pre-Internet musical discoveries

[PopTodd]

Pre-Spotify, etc.:

It made the discovery of new bands all the more exciting. And more personal. Those bands that I discovered by hearing them over the stereo system in the local record store or opening for some random band that I went to see—they BELONGED to me.

I think I was more invested in them because the discovery was so tangible. And I think it made the music less disposable. Not that it was so much better (there is good and bad throughout the history of recorded music), but because we were so invested.
You old people know what I'm talking about, right?

Or, do you whippersnappers feel that same connection?Am I making assumptions?

Is it exciting for you or just another daily discovery -- a product of modern technology?

 

Curious about this. From all angles.

[NoJ]

I'm with ya PT.

[brownie]

I am old. Most of my pre-internet music discoveries were from hearing bands on college radio stations, reading about them in music magazines, and by word of mouth.

 

Initially (1990’s-2000’s), the internet gave me more exposure to word of mouth via message boards very much like this one, but music magazines and in-store listening kiosks also helped greatly.

 

The last ten years have become information overload. There are no more music stores, but with all of youtube and spotify, there is endless choice and so I find I listen to less new music because it is simply overwhelming and there aren’t enough hours in the day. Music magazines that suit my taste have either disappeared or become prohibitively expensive. Online music publications don’t really work for me - I’m not exactly sure why..

[PopTodd]

I am old. Most of my pre-internet music discoveries were from hearing bands on college radio stations, reading about them in music magazines, and by word of mouth.

 

 

 

I DJed at a college radio station, so yeah I discovered a lot that way!

[calvino]

I discovered music from friends, older sisters and their friends., Plus, from reading interviews/books of musicians that I already enjoyed and respected. 

 

I read somewhere recently that Tweedy enjoys going through all of Spotify's Friday's new releases ---- i have tried that and it goes nowhere fast....

 

I have been collecting bootlegs prior to the internet --- but the internet has been incredibly great for that. 

[nalafej]

Rolling Stone reviews were one of my gateways. It's definitely the reason I bought Being There.

[PopTodd]

I discovered Peter Laughner because of this review of my demo tape in the Chicago Reader:

 

[Chez]

I'm old -- depressingly old.  I learned about new music through word of mouth (I had a couple of friends who not only had great taste themselves, but older brothers with even greater taste) and the radio.  When I got to college, I started reading lots of reviews in Rolling Stone, Spin and (later) CMJ.  My college had a decent radio station and the student newspaper had good album reviews (they significantly improved after I started writing them  -- a major benefit of that "job" was free albums and free concert tickets).  My senior year I took a course on the history of rock and roll which greatly influenced me. 

 

Of course with the advent of the internet, music and music commentary became infinitely more accessible and ridiculously inexpensive.   I don't miss the days of agonizing over whether to either purchase "London Calling" or have enough money to do laundry for two weeks (I chose The Clash), but for me the easy availability of so much music has somewhat diluted the joy, significance and commitment which came with purchasing an album.  So to answer PT's question, I agree -- I was more invested in the music I purchased back in the day, but I also currently enjoy having the freedom to take chances on bands I don't really know. The pain of swinging and missing on a new band/album isn't nearly as great as it was before the internet.   

[jff]

I went to public school and learned about Rush and Van Halen and classic rock in general, and later when I got a skateboard and started hanging out with the punks I learned about Dead Kennedys, Black Flag, etc.

 

Then I got kicked out of public school and my parents sent me to catholic school, where I learned about the Cure, REM, and new wave.   I don't know what it is about catholic high school kids and the Cure.

 

The public/private school dichotomy turned out to be a pretty good way to cover my bases musically (plus being in the school band at both...that's probably an incalculably large factor).  From there, I was always good at finding new music on my own, or had a varied enough group of friends that I was always hearing about different things.  I can pinpoint a lot of the music I like to a group of people or a place, which makes for a deeper connection to an album than just finding something on the internet. But some things that I find with no outside influence ends up feeling more like something that's mine, and sometimes feels like it's speaking directly and only to me.  That can form an equally deep connection, in a different kind of way.

[tinnitus photography]

for me, the key to the secret kingdom was fanzines... they were absolutely critical to finding out the good stuff that you never heard on the radio or saw at the record store (unfortunately, my college radio station was a commercial station... :puke )

so in the late 80s and early 90s, i found out about so many good bands via fanzines like Big Takeover, Forced Exposure, Flipside, Your Flesh, and smaller ones like Cut, Butt Rag, de/create, chemical imbalance, etc. 

 

there was one other key discovery for me... buying a cd copy of the In Love With These Times compilation from Flying Nun... that opened me into an entirely new realm, halfway around the world, one that i would pursue vigorously by mailing and faxing to stores and people in NZ. 

[anthony]

I am old, too. Most of my musical discoveries came from trading cassette tapes in the back of the bus. I still remember very clearly when my friend Steve handed me Led Zeppelin IV on the way to an away game across town and said, "check this one, man".  

 

In the early 00's, I had a job where I drove a lot and signed up for XM Radio. I had lot of discoveries during this time, as well (including Wilco). 

[lost highway]

There were a few record shops in downtown Denver I'd make the pilgrimage to as often as possible starting at age 12. As I got into my teenage years and became friends with a few people working in these joints I'd show up and talk with them. They'd put stuff on the turntable, or I'd put headphones on at the CD listening station. Their knowledge was formative.

 

And there were the folded up catalogs for the independent labels inside of their CDs.

 

And there were fanzines.

 

And there were mixtapes from your friends. 

 

The knowledge of all of these things was almost more valuable than the cost of the vinyl/CDs/tapes. At this point I can click around on wikipedia and youtube and learn as much in an hour as I'd learn in a year of hunting as a teen. The only problem is I forget it all almost as fast as I find it.