Your parents' musical tastes (and did they influence you?)

Yes they did , I don't like any of the music they did, except for a small amount of classical.

I did get my dad's strange sense of humour.

My father always claimed to love big band jazz but his record collection ran to ONE LP - Something by Stan Kenton. It had a version of "The Peanut Vendor" on it which I quite liked.

My tastes were formed by listening to my older brothers' music. They are 8, 10 and 12 years older than me so were teenagers in the 60s. Between them they covered most of the usual suspects; Beatles, Stones, Kinks, Who etc. etc. then Hendrix, Pink Floyd, Procol Harem, Colloseum, King Crimson etc.

I added VdGG, Caravan, Yes, Genesis, Camel etc. to that list.

Then came 1976 where our tastes started to diverge a bit...

Yes very much but I never realised it at the time. My Mum is a great classical person and I've inherited her love of Mozart and Beethoven etc but Dad was/is a great jazz person and that really influenced so much of what I listen - it explains why I like a kick or swing with everything.

Absolutely. I have my father to thank for my wide eclectic tastes. He was in the Navy in the 50's and early 60's and would return from a tour of duty with new records, mainly jazz and blues from the States. Apparently my first word as a baby was 'band'. As the 60's went on he introduced me to Beatles, Stones, Dylan, British and American blues etc. Even as a young child of about 8 he took me to concerts such as the Blues Review in Manchester with Howlin' Wolf etc and Johnny Cash. Later we went to a Festival in Shepton Mallett where I saw Hendrix & Led Zep among others. This festival eventually became Glastonbury. We also went to the 1970 Isle of Wight festival, very wet but unforgettable.

So I certainly have my dear old Dad to thank for my interest and tastes in music (and also hi-fi). The only thing I could never get into was Opera which he also loved.

1. Awful

2. No

steve

A very similar tale to the OP in many respects. 

Father was a jazz and popular vocalist fan - Glenn Miller, Ellington, Basie, Ted Heath, Benny Goodman small groups, Oscar Peterson, along with folk like Nat Cole, Sinatra, Tony Bennett, etc

Early 1970s, I got a few singles by the glam rockers of the era - Slade, Sweet, Chicory Tip, etc. then rapidly moved on via the albums of Nazereth, Emerson Lake and Palmer, Deep Purple, Zeppelin, and the like. 

I started taping BBC sessions from Peel, Freeman and the like, on reel-to-reel and cassette, and got my Dad started on the same tack, but he would tape the Alan Dell, Benny Green, David Jacobs kind of programmes from Radio 2.

Like the OP, Sounds, NME and Melody Maker were purchased every week from 1973/4 to 1976 or so.

Mum liked the vocalists, mostly, that Dad liked, but recoiled at some of the jazz improvisers.

Many years on, most of the LPs, cassettes and reels from Dad's collection are still on my shelves. Whilst they're not on maximum rotation all the time, I'll happily listen to some Tommy Dorsey, Oscar Peterson, Basie etc as well as my Metallica, Dream Theater, ELP, Spock's Beard and Transatlantic. It's all good stuff.  Variety the spice of life and all that. 

Great thread.

My Dad liked Hollywood musicals of the 40s & 50s (aaargggh, cringe) plus some jazz (which I don't really like but respect the musicians). As for my Mum, when I was growing up, I can only remember her listening to Scottish country dance music.  

I couldn't stand any of this and so I had no interest in music for years until my mid-teens when I heard "Quo Live" & AC/DC's "If You Want Blood - You Got It" - these 2 albums more than any other were what launched my musical journey into rock,blues,folk & classical - even some opera. Since then I've gone to loads of gigs over the years although I find I just don't have the same passion as I used to for them. It also got me into playing guitar and joining bands when I was younger - good times. 

I still don't like my parent's music although since then my Mum listens to some classical which I do like. It's funny because a few years back friends of ours (similar age to me) got heavily into playing Frank Sinatra at dinner parties - they seemed to genuinely like it but to me it was still my parents generation's music - something I just don't get at all. It's possible that it's because it reminds me of the musical desert of my childhood - who knows ? My motto has always been - if it doesn't move me - leave it. So even though I may respect the artist/musician they'll never make my playlists.

Cheers

Scott

My dad doesn't really like music at all, and I can't even say I share much in musical taste with my mum. She was/is a fan of "crooners" (Perry Como, Robert Goulet et. al.) and of choral music (she sang in the Christchurch City Choir for many years). I don't really share any of that preference. Last I heard she wasn't terribly much into Radiohead or Rage Against the Machine .

This is a great thread.

My parents were born in 1929 so they were only in their early thirties when the Beatles, Beach Boys and the rest started producing their wonderful music but to them it was from the devil. They weren't in the least religious but were fans of bland, middle of the road stuff like Mantovani, James Last and other stuff that I found, and still find, offensive. The Mike Sammes Singers and Black and White Minstrels too.

My father never accepted that the Beatles, looking like tramps as they did, could ever have written the music they did. They conned people into sending them songs and then took the credit. This was a man who was only 40 when they split. And the Stones would have been locked up and the key thrown away if he had his way. He was stuck in a time warp and my mother just did as a dutiful wife should. As I grew up the music I listened to and the length of my hair became constant sources of argument until eventually he threw me out. Literally. Just before that she bought him Bohemian Rhapsody, which he loved. Go figure. Maybe he just didn't like me.

So no, my parents' taste in music had little musical influence on me. My mother loved Perry Como and “their song” was And I Love You So, which I had played at her funeral a couple of years ago.

Thankfully his taste in comedy was better and my love of the Goons, Tony Hancock, Round the Horn and other wonderful stuff from that period came from him.

Anything from a musical especially by Lloyd Weber.

The Carpenters.

Jake Thackeray.

Flanders and Swan

Handel's Messiah.

Canteloube chants d'auvergne

Inspired me to have an eclectic approach to music adn to enjoy the theatricality of live performance both as performer and listener.

Like many on here, my parents were just past their formative years when rock n roll came out. Their tastes were very much middle of the road, Perry Como, Matt Monro, Andy Williams, The Seekers etc. My dad used to sing along to them and I remember what a good singing voice he had. I went my own way as far as music was concerned but somewhere, subconsciously, the tunes are implanted into one's brain. When I hear them now on the radio or on the very few LP's & CD's I inherited when they passed away, the evocative feeling is so strong that it can be overwhelming. I bought a set of CD's a couple of years ago, "Music to Watch the Girls Go By" and was whisked back 40 odd years. Some tracks hit me so hard, it was like "where the %^&$^ did that come from" ....

So, not really my kind of music but music that still has strong associations.

Sure did, first 45s I spun were my dad's Elvis singles and later he started to take me to local Jazz clubs.

Classical music was staple fare, my Dad has an almost encyclopedic memory of singers, conductors and orchestras from probably early 50s to late 70s - I think he became more eclectic thereafter. My Mum, is not so knowledge based as she tends to favor the piano and light opera over the heavier fare and symphonic music. But then, she is also the musician so it pays to take note of her opinion.

When I was younger, I didn't mind the classical stuff but was a real sponge for anything different and that tended to cause a certain resentment from me towards their constancy and from them towards me for my continual rocking of the boat.

That said, they never said no and I can still only roll my eyes at the thought of my Dad going into HMV and asking for a Burning Spear 12" single on one occasion and early AC/DC on another. I don't think I ever experienced a veto but could hear the sigh of relief when pocket money & choir money allowed to start buying for myself.

I really loved it when I could get my Dad to start listening to Louis Armstrong's Hot 5s and 7s and turn my Mum to a new piano player. I've never really been able to persuade them to accept my non-classical collection but hey, at the moment the classical section seems to be growing quicker than the others combined. It would be nice if they could just once admit that yes, they too really grooved to the Beatles or the Stones.

My Father Was a Lighthouse Keeper, when rock was young, I grew up it was in an environment of Frank Sinatra, Des O'Connor and crooner singers. However, I found in the record cabinet, a Shirley Collins album, I put it on the gramophone, wound it up and it changed everything. My Father realised I thought this was rather magical and I started to show an interest in music. 

On Sunday, we used to listen to Fluff on the Radio running down the Hit Parade and then things like JP's Top Gear. My Father liked the Beatles, Kinks, Moody Blues and was kind enough to almost switch his entire listening away from the 40s and 50s stuff which meant very little to me and to contemporary music like the Incredible String Band.  He even took me to see concerts at CCE where groups such as ISB, Grateful Dead and The Pink Floyd played - disappointingly I don't remember Syd singing See Emily Play (whatever happened to his backing group). 

So yes I was definitely influenced by his generosity in being prepared to give music a chance. For my part, I discovered music of the past including Gracie Fields, Harry Champion, Marie Lloyd and similar greats. 

His favourite bands included Artie Shaw, the Allman Bothers and Elvis. He really liked Elvis singing I Don't Want To Go To Chelsea. He also got me a signed copy of Valentyne Suite by Sir Jon Hiseman's Colosseum. 

My mother only likes music you can dance to, but I'm not in to all that hip-hap stuff and can't do the Robbie Savage. 

All the best, Guy

Lets see.

Dad played the trumpet in a dance band and loved anything by James Last.

My mom loved The Sound Of Music and South Pacific.

So that would make

A) Bloody awful &

B) No - unless they correlate to Tangerine Dream, Pink Floyd & Peter Schneider & the Stimulators.

Where to start? The radio was always on when I was a child, early '60's, right through my teenage years. so music was been a backdrop to my life.

More specifically I have inherited my parents small but varied modern jazz record collection including gems by Stan Kenton, MJQ and others. Also in the collection is a first UK release of Bridge Over Troubled Water which got heavy rotation.

The biggest influence was not so much in what I was encouraged to listern to and like but more of a general sense that all music should be tried at least once.

This was born out when I got my Dad Donald Fagen's Nightfly one Christmas. He opened the wrappings and without much sense of hope put the CD onto play. It was finally taken out of the CD player in February!

Jono

My mother once turned down the opportunity to be PAID to attend a Beatles concert (and scream on cue), so, no.

The only thing they seemed to like was Gilbert and Sullivan. Which I don't.

> Gilbert and Sullivan. Which I don't.

Why not - it is great? 

only music in our house was on the Billy Cotton Band Show so, no.

I'd have to say definitely, but I've only picked up some of their styles.

Yes: The Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel, Cat Stevens, ABBA

No: Andrea Bocelli, Lesley Garrett

Same here. Music is a real bond between me and my older son who's almost 23. He borrows my cds and vice versa. He took me to see Bruce Springsteen at Hampden for father's day a couple of years ago. That could never have happened between me and my father.