My Music Generation

By Douglas V. Gibbs

Tonight I got the rare treat of listening to, and calling into, Loki's Halls of Valhalla Blog Talk Radio Show. The U.S. Constitution is the typical topic of the program, though Loki spent a lot of time discussing Thanksgiving, the historical beginnings, and the significance of the holiday. Then, about half way through the show, music was brought up, and the remainder of the program seemed to be a trip down memory lane.

Music played a large part in my life as I grew up, and it still does. If someone asks me my favorite band of all time, I quickly respond "Pink Floyd." Led Zeppelin is a close number two. The Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd is probably the greatest album to be ever put out, and The Wall is the greatest movie.

But as I look back, Pink Floyd's influence has a very specific place in my life. The Wall brought me to the place where I truly reflected on my relationship with my biological father. The music is my "groove" tunes, where I just put in the CD and vegetate.

My earliest memories of music, outside of the hymns in church, played through the speakers of my father's Toyota Corona sedan, on his 8-Track Tape Player. The Doors, Jackson Brown, and Super Tramp were early favorites. As my own musical identity evolved, I leaned more towards the Acid Rock of the day, along with a few other bands that were closely related. My earliest favorites were The Who, Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd. I liked KISS only because I knew it drove my mom nuts. Through the years I began to truly enjoy Jethro Tull, Black Sabbath (with Ozzie as front man, not Ronnie James Dio - Black Sabbath, aside from Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin, is probably one of the greatest bands ever to grace this Earth), Aerosmith, and Bad Company.

When the punk rock scene emerged, I jumped head-first into the genre. My folks were rather strict, however, so I actually had two sets of clothes for a while. I wore one set to school, and home from school, but wore an entirely different set of clothing at school. Ripped jeans, button down shirts, and buttons with The Sex Pistols, Dead Kennedys, Black Flag, TSOL, The Circle Jerks, The Cramps, The Clash, and a number of others adorned my shirt or jacket. The hair got messed up, and the attitude was of pure rebellion. Then, when the school bell rang, I ran to the gym locker room, changed back into my parent's-friendly clothes, fixed my hair, and rode the bus home.

By the time I reached high school, the punk phase was over. As a sophomore I dressed preppie, but listened to Metal, and the New Wave that was more influenced by Punk. Metallica, Van Halen, Megadeth, Foreigner, Cheap Trick, Queen, Adam and the Ants, The Cars, Blue Oyster Cult, Kansas, Judas Priest, AC-DC, The Police, Oingo Boingo, Tom Petty, Ozzie, Nazareth, Rush, Boston, and Styx all influenced me greatly.

In the Navy, I continued with my love of Heavy Metal, but I also began to listen to a lot of seventies rock again too, re-introducing myself to Credence Clearwater Revival, Free, Lynard Skynard, The Stones (Painted Black is my favorite of theirs), and so on.

As I approached thirty, however, my taste began to change, and some friends convinced me to visit a Country-Western bar. As time passed, the music caught my interest, and the mid-90s honky tonk scene became a part of my musical evolution. Garth Brooks and Chris LeDoux seemed to be the ones I listened to the most. Eventually, the roping and riding bulls became hard on the body. I hung on to the country music of that era, but I haven't really followed the music trends of country-western since.

When my cousin, Jonathon Davis, erupted on the music scene with KORN, I paid attention to the industry once again. Some of KORN's music I really like, but Linkin' Park is the band that I liked the most from that burst of new music. However, at the time my primary interest was in, and still is in, Christian Rock - primarily of the sort you hear on Air1. Jeremy Camp, Casting Crowns, and Kutless rank as my favorites when I first became a fan of Christian Rock.

Anyway, I know I didn't really go into the reasons all of this music was important to me, but I am sure I will go into Pink Floyd's importance in the near future. It's just that music has been an important part in my growth as a person, good and bad. However, if you want to get a good idea of how I was as a kid, the movie Detroit Rock City comes pretty close, right down to the mom saying that KISS stands for Knights In Satan's Service - except in my case my mom inserted "Kings" in the place of "Knights."

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary