Shock of the New

[snadge]

This just blew me away the very first time I heard it, changed my musical prefrences for life.

 

[butcher]

How old would you have been? On average.

17 at the time.

 

[butchersapron]

17 at the time.

On average though? Obv you were a bit younger and older.

 

[butcher]

Very funny Butchersapron, very funny

However, like Grandmaster Flash with Hip Hop/Scratching, or Visage with New Romantiscism in my day it was one of the first big signs in commercial music that a change was coming.

 

[Voley]

Came across a strange piece of music while driving around in a car listening to the radio. "Jesus never failed me yet". Voice recording of a homeless man back in the day, singing this from the heart. Goes on for about 20 mins and is more like a mantra than a song. Strangely hypnotic. The guy's cockney accent is from a bygone age not heard anymore.
It's on YouTube.

Segues into Tom Waits singing it. I was similarly struck first time I heard it.

 

[Voley]

Velvet Underground + Nico album was a shock of the old moment...especially tracks like The Black Angel's Death Song and European Son

Same here. Venus In Furs for me. I might not have gone as far as saying "Now THIS is what I've been looking for" right out loud but it was certainly on the tip of my tongue.

 

[danski]

Too much to mention tbh but one that easily springs to mind is Basic Channel/ Maurizio.
My late mate Lee, playing me this stuff. Heard nothing like it. Was so alien yet so 'groovy'.

 

[ViolentPanda]

So many incidences of musical "shock of the new", I hardly know where to start.

I was brought up on a diet of my parents' musical taste, so mostly '50s rock 'n' roll and pop, and some '60s stuff such as The Stones, The Grateful Dead and The Beach Boys.
My first real shock, though, was "Metal Guru" (Marc Bolan & T.Rex) in '72, because it was the first time I realised that lyrics didn't need to be profound, meaningful or even narrative to be enjoyable.

 

[oryx]

I heard this in my mid-teens (B-side to Love Is The Drug, IIRC) and had never heard anything like it.

 

[ska invita]

I heard this in my mid-teens (B-side to Love Is The Drug, IIRC) and had never heard anything like it.

never heard that before - i can really imagine how that mustve hit you - still sounds unique today

sadly one of the things we lose with mp3s and streaming is the obscure b-side ....

 

[SpookyFrank]

Most recent example for me:



Astonishing. So much melody, but it never repeats itself or goes looking for a hook. Even the drums are used melodically, like they are in jazz.