Immersing in one band one at a time and then another- anyone do this?

brianlux
brianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 43,665
in Other Music
It's sort of a life-long habit of mine.  I get totally immersed in a band for long stretches at a time.  I always listen to a variety of stuff but during these periods of time, the focus of my listening and general musical interests revolve around a single band or musician.  I guess you could even call it a phase.  And my favorites from over the years often get repeat immersions. 

It all started with the Beach Boys in the early 60's.  In the late 60's it was more diverse with Hendrix, the Who and John Mayall taking the lions share of my listening time.  Then, in the mid 70's it was Jethro Tull.  As the years went by it was Neil Young (maybe the biggest repeater), The Replacements, The Psychedelic Furs, The Ramones, Pearl Jam, Juliana Hatfield and lately, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers .  And in there, maybe a few others I can't think of right now. 

And it seems like the older I get, the more intense the immersion into a band.  Right now I feel almost obsessed with Tom Petty and his band.  (Partly due to Zanes' incredibly tremendous book, Petty.)

Is this weird and unusual, or do other people do this?
"It's a sad and beautiful world"
-Roberto Benigni

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Comments

  • Renfield
    Renfield NYC NY Posts: 1,054
    I do not think it’s weird or unusual. I’ve done it with The Who, Bowie, Cat Stevens, Don Henley, Tom Waits, and Bob Dylan. I’m on an immersive binge-listening with PJ going on 3 years now.

    p.s. There may be others I can’t recall at the moment- haven’t had my morning coffee yet. 
  • goldrush
    goldrush everybody knows this is nowhere Posts: 7,808
    I do this quite a lot too. Neil Young is probably the biggest repeat play for me as well - sometimes his whole discography in chronological order, sometimes just the Horse records. The Black Crowes and the Afghan Whigs would be some other examples of regular repeats. I probably spent years just listening to PJ in the early days, but it’s been a while now...

    Occasionaly a song will get stuck in my head and I’ll spend a couple of days just listening to that artist. A kind of ‘short term’ binge I guess. Tom McRae, Scott Matthews, and Joseph Arthur have all been regulars over the years.
    “Do not postpone happiness”
    (Jeff Tweedy, Sydney 2007)

    “Put yer good money on the sunrise”
    (Tim Rogers)
  • Renfield
    Renfield NYC NY Posts: 1,054
    goldrush said:
    I do this quite a lot too. Neil Young is probably the biggest repeat play for me as well - sometimes his whole discography in chronological order, sometimes just the Horse records. The Black Crowes and the Afghan Whigs would be some other examples of regular repeats. I probably spent years just listening to PJ in the early days, but it’s been a while now...

    Occasionaly a song will get stuck in my head and I’ll spend a couple of days just listening to that artist. A kind of ‘short term’ binge I guess. Tom McRae, Scott Matthews, and Joseph Arthur have all been regulars over the years.
    I was wild about Joseph Arthur after seeing RNDM in 2016. Got the chance to see him 4/5 times shortly after seeing RNDM. 1st time was incredible- no mics/no amps, acoustic only room, he was fabulous. But the more I saw him the more erratic he was, actually left the last show early. Maybe I’ll take another shot with him.
  • willbarclay
    willbarclay Ottawa, Canada Posts: 3,298

    I do it all the time and have for many years.

  • JPPJ84
    JPPJ84 Hamburg, Germany Posts: 3,464
    I definitely listen to music „in phases“ where I almost exclusively listen to just one band. It’s been like that for years. It can last for weeks or many months.
  • Glorified KC
    Glorified KC KCMO Native Posts: 2,814
    Not weird to me.  I constantly go through the same phases.  My most recent was Sonic Youth.
    I wish I was a sacrifice, but somehow still lived on.
  • dankind
    dankind Posts: 20,841
    cdthomas1981 said:
    Not weird to me.  I constantly go through the same phases.  My most recent was Sonic Youth.
    Fucking Thurston! Why couldn't that asshole just keep it in his pants?
    I SAW PEARL JAM
  • Glorified KC
    Glorified KC KCMO Native Posts: 2,814
    dankind said:
    cdthomas1981 said:
    Not weird to me.  I constantly go through the same phases.  My most recent was Sonic Youth.
    Fucking Thurston! Why couldn't that asshole just keep it in his pants?
    I know right!?!?  I also bought a copy of Kim's memoir.
    I wish I was a sacrifice, but somehow still lived on.
  • dankind
    dankind Posts: 20,841
    cdthomas1981 said:
    dankind said:
    cdthomas1981 said:
    Not weird to me.  I constantly go through the same phases.  My most recent was Sonic Youth.
    Fucking Thurston! Why couldn't that asshole just keep it in his pants?
    I know right!?!?  I also bought a copy of Kim's memoir.
    Great book. A lot sadder than I thought it would be.
    I SAW PEARL JAM
  • Glorified KC
    Glorified KC KCMO Native Posts: 2,814
    Thinking about which bands/artists I've immersed myself into over the years.  There may be more, but this is mostly top of mind.
    • Pearl Jam
    • The Beatles
    • Led Zeppelin
    • Neil Young (with and without Crazy Horse)
    • Johnny Cash
    • Radiohead
    • The Flaming Lips
    • Van Halen
    • Coheed and Cambria
    • Pink Floyd
    • The Black Keys
    • The White Stripes
    • Arctic Monkeys
    • Sonic Youth
    • A Tribe Called Quest
    • Gorillaz
    • Incubus
    • Brandi Carlile
    • R.E.M.
    • Stone Temple Pilots
    • Queen
    • Rage Against the Machine
    • Talking Heads
    • Wilco
    • Tom Petty (solo and w/Heartbreakers)
    • Queens of the Stone Age
    • LCD Soundsystem
    • Sam Cooke
    • Arcade Fire
    • 311
    I wish I was a sacrifice, but somehow still lived on.
  • brianlux
    brianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 43,665
    Renfield said:
    I do not think it’s weird or unusual. I’ve done it with The Who, Bowie, Cat Stevens, Don Henley, Tom Waits, and Bob Dylan. I’m on an immersive binge-listening with PJ going on 3 years now.

    p.s. There may be others I can’t recall at the moment- haven’t had my morning coffee yet. 
    Cool, and good choices!

    I'm a bit late getting it together with the coffee this morning myself, haha!
    "It's a sad and beautiful world"
    -Roberto Benigni

  • brianlux
    brianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 43,665
    goldrush said:
    I do this quite a lot too. Neil Young is probably the biggest repeat play for me as well - sometimes his whole discography in chronological order, sometimes just the Horse records. The Black Crowes and the Afghan Whigs would be some other examples of regular repeats. I probably spent years just listening to PJ in the early days, but it’s been a while now...

    Occasionaly a song will get stuck in my head and I’ll spend a couple of days just listening to that artist. A kind of ‘short term’ binge I guess. Tom McRae, Scott Matthews, and Joseph Arthur have all been regulars over the years.
    Nice.  Yes, Neil is always great to go back to.  As time goes on, I find myself spending time listening to some of the "minor" albums- even Landing on Water when I'm feeling adventurous!
    "It's a sad and beautiful world"
    -Roberto Benigni

  • brianlux
    brianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 43,665
    edited June 2019
    dankind said:
    cdthomas1981 said:
    Not weird to me.  I constantly go through the same phases.  My most recent was Sonic Youth.
    Fucking Thurston! Why couldn't that asshole just keep it in his pants?
    dankind ,What's going on with Moore to create such a reaction?

    "It's a sad and beautiful world"
    -Roberto Benigni

  • Glorified KC
    Glorified KC KCMO Native Posts: 2,814
    brianlux said:
    dankind said:
    cdthomas1981 said:
    Not weird to me.  I constantly go through the same phases.  My most recent was Sonic Youth.
    Fucking Thurston! Why couldn't that asshole just keep it in his pants?
    dankind ,What's going on with Moore to create such a reaction?

    Brianlux, do you know why Moore and Gordon ended their marriage?  Thurston was sleeping around on Kim, which eventually led to enough tension to supposedly break up the band.
    I wish I was a sacrifice, but somehow still lived on.
  • brianlux
    brianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 43,665
    cdthomas1981 said:
    brianlux said:
    dankind said:
    cdthomas1981 said:
    Not weird to me.  I constantly go through the same phases.  My most recent was Sonic Youth.
    Fucking Thurston! Why couldn't that asshole just keep it in his pants?
    dankind ,What's going on with Moore to create such a reaction?

    Brianlux, do you know why Moore and Gordon ended their marriage?  Thurston was sleeping around on Kim, which eventually led to enough tension to supposedly break up the band.
    Bummer.  Kim is so cool.  Yeah, sounds like Thurston really blew it.
    "It's a sad and beautiful world"
    -Roberto Benigni

  • Glorified KC
    Glorified KC KCMO Native Posts: 2,814
    brianlux said:
    cdthomas1981 said:
    brianlux said:
    dankind said:
    cdthomas1981 said:
    Not weird to me.  I constantly go through the same phases.  My most recent was Sonic Youth.
    Fucking Thurston! Why couldn't that asshole just keep it in his pants?
    dankind ,What's going on with Moore to create such a reaction?

    Brianlux, do you know why Moore and Gordon ended their marriage?  Thurston was sleeping around on Kim, which eventually led to enough tension to supposedly break up the band.
    Bummer.  Kim is so cool.  Yeah, sounds like Thurston really blew it.
    The reason why I knew this, is because I immersed myself in Sonic Youth for a while. :-)  I love this topic!
    I wish I was a sacrifice, but somehow still lived on.
  • brianlux
    brianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 43,665
    cdthomas1981 said:
    brianlux said:
    cdthomas1981 said:
    brianlux said:
    dankind said:
    cdthomas1981 said:
    Not weird to me.  I constantly go through the same phases.  My most recent was Sonic Youth.
    Fucking Thurston! Why couldn't that asshole just keep it in his pants?
    dankind ,What's going on with Moore to create such a reaction?

    Brianlux, do you know why Moore and Gordon ended their marriage?  Thurston was sleeping around on Kim, which eventually led to enough tension to supposedly break up the band.
    Bummer.  Kim is so cool.  Yeah, sounds like Thurston really blew it.
    The reason why I knew this, is because I immersed myself in Sonic Youth for a while. :-)  I love this topic!
    Haha!  Cool!


    "It's a sad and beautiful world"
    -Roberto Benigni

  • tempo_n_groove
    tempo_n_groove Posts: 41,537
    I used to do this but not anymore.  If a band that I discover has that much of a backlog then I most likely missed the fire or passion that made them great in the first place so I won't bother.  This is why I like newer music.  The desire is usually greater in the beginning.
  • brianlux
    brianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 43,665
    tempo_n_groove said:
    I used to do this but not anymore.  If a band that I discover has that much of a backlog then I most likely missed the fire or passion that made them great in the first place so I won't bother.  This is why I like newer music.  The desire is usually greater in the beginning.
    Makes sense.

    I somehow have missed the fire on a number of bands and musicians the first time around.  Maybe that's because I was so immersed in someone else at the time?  I don't know.  But here are some examples:

    Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.  I have been a fan since one day back in early 1980 when a friend of mine played me Damn the Torpedoes.  I loved seeing Petty and band with Bob Dylan when they did that great tour.  I always loved seeing the band play on late night shows.  But I also long resisted these guys a bit because they were SO DAMN BIG. At some point in my life (around the advent of punk, probably), I developed a strong distrust of anything that gained mass appeal.  But then a little while back I watched off of the Bagdanovich movie and just finished Warren Zanes' book, Petty, and it dawned on me, "Well, damn, if there's anyone who ever deserved this much attention and popularity, it's Tom Petty".  I'm hooked for life.

    Dinosaur Jr.   Blame it on J's voice.  But also credit that voice.  After reading Michael Azerrad's book, Our Band Could Be Your Life, I looked into Dinosaur Jr (was already a big fan of most of the others in the book), and decided they were interesting but not my thing.  And then, years later, I came across a CD of Where You Been and like the guitar work and the weird songs but hated the voice.  And then that voice grew on me.  And grew!  Now they're one of my all-time favorites.

    Juliana Hatfield.  Simply put, she just gets overlooked.  I guess some people don't like her "girly" voice.  I didn't catch on until she worked with one of my biggest musical heroes, Paul Westerberg (whom I've loved at first sight).   But again, this voice grows better with each listening and she uses it so well.  And she's such a great songwriter and a bad ass guitarist, bass player, keyboard player.  Lover her!


    "It's a sad and beautiful world"
    -Roberto Benigni

  • Tim Simmons
    Tim Simmons Posts: 9,761
    Constantly.

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