My First Memories (Prologue)

I've been struck by a heavy dose of nostalgia lately: listening to music from around the time of my birth or from a more innocent and optimistic time, listening to music on cassette tape (!) and even learning to play cover versions of some of my favourite songs. The early memories I want to document here are to be my recollections of the first time I encountered my ten favourite musical artists. It may well not be the first time I actually heard any of them, but merely my earliest, clearest memory. Therefore, the first time I actually heard them.

This means I will also need to establish a list of just 10! There are of course some no-brainers, and there will be a subset of 'glaring omissions'. Anyway, it's a list of artists and songs, so is very much open to criticism and debate. As such, this is the perfect form for such an indulgence. How does one go about such a task? If I was writing a thesis I would most certainly have to create some scientific controls, but I'm writing about the (disposable) art that is the soundtrack of my entire teen and adult life. Let's face it, I'm not going to consider England's World Cup anthem of '82 for this list! So, do I choose the top 10 based on how I feel today? The top 10 based on album plays? Based on concert attendance? Or those acts that have had the most significant emotional effect? Been so inextricably tied to a celebration, a tragedy, a commemoration, a triumph? (As I ask these questions now, there is one shoe-in for all of the above!)

Ultimately, I am not entirely sure about what will get you a place on this list but I started with a list of 26 artists and eventually whittled it down to the magic number (in this case, not 3!) by way of a 'Desert Island Discs' kind of approach. At some point (maybe only for the briefest time) a number of these artists have been my chosen 'toppermost of the poppermost', particularly in my formative years as a music fan, though I may hardly even listen to them nowadays. However, there is no top 10 placing for:

Coldplay
Dire Straits
Iron Maiden
Karnivool
King Crimson
Living Colour
Marillion
Metallica
Joni Mitchell
Muse
Sarah McLachlan
Queensryche
Skunk Anansie
Soundgarden
Tears For Fears
Yes

Honourable mentions for all of the above, naturally, but tough decisions have been made. Next time, I'll start working my way through those that did make the cut.

Until later

Shane