I was 3, I had a toy turntable, and I found Spiral from Vangelis. I remember it vividly

Honestly, it goes back before memory for me, based on what my family says. Music was what my mom would use to soothe me as a baby, and there was never a time I didn't respond to it.

But, I think the moment when I became aware of exactly how powerful music was and is, had to be one day when my dad came home with a new album. This would have been in 1982. Which would have made me eight-ish, depending on the time of year. I know it came out early in the year, but I'm not sure when my dad got it.

Anyway, he comes in with this LP. He puts it on and turns the volume up.

Then this scratchy voice crackles through the house saying," you see that mountain over there? Yeah? One of these days, I'm going to climb that mountain..."

And the band kicks in, with that gorgeous opening line.

And then they paint this picture with song.

I got fucking shivers, literally.

It wasn't the first time I'd been moved by music. Not by a long shot.

But it was the first time I consciously recognized what I was feeling and thought about it rather than just reacting to it.

It helped that I'd recently read Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn, and had really connected with both the earthy humor and the ugliness that Twain was so good at showing. I had all these images in my head of those stories

Around that age, I was really running into all kinds of revelations though. Music played a big part in most of them. Don't even get me started on the first time I heard Joan Jett lol.

I was so lucky with music though. My dad was pretty broad in his tastes, but grooved heavy into Motown, beach music, and country. My mom was also broad, but leaned more towards rock, folk, and early metal. My dad's mom was also super into bluegrass, moreso than my dad. My mom's parents were into swing and big band, plus some country.

Not many musicians in my close family, but a lot of serious fans of all kinds of music. My one uncle was deep into audiophile territory. Gave me my first decent headphones, and was also usually willing to let me sit in his music room when we'd visit, just playing stuff. A different uncle always had prog and trippy shit going at his house.

So I was primed in the womb to come out into music. Literally considering how loud most of it was lol. Queen's we will rock you was the most reliable lullaby my mom found. In the crib, she'd move a speaker a little closer, turn the volume down and play the single of it until I drifted off.

No joke, after hearing Time Of Your Life on the Seinfeld clip show episode, I found out that was Green Day and got their International Superhits album because I didn’t know any better and it has the song on it. The instant Maria kicked in, I was hooked. I hadn’t heard anything like punk music before.

The offspring

I think it was the pure moods album which was about all I had access too besides church hymns.