Music was my first love... And it will be my last...

Music was my first love... And it will be my last...

Saturday today and not much to do or say, same ol' same ol'. So, let me guide you today trough my taste of music, be aware for some shocks in the beginning! LOL!  I always loved music, in our little family the radio was always on. Atleast when my Dad went to work, cause he didn't like to much noise around him. My Dad worked has always worked hard, and when he came back from work he would like to have some rest and quiet. Sometimes people have a ritual when they wake up, our ritual was that my Dad always woke up first to get to work. (he mostly worked in shifts) After a little while my Mom wakes up and turnes on the radio, for the news and ofcource some background music. It was always the same channel, and usually the same music.

As a toddler I liked already music, I danced and humbled around in my diaper on the top 40 on the radio. The radio was a must, not turning it on was akward to us. As I grew older I started to listen to more music, I got interested. My Dad liked certain kind of music and bought records, I use to play them aswell. The music that we liked was a genre what will suprise you, we were really into German/Dutch schlager music. We had tons of German and Dutch records records, here are a few names of artists: Ernst Mosch und seine original egerlander musikanten, Leni und Ludwig, Heino, you name them. 

Ernst Mosch und seine original Egerlander musikanten.

Heino, looks a bit scary!

Leni und Ludwig, like the tittle says.



 I almost can't believe it that I liked this kinda music , although when I listen to it back it brings good memories and I actually like it a bit. Later on when I became a teenager I took my music seriouser. Trendy music, trendy clothes, I got a record player and a casseterecorder from Mom and Dad. I played 'pop' mucic, top 40, top 50, etc, etc. A band I really liked was Kiss, I think the video clip 'I was made for loving you'' did it. The tongue of Gene simmons, the make up and all the glamour clothing, I loved it! I asked for more allowance, sigh! To buy more Kiss records, I wanted them all. 
  

The guy in the photo above is Ace Frehley, my favorite member of the band. He wasn't much in the foreground but cool as heck and played awesome guitar, I still like him, although he's not in the band anymore. I almost breathed Kiss, I had every record, collected some merchandise, and my bedroom walls were full of Kiss posters. This was the first band I became a fan off, and still I enjoy there music. After Kiss, came Duran Duran, another glamour band, but this time no make up, although one member of this band used some. Good looking guys and nice videos plus great music.  It was the start of my 'new wave' period, I started to liked the certain kind of bands who weren't so popular. Although Duran Duran were slightly popular. 

 

The first single I bought was 'The Reflex,'  after that I bought more 12 inches and singles. The posters on my bedroom wall became a mixture of Duran Duran v.s Kiss, I really enjoyed my music in that time. After Duran Duran, I became more and more interested in the music genre 'New Wave.'  Names like, The Cure, Simple Minds, Bronski Beat and The Clash, yeah those were the names that did it to me, and alot more. One band I really like in those days were Depeche Mode, I became a huge fan of them and again collected all there albums and 12 inches. I think I collected then cd's instead of lp's on vinyl, I kept the old vinyl's ofcource.

 

I stayed with Depeche Mode for a long time, even now I still like them, but the posters became less, I grew up and was already in my 20's, I liked my room tidy and neat. I started to collect design posters, in other words, posters that look arty and with a certain style. And 1 poster on each wall, instead of using posters as wallpaper. I had a favorite photographer who aswell took pictures of Depeche Mode, his name was/is Anton corbijn. He's a famous Dutch pop photographer, but he does alot more recently then only taking pictures, he shoots documentaries, short movies, desings album sleeves, etc, etc. Here are a few posters I had on my walls back then. 

 

Depeche mode was the bomb! I became a fan in the eighties and I'm still a fan of them. In 1993 I had the luck to see them live in Rotterdam, I stood third row and sang almost every song.  They weren't so popular in Holland, it's funny though that in the time I became a fan of them, my other classroom mates liked other bands who were much more popular in that time. I guess I like the rare bands more, then the popular bands, one of the reasons was that I just I didn't like to follow the hood. After a while I became aswell a fan of New Order, a british band again. I think I visited a record store once and heard a song what I knew but couldn't get on the name of the song. Later on I found the name of the song and the name of the band, New Order! This band combined new wave and electronic dance, they were a rare band. 

New Order.

New Order was formed by the remaining members of Joy division, they were an English rock  band formed in 1976. The lead singer of the band (Ian Curtis) got later on overwhelmed with a depresion and hanged himself. He was beset with depression and personal difficulties, including a dissolving marriage and his diagnosis with epilepsy Curtis found it increasingly difficult to perform at live concerts, and often had seizures during performances.

Joy Division.

Ian Curtis. (Photo taken by Anton Corbijn)

I should split this post into two posts, cause there's is so much music history to share. But naah, let's continue. I think I was 23 or 24 when I became a fan of electronice dance music, in other words 'House music.' The beats were loud and the rhtym was very danceable, I loved it. Some of my friends hated it, cause the music sounded to gay, and dancing to it looked weird, I guess my friends weren't such good dancers, but hey, neither was I. House music changed my life, I went out to disco's and clubs, But I didn't like the music they played. I collected almost everything that included house music, 12 inches, posters and flyers, magazines. Trough a magazine I saw they organized special house music events, 'house parties.' But I didn't had the guts yet to go there. I bought myself two record players and a mix-table, I had a goal and a plan. 

 

I practized alot and bought more and more records, don't worry I had a job at that time aswell so, I could afford it. I really enjoyed playing my records and practized it more and more often, although my parents didn't like it when I played my records to loud. Finally I had the guts to go to a real house party, together with a friend of mine we went on our way. The houseparty was helded in a place called Arnhem, we went by train cause no one of us had a drivers licince, the train trip took us 1 hour. The party was 'WOW,' absolutly great and awesome, everyone was dancing and we had the time of our lives. Afterwards we were exhausted and it was already late in the morning when we went home. As you prolly know, houseparties are mostly going trough the whole night.

My favorite Dutch DJ, Dimitri.

One of the many parties I went 'Dance Valley.'

 This party was from 10:00 pm till 6:00 am. It was quit an experience, and more parties followed. Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, we went everywhere. On a certain point I went by myself cause my friend wasn't that interested anymore. It was okay with me, cause I build up a line of friends while being on those houseparties.  I even lived for a while in Amsterdam to starting my job as a dj. My practizing skills made me aware that I was capable to start a job as a dj. That was my plan and my goal. I got overwhelmed by living in Amsterdam, I had doubts if I were at the right place, I asked myself, "Do I want this, Do I belong here?" I really enjoyed the music but it went to much, I rather went home after a long while living in Amsterdam. It was the time that my Mom passed away. 

I decided to return to my place, Nijverdal, the town I grew up as a kid. Took care of my Dad, and slowed down with my 'House music.' 

I had a bit enough off all the partying and loud beats, I played my tunes just at home and enjoyed them there. I even returned listening to some oldies I used  to listen to, Depeche Mode, New Order, Kiss, etc, etc, It was nice to hear them back. I tried for a while to become a radio DJ in my town. It was a volunteer job and I worked there for almost half a year, it was an okay job. One 'new'band came to my genre, 'The pixies! I used to listen to some of there tunes on the radio, but in that time I just found them weird and extremely loud. But the music genre nowadays changed alot and extremely loud sounds now just fine. It's funny though, don't you think? How music changes and get sometimes influances from oldies. Alright back to the Pixies. They are an american rock band, (alternative rock band) formed in Boston USA. 

 

Lead singer Black Francis.

 The band's style of music contains elements of indie rock and surf rock, some songs sounds pretty loud and the lyrics are somehow absurd. Lead singer Black Francis is been noted for his yowling delivery of singing, he's aswell the songwriter of the band. I like him and I like the band, I have all there cd's, I even sung a few of there songs while doing karaoke in Canada. Pretty fun! This band broke up in the late 90's, but recently they made a return doing reunion tours.

So, there you have it, all my music styles and genres trough the years. At the moment I still listen to all kinds of music what has kept me busy trough these years. I even listen to oldies from the seventees, Beatles,Stones, Bowie, Hendrix, etc, etc. Together with all the music I went trough all these years it makes a nice mixture to listen to. Music was my first love and it will be my last! Hope you enjoyed this post!