How'd you get hooked on Led?

[mickey g]

I was swimming outside the Edgewater hotel in Seattle.

Ahhhh.....Seattle !

After a decade of spandex, synthesizers & funny haircuts, Seattle finally brought back some sanity to the rock world. Well, mine at least.

[danelectro]

I can't say for sure when I took an interest but I remember why. Back in the 70's the local hard rock radio station counted down the top 500 songs every Labor Day weekend. I always listened as much as I could and made sure I was in front of a radio for the top 20. To a kid this was fascinating stuff. Waiting and waiting to see if anything had changed. Every year it was the same and when it came time to play the number one song we always wondered if we'd somehow missed Stairwas To Heaven. Of course we hadn't and it would play and the weekend would be over. Good memories though I can honestly say my interest in the band has diminished over the years. I'm pretty far from being hooked. Can't remember the last time I actually listened to an entire LZ album.

[Deborah J]

Like most of you here that post on a regular basis know my beginnings, but to participate as this seems to be such a fun thread:

It was 1969, my 9th birthday, I believe it was a Sunday, not sure, but my Dad who was wild and loved to party to say the least...took me out for the day and we ended up in the quarter (he had actually been taking me there since I was around 3/4 years of age...anyhow, he was in a bar sitting at a table (as you know the clubs had these windows/doors that went to the ground with the old shutters on them), and I was sitting on the ground leaning up against a brick wall just outside the table he was at with some of his friends so he could keep an eye on me. I was having a great time people watching, then all of a sudden I hear "I Can't Quit You Babe". I literally jumped up from the sidewalk, leaned in and asked my dad to ask the bartender/DJ who was that!!!!! Blew away my little 9 year old mind!! :-)

He came back within seconds and said the band is called Led Zeppelin. Well that was it for me. I had no idea what they looked like, but I was knocked out by the sound. So that next afternoon I went to my neighbors house as a girl who was 4 years older than me was a good friend and she had brothers 4/5 years older than her and they already had the album. I had to wait until I was 11 before I could by my first album (saved all my chore/babysitting money) and that year 1971, I bought everyone of them that had been released....then kept buying them as they were released. Then went to see them live in 1973 at Municiple Auditorium at the age of 12. What an experience to say the least. I had been to some great concerts already at The Warehouse, but this was just beyond anything I could have imagined. They were magnificent to behold.

My Dad left when I was a little past the age of 10, but to this day it is one of the best memories with my Dad.

Edit to add: Now you know I have to go listen to that CD, with a great set of headphones, relax and be that little 9 year old again. Oh the joy of their music

Edited December 27, 2011 by Deborah J

[ally]

Nice story Deb

For me it was around early spring 1969. I had friends who's family owned the neighbourhood corner store ( remember them ) and both of the son's ( a little older than me ) were right into all of the hip LP's . Both of them worked the counter on a regular basis and when their mom and dad weren't around, they used to crank up the music. One day I walked in and Zep I was thundering out of their stereo. Now I have to say that this was not the first time I'd heard a hard rockin band coming out of those speakers. There had alway's been plenty of Hendrix and Cream but ,never in my life had I heard a drummer sound so powerful and so up front in the mix. Being an aspiring young drummer myself at the time, I was blown away by how good Bonham sounded and after hearing the whole of the album, I did one of those 11yr old sprints home, hit the piggy bank and hopped a bus downtown to Kelly's Records to buy a copy . A year later, I would see the band live for the first time and came away from that gig knowing that I'd witnessed something special and, that it would live in my memory forever.

Edited December 27, 2011 by ally

[dazedcat]

.....Good memories though I can honestly say my interest in the band has diminished over the years. I'm pretty far from being hooked. Can't remember the last time I actually listened to an entire LZ album.

I grew up listening to Zeppelin. I bought all the albums as they came out and played them to death and their music was huge in my social circle of friends and family. But like you said your musical tastes develop over the years. Truth be told I hadn't really seriously listened to Zeppelin for years until I discovered this website. Ever since posting here I've gone back to playing their music again, on and off as the mood strikes.

Back in the day Zeppelin was one of the bands that I loved and played endlessly. Things change but their music today (mostly) still sounds great to me. I can't quite say that I'm "hooked" anymore though.

[Allen Sosa]

I have never really liked the Zep I must admit.... A few years ago I bought the Mothership and loved it... This year I have finally completed their albums. I really love them. So, much passion and energy in their performances I love it.... Just a few thoughts I am new here!

Allen

[Strider]

It's interesting to catch up with this thread now and then...some great stories, especially yours, Rock Historian, Deborah J, and Ally. I appreciate the fact that you took the effort to write in depth about your experience.

danelectro: I have a question...you say you aren't hooked, and it's hard to tell from your post but it seems you only heard Zeppelin from the radio. So maybe the reason you never got hooked is that you only know Led Zeppelin from the few songs they play over and over again on the radio instead of immersing yourself in an album?

[danelectro]

danelectro: I have a question...you say you aren't hooked, and it's hard to tell from your post but it seems you only heard Zeppelin from the radio. So maybe the reason you never got hooked is that you only know Led Zeppelin from the few songs they play over and over again on the radio instead of immersing yourself in an album?

No, the radio thing was just an example of an early experience. LZ was one of the first "love affairs" I had with music. I bought every album, dissected everything from the art to the lyrics. The allure lasted quite some time. I scoured record shows and thrift shops for vinyl boots, had the Dannmarks stuff on VHS in the early 80's. I was pretty hardcore. Though I came to LZ via Hendrix, he was my first exposure to hard rock.

For me LZ was a gateway band not a stopping point. All of the 60's-70's artists\bands were. Once I started working back from there I started losing my appreciation for some, not all. Since LZ came into the scene late their value plummeted quite a bit. I'll stop there because I don't want people to think this is some passive aggressive attempt to undermine them.

[LedZeppfan77]

How could anyone not get hooked on Led Zeppelin? I think Whole Lotta Love and Stairway were truly the first songs that brought me to go out and buy up everything they would ever produce. And then go in relentless pursuit of seeing them live. That dream was fulfilled on May 30th 1977 on Memorial Day. I have posted my ticket stub many times and my story is in the time line. The first or second one on that date.

[Stryder1978]

^{If you lose your appreciation for Zep music, where the hell do you go from there? Lady Gaga? Justin Bieber? CRap music?}

[LedZeppfan77]

Sadly there is alot of that out there. I do not understand the taste of some people. I think they were deprived of the great music of the seventies.

[Strider]

No, the radio thing was just an example of an early experience. LZ was one of the first "love affairs" I had with music. I bought every album, dissected everything from the art to the lyrics. The allure lasted quite some time. I scoured record shows and thrift shops for vinyl boots, had the Dannmarks stuff on VHS in the early 80's. I was pretty hardcore. Though I came to LZ via Hendrix, he was my first exposure to hard rock.

For me LZ was a gateway band not a stopping point. All of the 60's-70's artists\bands were. Once I started working back from there I started losing my appreciation for some, not all. Since LZ came into the scene late their value plummeted quite a bit. I'll stop there because I don't want people to think this is some passive aggressive attempt to undermine them.

NO, danelectro, don't STOP! People need to be a little less thin-skinned around here, in my opinion. As long as there's no personal attacks on other posters or gratuitous slurs against members of the band or their family, I believe everything about Led Zeppelin's MUSIC should be open for discussion; their records, the concerts, the cultural imprint they had. Whether your view is positive or positive, you shouldn't have to worry about expressing it.

I don't believe in sacred cows, whether we're talking about Bach, Beatles or Led Zeppelin. Nothing is so sacred that it can't do without a little taking the piss, now and then.

So please danelectro, don't stifle yourself because a few sensitive fanboys get their feathers ruffled over the slightest criticism of Led Zeppelin...no matter how innocuous.

Actually, Led Zeppelin was a "gateway" band for me, too...even more than the Beatles and the Stones. The Beatles turned me on to Buddy Holly and Ravi Shankar, and the Rolling Stones made me appreciate Chuck Berry and Robert Johnson.

But more than them, more than Cream and Hendrix, it was Led Zeppelin, through their music and interviews, that led me to more artists and genres than almost every other band put together. Of the major bands, only the Beatles had as great a variety of music as Zeppelin.

Here is just a partial list of music I was inspired to seek out due to a song credit on a Zeppelin record or a song they covered in concert or a band they mentioned in an interview.

Willie Dixon, Howling Wolf, Otis Rush, Sonny Boy Williamson, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Joan Baez, Bert Jansch, Davy Graham, Richard Thompson, Fairport Convention, Sandy Denny, Pentangle, Incredible String Band, Rory Gallagher, Peter Green, Moby Grape, Kalaidescope, Spirit, Scotty Moore, Ricky Nelson, Eddie Cochran, Morrocan Trance music and pretty much all of North African music and beyond, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Fela Kuti, Little Feat, The Pretty Things, Bad Company, Free, Maggie Bell, Stone the Crows, Dave Edmunds, Richie Valens, Memphis Minnie, The

Isley Brothers, Gustav Holst, Paganini, Léon Theremin, Clara Rockmore, Lothar and the Hand People...the list goes on and on.

And that's not counting more recent bands or music I discovered post-Zeppelin. It was because of my love of Jimmy's idea of a guitar army that led me to seek out shoegaze bands like The Cocteau Twins and My Bloody Valentine. It was the way Led Zeppelin weaved all these seemingly disparate strains of music and genres into a cohesive whole, and the focus they put on the drums and the primacy of the beat that made me more receptive to rap, hip-hop, house and techno music than I would have been otherwise. A lot of the live WLL theremin breaks sound like early rave music to me.

Just the mere mention from someone that Jane's Addiction channeled Led Zeppelin better than any other band around inspired me to seek them out in 1986.

And it was because I heard this guy used a bow on his guitar ala Jimmy that I discovered the amazing Sigur Rós back in 2000.

To me, Led Zeppelin is not retro...their music lives and breathes in me and they simultaneously have roots that extend deep into the past and branches that extend far into the future, constantly sending me on a search, a quest for other new music.

Not many other bands can do that...send me back and forward in time. That's why even though I take sabbaticals from Zeppelin every now and

then, in the end, it's Led Zeppelin that remains

my #1...even above the Beatles, though I

recognize that the Beatles matter more

historically.

Led Zeppelin is not only my gateway, they are my Rosetta Stone, my home and hearth.

Edited December 30, 2011 by Strider

[ally]

NO, danelectro, don't STOP! People need to be a little less thin-skinned around here, in my opinion. As long as there's no personal attacks on other posters or gratuitous slurs against members of the band or their family, I believe everything about Led Zeppelin's MUSIC should be open for discussion; their records, the concerts, the cultural imprint they had. Whether your view is positive or positive, you shouldn't have to worry about expressing it.

I don't believe in sacred cows, whether we're talking about Bach, Beatles or Led Zeppelin. Nothing is so sacred that it can't do without a little taking the piss, now and then.

So please danelectro, don't stifle yourself because a few sensitive fanboys get their feathers ruffled over the slightest criticism of Led Zeppelin...no matter how innocuous.

[Jahfin]

^{If you lose your appreciation for Zep music, where the hell do you go from there? Lady Gaga? Justin Bieber? CRap music?}

Man doesn't live by Led Zeppelin alone, at least I don't. Although they ceased to exist as an ongoing entity in 1980, my appreciation of them didn't end there. Since their demise my love of music hasn't been stifled. If anything, it's grown by leaps and bounds. Also, in 2012, it's worth saying that there's much more out there to listen to and discover than Lady Gaga, Justin Beiber and Rap music. If that's as far as you're looking for new music then you aren't looking very far or maybe you're not even looking at all.

[Honeybrown1976]

NO, danelectro, don't STOP! People need to be a little less thin-skinned around here, in my opinion. As long as there's no personal attacks on other posters or gratuitous slurs against members of the band or their family, I believe everything about Led Zeppelin's MUSIC should be open for discussion; their records, the concerts, the cultural imprint they had. Whether your view is positive or positive, you shouldn't have to worry about expressing it.

I don't believe in sacred cows, whether we're talking about Bach, Beatles or Led Zeppelin. Nothing is so sacred that it can't do without a little taking the piss, now and then.

So please danelectro, don't stifle yourself because a few sensitive fanboys get their feathers ruffled over the slightest criticism of Led Zeppelin...no matter how innocuous.

Actually, Led Zeppelin was a "gateway" band for me, too...even more than the Beatles and the Stones. The Beatles turned me on to Buddy Holly and Ravi Shankar, and the Rolling Stones made me appreciate Chuck Berry and Robert Johnson.

But more than them, more than Cream and Hendrix, it was Led Zeppelin, through their music and interviews, that led me to more artists and genres than almost every other band put together. Of the major bands, only the Beatles had as great a variety of music as Zeppelin.

Here is just a partial list of music I was inspired to seek out due to a song credit on a Zeppelin record or a song they covered in concert or a band they mentioned in an interview.

Willie Dixon, Howling Wolf, Otis Rush, Sonny Boy Williamson, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Joan Baez, Bert Jansch, Davy Graham, Richard Thompson, Fairport Convention, Sandy Denny, Pentangle, Incredible String Band, Rory Gallagher, Peter Green, Moby Grape, Kalaidescope, Spirit, Scotty Moore, Ricky Nelson, Eddie Cochran, Morrocan Trance music and pretty much all of North African music and beyond, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Fela Kuti, Little Feat, The Pretty Things, Bad Company, Free, Maggie Bell, Stone the Crows, Dave Edmunds, Richie Valens, Memphis Minnie, The

Isley Brothers, Gustav Holst, Paganini, Léon Theremin, Clara Rockmore, Lothar and the Hand People...the list goes on and on.

And that's not counting more recent bands or music I discovered post-Zeppelin. It was because of my love of Jimmy's idea of a guitar army that led me to seek out shoegaze bands like The Cocteau Twins and My Bloody Valentine. It was the way Led Zeppelin weaved all these seemingly disparate strains of music and genres into a cohesive whole, and the focus they put on the drums and the primacy of the beat that made me more receptive to rap, hip-hop, house and techno music than I would have been otherwise. A lot of the live WLL theremin breaks sound like early rave music to me.

Just the mere mention from someone that Jane's Addiction channeled Led Zeppelin better than any other band around inspired me to seek them out in 1986.

And it was because I heard this guy used a bow on his guitar ala Jimmy that I discovered the amazing Sigur Rós back in 2000.

To me, Led Zeppelin is not retro...their music lives and breathes in me and they simultaneously have roots that extend deep into the past and branches that extend far into the future, constantly sending me on a search, a quest for other new music.

Not many other bands can do that...send me back and forward in time. That's why even though I take sabbaticals from Zeppelin every now and

then, in the end, it's Led Zeppelin that remains

my #1...even above the Beatles, though I

recognize that the Beatles matter more

historically.

Led Zeppelin is not only my gateway, they are my Rosetta Stone, my home and hearth.

My goodness, that was a sweet post, if I should say so. Is it hot in here?

Edited January 4, 2012 by Honeybrown1976

[AutumnGrl]

In 1999, I got a pink stereo for Christmas and I put it on a classic rock station since I was already a huge Beatles fan and they had a segment I think everyday that would play only Led Zeppelin songs, and I got hooked. Now the station sucks they mostly play current rock, no classic rock.

[imigyjunia8]

i'm a new face and i like music and the flickering lights

http://www.imigyled.com/

[sickagain98]

How did i first get introduced to Zep...

well, my dad was cleaning out his garage around 5 years ago and I found the Led Zeppelin DVD laying around. By then, I had heard of Led Zeppelin but hadn't really heard any of their stuff. So, I popped it in the DVD player and watched some of the Earls Court stuff. Since then, I've been collecting their music, both 'official' albums and bootlegged ones.

[fishhead]

this may be somewhat interesting or not to some, and I am not here to defend Lady GaGa, but I watched a little documentry on her and it high-lighted her "mobile dressing" room. This room is set up at every concert she is performing at and one of the pictures she has for inspiration is a beautiful photo of Jimmy Page playing his double neck. She is a big Zep fan and if you go on youtube you can find her playing D'yer'maker in a little club, pre-Lady Ga Ga fame, when she was just a regular singer doing what she loves.....I don't own any of her albums but she has talent and she can sing and if she's got Jimmy Page onher wall then she is ok by me....

[Plant]

_{Me Too, the older brother crankin the Zeppelin got me hooked on it..................}

[paul carruthers]

I don't remember exact dates, but back in 2004 after I learned that most of the songs I had been listening to and loving on the local classic rock station (Black Dog, Kashmir, Over The Hills And Far Away, etc.) were performed by a band called Led Zeppelin I decided that if those songs individually were so great, then I had to go out and buy an album & see if these guys could hold me for an entire album. I started at the beginning with Led Zeppelin and have been hooked ever since.

[ZeppMan93]

Sometime around 2001-2002 i was digging though this huge box of CDs in a closet and I found this long CD case (Led Zeppelin Remasters) which some airship slapped on the front, I put the first CD in and my mind exploded. My favorite band ever since and forever will be.

[Glyn]

I went to see Heartbreaker, a tribute band, sometime in 2006 or 2007. A week or so before I started to listen to Zep the first time so that I could get a feel for the music before the show. Completely taken by them instantly. I haven't really listened to anything else since. I just recently finally listened to all of ITTOD for the first time....never again.

[Brainy571]

I was actually bored browsing top bands and Zep seemed interesting and proceeded on to YouTube to listen to Stairway and just wandered my way around... after listening to Kashmir I tried to find some more hard rock songs (especially Zep), and I got so caught up with Zep (and somehow still am). Never had more than 13 songs by one artist/band and listened to music so much till I discovered Zep... I just can't believe that a few years ago I was solely listening to the pop garbage I kept listening to... eww...

[andyk]

Hi

Really must visit more often.

Not too sure when, probably about 1971/2, my cousin Mike was into them and I remember hearing LZ2, which I loved eventually bought it myself, then LZ1, LZ3 was to me a disappointment at the time.

Mike took me to see them at Ally Pally just before Christmas 1972 can't recall which date exactly but probably 22 Dec as I seem to recall they played Thank You which I don't think they played the next day (he had broken up with his Girlfriend so had a spare ticket), pretty much hooked after that saw the again twice in 1975 Earls Court and first Knebworth.

Been listening to them on and off ever since, advent of the internet and free downloads has been a real bonus for the live stuff which was always difficult to come by.

Andy

Edited April 13, 2012 by andyk