Question for people over 40:

[Haole Girl]

Did your parents listen to the same music when they were in their 40's

as they did in their 20's?

If not, why do you think our generation is still listening to 80's music, for example?

I have my theories, but I'm curious to know yours.

Thanks.

[Deja Q]

1. I'm not quite 40, but

1. Most of the music today sounds the same. The format of American Idol being no different now than when it started. No variety, nor any "sound".

2. Remaking old songs.

3. Most new songs being so devoid of soul; simply vulgar and/or violent.

4. Nobody wants to take a risk because it is not "profitable". Money is one thing, but risk... even I need to take more risks to become successful, but I digress...

5. No talent. Anyone with a voice modulator makes a new "style". No talent needed; let the computer warp your voice.

6. Jessica Simpson. 'nuff said.

7. The music behind the lyrics can usually be accomplished using a pre-recorded sampling on a $50 keyboard from Target. No creativity here either. Just a repetition of 4 beats. Whee.

[Haole Girl]

2. Thanks HypnoToad

I was wondering if it was partly because recording artists used to retire. Now, they have reunion tours, etc., making it easier to continue listening to the same music. That, and more plastic surgery! lol

[Deja Q]

8. Ah!

:)

I don't even go to tours.

I have enough issues going to the market on Saturday early afternoon! :D

[NewJeffCT]

53. Is that because radio is all owned by Clear Channel?

and a few other companies and they allow little to no variety outside out a few set formats?

[ghostsofgiants]

91. If we're talking mainstream music, yes.

But that is far from universally true.

[eppur_se_muova]

92. "Audible music-like sounds" — in analogy to Pollan's "edible food-like substances" nt

[youthere]

97. I call it "cookie cutter"music. ..

It's one of the reasons I despise country and pop music. They all sound the same. And I am 40.

[RainDog]

3. Yes, my dad listened to the same music as in his youth.

I was the oops in my family - having sibs 15 and 11 yrs older. My mother passed away when I was younger, but my stepmom also listened to the same music.

They loved Benny Goodman and Dorsey and went to dances for people their ages where this music was also played (I went with them one time... strange.) Music can do so much narrow casting now, it's possible to listen to just about anything... I listen to all genres and eras. I get tired of the same stuff.

[Haole Girl]

4. My parents listened occasionally to old (pop) music, but moved on to classical...

Just wondered if they were unique in that regard. Thanks!

[supernova]

5. People always gravitate to the

music of their youth.

My dad listened to most big band stuff with some BB King thrown in because while he was stationed on Biloxi during WWII, he would help run the movie theatre and one of his jobs was to play music before the movie on the weekends. :-) I think he rather enjoyed the DJ gig. ;-)

My mother listened to big band and classical music because she grew up learning to play church organ.

They generally like some pop music all along, but were selective. For instance, my dad, whom I was pretty sure didn't know anything past "Strangers in the Night," learned all the words (and the actual meaning) to "Heart of Glass." :-)


I still listen to a lot of 80s music because I find it innovative and experimental in a way that music is not right now. Not saying their aren't exceptions, but there just doesn't seem to be a lot bubbling beneath the surface at the moment. Rap I'm not that crazy about, especially if it's not politically motivated.

I was excited yesterday when I heard that Stone Temple Pilots might make a new CD. :woohoo:

[Haole Girl]

7. Thank you

I like 80's music, too... and some 90's. Not a lot of what's been recorded recently... just some. :hi:

[RainDog]

16. okay, what was the real meaning of Heart of Glass?

I just liked the song...

[Haole Girl]

46. I never know how reliable Wikipedia is, but...

this is what I found:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_of_Glass_(song)

[Forkboy]

6. In my experience most people keep listening to what they listened to in high school their whole life

And I HATE that! :D

[Haole Girl]

9. People should keep an open mind about music...

But, as with a lot of things, we get into a rut. Thanks. :D

[Forkboy]

47. I need new music weekly.

I have no problem going back and listening to old things (just listened to Kill 'Em All and Mel Torme), but I have to hear new music often.

For me music is like going for a ride. It can be nice to go down that same familiar road that we know so well, but it's equally as fun to discover new roads that will become that familiar road in the future. :)

[Haole Girl]

48. Music is a ride, alright!

I completely agree with that statement! :-)

[Heidi]

10. I can't _stand_ 80s music.

I graduated from high school in 1981. :shrug:

[Haole Girl]

17. What is your favorite music, Heidi?

Just curious.

[Heidi]

22. I don't have a "favorite" music, although I listen to music constantly

in the studio: folk, hip-hop, protest music of all eras, reggae, blues, Italian pop, and jazz. :shrug:

[Haole Girl]

26. Personally, it think it's good to listen to a wide variety of music...

just being nosy! lol Thanks.

[Burma Jones]

11. The only music my parents listened to was their own grating hatred for each other

Dogs could hear it......

[IntravenousDemilo]

13. Nice turn of phrase. n/m

[Haole Girl]

18. I know what you mean - all too well - I'm afraid.

:hug:

[Connonym]

31. Wow, that's the music I grew up listening to

[Kool Kitty]

89. Sounds familiar.

My parents would fight and then not speak to each other-for months. My sister and I went crazy with this. If one of us spoke to one parent first, the other one would not speak to us-for months. This was a particularly gruesome situation around the holidays, even after sis and I had left home. You never knew what you were walking into Thanksgiving or Christmas. This still gives me awful feeling in my stomach just remembering it.

But this is a musical thread, no? I am 55 and I still listen to all the music I loved as a teen: British invasion, early Motown, Beatles, etc.

[IntravenousDemilo]

12. Definitely, but that's because they listened to country music all their lives, and that stuff

hardly ever changes, or at least it didn't between my parents' 20s and 40s. Mind you, my parents were already in their 40s when I came along. If they were alive today, mom and dad would be 89 and 93, respectively.

[Haole Girl]

19. Thanks

:hi:

[seemunkee]

14. They were never really into music

Except for show tunes and Herb Alpert I can't recall them having any interest in it.

[Haole Girl]

20. Everyone should have music in their lives

That's really too bad.

[tpsbmam]

15. Dad sort of did in some cases...

He was a lifelong lover of classical music and opera. Mom wasn't really into music. Neither of them really listened to music from the 30's and 40's, which would have been the music from their youth. I, on the other hand, love some of the music from their youth!

[Haole Girl]

23. Thanks

So, you liked 50's or 60's music?

[tpsbmam]

28. My tastes are pretty eclectic...

I like some of the music from most decades. If I had to choose, I'd probably go for the 60's. But Dad's tastes wore off on me -- if I could only pick one genre to listen to for the rest of my life, it'd be classical.

[mondo joe]

21. My dad listened to the same music as his younger days; my mom has aways moved with the times.

I'm 43 and do both. I still love some 80's music, and I love music put out today.

I think it's a individual thing rather than a generational thing. Some people cling to a time in their past and some don't.

Edit to add: I also think my dad thought his youth was the best time of his life, my mom thought the best time of her life was right now - an outlook that I think makes their musical tastes make more sense.

[Haole Girl]

24. Maybe it is an individual thing. I just thought maybe it was a trend.

Thanks. :hi:

[pink-o]

25. My mom liked a lot of the music I listened to as a teenager in the '70s

but her favourite song in the whole world was Glen Miller's "String of Pearls." My dad was a pretty good singer, but music was never his passion.

It was always mine: I played music with an all-girl band in the 80s, then we had a reunion in the late '90s and played some bar gigs. So maybe my experiences are different, but I can't go down the nostalgia road. I would rather listen to the latest Alt rock than rifle thru old vinyl and CDs of Duran Duran.

What amazes me even more than my peers still listening to stuff from their childhood is when their KIDS dig it as well! My friend's 14 year old loves the Beatles and the Stones, and all the original grunge from the early 90s. Sometimes I think I listen to more contemporary stuff at aged 53 than these kids do!

[Haole Girl]

27. Oh, yeah...

They were talking about that at my Dentist's office... about teenager liking Zeppelin and Journey! I was a little surprised, but flattered in a way, too! :hi:

[alarimer]

29. well I am 39 and do not listen to the same music I did in high school

I really had bad taste then (think Air Supply and crap like that- I wasn't even into Duran Duran). I mean there is some good 80s music but what I listened to was not it.

Now my tastes are completely different and extremely wide-ranging. From straight-up country (Johnny Cash, Hank Williams, etc) to alternative country (Wilco, Son Volt, etc) to folky country (Mary Chapin Carpenter, Kim Richey) to Indie Rock (Spoon, Arcade Fire) to Jazz and Blues.

[Haole Girl]

37. I still like some of the music I liked in h.s.

...but have added a lot to my "collection" as well. :hi:

[NewWaveChick1981]

30. Yes, my parents listened to Big Band stuff and 50s music well into the 1970s and beyond.

:P Dad turned 40 in 1971 and Mom turned 40 in 1976.

Maybe that's why my entire music collection is late 70s to early-mid 80s punk, postpunk, alternative, and New Wave. I have no desire to listen to "tunes the young people enjoy" today. :rofl:

[Haole Girl]

38. Hi NWC!

Hope you're well. Haven't seen you around here lately! :hi:

[Lydia Leftcoast]

32. I kept up with pop music pretty well until I stopped teaching college in 1993

Now I'm completely out of touch. I had to ask my water aerobics instructor what "emo" was.

[Haole Girl]

39. I feel out of touch, often, too...

..unlike a lot of people in their 40's, I don't even have the advantage of teenagers & their input...since I have no children.

[zanne]

102. I felt the same way, until someone told me about this site...

http://pandora.com/

It's the "Music Genome" project. All you do is type in the name of a favorite artist or song from any era and you'll get your own personalized "radio station" with music similar to the song you picked. I love it. I don't mind about being out of touch, but Pandora helps me find music of today that I really like. Also, it's free.

[Lex]

33. I'm 42 & listen to jazz, blues, classical, hip-hop, and some 70's & 80's,

some from 60's and even rockabilly from the 50's.

I'd go crazy if I just listened to 80's music. Yuck.

[Haole Girl]

40. I agree. As much as I love 80's music, I would go crazy, too, if...

..that was all I listened to!

[johnnie]

34. My mother listens to old and new

My mother likes old rock and roll, she liked disco when it was out and she listens to some of the new singers like Clay Adkins (sp?).

My father still likes his big band music, but he listened to a lot of old country when I was younger. He also liked gypsy music and mariachi music. I liked listening to all that stuff when I was a kid and I still do. We had a lot of Jim Reeves, Hank Sr and Johnny Cash playing on the turntable when I was younger.

I listen to some of the stuff I listened to when I was a teen, but I have always listened to just about everything especially Americana music. I still listen to that type the most and I share that with my father now and again.

I don't put too much rock on any more. My favorite has always been a voice and an acoustic. But all in all, I still listen to what I did as a teen, but it is music that has been around for years. I like to listen to new stuff too and some of it is pretty good. I like hearing other people doing what they do even if it isn't my "cup of tea". There is just as much talent out there today as there ever was, you just have to find it.

[Haole Girl]

41. Thank you for the input

I think I've learned enough from this sampling of DUers to know my theory doesn't hold much weight! :hi:

[TheCentepedeShoes]

35. I don't recall either of my parental units

being much into music. They were born in 1911-1912 and I surprised them by showing up in 1948. They watched the 50's singers on the teevee, like Dinah Shore, Eddie Fisher, etc. In the car IIRC they just tuned into whatever or nothing at all or what I wanted unless there was a baseball game on. We didn't have a Hi-Fi and they didn't listen to the radio in the house.
I like 60's stuff since that was when I was in HS and college. Getting harder to find a station with just music from that time. Seems like the "oldies" are now the 80's. x(
I like to listen to western swing, too, when I can catch it on High Plains Public Radio.

[Haole Girl]

42. Don't know if I've heard western swing...

I bet I have and just didn't know it! :-)

[applegrove]

36. Rock and Roll is easy and uncomplicated. It is simple to like a song.

That is why it has stayed around so much. Classical music in its heydey was popular through the generations too.

[Haole Girl]

43. Thanks. It's probably the energy in a lot of rock songs, I think...

...but that might be another theory of mine that won't stand the test of time. lol

[Bluzmann57]

44. My dad was (is) a musician

And yes, he listened to, as well as played, most of the same music. Hank Williams and Bluegrass/Folk music. And he instilled a love of all things musical in me and my sister which cannot be silenced. My mom? Well, she didn't listen to a lot of music, but what she did listen to was Gershwin and she still listens to his stuff to this day. It was sorta cool growing up around a musician and an activist, even though I may not have thought so at the time.

[Haole Girl]

45. You were fortunate, as I see you know now...

..to have music in your life. :-)

[MrsMatt]

49. My parents didn't listen to music

they were too busy - the radio station at our home (AM only) was tuned to a commercial/news/talk station. We lived out in the country, and didn't get much for reception (only two television stations came in clearly). What few stations came in the car and pick-up radios included a local station that played polka music and broadcasted in German.

I tend to listen to public radio, but my husband (a college professor) listens to whatever his students are playing, so he stays current. Our daughter (almost 11) listens to the gamut of our collection - 1930-present (she's not much our classical collection).

We graduated high school in 1981 and 1983 respectively.

[Haole Girl]

50. That is one trend I've noticed...

A lot of parents were too busy to listen to music. It was more difficult for their generation, too... no iPods, etc. :hi:

[FloridaJudy]

51. Yeah.

But then, they were classical music fans, and - whatever the era - those people always party like it's 1799.

My grandparents listened to Lawrence Welk, and there has never been a time when that was cool

[Haole Girl]

52. "..party like it's 1799."

Love it!

:rofl:

[FloridaJudy]

61. I often suspect my parents of having been mutants

Their parents had the most abysmal taste possible in *everything*: art, music, literature, interior design. Oh, and politics: John Birch Republicans to the max, except for my maternal grandfather who was a Troskyite. They were the kind of people who surrounded themselves with Readers' Digest condensed books and Lawerence Welk (Thomas Kincade's consumer base, I suspect). I grew up surrounded with Mozart, Hokusai and Progressive politics, thank the gods!

[NewJeffCT]

54. My parents are mid 60s now and still listen to the same music

as when they were around 40, or 25 years ago.

I don't think my dad listens to a lot of music, though. He listens to sports talk radio most of the time.

My mom still goes for the same light rock she liked when I was in high school.

I'm 41 and listen to mostly the same music as I did in my teens & 20s. I haven't listened to much new since the turn of the century, though.

[Haole Girl]

55. Hi Jeff!

Just wanted to say hello before I sign off, for awhile, again. Hello! :hi:

[NewJeffCT]

56. Sorry to hear that

I've been offline all day - frakkin' AT&T didn't tell us they were doing maintenance that would take down our internet for 24 hours.

[Bennyboy]

57. I wonder that myself...everyone says "where are the artists that used to....

play real music"...And then turn on the Classic rock station to hear Stairway to Heaven for the bazillionth time.

I got news for you all, there is plenty of great music out there. you like Bob Marley? listen to Spearhead. You like southern Rock? Listen to Gov't Mule or Widesread Panic. For me, because I hated the music on the radio mostly, the music people ar making right now is the best. Bands like String Cheese Incident, leftover Salmon, Yonder Mountain String band, Carolyn Wonderland, Lucinda Williams etc. It is all good, just not on the radio.

[Haole Girl]

63. There is a lot of great music out there not played on the radio...

I think a lot of people miss out, because they either don't travel or haven't "found" other music... they just aren't exposed to it, for whatever reason. Thanks. :hi:

[Lorien]

58. Much of the same, but not all of the same

they liked the Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, Cat Stevens, Steely Dan, The Bee Gees,Pink Floyd, etc.-plus a lot of Jazz and Classical. Now my parents listen to more Classical and Jazz then rock, but my dad at least still enjoys newer rock bands (his latest favorite is Everlast). I guess that I'm much like they are in that respect. :shrug:

[Haole Girl]

64. Your parents liked the Bee Gees...and you are over 40?

OMG.... I feel so old now. :cry:

[Lorien]

67. My mom is the only one to admit it

my dad said that he does too-but that's been our secret. :D But yeah, I'm 42!

Oh, and they're divorced. He's an atheist and she's a born again, so you can guess which one loves Pink Floyd.

[Haole Girl]

68. LOL!

I wouldn't bet on it being the born again!

:D

[Lionel Mandrake]

59. I also have my theories:

Music is very much like language. Both involve sound. Both are learned easily by toddlers, because we evolved to learn language early in life. As we get older, most of us lose the ability to hear new sounds. For example, Asians learning English as a second language often cannot distinguish an L from an R.

Learning to appreciate a musical style is like learning a language. It becomes more and more difficult as we get older. After a while, most of us stop trying to learn something new.

My dad loved the jazz of the 1920s and 30s (e.g., dixieland and swing), but he wouldn't or couldn't listen to bebop or anything newer than that. To him, it was just noise. I think this was a defect in his hearing, not in his character.

[mondo joe]

60. My - vaguely - similar theory is that for some, maybe most, people the window

of opportunity closes and they are imprinted on a time. The music, fashion, whatever of a day becomes IT for them.

For some people the window closes much more slowly if ever.

My side theory is that the window is related to when you think the best time of your life is/was. If you think the best time of your life is when you were 17, the sounds of that time will always be best to to you. If you think the best time is yet to come, or that there's no such thing as a "best" time, then I think you're more likely to continue to be open to the new.

[Haole Girl]

65. Good theory...

Interestingly enough, though, I have no aptitude for new languages (at all), yet love to hear new music-- regularly. Go figure!

[raccoon]

98. Interesting theory. I still love a lot of popular music from my

childhood and youth, but would definitely not say those were the happiest years of my life--far from it.

[Xipe Totec]

62. It's called imprinting. It's biological

In white-crowned sparrows, for example, young males imprint on the songs of adult conspecifics (members of the same species) that they hear sung around them, and sing similar songs when they mature and begin to look for mates.

We are not all that different from animals after all...

[Haole Girl]

66. I am familiar with that term...

I remember, from Psychology, the man with the ducks! :-) That could be part of it, I suppose. :hi:

[colortech]

69. yup

they sure did.

[Haole Girl]

70. I was going to welcome you to DU...

but I see you are no longer with us. That was quick!

[mike_c]

71. I dunno, but I don't listen to much 80s music....

I mean, I listen to some from that era, stuff I still like, but there's lots of good new music too.

[Haole Girl]

72. Did your parents listen to the same music in their 40's as when they were young?

:shrug:

[mike_c]

81. as I said, I dunno-- frankly, music didn't seem to mean that much to my parents....

They had a small collection of vinyl albums, but it didn't seem to have any coherence that I could understand, spanned several different genres unenthusiastically, and they rarely listened to any of it anyway. They bought an "entertainment center" and a component stereo system back in the sixties, and I suspect they bought some records at the same time and probably never bought music again. Maybe once or twice over the years, but it was mostly room decoration for them.

[Haole Girl]

83. Oh, thanks...

I thought maybe you didn't know. But the fact they rarely listened to music at all is a trend I see with their generation-- compared to ours. They were, after all, depression babies... and probably put it low on their list of priorities. Thanks again! :hi:

[momophile]

73. my parents had mostly stopped listening to the Beatles

20 years later. my mom would tell me that she didn't want to hear the oldies from the 50s and 60s - the girl groups and the do-wop music.

on a side note, my mom recently told me that her new favorite band is Maroon 5. my mom is 62 now. I don't even know who Maroon 5 is.


on edit - I'm not quite over 40 yet, but I will be there sooner than later.

[Haole Girl]

74. Thanks "Island Girl"

Here's a Hawaii pic for you... I spent a large part of the afternoon
moving pics onto flickr...watch out!! :hi:

[momophile]

77. that's gorgeous! I think we are supposed to be

sitting there drinking our mango smoothies, aren't we?!

[Haole Girl]

80. We will... some how, some way!!

Let's keep the dream alive! haha... I sound like an election speech, don't I? :hi:

[devilgrrl]

75. I notice that I'm getting into music that I scoffed at when I was in my 20's

Lounge, bluegrass, etc... I'm also catching up on music that I missed out on because I wasn't exposed to it at the time.

[Haole Girl]

78. I'm having to play some catch-up, too...

There is so much music out there, past & present, to hear.

Do you remember if your parents continued to listen to the same music from their youth or not?

[devilgrrl]

85. My parents still liked the music of their youth (50's) then they listened to

70's AM radio. :puke:

[Rhythm]

76. My folks listened to their old stuff as well as the new...

They had a huge collection of 60's country and some pop, and through my childhood, they listened to their old records, plus added to the collection as new artists and songs came out that they liked.

I find myself doing the same thing... i still listen to my 80's/90's 'new wave', heavy metal, punk, and goth... but i keep up with what's new in rock, and even develop a few new favorites here and there.

[Haole Girl]

79. Thanks!

:hi:

[MrScorpio]

82. My family was listening to the latest stuff

This was the 70's - Nobody was listening to 50's music around me


Why some 80's music is still hot? Some of it was pretty good, I'm still checking some out now and then.

[Haole Girl]

84. Thank you

I'm not surprised, since you are interested in all kinds of music, that your parents were too! :hi:

[drmeow]

86. When my parents were in their 20's

(in the late 50's/early 60's) they listened to classical, jazz, show tunes, and early rock/rockabilly (Elvis, etc). In the 70's they listened to all of those plus the Beatles, the Who, and a few other bands they were introduced to by my dad's students (he was a professor). By the mid 80's we were out of the house and I doubt they listened to anything new. Now they listen to mostly classical and whatever their grandchildren (5 and 3) like :)

As for me - I listened to old and new music until about 7 years ago when I moved away from my clubs and clubbing friends. My CD collection has classical, show tunes, and "pop" music from the 40's to the late 90's/early 00's. I don't have the energy to find the better new music right now. I used to get exposure to new music from my students when I was teaching although it was rather embarrassing to run into them at a club - especially when I was one of the only females dancing to some of the harder industrial songs (best compliment I got - being carded at 35 to get into an 18 and over club :)) They thought it was really cool, though. My classroom image was pretty generic but at night I was pretty hip in a very goth/alternative way.

[Haole Girl]

87. Thanks

Your parents sound like the exception, not the rule (to introduce themselves to new music past the age of 40). :-)

It's difficult, sometimes, to find newer music if you're not around younger people. I guess that is one reason I like myspace. Also, I play around with SIRIUS a lot when I'm home alone. :-)

[drmeow]

88. It is certainly true that my friends in early HS

were surprised that "my" copy of The Who, Tommy was actually my parent's copy - they did get into a decent amount of the late 60's/early 70's protest music (in their thirties) but I think by their late 30's they weren't buying new stuff (although they would listen to new stuff by bands they already knew). My Dad never listened to the radio except for classical and my mom would listen and hear stuff she liked but didn't care that much about music (my dad controlled the record player for the most part until we kids took over).

Part of the problem with new music is that most of the time I'm sitting at my computer I want my music to fade more into the background so I tend to fall back on what I'm familiar with and even skip some of the harder stuff I used to listen to. I've gotten lazy and don't listen to music except at my computer. The times I feel up to listening to stuff that is newer is when I'm walking but if I don't already have it, its not on my ipod so I don't hear it. I rarely drive which is the only place I play the radio and since they never announce the band names, even when I do hear something I like, I have no idea who it is (I have a notion I like a new Gwen Stefani song but it might be Kelly Clarkson - I've never heard a name). I don't hear ANY non mainstream new music these days ... part of me misses it and part of me doesn't care all that much. Its not like my 500+ CD collection is small or lacking in music I love :). My husband listens to more classic rock and has no interest in the kind of new music I would like and isn't into going out to hear a new band.

[elleng]

90. Yes, if they could;

and they still do.

'My' music is before '80s ('60s, '70s) and when my kids hear it (they're 19 and 23,) they recognize how good it was and still is.

It WAS and it IS!!!!

[Haole Girl]

93. Thank you

:hi:

[annonymous]

94. My father was a Grand Old Opry and Hee Haw fan

He grew up during the Big Band era but absolutely hated that type of music. My mother grew up during the early Rock and Roll era (50's - early 60's) and hates Elvis. She listens to classical music. I guess my parents were the exception to the rule. I listen to some current music thanks to my children but prefer Rock and pop music from the 70's and 80's. My husband prefers oldies music from the 60's and 70's which my children complain about. They especially hate 70's hard rock.

[Deep13]

95. I don't know why anyone listened to '80s music back then. nt

[KansDem]

96. I never listened to 80's music

I'm 55.

I listened to jazz. My parents listened to big-band music as did I, but I listened to be-bop and west coast cool from the late 40s, 50s, and early 60s. They liked those styles as well.

When it came to music, my parents and I got along very well...

[shaniqua6392]

99. Both of my parents are 70 now

and they still listen to the same things they did when I was a kid. Gospel and Country for my Mom. 50's and 60's Rock and Roll for my Dad. As for me....Led Zepplin, Linkin Park, Nickelback etc. to classical, celtic, soundtracks from musicals, Dixie Chicks. My CD case has everything in it except jazz. I listen to everything because I love all styles of music. I have Sirius radio which came with my car, XM radio that I can bring in my car and also my house, etc. I can't get enough music!! I think the world would be unbearable without music!!!!

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

100. I think there are many factors involved.

My mother was born in 1933 and was a twenty-something during the height of the Elvis years.

She was never a fan. Perry Como? Yes! Mel Torme? You Bet. Chuck Berry? Not so much.

The fact that she was a mother of three kids and living in a small rural community probably played a significant role in her music choices. When I was her age, I was in graduate school and bar-hopping on the weekends. And there was also this thing called MTV.

Mom is still listening to Perry Como, Mel Torme, et. al. I still listen to some 1980's music, but I also include more current artists as well.

I also mix a little Mel Torme in there, but that's just me.

[Samurai_Writer]

101. My parents were still listening to big band in their 40s.

Although my mom does listen to newer music. She was a teenager in the mid 50s. My dad was a teenager in the early 40s. He listened to big band almost exclusively until he died in 1992. My mom, who is 71 now, listens to a lot of different types of music, including rock, blues, jazz, classical, etc.

I listen to a bunch of different music, and always try to find new bands that I like. I listen to metal, alternative, R&B, hiphop, classic rock, blues, jazz, big band and classical.

[Bucky]

103. Nah, they're mostly classical music fans, total music snobs since I was a kid

[skygazer]

104. Yes, my parents listened to the music of their youth

My father liked old country, my mom liked Frank Sinatra. I listen mostly to classic rock from the 70's. I listen to it because I like it and it takes to a time when life was very, very good. There are songs that can conjure up a specific place and time so vividly, it's like I was there again.

I don't really live in the past and its not like I'm consciously thinking about it when I listen to music - and I listen to music from other eras as well - but I think most people identify most strongly with the music of their 20's because that's when they were most involved with it.

My .02, probably worth less than 1/2 that. :P

[yardwork]

105. ummmmmm, sort of, but not really.

Let's work this out....my parents were in their 20s in the late 1950s and early to mid-1960s. They listened to Motown, Elvis Presley, Little Richard, the Beatles, and folk music then.

My parents were in their 40s in the late 1970s and early to mid-1980s. They still listened to the Beatles and their Motown records and folk music, but they had added all the popular music they had encountered along the way through the 1960s and 1970s. Except that they didn't pick up an interest in Punk. Nor did they enjoy heavy metal, grunge, or rap. They did continue to pick up new bands in similar genres to the ones they'd liked earlier, plus they gradually got more and more interested in classical and jazz.

[NC_Nurse]

106. No, and I don't either. My family is pretty eclectic in their musical tastes.

I'm lucky. :D

[Haole Girl]

107. **** Thank you everyone for your responses....****

Sorry I don't have time to respond to each one. I'm at work and unable to. :hi:

[LibDemAlways]

108. My parents are in their 80's. When they were in their

20's they were listening to the Big Bands. When I visit, they'll frequently have a Sinatra album on.

I grew up in the 60's, and I still enjoy listening to the British invasion bands of my teens. However, I have a 14 year old, and around the house she mostly plays what she likes, which means I'm listening to a lot of alternative stuff these days - and actually liking some of it.