Acts you once couldn't STAND but now actually enjoy?

[Dan C]

I got to thinkig about this after a talk with my sister a couple weeks back. When we were kids, she was a big time ABBA fan and I absolutly HATED them!

She'd play her ABBA records loud and I'd freak and run out of the house. Now here I am years later with just about every ABBA LP they recorded, and a few 45's as well.

If Elvis Costello can admit to loving this group, well then so can I! Clever, catchy, perfectly crafted and well recorded pop tunes sung by attractive women! What can be wrong with that?

So what other acts have some of you warmed up to over the years?
Dan C

[Gary]

Oh, well... :o The Monkees! I was taken in by all the anti-Monkee bad publicity. Things like "they don't play their own instruments", the story about how Pete gave away all his money and went broke because of guilt, etc.

Well, I think that they have a great set of tunes! Well crafted, played (by the Wrecking Crew - for the first few albums anyway). Wish I still had that Monkees sweatshirt, though. :(

[KLM]

You know it's funny but when I was about 13 or so, someone was playing Who's Next at Summer Camp. For some reason, I thought it was horrible. Several years later though, I really got into the Who and of course bought the entire catalog.

Just last year, I purchased a copy of the MCA Heavy Vinyl of Who's Next (along with the Canadian Steve Hoffman cd version) bringing the total to about 5 copies of Who's Next that I have purchased over the years.

I can't imagine how I didn't get into the Who earlier. I guess I needed more time to mature to enjoy one of the best all time rock n' roll bands.

[Ken_McAlinden]

Prince

...although I don't enjoy everything he's done, I like a lot of it and I certainly don't participate in active hatred of his music like I used to do in the early to mid-80s. :)

Regards,

[John B]

Led Zep

When I first heard them at the age of nine I thought they made a horrible noise. I retained that prejudice until my late twenties. One friend of mine made me listen again. I like them - I really do Sam I am.

[Elegy]

Steely Dan.

When I was in my teens I listened to heavier music (Led Zep, AC/DC. Aerosmith, Black Sabbath and the like) My first listen of any Steely Dan release was Aja and I thought it was terrible. What kind of sissy crap is this I'm thinking. Well, my impressions have changed enormously and now I find Led Zep, AC/DC, Aerosmith, Black Sabbath quite tiresome.

Take care.

[hoboken lad]

I never cared for the Supremes during the sixties. I don't know why; I loved Motown. Maybe they were too "sweet" for my taste. I have this distinct memory of one of my college friends buying a Supremes album (the one with "Where Did Our Love Go") and almost spewing when he played it. For whatever reason, I didn't even like their singles.

In the (late?) 70's, Motown came out with their Anthology series (2 or 3 LP's in one package) and I found a cutout of the Supremes 3-LP set for $5, so I bought it. I dug it. I realized that the songs the Supremes did were GREAT (duh). I even bought the 5 CD box set a couple of years ago. Boy was I wrong about the Supremes, at least as it relates to their hits. Even the post-Ross version had great songs.

And for whatever reason, I was also slow to warm up to Tom Petty.

[mcow1]

Gotta go with Merle Haggard on this one. Back in my high school days Merle was doing Okie From Muskogee and I just couldn't stand it or him. Nowadays I listen to ole Merle a lot. Unfortunately, my wife doesn't care much for country music.

[Dave]

Similar to Elegy, I listened to the harder progressive rockers and for the life of me couldn't understand the appeal of Jim Croce'.

Well here we are some 25 years later and I do own all 3 Jim Croce' albums that Steve has done, and love them!;)

[Grant]

Artists I didn't like the first time but now dig, or at least appreciate:

Led Zepplin
The Who
Metallica
Van Halen
The Cars
Styx

[Andrew]

For me it was the Pretenders, didn't get into them until "Learning To Crawl" in '83/84. Still like that LP better than the earlier stuff. :::shrugs:::

[Grant]

Originally posted by mcow1
Gotta go with Merle Haggard on this one. Back in my high school days Merle was doing Okie From Muskogee and I just couldn't stand it or him. Nowadays I listen to ole Merle a lot. Unfortunately, my wife doesn't care much for country music.
I still can't stand him. I despise the lyrics of "Okie From Muskogee". They don't fit with my sociopolitical views.

The reason I don't care for much country music is cultural, not artistic. I can admit that. Country artists are talanted, but I don't understand how or why. I don't understand the culture that produced it because I didn't grow up in it. It is the overridinng reason most people don't really explore different types of music.

[Ken_McAlinden]

I had a mild country aversion and a strong Merle aversion for quite awhile, but these days when I here a great song like Sing Me Back Home or I Threw Away the Rose, I can forgive a lot of Okie from Muskogees. I still prefer George Jones, though.

If one ever feels the need to break a country aversion, I recommend going straight to any good Hank Williams collection that doesn't feature overdubs or other trickery. If you want to work from the rock side back into country, there's always Gram Parsons. :)

Regards,

[Angel]

Originally posted by Grant

I still can't stand him. I despise the lyrics of "Okie From Muskogee". They don't fit with my sociopolitical views.



Grant,

You realize that Merle was being "ironical" when he wrote that, right? He wrote it very tongue in cheek. Imagine his surprise when it became an anthem of sorts and he had to sing it "straight"!

[aashton]

I was once at best disinterested in Louis Armstrong - but now I am amazed each time I listen.

When I was 7 or 8 my elder brother was into Led Zeppelin and Status Quo - I have always thought Led Zep were the top - but Status Quo have never done it for me. So if you ask the question again in another 10 or 20 years I may have gotten around to liking Quo.

All the best - Andrew

[Grant]

Originally posted by Ken_McAlinden


If one ever feels the need to break a country aversion, I recommend going straight to any good Hank Williams collection that doesn't feature overdubs or other trickery.

Regards,
Sorry. "Hey Good Lookin'" offends my sensebilities. So does Tammy Wynette's "Stand By Your Man". Though not country, the reason I can tolerate "For The Love Of Him" by Bobbi Martin is because it sounds so tounge-in-cheek. It sounds like a backhanded criticism of something like "Stand By Your Man".

[Grant]

Originally posted by Angel


Grant,

You realize that Merle was being "ironical" when he wrote that, right? He wrote it very tongue in cheek. Imagine his surprise when it became an anthem of sorts and he had to sing it "straight"!

I never looked at it that way. You think it's my bias against country music? I guess i'll have to investigate the history of this song. I get Randy Newman. He's not country. Neither was Bobbi Martin.

But I believe Tammy Wynette was serious.

[Angel]

Originally posted by Grant

Sorry. "Hey Good Lookin'" offends my sensebilities.

Grant, "Hey Good Lookin"? It offends you? In what way?

Wait, we are talking about the 1949 song:

Hey Good Lookin'
What 'cha got cookin?

I've got a hot-rod Ford and a two dollar bill, and I know a spot right over the hill

And so on....

You did say you were buying the new M&M album on another thread, right? He doesn't offend you because he's just joking?

:confused: :confused: :confused:

[mcow1]

Originally posted by Angel


Grant,

You realize that Merle was being "ironical" when he wrote that, right? He wrote it very tongue in cheek. Imagine his surprise when it became an anthem of sorts and he had to sing it "straight"!
I hadn't realized that myself. It sure seems to me that I remember his talking about it way back when and it sure seemed to fit the points of view he espoused at the time. But I'll take your word for it.

[BradOlson]

Yes, Merle was being ironic when he wrote Okie From Muskogee. I do believe in the message of Stand By Your Man as one should stand by their men. After all, if you love your woman, forgive her after all she's just a woman you love even though she may be hard to understand.

The lyrics are:
Sometimes it's hard to be a woman Giving all your love to just one man (very true, IMO)
Oh, you have bad times, and you have good times doing things that you don't understand (very true, IMO)

Hey, but if you love him, you'll forgive him Even though he's hard to understand (very true)
And if you love him, be proud of him 'Cause after all, he's just a man (very true, he's just a man in my interpretation refers to a man you love)

Stand by your man
Give him two arms to cling to
And someone warm to come to
When nights are cold and lonely

Stand by your man
And show the world you love him
Keep giving all the love you can
Stand by your man

All lyrics in the chorus of the song are true in my opinion and yes, it is a serious song. She had gone through a lot of trouble in her life standing by the men she loved throughout her lifetime, so this was a very personal song to her.

[Angel]

Bradley, stop it right now.

You're offending Grant (and Eminem)!

:rolleyes:

[Grant]

Originally posted by Angel


Grant, "Hey Good Lookin"? It offends you? In what way?

Wait, we are talking about the 1949 song:

Hey Good Lookin'
What 'cha got cookin?

I've got a hot-rod Ford and a two dollar bill, and I know a spot right over the hill

And so on....

You did say you were buying the new M&M album on another thread, right? He doesn't offend you because he's just joking?

:confused: :confused: :confused: As I said before, it's probably my bias against country and many assumptions made about the people who make it. I guess i'm no better than all those rap-haters, eh?

See, I don't take Eeinem and all those rappers or rockers too seriously. The reason I assume the country guys are serious is because they sound so serious, and some people with extreme sociopolitical views tended to adopt country music as their own. Guilt by association. Cultural bias?

I wonder what Michael has to say about all of this? No, wait...never mind...

[Angel]

Yes, I understand you don't like Country music. Fair enough.

But Eminem. Yes, you and I know he's joking.

But the kids don't, and that scares the hell out of me.

[BradOlson]

Yes, I do know Eminem is joking but I do not like his lyrics and I do not get his humor which is OK, one man's junk is another man's treasure. When I posted the lyrics to Stand By Your Man, I also posted my views which I agree with.

[Grant]

Originally posted by Angel


But the kids don't, and that scares the hell out of me. I have closely worked and conversed with teens on a regular basis, and rest assurred, they know Eminem and all the other rappers are kidding. Most adults don't understand that kids are smarter than they give them credit for.

In the future, I will try to listen closer and try to put aside my biases of country and assumptions of the culture IF some people here do the same for rap-hip-hop. Deal?:D