Why Do People Bond with Music from Their Youth?

[Retro_NRG]

Hmm.. very interesting topic with some intriguing biochemical explanations too (this required some time to gather some thoughts from a very personal recollection).

Here goes.. (Sorry if it runs long)[:I].

Seems to me that the bonding aspect is determined by which existential lens one experienced their respective musical moment(s).

My earliest memories (mid 60's - early 70's) were gathered through the audio lens of AM radio (be it the ubiquitous 'transistor portable at home, on the go or the dash radio in your parents car). Because of that, music seemed to be omnipresent during that time of my life.

It also seemed that the character of the musical memories was heavily influenced by the on air radio personalities (WABC's Cousin Brucie, Harry Harrison, etc..) Hence, my affinity for that era's top 40 music and my new found appreciation for today's resurrected WCBS 101.1.

Strangely enough, songs like Petula Clark's 'Downtown', Paul Mauriat's 'Love Is Blue' and even the Rolling Stone's 'Ruby Tuesday' still play back in my mind in the same monaural AM radio mode as I originally heard them.

During the 1970's, I transitioned to the lens of FM AOR radio and turntable LPs & '45s (my own and those of friends) which became my primary listening influence. It was definitely a mind expanding time given the advances of audio playback technology (ie: the 'Radial Stereo' recording gimmickery featured on the Hollies 'Long Cool Woman- In A Black Dress'), HiFi Stereo & Quad sound systems, OMG..friggin HEADPHONES!, cassette tapes (ones you could actually record on!). Oh and let's not forget my first 'all in one' Lafayette compact stereo I got for Christmas back in 1976.

All of the aforementioned served as collective facets of a perceptional lens which profoundly shaped and enhanced my personal attachment to the music of Elton John, Fleetwood Mac, Pink Floyd, Boston, Bowie, Chicago, Steely Dan, etc..

Somewhere in mid-decade, Funk & Dance music came to the forefront (especially when I upgraded to my first component quality loudspeakers). Hence came my fondness for Donna Summer, Parlament, KC & The Sunshine Band, Bee Gees, etc..

Additionally, WHERE I heard a song played was just as important as HOW in establishing my degree of emotional attachment to it. Whether it was in my room, my friends room/car, on a school trip, at summer day camp or riding my bike, etc.. I can still recall moments where I heard a tune and can INSTANTLY revisit the time, mood and specific moment/occurrence associated with it. (come to think of it, that would make for an interesting playlist narrative!)

Moving right along..

As the 70's came to a close, 2 new genres of music came to influence my musical memories (courtesy of my sister and her then boyfriend) New Wave & Jazz Fusion. It was while I was in NYC visiting their loft apartment that I experienced the music of 'Talking Heads 77' and 'More Songs About Buildings and Food' as well as Weather Report's 'Heavy Weather' album ('Birdland' will ALWAYS be one of those standout tracks for me)

Again, it was through yet another experiential lens (Hip urban SoHo surroundings and an audiophile grade sound system) where those memories are forever etched.

By the time the 1980's came, the 'Walkman' phenomenon provided yet another audio lens to shape my listening environment. I remember how liberating (and at the same time, introverting) it was to experience true high fidelity music anywhere (especially at the beach). Emerson Lake & Palmer's 'From The Beginning' was totally rediscovered for me while listening on my FM Walkman.

By the summer of 1981 Walkmans and boomboxes had taken my musical listening experiences to a whole new level. By then, radio stations were also experimenting with long 'commercial free' music segments. (BTW: anyone remember the WAAP 103.5 Summer of No Commercials?) IMO, WKTU and WBLS were also at the top of their broadcasting game. What a halcyon time it was then listening to terrestrial radio.

Songs like Saga's 'On The Loose', Journey's 'Who's Crying Now', Quincy Jones' 'Betcha Wouldn't Hurt Me', Denray Morgan's 'I'll Do Anything For You' or D Train's 'You're The One For Me', will always take me back to those days spent listening on the beach at Robert Moses Park some 27+ years ago.

However.. around the end of that summer in '81 MTV made its debut and yet again provided a new audio AND visual lens through which my musical memories where created. Interestingly, at the time it was a mixed bag AOR and NW artists. I remember Asia, Billy Squire and Stevie Nicks videos getting just as much play as those from Elvis Costello, Talking Heads and Blondie.

I'm really fond of those early days of MTV since they forever shaped my schema of how music and imagery would be integrated from that point forward. In retrospect, ABBA does deserve credit for their pioneering vids from the mid 70's (funny, I remember seeing them showcased on the Ch 5 kids show 'Wonderama' back in the day)

Through the early 80's, my music perceptional lens was changed once again through my exposure to bar/pub jukebox music (the memory of cigarette smoke and lacquered oak tables in Sgt Peppers Pub in Glen Cove vividly comes to mind whenever I hear Squeeze's 'Pulling Mussels From A Shell' or 'If I Didn't Love You')

And then came WLIR...

A radio station which immediately lured me away from the local bar scene and over to the area nightclubs which were heavily promoted. The physical experience of actually FEELING club volume music the likes of which you only heard on LIR, literally COMPELLED you to join the throng of like minded twenty somethings out on the dancefloor.

That environment created a whole new and visceral sense of musical euphoria for me. (certainly alcohol and certain controlled substances must have shaped, er, clouded that musical lens as well[}:)]) The sights, tastes, smells, vibrations and personal emotions experienced in those nightclub outings are the memories I desire most to relive nowadays.

IMO, songs like Tin Tin's 'Kiss Me', NO's 'Blue Monday', Front 242's 'Headhunter', Simple Minds' 'I Travel' cannot be fully appreciated unless experienced firsthand in a nightclub environment.

On a related note, having had gone to many live concerts dating back to the late 70's, only one stands out as singularly defining musical experience. That being The Rolling Stones' Sept 1981 show at Buffalo's Rich Stadium. My appreciation of their music will forever be tied to that show (Particularly, 'If I Was A Dancer' which was the first time I ever heard it while playing as a pre-show warmup track[8D])

However, my bonds to music are not just limited to my youth since I developed a late acquired taste for classical music during my adult years. This occurred while honeymooning on an Alaskan land/sea cruise back in the summer of 1990. For 1 full week, while on the sea leg of the trip we were treated the most exquisite selection of classical music which was played throughout the ship. After coming home, I immediately purchased a 120 CD collection of classical music.

The same can be said for my fondness and attachment to traditional and contemporary jazz which came via my working life over the past 20 years. Having a genre of music that well suited to my work environment for so many years, I was strangely saddened when my area radio station CD101.9 suddenly flipped to a totally different music format. This despite a feeling of ennui that had set in over the past few years over the rather stale and flaccid station playlist. Sort of akin to what happened to my beloved WLIR.[:(]

Funny, having listened to these WLIR tapes does bring back a special kind of nostalgia that not only recalls the music but the bits, adverts, beds, bumpers as well as the cultural commentary and quips from the LIR airstaffers.

It is truly special to be afforded another opportunity to listen to it all again. Though I kinda wish someone could unearth aircheck tapes from my other radio stations of yesteryear.

Hope some of you folks could somehow relate to what I just blathered on about![|)]

<MARQUEE><h5>Moving @The Speed of Life</h5></MARQUEE>

[arnoldtan]

before music is better than today's music......am born in early 70's, but I appreciate 80's, early 90's, 70's, 60's music, but i dont like mostly 2000 music................why?..............because artist today suck

[newwavepop]

i actually get tired of this argument when i get it from people because i cant stand music since like 87 and i am recognized as an 80s fan by people i know.so they always says things to the effect of you only like that because its what you grew up with.

in my particular case i would like to think i like that music and dislike this newer music because this new stuff isnt good.

now heres the thing, i grew up in oklahoma city and had no new wave exposure other than basic duran duran,police type stuff that was on mtv. but most people around me were far more john mellencamp and springsteen and thats what i heard alot. then i myself in highschool 86-90 was totally into thrash metal, the whole slayer scene.
but the music i love and listen to now though from that time period, i had never heard of at that time.(the sound, blue in heaven, modern eon)
but likewise i absolutely love music from the 30 to the 80s. i just dont like the 90s to now at all.
so i dont know? like i said i just hope i have good taste and the kids are wrong.

[WLIRRIP]

[quote][i]Originally posted by newwavepop[/i]
<br>i actually get tired of this argument when i get it from people because i cant stand music since like 87 and i am recognized as an 80s fan by people i know.so they always says things to the effect of you only like that because its what you grew up with.

in my particular case i would like to think i like that music and dislike this newer music because this new stuff isnt good.

now heres the thing, i grew up in oklahoma city and had no new wave exposure other than basic duran duran,police type stuff that was on mtv. but most people around me were far more john mellencamp and springsteen and thats what i heard alot. then i myself in highschool 86-90 was totally into thrash metal, the whole slayer scene.
but the music i love and listen to now though from that time period, i had never heard of at that time.(the sound, blue in heaven, modern eon)
but likewise i absolutely love music from the 30 to the 80s. i just dont like the 90s to now at all.
so i dont know? like i said i just hope i have good taste and the kids are wrong.
[/quote]

I'll tell you why I don't like most contemporary pop: Like a lot of music in the pop arena, it almost seems to follow a formula. They play the things to death on KROQ out here, and it sounds like the playlists are on a tape because the same songs seem to follow one another day to day. The bands scream. They whine. The melodies and chords simply annoy me. The so-called punk of today is commercialized and glazed over. BTW, I didn't care for a lot of pop in the 80s either. All the disco/dance stuff (or "Guido" music) and the mainstream rock did not appeal to me at all. The edginess of the new wave genre got me. It musically spoke in a way like nothing else did and thumbed its nose at all the mainstream/top-40 pop.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people he chose for his inheritance.
Psalm 33:12

[heddhunter]

I just finished reading "This Is Your Brain On Music" by Daniel Levitin which answers precisely this question. Other people in this thread are basically right on the money: at that age, our brains are more malleable, and our emotional experiences are more intense. The neural hardware of our brains likes to create associations, so intense emotions and the music that accompanies them get all mixed up in there. As we age, our brains literally become less capable of creating these strong associations, that's why we love the music of our youth more.

Good book, I recommend it!

[geoffolehane]

Some of these observations are way too deep thinking. I think Spaz and bpdp3 hit the nail on head. You remember the good times in your life and those tend to be your pre-career, pre-committment, pre-kids, pre-debt years when you were young and free. And the music of that time frame just reminds you of those good times.

[hisoka866]

huh huh huh...only the pleasant ones ok

memory serves me right,that was the time cassey kassem's apex.
music that time was cool either in the radio or video where at
that time infant MTV was turning video like an art(unlike today).Interesting music from continental europe also made an
imprint on my psyche(jonas almqvuist and his gang, nena hagen,
nena....ughh..ultimately UK bands. they are still lingering in my
my thoughts till now.Oh how miss the 80's......[:)]

[Frau_Blucher]

[quote][i]Originally posted by geoffolehane[/i]
<br>Some of these observations are way too deep thinking. I think Spaz and bpdp3 hit the nail on head. You remember the good times in your life and those tend to be your pre-career, pre-committment, pre-kids, pre-debt years when you were young and free. And the music of that time frame just reminds you of those good times.
[/quote]
Geoffe, I'm gonna respectfully say that that's total bullshit IMHO. For many many people, those weren't the good times. For some folks, their youth was tumultuous and sometimes downright shitty. But for even those people, I know that many still relate to this music the most. I think these "too deep" ideas are dead bang on. My years now are are happy as I've ever been, and I know many people in the same boat. I also know many people not in the same boat. There's no correlation among the different types of people I know to "bad" music now, just as there was no correlation to "good times" or bad times and liking the old stuff so much then. There's just way more to it.

[WLIRRIP]

[quote][i]Originally posted by heddhunter[/i]
<br>I just finished reading "This Is Your Brain On Music" by Daniel Levitin which answers precisely this question. Other people in this thread are basically right on the money: at that age, our brains are more malleable, and our emotional experiences are more intense. The neural hardware of our brains likes to create associations, so intense emotions and the music that accompanies them get all mixed up in there. As we age, our brains literally become less capable of creating these strong associations, that's why we love the music of our youth more.

Good book, I recommend it!
[/quote]

By extension it also might explain why it is that while I still enjoy the music of 25 years ago, I don't have the same intensity of emotions when I listen to it now. I used to be able to bathe myself in the music, completely losing myself in it. It provided a tremendous emotional high, possibly from a self-esteem boost it seemed to generate (altho I haven't quite figured that one out yet; I noticed that a friend of mine and I would use words like "powerful" to describe some of the music from that era). Today I can only bask in it -- even with some of the better stuff of today, like She Wants Revenge, Ladytron or A Place to Bury Strangers.