“The first time I started listening to Irish music, I had a very strong connection. Strangely enough, there's a great many Japanese melodies and vocal styles that sound very much like Hungarian music. You start seeing all these cross-references and comparative, independent musical cultures.” FirstsEnoughCultureStrongSoundSeeingStyleListeningFirst TimeCrossesConnectionsIndependentMusicalGreat MenMelodyVery StrongVocalHungariansStrong ConnectionIrish Music Author:Tom Waits
“The first time I heard Bob Dylan, I was in the car with my mother listening to WMCA, and on came that snare shot that sounded like somebody'd kicked open the door to your mind.” WorldWayMindFirstsMeanWholeBodyFacesMotherSongSoundVisionDoorsHeardAchieveRocksTalentCarChangedListeningShotsFirst TimePopsIntellectYour BodySingersWhole WorldBrokeLimitationRock N RollBobNew WaysDylanSnaresPop Song Author:Bruce Springsteen
“The first time I knew what I wanted to do with my life was when I was about four years old. I was listening to an old Victrola, playing a railroad song...I thought that was the most wonderful, amazing thing...That you could take this piece of wax and music would come out of that box. From that day on, I wanted to sing on the radio.” YearsFirstsWantedSongPiecesFourWonderfulListeningFirst TimeRadioBoxesFour YearsAmazing ThingsRailroads Author:Johnny Cash
“I mean, you can't have sex until you're married if you're Mormon. The first time I had sex, my parents found out. They were listening in on the phone while I was talking about sex to my girlfriend. They freaked out, man. They both cornered me in my bedroom.” IfsMenFirstsMeanFoundSexParentTalkingListeningMarriedFirst TimePhonesGirlfriendBedroomMy GirlfriendCornered Author:Bert McCracken
“I was a lusty kid who loved Tennessee Williams. Sexy plays. [For musicians] there are so many that it's hard just to say one. Certain things, like the first time you hear A Love Supreme, you're floored. It takes whatever you were listening to and blows a hole in it.” FirstsHardPlayKidsCertainListeningMusicianFirst TimeBlowSexySupremeHolesTennessee Author:Annie E. Clark
“I used to listen to music from the frosting down. As a word nerd, lyrics are really important to me, and then the melody. Playing in the Rock*A*Teens was the first time I ever heard music from the bottom up. I was hearing songs I'd heard a million times on oldies radio, and I'd be like, "Wow, listen to what the bass is doing!" When I was first singing in bands, I'd just get out there with my machete, wildly whacking away at the foliage. But you learn how to listen. When I feel I'm doing it right, it's 90% listening and 10% output. It's not "look what I can do!"” FeelsFirstsLooksI CanImportantUsedSongCan DoMillionsHeardRocksListeningBandSingingFirst TimeBottomRadioHearingMelodyWowTeensNerdListening To MusicBassOutputFoliageMachetesOldies Author:Kelly Hogan
“Very often, when you're listening to a piece for the first time, you're listening through a model of other pieces that you know. At a certain point, a piece becomes idiosyncratic and you start to understand it on its own terms.” KnowsFirstsCertainTermPiecesListeningModelsFirst Time Author:Paul Lansky
“With repeated listenings, a piece eventually becomes its own being. I very often say to students that this is like meeting a person for the first time. When you first meet someone, you reference that person with others who are similar; but, as you get to know that person better, you begin to understand his unique qualities.” KnowsFirstsPersonsQualityPiecesStudentsListeningUniqueFirst TimeMeetings Author:Paul Lansky
“I came to what I think of as the critical problem: the aging process of a piece of music. I noticed in the '70s that pieces I wrote would sound great the first time I listened to them and then on repeated hearings they sounded older and older until what seemed exciting and vibrant on first listening became stale.” ThinkingFirstsProblemProcessSoundPiecesListeningFirst TimeExcitingAgingHearingCriticalStaleAging Process Author:Paul Lansky
“The sexual revolution... it was the first time I had read anything that came close to describing those feelings of being outside of my body, feeling the shame, all of it, that I really was able to connect to in that book. So it sort of blew my mind. I was also listening to Tori Amos at the same time, so I was like, "Wait, what's happening?!" It was all a part of that, probably when I was, like, 13.” MindFirstsBookFeelingsBodyAbleWaitingRevolutionListeningHappeningsFirst TimeShameDescribingSexual Revolution Author:June Diane Raphael
“The idea that somebody out there is that eager to hear my music in advance can only be a good thing. But growing up, I always liked that system where "release day" was a big thing, and for bands I really liked, I'd know that date. It'd be on my calendar, and I'd go to the record store that day. Sitting down and listening to the record for the first time was a real event. I wish it was still that way, but that's not the way the world works any more.” WorldRealWishGrowing UpListeningFirst TimeGood Things Author:John Britt Daniel
“If we play to first time Blink 182 listeners, it's good they are listening to us and not the Backstreet Boys. Old Fans or new fans, it's all the same to us.” IfsFirstsPlayBoysFansListeningFirst TimeListenersBlinkBackstreetBackstreet BoysBlink 182 Author:Travis Barker