stormyviper11
Active Member
81 messages
joined Nov 2007
Here are 10 artists I remember exactly how and when I first heard them. They absolutely floored me back then, and honestly, they still hit just as hard today...
1. Creedence Clearwater Revival (around 1984) - I was reading this piece about Fogerty in a Rock magazine and it really caught my attention. Not long after, in that Rock Anthology by Goranin Bakić, he mentioned "I Put a Spell on You." Naturally, I hit the record button immediately. I was hooked within seconds. About an hour later, my buddy bursts into my room like: "Did you record Creedence?" He was just as stoked—he’d heard them playing at a local bakery over at Remiza while waiting for his bus to a suburban town...
So, back around 1980... I was sitting in a dark room on some remote island, late at night, listening to that Rock Focus show hosted by Dražiti Vrdoljak. The highlight of the set was "Oh Well" by Fleetwood Mac, which is honestly a whole conversation in itself. Amidst a massive pile of mediocre tracks that didn't mean anything to me, I suddenly hit something different. It was this bass line that just crawled straight into my subconscious. I couldn't quite pin it down at the time, though. Fast forward about five years, and I hear "London Calling" playing, and suddenly all those buried memories start flooding back. I went out, grabbed the record, and—bingo. The second "Guns of Brixton" started playing, I knew I’d finally found exactly what I'd been subconsciously hunting for all those years...
3. Azra (circa 1982) - Back when I was just a kid moving into the city, I had to find my own soundtrack. My classmate Slaven actually helped me out; he stopped by our buddy Mite's place and brought over a tape, "Sunny side street." He wanted to play "Power per head D. P.," which was basically the ultimate anthem for us 11 and 12-year-olds... total rebels, right? But instead of messing around with rewinding, he just hit play from the start on "Poland in my heart." From that exact moment, Azra was stuck in my head forever...
4. John Coltrane (around 1987) - Look, I don't like jazz. There have been plenty of times where jazz cats tried to convert me to the cause, but they never quite pulled it off. Except for Božo, who almost had me... I don't really know what the deal is with that guy, all I know is he was mumble-grumbling away on his bass in some jazz band up in Vancouver... Anyway, I was on the bus headed to school when he handed me his Walkman and played "Naimu." I still don't like jazz, but I absolutely adore Coltrane, and "Afro Blue Impressions" is right at the top of every single list of the best albums I've ever heard...
5. Steely Dan (around '86) – honestly, maybe the absolute best thing Ljudevit Grgurić-Grga ever pulled off. That "Retrovizor" show was such a vibe for Sunday mornings, and that one moment when he dropped "With a gun"... man, that just lives in my head rent-free forever. Looking back now, I feel like there’s probably at least ten other Steely Dan tracks that could've acted as similar catalysts, but let's be real... that one was irreplaceable...
6. Valentino (1984) - Just got back from the first real concert of my life, seeing Eric Burdon live. I was buzzing, just humming "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" under my breath the whole way home. Then the next morning, while I was getting ready for school, they played "Love you more" on the radio... and honestly, that totally eclipsed Burdon for me. I became completely obsessed with that album, and I still absolutely love it to this day...
7. Nick Drake (2001) - I'm positive I've heard Drake before, probably back when Leskovar used to play him constantly. But honestly, the whole thing started from the end—listening to "Voice from the Mountain," which was one of the last tracks he ever recorded. To be fair, I've only really started digging into the perks of the streaming services lately. While I was hunting around for that band Mountain, I realized there were a ton of other songs with that word in the title, so I went ahead and tore through them... But only one of them, you know, really hit me hard. That was the moment everything clicked with Drake...
Zabranjeno pušenje (1984) — right before they dropped their debut album, they released that promo single with "Zenica Blues" and "I Don't Want to Be a German." It actually made its big premiere on a local rock radio show here in the States. I remember hearing it and thinking, man, these guys are going to be absolute legends. As soon as the album hit the shelves, I went out and grabbed a copy... well, technically my buddy was working at the shop, so he hooked me up and I could actually afford it. After listening to every single track, I was convinced—these guys were the real deal. I spent about six months playing that record on non-stop loop, and then, out of nowhere, the whole thing just exploded and everyone started listening to them at once...
9. Ruts (around 1997) - back at my buddy's place, I was first introduced to a ton of punk and post-punk bands, including most of the ones I absolutely live for today. But honestly, nothing hit me quite like "Jah War" did on that first listen. That track basically paved the way for all those incredible dub sounds that eventually took over my life... and my entire listening experience...
Sparks (1991) - After a breakup, it took about six months before I could actually laugh again. Honestly, I was in the absolute worst headspace of my life, barely even functioning. One spring afternoon, me, Mark, and Brian were wandering around a suburban neighborhood near a local park when we decided to stop by a record store. I picked up some great Rory Gallagher for next to nothing, but Brian spotted this weird-looking album with no name on the cover—the kind of thing you’d see mentioned in a magazine like Rolling Stone as one of those legendary masterpieces. It was "Kimono My House." For some reason, he passed on it, but I grabbed it, thinking, alright, let's give this a shot. By the time I was on the bus home, reading through some hilarious lyrics, I could already feel myself softening up. Once I got back, I dropped the needle on the first track, "This Town Ain't Big Enough For Both Of Us." Obviously, I recognized that one. But man, every single other track was just as incredible. I ended up listening to the whole album two or three times that same night. When I woke up the next morning, it was a gorgeous spring day, birds were chirping, and Sparks was right there at my fingertips... I felt amazing. Like I was finally healed...
His most expensive piece
This one is quite a find
A truly remarkable collection item
Definitely worth noting
