Jump to content

How'd you get hooked on Led?


Recommended Posts

My story is fairly recent around early 2009 I was a BIG Jimi Hendrix fan and Isle Of Wight concert was playing on Sky Arts (UK) and after that they showed "Led Zeppelin" so I was like what's this, it came on and it was the Denmark TV show thing and the first thing I heard was that opening to riff to Communication Breakdown and from that all the way to the end of How Many More Times my face was ohmy.gif.

How could the Denmark show not hook anyone with a soul on Zeppelin?!

Tell me your tales

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Back in 2007 I was bored, so I listened to Zoso for the first time, and I was amazed by their sound, then I got more into other bands, The Beatles, Hendrix, The Who etc., also some of the famous festivals of the 60's Monterey, Woodstock etc, and the acts that performed there, then in 2010 I relly got into Zep again, now I'm obsessed with collecting and viewing all the footage/recordings!:D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Back in 2007 I was bored, so I listened to Zoso for the first time, and I was amazed by their sound, then I got more into other bands, The Beatles, Hendrix, The Who etc., also some of the famous festivals of the 60's Monterey, Woodstock etc, and the acts that performed there, then in 2010 I relly got into Zep again, now I'm obsessed with collecting and viewing all the footage/recordings!:D

By Zoso do you mean the tribute band or actually Zep?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

At first, I knew some of their major songs (Stairway, WLL) so I asked my dad if he had any Led Zeppelin cds. He gave me the fourth album, and after listening to it I was blown away. I proceed to buy Mothership, and I realized I knew more Zeppelin songs than I though I did. I also realized Zeppelin were amazing so I went on to buy a few more of their songs on mp3. It ended up being a waste of money because I decided that I needed all of Zeppelin's music. I bought the Mini LP Box Set, BBC Sessions, and How The West Was Won, and I came to the conclusion that Led Zeppelin were my favorite band of all time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

At first, I knew some of their major songs (Stairway, WLL) so I asked my dad if he had any Led Zeppelin cds. He gave me the fourth album, and after listening to it I was blown away. I proceed to buy Mothership, and I realized I knew more Zeppelin songs than I though I did. I also realized Zeppelin were amazing so I went on to buy a few more of their songs on mp3. It ended up being a waste of money because I decided that I needed all of Zeppelin's music. I bought the Mini LP Box Set, BBC Sessions, and How The West Was Won, and I came to the conclusion that Led Zeppelin were my favorite band of all time.

When was this?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On entering my Freshman year of High School, I overheard some other students, in class, talking about something fantastic that they had heard on a Led Zeppelin record. I had lost interest in music after The Beatles had stopped touring in 1965. I was ready to give another band, that was worthy, my heart & soul...

So, I was curious. On a dark October night, a few days after turning 14 in 1969, I rode my bicycle up to the Department Store, and went to their record department. On display in the Led Zeppelin section were 15 new Led Zeppelin II albums. So, I bought one, and carefully rode home with it. I placed the record on the turntable, and put the headphones on. When I dropped the needle, and WLL began to play....it was so fantastic.... that I was hooked from the beginning. As you may, or may not already know.... those original US pressings of LZ II were very dynamic. I had one of those pressings (with RL in the groove stamp...) After listening to HB, I was fully down the rabbit hole, and deeply into the eye of the storm, that was Led Zeppelin.

So, I got hooked on LZ with a pair of Koss Headphones on. I had never heard Hard Rock before that. What a way to begin the journey into Blues-based Hard Rock, that was and is ... Led Zeppelin !!!

Edited by The Rover
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was 11 years old in 1969 when Whole Lotta Love first came on the radio. It was (whole lotta) love at first listen. I bought the single(vinyl, 45rpm). Then Immigrant Song came on the radio and Led Zeppelin 4 came in the mail because my sister forgot to send in the card for the record club she belonged to. Who can say what the mystical quality is in their music, but I was hooked from the first moment I heard them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My older brother has Zep II on 8 track in 1975 or so.I listened to it for days.

I then bought PG around 1983 and heard the BBC sessions the same year.In 84,I traders leather jacket for 3 vinyl bootleg albums.

I've been a fan and collector ever since.

The apex of my fandom was being given tickets to the O2 show,rehearsal and after show parties ....thanks to my membership @ FBO.

What an exciting journey its been!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My older brother has Zep II on 8 track in 1975 or so.I listened to it for days.

I then bought PG around 1983 and heard the BBC sessions the same year.In 84,I traders leather jacket for 3 vinyl bootleg albums.

I've been a fan and collector ever since.

The apex of my fandom was being given tickets to the O2 show,rehearsal and after show parties ....thanks to my membership @ FBO.

What an exciting journey its been!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A work mate of mate of mine who was about 8 to 10 years older than me found out I was getting in to rock music and when he asked me if I liked Zeppelin I had to confess I hadn't even heard of them.This would be around 1989 so I would have been about 17.He went right it's time to educate you my friend and brought in the first three albums on CD the next day.I took them home and put the first album on and pressed the random button.The first Led Zeppelin song I ever knowingly heard was Communication Breakdown and from that moment on I was IN hook,line and sinker.Afew years later we stood and watched Page and Plant at Glastonbury and I have also been fortunate enough to recount this story to Jimmy Page himself as it also led to me taking up the Guitar not to long after.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It would have been around the spring of 1989. I'd started doing what all kids/teenagers ought to do at some point - dig out their parents record collection and see what still sounds good. The rack of vinyl that presented itself was (and still is) a good indication of the late 60's and 70's rock music scene. Included were Sabbath, Purple, Quo, Wings, Bread, Blood Sweat & Tears, Wishbone Ash, Walker Brothers etc.

In amongst them was the Brown Bomber (LZII). Although I can't recall the exact moment, the very first Zepp sounds to reach my ears can only have been when the needle dropped onto the run-in and WLL kicked in. A great way to get started, and also at a fortunate time - the six years that followed saw a new wave of Zepp activity; Remasters; two London conventions (attended both), and the MTV Unledded (also attended). So for a 'just hooked' Zepp junkie, "it (was) the spring time of my loving . . ."

22 years on and the candle burns just as strongly, and always will. As a collective unit they're peerless.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When I was a wee tike my father used to buy a bottle of rum on Friday night and sit in front of his stereo system and jam music for hours on end. We watched TSRTS often and he used to say over and over again how John Bohnam was the "greatest drummer ever". I was totally inundated with a broad spectrum of great music as a child. So I'd say as far back as I can remember.

Thanks Dad! :stereo:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have no idea how I got hooked on Zeppelin, but I remember when. The early spring of 1985. At the time as a fourteen year old who grew up with Kiss I was interested in Iron Maiden, Def Leppard, Ozzy, Van Halen and the rest of the hard rockers of the time. Never paid much attention to the "old" bands at the time. Somehow I kept hearing Communication Breakdown either on the radio or on friends boom boxes and was intrigued. I soon got a copy of Led Zeppelin 1 and was forever hooked. Soon after I had the rest of the albums and to my ears this was perfect rock music and the soundtrack to my teenage years. Once I heard some live shows I was out of my mind for Zeppelin. The power and grace this band demonstrated is a once in a lifetime event as far as i'm concerned. Even today into my forties I still follow everything I can Zeppelin related including the solo careers of it's members. The magic these men made musically I doubt will be topped in my lifetime, at least to my ears. I keep listening and looking for some band to come close but it hasn't happened yet.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Most of you already read how I got into Led Zeppelin, so no need to rehash that old story.

No, what I am enjoying most about this thread and find fascinating is reading the experiences of those of you too young to experience the band first hand, or those who caught the band in mid-career mode.

Old timers like The Rover and myself...well, since we got on board from the beginning, we had no choice in approaching the band. There was Led Zeppelin and then there was Led Zeppelin II. Then the long wait for Led Zeppelin III. Another wait for Led Zeppelin IV. An even longer wait for Houses of the Holy. And so on. What was out was all there was available, save for the occasional bootleg if you were lucky to have an outlet that sold them in your town.

So, if you didn't like whatever the latest Led Zeppelin release was, you had to satisfy yourself with their previous albums and wait and hope the next one would be better. I remember liking Houses of the Holy alright when it came out, but it sort of paled in some respects following Led Zep IV. Then after seeing the 1973 concerts, the recorded versions of the Holy songs sounded anemic in comparison. So the wait between Houses and Physical Graffiti was excruciating.

Of course, if you were lucky, the band toured your town and you could sate your Zeppelin lust by going to a show. But it was a long 10 or so years for you to experience the entire Zeppelin catalogue, from Led Zeppelin to In Through the Out Door.

Contrast that to today, where a kid who gets turned on to Led Zeppelin can acquire the entire recorded output of the band within minutes and has access to hundreds of bootleg concerts...shows that were mere whispered rumours back in the 70s.

I find it intriguing that a person's first entree to Zeppelin could be Kashmir...or even stranger, ITTOD! And if you try an album and don't like it, you can try another one immediately, either one from before or one after. There's no waiting around for the next release.

I wonder what would have happened if I didn't hear of Led Zeppelin until high school...or until the 80s? Would I have been as big a fan as I became. Led Zeppelin was the key, the door that led me down the road to so many other bands. I heard Zep before there was an Aerosmith, a Thin Lizzy, AC/DC, Van Halen, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and the like.

So what is it like to experience the reverse...to not hear Zeppelin until AFTER hearing all those late-70s- early 80s hard rock/metal bands? And what is it like to hear Led Zeppelin not among its natural peers of the time such as the Who, the Stones, Deep Purple, Yes, Black Sabbath, etc., but among the new wave and hair metal bands of the 80s or the techno, hip-hop and indie-rock of the 90s?

Like I said, The Rover and I had to live 10 years of our lives between hearing Led Zeppelin and ITTOD. Now you can listen to those first 9 albums in 10 hours all at once.

Is the impact of the band's music even stronger when listened to in such a concentrated burst?

Edited by Strider
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...