^ I had to spotify most of those groups!!
Do you still listen to all of them, or have your tastes changed?
:D I better clarify this because I just re-read my post and it's a bit confusing, as I was just referring to metal specifically...
I never listen to one thing for very long, but I do go through phases at times. I got a great musical education growing up in the early 1970's. From my dad I got bands like the Beatles, Doors and Led Zeppelin. From my mom it was more like Simon & Garfunkle and Peter, Paul & Mary. Good stuff.
Aside from the Beatles, the one who actually inspired me to become a musician myself was Prince. Watching "Purple Rain" for the first time was probably to me like when people saw the Beatles on "Ed Sullivan". It amazed me that he could write, sing, play and produce everything himself.
In my teen angst years it was the Cure, Smiths, Jesus & Mary Chain, Buzzcocks, Sex Pistols and Black Flag. Around the same time though, I got on a big Bruce Springsteen kick (vintage Bruce, 1972-75) when my boss let me borrow his copy of "Born to Run".
After that, I started listening to just about anything and everything that I could get my hands on. I'll probably forget to include a bunch, but here's a "sampler" of some different types of artists that have brought me much pleasure and comfort over the years:
Robert Johnson, Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie (heh heh, I said "woody"), Leonard Cohen, Neil Diamond, David Bowie, Depeche Mode, Elliott Smith, Elvis Costello, Queen, Steely Dan, The Churchills, Stellastarr, AFI, Muse, Cake, Arcade Fire, Sublime, Smashing Pumpkins, Stone Temple Pilots, Babyshambles, Keane and My Chemical Romance... just off the top of my head.
(and yes, I unabashedly admit that I friggin' LOVE the Bee Gees!!! A lot of people don't even know that they put out ten years' worth of trippy, folky, melodic rock stuff before that dreaded "D" word ever existed!)
Happy listening, my friends :D
Dreamflyer