OFF: Age and taste

[Christian Mumford]

At 11:54 10.09.97 +0100, M Holmes wrote:

>What goes around comes around. Psychedelic guru Dr. Timothy Leary (now
>an ex person with ashes orbiting Earth) stated in the 60's that the
>music you were listening to around the time of your first orgasm would
>be the type of music you listened to for the rest of your life.

So in theory all the people here are listening to what they listened to when
they were 12-13 and "discovering" strange things about themselves??? :)

(seriously, I think Leary is a little off here even if one is talking about
actual orgasm *with* another person years later :-)

> This was
>related to theories of "imprinting".

Well, this relates to how tribal/magickal/military/fraternety intiation
"rites" work the same way, often leaving a "reminder" of the imprinting of
knowledge/acceptance/etc. in the shape of scars/piercing/tattoos and such.

Makes sense, it's all associative thinking/imprinting, of course taste in
music is much more trivial, and maybe the orgasm idea is a bit of a stretch.
We associate things with parts of our life that were significant. Anyone
here have stuff they really like but never play because you hate thinking
about stuff you have associated it with?? (those cringingly sentimental
moments!)

I think there is truth to the "mid-20's theory" because it's a point in life
where you (should:) have gotten beyond a "confused" state of exploration
to a more "focused" one. (dunno if that sounded right) One becomes more
analytical/interested beyond surface appeal I suppose.

So it's natural that that is a point when you figure out what you REALLY like.
(and that could be lots of stuff you listened to as a teen too, but you
categorize more "good", "bad" and "cool" as opposed to "dunno why I like"
and "dunno why I don't like"). Of course I keep on exploring new stuff, but
with a well honed gut feeling and a smattering of cynicism....

I discovered Hawkwind when I was 16-17, a sort of strange sidestep from
being into 60s/70s rock for a few years after my formative years of
liking stuff without knowing *why* (being everything from Police to Queen
to the Cult to Duran Duran around when I was 12-15). I guess after my Hawkwind
"discovery" my musical tastes became more focused, even though I for a couple
of years bought into some cash-in "alternative" stuff... when I was 21 or so I
think my tastes "crystallized" to a degree, and the boundaries of tastes are
still expanding but in a more involved way than when I was younger.

>The latest theory sounds like a variant on the theme.


The condition of muzak.

Christian