How did you first hear your favorite #bands?

I am A: American and B: old, so I was first exposed to several of my favorite bands (Sparks, Roxy Music, Sensational Alex Harvey Band) via Don Kirshner's Rock Concert, in the pre-cable days of network television.

A cassette dub of 13 Songs, Repeater, & Steady Diet by Fugazi was pressed into my hand at an end of summer party right before I started my first yr of high school in 1992 (I think that's when it was, I don't think it was any earlier) and was told very conspiratorially I need to make myself familiar with these records.

I first heard Death Cab for Cutie when “Title and Registration” was used as interstitial music on an episode of Car Talk.

in a car, somewhere on Long Island, summer 1997

my mom played me merzbow in the womb

hell yeah

Genesis (1990): my mother had a copy of Invisible Touch, which I loved. She also bought a copy of Peter Gabriel's So, which I grew to love. When I saw Peter Gabriel's name on the back of the Selling England by the Pound jacket, this seemed too revelatory to be true. For an eleven-year-old it was pretty striking how different all of these albums sounded, and took some work to get into them.

Talking Heads, Brian Eno (1990): My older brother knew about them. I liked "Burning Down the House" and wanted to know who did it; he had the knowledge, and through him I learned the connection to Eno. The Cure (1991) were a case where my brother had a couple of albums but I actually bought Standing on the Beach without ever having consciously heard anything in order to discover the band "for myself." The inclusion of surprisingly great non-LP B-sides on the cassette made you feel like you were being admitted to some exclusive club (if not cult).

Wire, David Bowie, Roxy Music, Can, Residents, Velvet Underground, Television, Clash, XTC, Siouxsie, PiL, etc. (1992-1994): My parents got me a copy of the Trouser Press Record Guide (3rd ed.) for my thirteenth birthday, and for a couple of years I discovered an enormous amount of music through it (and the fourth edition that shortly followed). Some acts profiled there, most notably The Fall and Sparks, I wouldn't get around to exploring till years later (2000 and 2005, respectively); this was partly to do with it being difficult to find their albums, or at least the ones that came recommended. I also spent a lot of time reading the 1992 Rolling Stone Album Guide, which dutifully provided a map for classic rock and got me to investigate some jazz, funk and soul I might not have otherwise.

Sonic Youth (1992): partly Trouser Press, but I think the initial impetus was an Entertainment Weekly review of Dirty. I didn't really love that album, but I kept trying, and Sister really clicked.

Stereolab (1998): a friend from high school who later worked in a record store told me they were his favorite band; I investigated and was thrilled to be getting into an act that wasn't defunct or past its prime.

Scott Walker, Serge Gainsbourg (2001): Roni Sarig's The Secret History of Rock, which served as a sort of supplement to Trouser Press at a time when I was returning to rock music after largely listening to classical and jazz for a couple of years.

Pet Shop Boys (2002): a friend mentioned being excited to attend Closer to Heaven when I was in college, and I didn't know anything about them (presumably having forgotten the disgust accorded them in Trouser Press). I investigated after the 2CD reissues came out in 2001 — in fact, the novelty and quality of the 2CD reissue packages was part of what drew me to them (IIRC PSBs were the first to do this kind of expanded reissue, at least with most of their catalogue).

Yes (2002) My brother had been a fan, but I didn't really start seriously investigating until I was out of college. I think the generally... affirmative? egalitarian? approach to reviewing on the All Music Guide removed some of the stigma attached to prog by the Rolling Stone guide and Guterman/O'Donnell's The Worst Rock n' Roll Records of All Time (I was self-conscious about these things for a lonnnng time).

Chic (c.2006): I don't really remember. I was curious about disco, and Chic was the most celebrated albums act in the genre. Maybe a Pitchfork '70s list? These lists did introduce me to a lot of music in the '00s (Arthur Russell being the main example that comes to mind).

Nara Leão, Jorge Ben (2007-8): I think I got into Brazilian music in general through David Byrne connections (and flipping though pages of "customers also bought..." on Amazon), but the Slipcue website, however indifferently "informed," helped map out a lot of the territory, which I still approach a bit too much like a tourist. The Loronix blog put a ridiculous number of albums in easy reach, and then there was the fun of trying to track down affordable physical copies....

Ariel Pink (2012): Before Today was blasting in a late-night coffee shop, and "Fright Night" instantly seduced me in a way few things have. Googled lyrics, realized I'd read about AP in Simon Reynolds' Retromania (his self-professed favorite act of the '00s, no less!), but from the book AP sounded like he wallowed in nostalgia like it were filth. He did, and I didn't realize how much I would like it.

My first exposure to Talking Heads was in Revenge of the Nerds.

Talking Heads: An older colleague who became a bit of a mentor to me was an ex-punk who recommended TH to me. I listened to Stop Making Sense but it didn't click - sounded very thin and dated. But I came across a copy of the DVD in Fopp, brought it home and was absolutely spellbound. I must have watched it about 15 times now. Later I read Rip It Up and Start Again and got heavily into the new wave/post-punk vibe and now I run a night where we play music from the new wave era exclusively.