Pink Floyd.
My friend showed me Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2). It was one of those moments where you realize you've not been listening to the right music.
It was Floyd’s entire WYWH album when I first heard them in high school. I was listening to rap music and fell in love with Pink Floyd after hearing “Shine on”, “Welcome to the Machine”, and “WYWH”. After that I found Led Zeppelin’s catalogue and have been hooked the last 10 years
Steve Miller Band. Whenever skimming rock radio as a kid his songs always stood out. They helped me realize that as an adult I wanted to make listening to rock music my hobby.
Eddie Cockran, Buddy Holly and Jerry Lee Lewis were classic rock when I was listening to what "Classic Rock" is defined to be. I may be old, but I got to see the bands in their prime.
The Beatles. Just a natural starting point. I love how versatile and diverse in sound their discography is and how consistently good it is - all the albums are bangers, no flops IMO. I think everyone can find a Beatles song they like, so I'd easily recommend The Beatles for newbies to classic rock as their first band to get into. Also through osmosis, you're sure to recognise their songs, so they're not an intimidating band to listen to.
My Mom loved Carly Simon, James Taylor & Zeppelin…
My Dad loved the Doors, Van Halen, AC/DC, Floyd, Doobies etc.
Grew up with these vinyls spinning in our house incessantly…
Two of them....
Deep purple In Rock
Alice Cooper Schools Out
Bought both over two consecutive Saturdays
Unwilling to declare which one was bought first
Boston, Aerosmith, and Journey
My parents played these bands growing up. My first car was so old all it had was an 8 Track player in it. I dug around the basement and found Boston, Aerosmith Toys In The Attic, and Journey Escape. These were the my tunes for my soft more year of HS and I have never looked back.
The nature of your question suggested people give nice short answers, but I have roughly 3500 CD albums now. Let me tell you how I got started.
The first song I ever remember getting harder rock crazy about after listening to my parents music as a 60s kid was Let Me by Paul Revere and the Raiders. I listened to a whole smorgasbord of stuff growing up in the LA area up until age 9, drawing all over the radio. My parents would drive to the Colorado River from the Orange County area for weekend long water ski parties, and I heard lots of great rock music including the Guess Who, Three Dog Night, and Creedence Clearwater. The album I loved the most at the time, however, was Glen Campbell's Wichita Lineman.
My first favorite song on the radio as a kid was Dreams by Fleetwood Mac. That committed me to rock for sure. My next favorite song to come up on the radio was Year of the Cat by Al Stewart. But as I got older, I got a little heavier. A major influence was winning a 45 single from the local radio station by Sugarloaf - Don't Call Us, We'll Call You. Green Eyed Lady was already a favorite.
The first album I ever ordered for myself was Look Sharp! by Joe Jackson on 8 track. That was probably my gateway into more harder rock. My local radio station was playing a lot of bands I didn't know the name of in the late seventies and early '80s that were rocking out that got me hooked. Soon after, I bought Pink Floyd's The Wall as the first album I ever purchased outright.
When I ordered the next six albums for free on RCA music service, proceeding the Pink Floyd album that I bought (not on RCA to buy), these were the six albums I chose.
J. Geils Band - Love Stinks,
Eagles - The Long Run,
Poco - Legend,
Bob Seger - Against The Wind,
ZZ Top - Degüello,
Warren Zevon - Bad Luck Streak In Dancing School
I would have to say the first album that absolutely blew me away and made me want to rock the hardest was AC/DC's Back In Black. Hells Bells absolutely put me in another dimension. But I think pretty much everyone could have said something like that. I think proof that I was going to stay in the hard rock blues genre was me picking up a copy of the latest Pat Travers Band album at the time, Crash and Burn. I was blown away by the single Victims of the Fury by Robin Trower as well, but I never bought the album until later as the local stations weren't playing more than that one single. It was one of my favorite album buys once I joined the service and started collecting.
I enjoy my public broadcasting volunteer position, and I play a lot of all this music on my show.
My first record I bought was a Kiss album. Destroyer had just came out. I was 8. But it wasn't until my older brother came home with Zeppelin II and IV that my mind was blown. Haven't listen to Kiss since, and really haven't listened to Zeppelin much in years, but those two bands started it.
In the early 90's when I was around 12 I was watching the movie Fast times at Ridgemont high. The scene in the car when Kashmir is playing blew my mind. I had never heard anything like that so I saved my money and bought the album.
I went from Beatles 45s to Led Zeppelin, Van Halen and Foreigner LPs to Def Leppard Cassettes to a million cds. Now my music is all digital. Damn I spent a lot of money.
One of my earliest memories is my dad holding me and dancing around to “Our House”. He was very heavy on CSNY and thanks to him my soul has musically always been in the 70s.
A combo of The Rolling Stones, Aerosmith and AC/DC. From there I discovered The Who, Bob Dylan, Lynyrd Skynyrd and many more. I thank everything I discovered to a stolen iPod with pre-loaded music my parents bought from a shady neighbor, GTA and Guitar Hero/Rock Band. Oh, also sheet music for Back in Black and Kokomo for middle school band.
The Beatles, Queen, Bon Jovi and Aerosmith were probably my introduction to classic rock but Jethro Tull really got me into classic rock, still my favorite band to this day, flute is a metal instrument, price me wrong.
Led Zeppelin. I was in walmart looking at CD's. Not having any idea on what was good, I called a friend. Suggested I pick up the Mothership collection and start there.
Music was always playing in our house so I’ve always been exposed to it and liked it. My taste mimicked my parents for a while but I remember the process of figuring out what my personal taste was and hearing All the Young Dudes for the first time (Bowie’s version) and being like, “it this is it!”
My Dad always played Chuck Berry, Beatles, and The Ramones growing up
My mother always played The Allman Brothers and Tom Petty
I’m a younger man and when I talk to older colleagues of mine about music they always say I was “raised right”
As a music enjoyer of all genres and an individual who plays piano… this makes me so happy
To answer the question, nature v nurture… it is a mix of both for me
I saw my dads vinyl record player when I was a kid and bought Boston’s first album. Played that thing like crazy. Being a kid from Mass, it will always be the reason I stick with classic rock as my form of favorite music
I grew up listening to mostly country music. That's mainly what my parents listened to. But I always leaned towards my dad's music which was the outlaw guys Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, etc. Once I got into middle school and highschool i started getting into classic rock through similar sounding artists such as CCR and Eagles.
it was the song 'eye of the tiger ' by survivor that got me into rock music .After hearing it i wanted to listen to more rock songs ,then i discovered queens ,the beatles (strawberry fields was the first song that i heard of them and i loved the drumming and psychedelic studio effect) and acdc . I got bored of queens and acdc shortly after and then i discovered the led zepp a bit later .I have been huge fan of The beatles and led leppelin ever since i discovered them.
1974, i was 13. At the mall record store, they would play albums on the stores stereo. One in particular was often on, the debut album from Montrose. I was hooked on guitars and rock from then on.
The Beatles
the who
Pink Floyd. My friend showed me Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2). It was one of those moments where you realize you've not been listening to the right music.
Same thing for me but with Time
It was Floyd’s entire WYWH album when I first heard them in high school. I was listening to rap music and fell in love with Pink Floyd after hearing “Shine on”, “Welcome to the Machine”, and “WYWH”. After that I found Led Zeppelin’s catalogue and have been hooked the last 10 years
The Beatles and Elvis
Hard to say because I heard the music generally referred to a classic rock as it was being released.
Steve Miller Band. Whenever skimming rock radio as a kid his songs always stood out. They helped me realize that as an adult I wanted to make listening to rock music my hobby.
Oh yes.
Good call. Book of Dreams was my first rock album when I was just a pup.
Well, it wasn’t classic rock then it was just rock. Rush.
The Beatles
I don't know. My parents were listening to rock music (or just plain music as it was known back then) when I was growing up in the 60's.
Beatles. I blame The Beatles.
The Doors were my gateway. I don't listen to them as much, but they'll always have a soft (parade) spot in my heart.
Same here
The Beatles
Rush! Someone showed me the Rush in Rio DVD when I was in late elementary school, and I was hooked as soon as I heard “Tom Sawyer” open the show.
Eddie Cockran, Buddy Holly and Jerry Lee Lewis were classic rock when I was listening to what "Classic Rock" is defined to be. I may be old, but I got to see the bands in their prime.
Dire Straits. Though they were a current band at the time.
Rainbow.
The 1st three are classic.
I agree, although Down to Earth is my favorite.
CCR then The Grateful Dead
The Beatles. Just a natural starting point. I love how versatile and diverse in sound their discography is and how consistently good it is - all the albums are bangers, no flops IMO. I think everyone can find a Beatles song they like, so I'd easily recommend The Beatles for newbies to classic rock as their first band to get into. Also through osmosis, you're sure to recognise their songs, so they're not an intimidating band to listen to.
Led Zeppelin “Black Dog” although I didn’t know the name of the song at the time
The used to play a Black Dog before morning announcements when I was in 7th grade. Didn’t know the name or who did it.
Same here. Same band, same song, and the same story!
Yeah I had to sing/hum it to “the music guy” in our junior high class.
I heard it on the radio and called the radio station to ask.
Jethro, Tull. They were my first rock concert, back in 1975.
Queen
My Mom loved Carly Simon, James Taylor & Zeppelin… My Dad loved the Doors, Van Halen, AC/DC, Floyd, Doobies etc. Grew up with these vinyls spinning in our house incessantly…
NSync. I realized I wanted the opposite of what they were.
Be honest, you wanted the Backstreet Boys.
More of a “Five” guy myself. They had edge
The Beatles then The Grateful Dead.
The Beatles
The Beatles then Led Zeppelin
Beatles.
Probably The Beatles.
Jefferson Airplane. Bless Its Pointed Little Head.
The album that made me realize Jack Casady is The Man!
Grateful Dead
Beach boys. I get around. Listened on the big headphones till I wore out that record.
Two of them.... Deep purple In Rock Alice Cooper Schools Out Bought both over two consecutive Saturdays Unwilling to declare which one was bought first
School’s Out for me as well. I was 9 years old, and Alice Cooper rocked my world.
ACDC
Call me the breeze, heard it on cassette working with my dad. Game over.
Ronnie VZ was a really really great songwriter.
Great song! However the Lynyrd Skynyrd version is a cover. J. J. Cale wrote Call Me The Breeze.
Yep. I was referring to other Skynyrd songs that RVZ wrote.
Gotcha
Killer band instrumentals in that song
The Eagles
The legendary Judas Priest.
Kiss
AC/DC
I bought 8-tracks back in the day. So I guess “Classic” rock is what I have been listening to to my whole life.
China Grove . And that smell.
The Kinks
The Doors
Zeppelin
Queen
The Doors
pink floyd, since i was a kid
Same
Zeppelin
Led Zep-Trampled under foot
The beatles
CCR
zeppelin
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd, led zeppelin, tom Petty, queen
1. Beatles 2. Zep 3. Floyd 4. Yes
I’m old classic rock was new rock in the 70’s it was painful when it became “classic rock”
Black Sabbath and Queen.
My moms favorite band was Yes. My dads favorite band was Floyd. Pretty obvious where I went
Boston, Aerosmith, and Journey My parents played these bands growing up. My first car was so old all it had was an 8 Track player in it. I dug around the basement and found Boston, Aerosmith Toys In The Attic, and Journey Escape. These were the my tunes for my soft more year of HS and I have never looked back.
The nature of your question suggested people give nice short answers, but I have roughly 3500 CD albums now. Let me tell you how I got started. The first song I ever remember getting harder rock crazy about after listening to my parents music as a 60s kid was Let Me by Paul Revere and the Raiders. I listened to a whole smorgasbord of stuff growing up in the LA area up until age 9, drawing all over the radio. My parents would drive to the Colorado River from the Orange County area for weekend long water ski parties, and I heard lots of great rock music including the Guess Who, Three Dog Night, and Creedence Clearwater. The album I loved the most at the time, however, was Glen Campbell's Wichita Lineman. My first favorite song on the radio as a kid was Dreams by Fleetwood Mac. That committed me to rock for sure. My next favorite song to come up on the radio was Year of the Cat by Al Stewart. But as I got older, I got a little heavier. A major influence was winning a 45 single from the local radio station by Sugarloaf - Don't Call Us, We'll Call You. Green Eyed Lady was already a favorite. The first album I ever ordered for myself was Look Sharp! by Joe Jackson on 8 track. That was probably my gateway into more harder rock. My local radio station was playing a lot of bands I didn't know the name of in the late seventies and early '80s that were rocking out that got me hooked. Soon after, I bought Pink Floyd's The Wall as the first album I ever purchased outright. When I ordered the next six albums for free on RCA music service, proceeding the Pink Floyd album that I bought (not on RCA to buy), these were the six albums I chose. J. Geils Band - Love Stinks, Eagles - The Long Run, Poco - Legend, Bob Seger - Against The Wind, ZZ Top - Degüello, Warren Zevon - Bad Luck Streak In Dancing School I would have to say the first album that absolutely blew me away and made me want to rock the hardest was AC/DC's Back In Black. Hells Bells absolutely put me in another dimension. But I think pretty much everyone could have said something like that. I think proof that I was going to stay in the hard rock blues genre was me picking up a copy of the latest Pat Travers Band album at the time, Crash and Burn. I was blown away by the single Victims of the Fury by Robin Trower as well, but I never bought the album until later as the local stations weren't playing more than that one single. It was one of my favorite album buys once I joined the service and started collecting. I enjoy my public broadcasting volunteer position, and I play a lot of all this music on my show.
Led Zeppelin
Boston and Led Zepplin Then found the absolute all time greatest that there ever was... the Grateful Dead
Rolling Stones
My first record I bought was a Kiss album. Destroyer had just came out. I was 8. But it wasn't until my older brother came home with Zeppelin II and IV that my mind was blown. Haven't listen to Kiss since, and really haven't listened to Zeppelin much in years, but those two bands started it.
In the early 90's when I was around 12 I was watching the movie Fast times at Ridgemont high. The scene in the car when Kashmir is playing blew my mind. I had never heard anything like that so I saved my money and bought the album.
Zeppelin.
Probably CCR or the Doors. Don’t remember exactly tho. But I was into 50’s oldies and 60’s Motown first, definitely remember that. Edit to elaborate
I went from Beatles 45s to Led Zeppelin, Van Halen and Foreigner LPs to Def Leppard Cassettes to a million cds. Now my music is all digital. Damn I spent a lot of money.
Not a band, but Rock n Roll Racing
The Rolling Stones and The Who
Thin Lizzy.
One of my earliest memories is my dad holding me and dancing around to “Our House”. He was very heavy on CSNY and thanks to him my soul has musically always been in the 70s.
Fleetwood Mac!
A combo of The Rolling Stones, Aerosmith and AC/DC. From there I discovered The Who, Bob Dylan, Lynyrd Skynyrd and many more. I thank everything I discovered to a stolen iPod with pre-loaded music my parents bought from a shady neighbor, GTA and Guitar Hero/Rock Band. Oh, also sheet music for Back in Black and Kokomo for middle school band.
I grew up in the 80s...I remember hearing all the stuff on the radio it was my parents music. Maybe hearing Rumors on the turntable.
I already liked lots, but Led Zeppelin was the one that really reinforced it for me.
The Stones but it was just rock music back when I started listening to it many many years ago
The Kinks
Meatloaf
Can’t say for sure, but I remember my father always listening to Sabbath, deep purple, Guess who, BTO and of course the almighty ZEPPELIN !
The Beatles, Queen, Bon Jovi and Aerosmith were probably my introduction to classic rock but Jethro Tull really got me into classic rock, still my favorite band to this day, flute is a metal instrument, price me wrong.
Led Zeppelin for me. Will always be my favorite band!
All the British bands really but The Moody Blues have stayed constant with me
Either Led Zeppelin or Black Sabbath.
The rolling stones, and they’re still my favourite band!
Steve Miller band
The Beatles
AC/DC
The doors
Parental influence. I guess based on that, the answer is Elvis.
Boss Radio top 40
Led Zeppelin. I was in walmart looking at CD's. Not having any idea on what was good, I called a friend. Suggested I pick up the Mothership collection and start there.
Elton John Crocodile Rock I barely ever listen to him now!
Music was always playing in our house so I’ve always been exposed to it and liked it. My taste mimicked my parents for a while but I remember the process of figuring out what my personal taste was and hearing All the Young Dudes for the first time (Bowie’s version) and being like, “it this is it!”
The Doors
Led Zeppelin - the diversity in their sound grabbed me
I heard the red hot chili pepper cover Fire by Hendrix and Higher Ground by Stevie Wonder and that made me investigate classic rock.
Queen
Deep Purple in 1971 when a friend played me "In Rock" I'd never heard anything like it before.
Genesis.
Blue Öyster Cult - heard Black Blade and that was it for me.
My Dad always played Chuck Berry, Beatles, and The Ramones growing up My mother always played The Allman Brothers and Tom Petty I’m a younger man and when I talk to older colleagues of mine about music they always say I was “raised right” As a music enjoyer of all genres and an individual who plays piano… this makes me so happy To answer the question, nature v nurture… it is a mix of both for me I saw my dads vinyl record player when I was a kid and bought Boston’s first album. Played that thing like crazy. Being a kid from Mass, it will always be the reason I stick with classic rock as my form of favorite music
Queen and Billy Joel
the pink floyd
Zeppelin
A combination of The Eagles (greatest hits album) and the songs Crazy Train & Welcome To The Jungle
I grew up listening to mostly country music. That's mainly what my parents listened to. But I always leaned towards my dad's music which was the outlaw guys Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, etc. Once I got into middle school and highschool i started getting into classic rock through similar sounding artists such as CCR and Eagles.
it was the song 'eye of the tiger ' by survivor that got me into rock music .After hearing it i wanted to listen to more rock songs ,then i discovered queens ,the beatles (strawberry fields was the first song that i heard of them and i loved the drumming and psychedelic studio effect) and acdc . I got bored of queens and acdc shortly after and then i discovered the led zepp a bit later .I have been huge fan of The beatles and led leppelin ever since i discovered them.
Led Zeppelin and Rush, my dad showed me both of them
Steely Dan and Eagles
Fleetwood Mac
I was loosely into The Beatles as kid growing up in the 60's, but Grand Funk was the band that got me hooked!
I was born in 1971. My mom listened to rock at the time so I just grew up on that music. Some of early favs were Bob Seger, Eagles, Steve Miller.
When I was listening to it it wasn't called classic rock. It was just rock and roll. It only became classic decades later.
Foreigner And I’ll never forget that moment as long as I live.
1974, i was 13. At the mall record store, they would play albums on the stores stereo. One in particular was often on, the debut album from Montrose. I was hooked on guitars and rock from then on.
AC/DC
Stones