Influential to Me

So my last post was about influential music as a whole. A lot of it isn’t my style. I am not a Beatles fan (I know, sacrilege), not a big country fan (which is why I couldn’t list a single Garth Brooks album, but knew he needed to be there). So I got to thinking, what is MY most influential music? What music through my 40 – some years has moved me?

 

A lot comes from my parents and then from people around me. In this list I am painting a broader stroke and not listing the albums necessarily, maybe they are bands, or individual songs. Here it is… my list of 50 influential to Nuclear Mom music (attempting to hit these somewhat chronologically - honestly because it is easier that way):

 

Musical Foundation – The 70’s

Ted Nugent – Cat Scratch Fever (my first “favorite” song – I am sure this is courtesy of my dad)

Bert and Ernie’s Greatest Hits (And I have this cd for my kids too.)

Rolling Stones

Led Zeppelin

Janis Joplin (my mom’s favorite when I was a kid)

Bob Dylan (still resides in my top 5)

Donna Summers

The Bee Gees

Willie Nelson

John Denver

Childhood – Basically the late 70’s and early 80’s

Grease, The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Joan Jett and the BlackHearts – (a female hard core musician!)

Billy Idol – Rebel Yell

Squeeze – Black Coffee in Bed (the first video I saw on MTV)

Meat Loaf – Bat out of Hell (“On a hot summer’s night would you offer your throat to the wolf with the red roses?”)

Pink Floyd – The Wall

The Stray Cats

Junior High – 80’s at its best

Pretty in Pink Soundtrack (worn out, thoroughly worn out)

Beastie Boys – Licensed to Ill

Prince and the Parade

The Cure

Michael Jackson (oh how embarrassing…)

High School – a switch out of the main stream

Bad Religion

Social Distortion

Elvis Costello

English Beat

Blondie

The Ramones

The Clash

Black Flag

The Descendents/All

Sex Pistols – Never Mind the Bullocks

The Vandals

Dirty Dancing (shhh… don’t tell my friends)

Michelle Shocked – Short Sharp Shocked

The Church

Tracy Chapman

The Doors

College/Grad School – quality music/talent

Richard Thompson

Nancy Griffith

Joe Jackson

The Cranberries – Everybody Else is Doing It

The Best of Gil-Scot Heron

Marc Cohn

Ray Charles

Soul Coughing

Miles Davis

Grateful Dead

Johnny Cash

Dave Matthews

Jack Johnson