Getting old(er)

[redrabid]

Because I was uninspired while painting, I started roaming the net. Somewhere there was a post that I read as "In horror of Jorma's 70th birthday..". Of course what was written was "In honour etc.". What can I say, getting older is something that happens to you and you just try to cope with it. But sometimes your body lets you down. A few weeks ago I had a dinnerparty (well, that's a give-away, I never had "dinnerparties" in my 20s) with a few friends from way back. We had great food, lots of wine and later on raki, whiskey, you name it and we emptied the bottle. But no longer boys, our bodies told us that it was time to sleep at around 2-3 am. But we wanted to go on and on. So one of us rang "his man". And for the first time in maybe more than 15 years I snorted more than a few lines. I got home around 10 in the morning and it took me more than 4-5 days to get over it. I am getting old.
But we had a really interesting discussion early in the morning about how our age influences our tastes in music.
For me, my taste in music is broader than it was: I listen to a lot of salsa and even some classical music, no big orchestra's though, just baroque quartets, no opera's, only aria's (voices!) and to Azeri mugam because of its austere and deeply moving beauty. At the same time I prefer Foo Fighters latest CD far above the very lacklustre Hot Tuna "Steady As She Goes". I still like loud, very loud, obnoxious music. I still listen to JA, Small Faces, Family, Zappa and 70s Hot Tuna a lot. But the more softer favorites from my younger years seem th have lost my attention. I hate Jazz and Country as much as 40 years ago.
So here is my question to all old Airheads out there: How did getting older influence your taste in music?
Or, not to exclude the younger forum members, how does age influence your musical preferences?
(I don't expect a lot of posts though, now that JBS, Cook and me seem to be the only remaining active members. JA is getting old too!)

[Ensign]

In the second half of my life (so far, that is) I became a musician. That was a turning point for me. Now I listen to music with another set of ears, so to speak. My taste in music has gotten much WIDER. Now I like music from almost every genre; in the past I was quite the snob. Now I criticise less and appreciate more. (But don't put on any rap for me!)

[CookOfTheHouse]

I think I became much more tolerant to music over the years (I'm only 21, btw) I started listening to Wings at 11 and it was already a weird thing to do, most of my friends said. Still, Wings is quite easy going, but I started digging into McCartney's most obscure songs and started liking new crazy sounds. But I wanted some noise when I was 16 so I started listening to ska/punk (Sublime, early No doubt, the Specials) but I was lucky it only lasted about a year or so. The I "discovered" the Doors and accidentally downloaded a track called "White Rabbit" by Janis Joplin. One of my friends told me it wasn't Joplin at all and that's how I found the airplane. At first I could only listen to Surrealistic Pillow songs, most of the others seemed too crazy but then Two Heads became my favourite and I startet looking for more and then reached The Velvet Underground and Nico, The Mamas And The Papas (WAY softer), The Ace Of Cups, Shocking Blue, Sweetwater, Spanky And Our Gang, The Early Airplane, Jefferson Starship, Hot Tuna, Cold Blood, C.K. Strong, and lately, thanks to redrabid I found The United States of America which is becoming my favourite, and the spin-off, Joey Bird and the Field Hippies, both albums are great. I went last week into darker bands like the German Amon Düül II, which inspired Grace to write Never Argue With a German if You're Tired of European Song but it's TOO crazy to stick, and then another psychedelic twist, a brasilian band called Os Mutantes which features crazy tropical sounds with psychedelic music and has terrific male-female vocals. This seems to prove how tolerant one becomes while growing older. If I had listened to The Ballad Of You And Me And Pooneil at 11, I'd definetely hate it, it has to be a progressive thing. The only band I can't seem to find a reason to listen to is The Carpenters. It's too pop for my taste but i somehow love it anyway.
The weird thing is my mom can't stand anyything beyond Wings! JA is too crazy for her!

[ericthompson13]

At the mere age of 18 i can safely say that my taste in music and my age have not yet crossed paths, however, when i was a child i loved the "Volunteers" track off of my parents Forrest Gump soundtrack. Prior to putting two and two together I always thought it strange that the sound of the Airplane reminded me of my childhood. After rediscovering the airplane some 10 years later I now can't get enough and listen intently more than daily. My favorite music, in general, is a band that can simply rock without any further media image, but that holds no limit to my favourite music. I like everything from rock to celtic, to classical and so on. I also enjoy writing songs (though not a professional, having only a few, and none quite finished) but none of them are even close to anything i listen to. It'll be intersting to look back in 15-20 years and compare though.

[psychy]

Strangely enuff. I never liked to be "stuck in the past" with music either, BUT, when I hear crappy music and ideals like....just to name one.....Lady Gaga .....I wish I had never got old(er). Getting older only confirmed what I have always thought about this fine art called MUSIC.......that times may change, costumes may change, but the NON WIMPY music is still among us, only we have to have the GUTS to look for it and not ABSORB passively what the media and radio and TV try to fork down to us :):)
oh, my dad used to say: "You're never really old son....you were just born BEFORE someone else":):):):):).......you know what folks...he was dead right :)

[Susan Butcher]

I don't have much to add, really. It is said that the golden age of everything was when you were 12. I still like most of the music I thought was great then. The stuff I hated, well now I like some of that too. I try not knock something just because of its genre.

[psychy]

I don't think it's a question of genre.....I mean, I started off by listening to Little Richard at age 3!!!!!!!:):) and frankly r'n'b never appealed to me much with respect to r'n'r....psychedelic music stemmed from r'n'r and the music I always detested.....disco music....stemmed from r'n'b and soul, BUT I dig James Brown and Funkadelic though:):).....NO, it's NOT the gener, it's the WIMPINESS in the arrangements of some songs out there, where the MAX wimpiness can be heard in any Lady Gaga track:(:(!!!