Black Cat Bone

By 'weird' I simply mean something not mainstream or at odds with what most of your peers were into.

In junior high I listened to a lot of hip hop, but that wasn't out of the norm. In my last year there a kid from Florida moved to town and we became friends. He was more of skater type guy but I remember him putting on a cassette of the debut Violent Femmes album. I had never heard anything like it, and I do credit that experience with opening up many new musical avenues to me. We didn't stay friends very long - he was kind of a shithead - but I heard not too long ago that he died of an opioid overdose. As with all instances such as these, it just felt like a huge waste.

Mothers of Invention 1966. Before that it was The Beatles, Stones, Beach Boys.

I was 13






.

It's hard to say, really. I mean, when I was 13, it was all Madchester, and I was getting into death metal and grind. I just never had the same taste as anyone around me. There were enough people who liked metal, but none who listened to the extremes, or listened to John Peel. Can't say I ever followed the crowd, culturally.

In 1978 and aged 13 I don't recall any of my peers being into The Beatles. But a few years later I was certainly the only person I knew into free jazz so I might go with The Art Ensemble of Chicago.

British Blues Boom circa mid 60s, underground stuff (67/68) - not mainstream at the time, Captain Beefheart Strictly Personal followed very quickly by Safe as Milk.



.

A lot of rock music sounded pretty weird to me around 1981, when most of what I'd heard up to then was top 40. So, the Doors, Queen, Pink Floyd all seemed pretty weird at one point.

Seeing the "new wave" era King Crimson on "Fridays" was a major influence in me seeking out more unusual sounds and stuff that wasn't straight-forward verse/chorus/verse song structure. The stuff Adrian Belew was doing with feedback in the second clip just blew my mind.

Joy Division is the simple answer.

ELP, I would reckon, but your first definition of 'weird'. It was my gateway band into prog for the most part, along with Genesis or Floyd though these two were much more widely listened to amidst my schoolfriends.

the masked man wrote:Joy Division is the simple answer.

Just wanted to say I love Maya Deren. I used to have that gorgeous still as my avatar on the ol' IMDb refuge board.

pcqgod wrote:The stuff Adrian Belew was doing with feedback in the second clip just blew my mind.

Was that taped / recorded with a potato?

Zappa, of course, We Only In It For The Money, more specifically.

King Crimson when I was about 17 years old. I still remember when my friend and I listened to In the Court of the Crimson King for the first time. We both thought it was the strangest thing ever.

PresMuffley wrote:By 'weird' I simply mean something not mainstream or at odds with what most of your peers were into.

Pretty much describes 90% of what I listened to....

Either the Germs or X probably. One of those. No one liked any of them or had heard of them at my elementary school in California as far as I could tell. My big brother was into the local punk scene in San Diego and LA. I had a couple of friends that liked UK punk and a few that liked the Ramones, but the local stuff was still really underground.

Then we moved to Flagstaff, Arizona a year later, I was like an alien life form. My tastes had morphed from L.A. punk to punk in general, dark wave/New Wave and Ska and I was absolutely unique in knowing those bands at the junior high there where everyone was listening to heavy metal, beach boys, disco or country. I remember they had a "silly dress" week my first month there, and one of the days was "dress like a punker" day, so I did....and was sent home by the administrators. Fun times.

Started late with really listening to music, around 72-73

Faust
Can
Neu!
Kraftwerk

martha wrote:Either the Germs or X probably. One of those. No one liked any of them or had heard of them at my elementary school in California as far as I could tell. My big brother was into the local punk scene in San Diego and LA. I had a couple of friends that liked UK punk and a few that liked the Ramones, but the local stuff was still really underground.

Then we moved to Flagstaff, Arizona a year later, I was like an alien life form. My tastes had morphed from L.A. punk to punk in general, dark wave/New Wave and Ska and I was absolutely unique in knowing those bands at the junior high there where everyone was listening to heavy metal, beach boys, disco or country. I remember they had a "silly dress" week my first month there, and one of the days was "dress like a punker" day, so I did....and was sent home by the administrators. Fun times.

That sounds like something straight out of Freaks & Geeks, only way cooler. I can't help but wonder what was expected by having a 'dress like a punker' day, and how you actually showed up, but perhaps you're saving it for your memoir.

Um, they didn't have 'bands' when I were young, just groups. Or combos.
Nearest I can come to an answer is The Miracles, because the Spector groups all had hits. Except maybe Bob B Soxx and the Blue Jeans.

Adam and the Ants.

James Last Orchestra

The Rattles

Led Zeppelin

Focus



The Beach Boys

Result!

Queen. I would have been about 8