First Tape - My folks bought the Monkees' greatest hits. I was a die hard fanatic, through watching their show in reruns on channel 11 out of NYC and tv29 from Philadelphia in the late 70's early 80's Saw them in concert (minus Mike Nesmith) in 87 or so. A few years ago my brothers bought me their boxset, as a joke. It is one of the jewels in my music collection.

First one I bought - Weird Al "In 3-D" - Yes. The one with "Eat It."
This was to provide a crucial warping point for me. I have seen him concert now. Three times. And I know most everything by heart up until his most recent 2-3 albums.

8th grade - High School - Discovered "Classic Rock" through my guitar playing friends. Bought Led Zepplin, Stones, Pink Floyd, the Animals, the Who, and the Beatles, of course. (Why are all of the above on so called "classic" rock stations except the Beatles?! They seem to be ghettoized into the "Oldies" stations. . . ) . . . stumbled across a band called They Might Be Giants & 15+ year love affair begins. I have seen them 6-7 times.

Sophmore year - Bought the Dead Milkmen's "Beelzebubba." Bought their entire back catalogue. Discovered the Dead Kennedys (absolutle flip side of the punk rock coin, serious/scarcastic, dark lyrics about social issues and politics) Delved into punk and "alternative" (Hey it was the late 80's-early 90's, and still meant something.) Loved the Ramones, Ween, Fugazi, Minor Threat, The Replacements, The Clash, Nine Inch Nails, Old B-52's and assorted other New Wave bands. Rebel without a cause. Grew my hair long. Got into Nirvana about 6 months before they broke big, then derided everyone for jumping onto the bandwagon and the band for selling out (Because financial success *must* mean selling out right?? What a hypocritical little shit I was. . . )

College - PUNK RAWK! A ton of assorted horrid 3 chord bands (Nothing against 3 chords, per se, ) and discovered the power-pop gods - The Descendents. No one does three chords and heartbreak like the Descendents. Also fell for the retro-lounge movement, both the genuine stuff like Dean Martin, Bobby Darrin, Sammy Davis Jr., Louie Prima, etc. but the new folks like Love Jones, Combustible Edison and Everlounge. Ska - Third Wave and old Fishbone. Some "alt-country" (I hate the term, but it is useful to distinguish from Garth Brooks and his ilk. Much more roots-type country.) like Amy Allison.

Grad (96) - Now. Much more of the same. I am a sucker for punk covers of any song I know. A great band now is Me First and the Gimmie Gimmies. They cover Simon and Garfunkel, Elton John, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Billy Joel, The Beach Boys, Evita, and the Muppets, to name a few. Bluegrass (Jumping on the bandwagon here, but the "O Brother Where Art Thou" soundtrack is amazing. ) Rediscovered Bob Marley and Bruce Springsteen through my little brother who is a fanatic about both. Anything with three chords and a smile. Beatles, Blues, Lyle Lovett, They Might Be Giants, some rap (De La Soul, Run DMC, Biz Markie) . . .

I know there is a ton I have glossed over, but this is me outside of a nutshell. (Inside a nutshell it's too dark to read.)

__________________

"Forget your stereotypes, your fears. Straight people are not what you
have been led to believe. They're a wonderfully diverse bunch, though the flamboyant ones hog all the media attention."