Mine is an easy one. It's 1983 and I'm in my living room in Canton, Conn. I am all of 13 years old, and we've just gotten cable. I flip over to channel 27 and see this thing called MTV. There is a band, playing outside at a cavernous amphitheatre that looks like it's carved into the side of a mountain. The singer is dressed all in black. The guitar player is balding and has a beaky nose. The bass player is sullen. The drummer is pounding out a martial beat. He sings, "How long must we sing this song?" I am 13, full of righteous, if clueless, indignation at Reagan's America, and it is simultaneously the most moving and weirdest thing I have ever seen. The band, of course, is U2, and I'm still young and naive enough to buy into the political posturing, but the sincerity of that performance rocks me down to my socks. I am enraptured and wait for the video and watch it every time it comes on. Two weeks later, I am in a Caldor (discount store) in Torrington, Conn. across the street from my family's restaurant using my allowance to buy "Under a Blood Red Sky." Two weeks later, I ask my parents to buy me a bass because I want to be like Adam Clayton (whose name I do not yet know). IAfter that, in a bookstore in Hartford, Conn., I see import copies of Melody Maker and the NME. I learn about U2 and every other American college radio band. I start listening to WHUS, the UConn station and WWES, the Wesleyan University station. Hours and hours at night with headphones. I am addicted. It's 22 years later and I'm still addicted. john. ----- Original Message ----- From: "AssociationWorks" To: Sent: Wednesday, May 18, 2005 3:47 PM Subject: Re: My "first" time... > Hey Miguel: > > Cool thread! My first epihany came in late 1982 when (at 12 years old) I > discovered KROQ in Los Angeles. It's growing embrace of "modern rock" around > that time sgave a slew of incredible new sounds to geeky, potch-faced > suburbanites like myself who desperately wanted more out of music than > Journey, REO Speedwagon and Van Halen could ever hope to offer. > > Jeff >