You can play five records for a say, I don't know, 14-year-old, to help turn them on to good music -- what do you pick?

FUCK THE CLASH.

(ah, so perfectly skewed to my own taste)

I don't know, those come to mind as representative of my taste in music, but I wouldn't expect them to care.

i'm thinking of the one 14-year-old i actually know. she's a normal 14-year-old who likes normal pop music. frustrated by the ipod she got as a gift last year, she went back to the old-school method of downloading mp3 and burning them to cd-r's, which she carries everywhere she goes. i have no interest in forcing anything else on her, 'cause there ain't nothing wrong with her normal 14-year-old taste. but maybe i'd try to sneak one in just for the hell of it to see what she thinks.

(I can't get enough of it right now but not a good idea for a 14 year-old.)

Dunno, I'm quite certain my fifteen-year-old daughter would have none of it...
Her brother (19), though, is already pretty familiar with the middle three.

ned otm.

Really, it depends on the 14 year-old.

most 14 year-olds find their own older people to idolize and they tend to pick up new stuff that way. at least that's the way it worked with me. which is why my best friend's older cousin playing my bloody valentine and sonic youth made me want to hear them, while my dad telling me how great hot tuna was didn't.

Depends on who's answering the 'why' question and what the 'something' is, really.

"White Album" -- Beatles. Why would kids today have any idea as to why the Beatles were important, or even popular? Even if they listen to classic rock radio, all you'll hear off of this album are "Back in the USSR", "Birthday" (not two of the standouts on the record), and "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" (probably followed up by Bad Company or something, thereby obliterating its beautiful melancholy). Explain the theory behind collage, chance, and musique concrete, as well as the (within limits) merits of drugged-up fucking around while you listen to "Revolution Nine"

"A Love Supreme" -- John Coltrane. "Do your parents drag you to church? Isn't it lame? What if your church was like this?...You might hear people tell you that jazz is just wanky, self-indulgent soloing and boring, old-fart music. Listen....listen to how everything interacts, and how at times you can't tell who's playing what. That's not clutter, it's on purpose".

"The Clash" -- "All of those bands that talk about punk rock? Avril LavigneBlink182etceteraetcetera? Listen to this. If you're angry about the world, do something about it". Perhaps preface this with a minute of ELP or something to liiustrate what these guys were reacting against.

"Ninth Symphony" (London Symph. Orch. or other classic recording) -- Beethoven. "You may have heard this first bit. Listen to how it builds up. Listen to how the same bit repeated in lots of different ways makes an entire wall of sound. Try to pick out some of the instruments -- can you hear what the horns do here? Beethoven was the first guy to crank it up -- he wrote for a bigger orchestra so that it would be LOUDER. He was going deaf when he wrote this, by the way. Be sure to protect your hearing so that you can listen to whatever you want when you're my age. It's OK to bring earplugs if you know it's going to be a loud show. If your friends tell you you're not cool, tell them to fuck off".

"Bitches Brew" -- Miles Davis. To show that music which sounds "weird" at first can come to seem perfectly beautiful and normal. Miles was reacting to funk and rock and roll and made this record; if your young friend only listens to hip-hop, electronic music, or R&B, it shouldn't be too hard for them to hear some roots of those styles in this.

(btw, I'd only 'encourage' someone to read abt it and point to a couple of things if asked, of course)

Track list, please! :)

haha omg mt and jess in mindmeld shocker

operation ivy -- whatever their album is called
the clash - the clash
buzzcocks - singles going steady
rancid - and out come the wolves
n.w.a. - straight outta compton

i play her stuff all the time; some of it she likes a lot; some of it she makes fun of. she prefers molotov to brooks & dunn, for instance. and she won't let me play justin timberlake (who, a few years ago, of course, she liked.) right now, she's going through a major ska phase, and also likes really goofy nerdy stuff like atom and his package, but i expect that will change -- a couple years ago, she liked more girl punk bands and alt-soul women and the dixie chicks. last show i took her to was the bouncing souls record release party, on a boat.

You play Brooks & Dunn at your fourteen year old? WHAT KIND OF SOULLESS, SICK FUCK ARE YOU, CHUCK???

To quote George Carlin: "Beethoven was so deaf he thought that he was a painter".

That's a mighty nasty thing to say.

Unless you really want to. In which case play Tom's suggestions and you are guaranteed to succeed.

Beat Happening -- any album but the last one (just to plant the thought that there are people out there who buy albums by bands that can't sing or play and have lousy production. The Shaggs would be too much.)

Velvet Underground -- Loaded (possible they've heard Sweet Jane or Rock 'n' Roll on the radio. They're going to need to know VU eventually, so why not now.)

Sonic Youth -- Evol (Sister is better, but I think Evol would seem cooler and more mysterious to a teenager.)

The Kinks -- One For the Road (most of the hits, done in a kiddie friendly, obvious style. Maybe someday our teenager will see a copy of Village Green Society and have a vague memory of liking that song about cherry cola.)

a 12-year old?
a 10-year old?
a 6-year-old?
an 18-year-old?
a 22-year-old?
an octogenarian?

well i was 14 only three years ago and i was all about the NO and Kraftwerk then. napster made me a very strange 14-year-old though, when most people i know were hating on chartpop i was starting to like it.

Duran Duran
David Bowie
Nirvana
Japan
Roxy Music

As you can tell, things have obviously changed for me musically. *laughs* But really, none of the above are because anybody influenced my music listening; in fact, I didn't know a single fan of one of the above musical artists IRL.

My parents loved doo-wop, classic Motown, country, Tejano, and big band. When I was about six years old and had my very first record player (Fisher Price!), I would borrow my mom's old Motown 45's and thus loved The Supremes, Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, and The Temptations, but really didn't listen to them anymore when I was 14. But I do believe a five or six-year-old *should* have a strong foundation in that kind of music as well as oldies in general. Too few children these days are getting that sort of exposure to the '50s and '60s and thus aren't appreciating the whole spectrum of music that's out there (i.e. they think of "what's NOW" as automatically better than what's not as new).

So... 14, hm? I don't know. Maybe that's a bit late in the game to start trying to get a person influenced on what kinds of music to listen to. Maybe a little child, then. But if I knew a 14-year-old who liked a certain musical genre a lot and they asked me what they should listen to and I actually listen to that genre, I'd offer up my opinion.

However, I think that a 14YO is too young to be able to spot good music anyway, particularly if he is into non-music stuff like hip-hop, nu metal or other styles like those.

Well, I *was* kinda hoping on totally avoiding the VMAs in general because it's just become tradition for me and all (haven't watched a single one since about 1996 or so), but now that you mentioned it....

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

*ahem* If you'll excuse me, I'll be checking to see when the VMAs are being rerun (reran?) so I can rectify this situation. *quickly checks* Ah, from 10:30 p.m. onward. SOMEONE's going to be staying up late tonight.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled thread.

*attempts valiantly to hide disappointment*

So, um, I saw photos of the band actually at the VMAs. Um, Nick and John look good. Simon looks like Simon. I see Andy's still got his sunglasses welded to his face. And Roger looks fairly good for a sheep farmer.

I got a tape of Scraping Foetus Off The Wheel and Half Man Half Biscuit at 15 and it did me a world of good.

However, if he actually asked me to recommend something at that age, I'd suggest:

Roxy Music - Roxy Music
The Smiths - Hatfull of Hollow
David Bowie - Aladdin Sane
Rolling Stones - The Singles Collection (The London Years)
Otis Redding - Greatest Hits

(I'm probably thinking of what I was into at that age to some extent, which may or may not be that good an idea.)

The Who, Who's Next
The Beatles, Abbey Road
U2, The Joshua Tree
The Clash, London Calling
Led Zeppelin II

From there, they'll be hooked and explore on their own.

well OK NWW have done a range of things and who knows a 14 year maybe more into it than some 40 year old with a big record collection: but the non-musicianship and what they do are so against what's around that I think you need a 'grounding' on some of that and i think there are other records that might provide that kind of thing.

1. Frank Black - Teenager of the Year
2. Pixies - Doolittle
3. Flaming Lips - Transmissions...
4. Smiths - Best of I
5. Nirvana - Nevermind

I choose:

1. Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
2. The Kinks - ...are the Village Green Preservation Society
3. Wire - Pink Flag
4. Deerhoof - Reveille
5. Belle & Sebastian - Tigermilk

At that point, just let nature take its course, and more often than not, in 15 years, you'll have me.