddit
I read liner notes on tapes that I'd buy. The bands the band thanked. Once I saw a name starting to show up a lot, I'd get an album. Also had a friend who was into really weird shit and some times some of his stuff would hit right. Plus we were lucky enough to have had 2 record stores in our mall. One was the corporate one, was the indie store. Had a lot of luck in that place.
New_Dealer8376@reddit (OP)
I swear linear notes opened my eyes more than anything
d0chd0ch@reddit
Maximum Rock’n’Roll, Forced Exposure, Flipside
eperker@reddit
My dad was/is in the music business and he would bring home promotional copies of all sorts of stuff. He had a deep collection of vinyl. I was very lucky to have a music library at home so if someone at school said, have you heard Cat Stevens, I could go home and immerse myself in all of his albums. My interests and his collection began to diverge in high school so I would have to ask him for the Smiths or Prince or Guns and Roses. But I pretty much had my own Apple Music in the 70s and 80s.
New_Dealer8376@reddit (OP)
This makes me very jealous
cowboyJones@reddit
I was big into Hip Hop in high school. I would buy a tape (or later cd) and read the linear notes. They would usually name their favorite artists and I’d try to find their albums.
New_Dealer8376@reddit (OP)
I did this too! Looking at album linear notes really influenced my expansion into great music
Thirty_Helens_Agree@reddit
A combo of some friends who were well clued-in to the music world, and Q101, Chicago New Rock Alternative radio.
thatsmilingface@reddit
🙌 120 minutes taped on the vcr every Sunday night
FrustratedPassenger@reddit
WXRT opened my eyes too. And local HS and college radio.
I read Rolling Stones magazines at a friend’s house and we discussed bands - old and new.
elphring@reddit
Strangely, some of my bosses at restaurants clued me into some really cool bands. From 1986 to about 1993 I worked in a tonof restaurants, and the older managers seemed to really know their stuff. I learned about Shriekback, Cocteau Twins, Clan of Xymox, Dead Can Dance, Bauhaus, Phillip Glass, Steve Reich, Dinosaur Jr., and The Residents from guys that (appeared to be) about as old as I am now.
From college radio I was introduced to The The, The Style Council, Stone Roses, The Connells, Beat Farmers, The Sugarcubes, etc.
Also, in the early 90’s there was a service that you could subscribe to on your cable tv called DMX (Digital Music Express) that had lots of interesting stuff on it like Madder Rose, Rabbit Choir, Whale, The Rollins Band, and on and on…
New_Dealer8376@reddit (OP)
This! Exactly this ♥️
Wild_Read9062@reddit
All good stuff. Your bosses had really great taste.
elphring@reddit
Also, hanging out with musicians was a good way to go. Sometimes they’d be opening for bigger bands that came through town, and then you could stick around and see the headliner’s show. Maybe your buddy from “The Whistle Pigs” would get you into a venue, and then two acts later you’re watching Bad Religion or the Minutemen perform.
External-Dude779@reddit
Grew up in So Cal so we had KROQ and 91X radio stations. And a ton of cool record stores
wild-hectare@reddit
amen
jpow33@reddit
I was blessed with a very cool older brother and WaxTrax Records.
capthazelwoodsflask@reddit
I had my older sister’s stoner friends who didn’t leave for college and a great local college station.
rundabrun@reddit
Diggin' in the crates, baby!
Aardet@reddit
I bought every music magazine, like RayGun, and read it cover to cover. Then I’d have to drive each weekend to the big city and flip through the racks of CDs at 3-4 music shops looking for anything on my list. I just had to take ‘the leap’ that the reviewers’ words matched my taste. Didn’t always work, but sometimes it did.
gamesk90210@reddit
Mostly from the Radio, MTV and movies
cityjax@reddit
Friends and several labels I trusted like 4ad or creation
PaulClarkLoadletter@reddit
I was raised around music. It was mostly jazz and old standards combined with whatever classic and yacht rock my folks listened to. I could count on Rodney on the ‘Roq to play stuff before anybody else.
After that it was record stores and the local venues.
smokythejoker@reddit
Morning Becomes Eclectic on KCRW. Actually the key was listening to the best DJs to find out about the less mainstream bands. Then going to shows and buying their music and merch. Still doing that today.
Nowadays, I’m actually hitting Sirius XMU quite a bit. Lots of new bands making music that is HEAVILY influenced by the 80’s and 90’s.
ranchoparksteve@reddit
SMC 👍
Mouse-Direct@reddit
Radio and MTV. I lived in the boonies.
zaxo666@reddit
Tower Records and some independent record stores ...great for buying band tshirts and posters too.
f700es@reddit
MTV’s 120 minutes
Holden_place@reddit
Patrick. He always played awesome new music
InDaFamilyJewels@reddit
Honestly, my friends had so much better taste than me. They’d make mix tapes and I’d listen and absolutely love each song.
Puzzleheaded-Sun-390@reddit
I grew up in a country music house. MTV led me to rock and new music. I also absorb music info like a sponge. Any artist talking about their influences led to another deep dive. That, and bargain bins were all gold mines for me.
H3nchman_24@reddit
Headbangers Ball!
🤘😝🤘
LambSaag-spoon905@reddit
Turned left at Greenland, and there it was.
NoFollowing7781@reddit
I skateboarded through the 80s, and found alotta punk rock through different groups of skaters in different towns up and down the Wisconsin side of the lake Michigan shoreline....
Social Distortion, Descendents, Angry Samoans, Menace, Dead Boys, Ramones, Pagans, Circle Jerks...ect .....
Inwardly-Outgoing@reddit
WLIR, MTV, friends
FelixTook@reddit
College radio, friends, and record stores. I’d discover bands I liked, then look into their earlier projects, their influences, find the sections in record stores, look for similar bands, listen to tracks on records in-store, and then in college, going to small gig local shows.
MikeisET@reddit
College radio was crazy back in the day. I had two or three shows I listened to. I’d record them because I could never remember which song I liked by the time the dj finally showed up to name the song/band
joemamah77@reddit
In Philly, it’s WXPN.
b_o_m@reddit
I was fortunate to get turned on to college radio by a friend's older brother when I was in 8th grade (81-82) when "modern rock" was exploding, then freshman year another older friend introduced me to a wild used record shop that specialized in punk/new wave stuff with a ton of European imports and we had an awesome monthly music magazine/newspaper called BAM (Bay Area Music) Magazine that was free in all the record shops. I was surrounded by, and obsessed with, the "fringe" musicbof the day. Still am honestly, but it's a bit harder to find stuff that just knocks me out these days.
Anathama@reddit
As a metalhead, going to stores and buying albums or CD's based on cover art alone.
Eventually in the 90's record labels started putting out compilation CD's of their artists. They were about half the price of a regular CD. Those were great!
Beauty in Darkness, Traces of Death, Death is just the Beginning.
All great comps.
Narrow-Research-5730@reddit
College radio.
Salty-Pack-4165@reddit
Me in mid 80s-radio. Tons and tons of music to choose from. When I got internet-internet radio+ youtube. Thanks to youtube I found ancient music not found absolutely anywhere . Today you can find dozens of re creators of music from Bronze Age to Greece,Rome, Egypt ,Medieval Europe and Asia. Deep rabbit hole.
murphydcat@reddit
Grew up in suburban NJ. I tuned in to college radio stations like WRSU, WFMU and WPRB as a teen. Bought fanzines. Went to college and became the station music director. That’s when things took off.
just321askin@reddit
Radio (when I was really young), older siblings’ music collections, parents’ music collections, MTV, music magazines, and weekly (sometimes daily) visits to record stores.
watts6674@reddit
Mine started with a John Hughes' film too: Some Kind of Wonderful!
It is where I found the Jesus and Mary Chain, Lick the Tins March Violets, eat!
jbell1974@reddit
My friends were OBSESSED with music of all kinds. Vinyl, tapes, trading bootlegs, etc… I heard about tons of music from them, kept what i loved, ignored the stuff I wasn’t wild about
yupjustarandomranger@reddit
WLIR and 120 Minutes. And mixed tapes made with love.
yupjustarandomranger@reddit
Oh and opening bands
Grafakos@reddit
Radio, MTV, friends. Occasionally bought something because it was being played while I was shopping in a record store.
Pho_King_A@reddit
Good ol’ 91x in San Diego was pretty good at introducing me to lots of good new music.
Throttlechopper@reddit
Resurrection Sundays was always a good way to waste time and discover some retro music.
jk_pens@reddit
Radio
Celtic159@reddit
Trading tapes. I went to California from the east coast every summer, and shuttled music back and forth. California got the DC hardcore scene, Maryland got Van Halen, Metallica, and skater punk before they hit.
LissaBryan@reddit
We had a satellite dish, so I was able to pull in MTV and MuchMusic. I also read Rolling Stone avidly. They were my guide to which CDs I should scam from Columbia House for a penny.
ViewfromMyOfcWindow@reddit
I was the youngest of five kids in a blended family. My older sibs introduced me to EVERYTHING in the late 70s/early 80s. Then when I got my license, I found a record store and got to be friendly with the employees. They would always find me something out of the mainstream. I miss those days!
Fluffymanolo@reddit
Reading about the bands I loved and making notes of anything they mentioned. I spent a LOT of time in the library and eventually found a book that talked about the roots of Rock and took notes from that. I was that person that kept Columbia House alive. I'd buy the required tapes for the year then catch stuff on the huge sales they'd have. I poured over the catalog like my life depended on it. Outside of that it was the radio and MTV.
mary_wren11@reddit
I always read rolling stone and, weirdly my parents had a subscription to the village voice. I bought a lot of records based on reviews.
CynfullyDelicious@reddit
Album88 (WRAS 88.5) - GSU’s college radio station and easily the best place in Atlanta to hear a wide variety of music that wasn’t on mainstream radio.
Attending UGA (whilst REM was still a regional band - Lotta indie/alt bands and artists there.
Build68@reddit
Tower records had listening stations where you could sit down and listen to a selection of five or six cd’s. Some of it was mainstream, but some of it was non-mainstream that they let the local music-nerd employees choose. That and college radio was a good way to find the good stuff. Live 105 in the Bay Area tended to be ahead of the curve compared to most smaller market pop stations. It wasn’t Spotify, but dammit, when rocks and sticks were all we had to play with, we loved those rocks and sticks.
Schleprock11@reddit
I lived in a small rural town, so I was kind of limited until I discovered tape trading. First from the back of magazines and then exploded with BBSs.
New_Dealer8376@reddit (OP)
My parents got me into Leonard Cohen, Waylon Jennings and Simon and Garfunkel
TwoStoopidToFurryass@reddit
Radio, my sibling's tapes. We lived out in the country, so no access to MTV. Then along came Columbia House. Thanks to the numerous music clubs and my numerous aliases, I built up a massive collection of music I would have normally never had access to at the time.
New_Dealer8376@reddit (OP)
Yes to Columbia House!
TheJokersChild@reddit
I worked at a college radio station. Exploded my musical world.
-Internet-Elder-@reddit
radio. friends. things that looked interesting at the record store.
lorem_opossum@reddit
Always would make tapes off the radio. I’d record hours then make mixtapes of my favorites songs from those long radio recordings. It was a process but I really listened to the music and appreciated it more. I was fortunate enough that my folks had some decent records. Got me into the stones, police, Duran Duran, men at work and a bunch of folk stuff.
Real-Emu507@reddit
I have aunts and uncles that were just a few years older then me. We had more of a friend relationship and they took me everywhere. They just so happened to listen to cool music. And my aunts girlfriend worked at a record store
ShadowyTreeline@reddit
In high school I was highly influenced by a couple of friends in particular. When I went to college the college radio station opened up a new world.
Direct-Dish1779@reddit
My high school classmates and my college classmates are my muses. They made me love the music I love.
hocfutuis@reddit
I'm a very late Gen X, my parents were born in the mid 50s, so mostly from them initially, and then I spiderwebbed into other things. They had/have pretty good music tastes, so I had a solid base to start off on, and there was usually some kind of music playing, either the radio, or my dad's car mixtapes he'd create, so it was always a big presence.
Emotional-Writer-766@reddit
Hit Parader, Circus, and Guitar magazines.
antisocialdecay@reddit
The few “rock” stations I could pull in (rural WI). Subscribed to BMG music back in the 90’s. Whatever they would send me to listen to.
Baggismeg@reddit
A girl in the year below me had an uncle in the musc business. She introduced me to all grunge 1990 when I was 12. She was 11. 1993 she was upset on her birthday. I asked why? Because she was given a cd player and would receive all future music via cd. And she knew I didn’t have one. It would be more difficult for me to borrow her CDs. I love her so much for introducing me to my music.
Baggismeg@reddit
Hannah. I think of you often xxx
Keefer1970@reddit
I was 11 years old when MTV went on the air. The first time I sat down to watch it, I saw the videos for Judas Priest's "Heading Out to thr Highway" and the Ramones' "Do You Remember Rock N Roll Radio" and I was hooked. Those two bands are still favorites to this day.
Responsible_Trash_40@reddit
MTV