Which song made you a fan?

[BobDobbs]

I know this will sound like BS but it is the truth.

I was 3 years old in 1971 when Woodfield Mall opened in Schaumburg, IL and going there for the first time at 3 left very vivid memories of the experience. One memory I have is being in a very odd looking record store that at the time reminded me of a fever dream carnival with all the neon. Years later when I saw A Clockwork Orange, the record store in the movie was very similar to the one in Woodfield Mall except the Woodfield store was much brighter. Anyway, the song which was being played was Communication Breakdown and it just stuck with me. I guess the whole audio / visual aspect of the experience had quite the impact on me wee brain.

I still look at CB as one of the first punk rock songs.

[SamoKodela]

Since I've been loving you. Amazing song that gives you more and more emotion and feelings as years pass by.

[Coda.S]

Kashmir

[WholeLottaPaul]

Rock And Roll

[LedZeppfan1977]

Communication Breakdown.  For the above poster, Kashmir? Seriously you must be a late bloomer.  How the hell do you not fall for Whole Lotta Love, Black Dog, Rock n Roll or Stairway?  Unreal

[1975NQ]

15 minutes ago, LedZeppfan1977 said:

Communication Breakdown.  For the above poster, Kashmir? Seriously you must be a late bloomer.  How the hell do you not fall for Whole Lotta Love, Black Dog, Rock n Roll or Stairway?  Unreal

The question was what song made you fall in love with the band. For a lot of people, it's Kashmir. It's the one that got my gf into them. For a lot of people who discovered Zep from the radio, Kashmir gets about as much airplay as any other Zep song. Nothing unreal about it,

 

 

[Electrophile]

2 hours ago, LedZeppfan1977 said:

Communication Breakdown.  For the above poster, Kashmir? Seriously you must be a late bloomer.  How the hell do you not fall for Whole Lotta Love, Black Dog, Rock n Roll or Stairway?  Unreal

Well, not every Led Zeppelin fan is old enough to have seen them live or heard them when they were still an active band and releasing albums. For people of my age or younger (39), classic rock radio is where you would have heard them, and there's only a small list of Zeppelin songs radio tends to play...and Kashmir is one of them. I grew up in Chicago, and our classic rock station, WLUP, had "Get the Led Out" every night at 8 p.m., and they'd play either three or five songs in a row, I can't remember which. As a result, I heard maybe a better variety of their discography than someone else who had to rely on the radio might have. Still, it's not unusual at all that Kashmir might be the song that got someone into the band if that's the song they heard most often.

[1975NQ]

1 hour ago, Electrophile said:

Well, not every Led Zeppelin fan is old enough to have seen them live or heard them when they were still an active band and releasing albums. For people of my age or younger (39), classic rock radio is where you would have heard them, and there's only a small list of Zeppelin songs radio tends to play...and Kashmir is one of them. I grew up in Chicago, and our classic rock station, WLUP, had "Get the Led Out" every night at 8 p.m., and they'd play either three or five songs in a row, I can't remember which. As a result, I heard maybe a better variety of their discography than someone else who had to rely on the radio might have. Still, it's not unusual at all that Kashmir might be the song that got someone into the band if that's the song they heard most often.

My girlfriend's from your neck of the woods She misses "the loop" lol. I think the "Get the Led Out" programs were pretty popular in the 80s and early 90s. We had the same thing in the Bay Area back when I used to live there. 

[LedZeppfan1977]

17 hours ago, 1975NQ said:

The question was what song made you fall in love with the band. For a lot of people, it's Kashmir. It's the one that got my gf into them. For a lot of people who discovered Zep from the radio, Kashmir gets about as much airplay as any other Zep song. Nothing unreal about it,

 

 

My point is its on Physical Grafitti.  Led Zeppelin 6 if you want to number the studio albums.  They were already legends by then.  In fact the wait between Houses of the Holy and PG was nerve wracking for us old timer LZ die hards.  We waited 18 months for the release of PG.  I remember when I got my hands on it and could not wait to hear it. I put the 8 track into my car sterio, a 66 Mustang, and I remember hearing Trampled Under Foot and I could not believe how much it differed from Houses of the Holy and LZ IV and the early early albums.  I also remember years earlier playing the first album and Communication Breakdown and Dazed and Confused I could not get enough of.  Icantquityoubabe is still the best lead blues guitar I have ever heard.  I have bought Led Zeppelin on vinyl, 8 track and cassette.  Cassette being the less durable IMO.  Good to have CD's instead.  LZ IV I still rate the greatest album of all time.  PG is likely second.  Its fabulous.  Two albums to boot. Page combines rock with disco even on Trampled Under foot.  And country on Down by the Seaside.  And classical on Kashmir.  It was worth the 18 month wait.  They were so big it was just like " Oh my God, what will they put out next and when will it happen".  I do not think there was ever more anticipation and eagerness for an album to arrive.  Then I heard the local radio channel play Presence in full because they got their hands on it one day before release to the public.  Great album but not PG IMO.

[LedZeppfan1977]

15 hours ago, Electrophile said:

Well, not every Led Zeppelin fan is old enough to have seen them live or heard them when they were still an active band and releasing albums. For people of my age or younger (39), classic rock radio is where you would have heard them, and there's only a small list of Zeppelin songs radio tends to play...and Kashmir is one of them. I grew up in Chicago, and our classic rock station, WLUP, had "Get the Led Out" every night at 8 p.m., and they'd play either three or five songs in a row, I can't remember which. As a result, I heard maybe a better variety of their discography than someone else who had to rely on the radio might have. Still, it's not unusual at all that Kashmir might be the song that got someone into the band if that's the song they heard most often.

Yes I understand and I would gladly trade my age for yours.  But no regrets getting to see them on Monday May 30, 1977 in Landover, MD.  Memorial Day.  Went through much crap to see them. it just struck me like,  if someone had heard the first 5 albums,  why would Kashmir hook them and not all of the fabulous early stuff?  Especially something like Stairway to Heaven, Whole Lotta Love, Black Dog, Dazed and Confused and even a song like Dyer Maker that was probably their top 40 song of memory.  They were not a top 40 band as the songs were usually too long. But Stairway was on.  It was just too rare and great to pass up even by the top 40 stations.  They played it constantly.  

[1975NQ]

7 hours ago, LedZeppfan1977 said:

My point is its on Physical Grafitti.  Led Zeppelin 6 if you want to number the studio albums.  They were already legends by then.  In fact the wait between Houses of the Holy and PG was nerve wracking for us old timer LZ die hards.  We waited 18 months for the release of PG.  I remember when I got my hands on it and could not wait to hear it. I put the 8 track into my car sterio, a 66 Mustang, and I remember hearing Trampled Under Foot and I could not believe how much it differed from Houses of the Holy and LZ IV and the early early albums.  I also remember years earlier playing the first album and Communication Breakdown and Dazed and Confused I could not get enough of.  Icantquityoubabe is still the best lead blues guitar I have ever heard.  I have bought Led Zeppelin on vinyl, 8 track and cassette.  Cassette being the less durable IMO.  Good to have CD's instead.  LZ IV I still rate the greatest album of all time.  PG is likely second.  Its fabulous.  Two albums to boot. Page combines rock with disco even on Trampled Under foot.  And country on Down by the Seaside.  And classical on Kashmir.  It was worth the 18 month wait.  They were so big it was just like " Oh my God, what will they put out next and when will it happen".  I do not think there was ever more anticipation and eagerness for an album to arrive.  Then I heard the local radio channel play Presence in full because they got their hands on it one day before release to the public.  Great album but not PG IMO.

Gotcha, and yeah that must have been mind-blowing to actually buy Zep albums as they were being released - very cool! I was referring more to younger listeners whose reference point was rock radio starting in the 80s and I suppose YouTube in modern times. Their touchpoints are more random, and it could easily be Kashmir vs Stairway, Communication Breakdown, etc. You never know which song is gonna be the "gateway drug" lol.

I've always thought Zep was one of those bands most kids discover in either junior high or high school, like a rite of passage. That's how it was for me as a high schooler in 1986, even though I had probably heard Stairway many times as a kid in the 70s and early 80s and just shrugged.   

[LedZeppfan1977]

On 11/22/2021 at 12:26 PM, 1975NQ said:

Gotcha, and yeah that must have been mind-blowing to actually buy Zep albums as they were being released - very cool! I was referring more to younger listeners whose reference point was rock radio starting in the 80s and I suppose YouTube in modern times. Their touchpoints are more random, and it could easily be Kashmir vs Stairway, Communication Breakdown, etc. You never know which song is gonna be the "gateway drug" lol.

I've always thought Zep was one of those bands most kids discover in either junior high or high school, like a rite of passage. That's how it was for me as a high schooler in 1986, even though I had probably heard Stairway many times as a kid in the 70s and early 80s and just shrugged.   

I NEVER would imagine anyone shrugging Stairway to Heaven.  My all time favorite song, I have it in my will to have it played at my funeral, and my daughters will do it, for sure. Imagine that at a Catholic church.  Oh yeah and I specified it must be Led Zeppelin.  Not some organist that stumbles through it.  Is the best song of all time and it usually wins pretty much every song contest on radio stations across America. Hotel California is likely number two very often.  Another fantastic song. 

[JTM]

3 hours ago, LedZeppfan1977 said:

I NEVER would imagine anyone shrugging Stairway to Heaven.  My all time favorite song, I have it in my will to have it played at my funeral, and my daughters will do it, for sure. Imagine that at a Catholic church.  Oh yeah and I specified it must be Led Zeppelin.  Not some organist that stumbles through it.  Is the best song of all time and it usually wins pretty much every song contest on radio stations across America. Hotel California is likely number two very often.  Another fantastic song. 

First few times I heard STH I didn't get more than a minute into it. A RECORDER, you have to be joking, it was a while before I heard the whole thing. I prefer the SRTS (76 mix) live version to the studio though.

[1975NQ]

7 hours ago, LedZeppfan1977 said:

I NEVER would imagine anyone shrugging Stairway to Heaven.  My all time favorite song, I have it in my will to have it played at my funeral, and my daughters will do it, for sure. Imagine that at a Catholic church.  Oh yeah and I specified it must be Led Zeppelin.  Not some organist that stumbles through it.  Is the best song of all time and it usually wins pretty much every song contest on radio stations across America. Hotel California is likely number two very often.  Another fantastic song. 

You were never 5 years old? Or 10? When you're a kid, your listening tastes are a bit different. The brain likes what it likes. If I met someone today who was 25 and shrugged at STH, I personally wouldn't have a problem with that. There are folks out there, believe it or not, who don't like Led Zep at all. And that's ok. It's ok to have different listening preferences, we're all different LedZeppfan1977.

That's cool that it's your favorite song. I like the live 71 versions quite a bit.

Edited November 24, 2021 by 1975NQ

[1975NQ]

At my funeral, there are detailed instructions for a 16 person gospel choir to sing Salt-N-Pepa's "Whatta Man" LOUDLY. If the police don't show up, they won't get paid. 

[hummingbird69]

HMMT  the second I heard the first note of the solo I was hooked on Jimmy

 

[LedZeppfan1977]

On 11/24/2021 at 12:02 PM, 1975NQ said:

You were never 5 years old? Or 10? When you're a kid, your listening tastes are a bit different. The brain likes what it likes. If I met someone today who was 25 and shrugged at STH, I personally wouldn't have a problem with that. There are folks out there, believe it or not, who don't like Led Zep at all. And that's ok. It's ok to have different listening preferences, we're all different LedZeppfan1977.

That's cool that it's your favorite song. I like the live 71 versions quite a bit.

LZ did not exist yet when I was 5 or 10 years old.  And to me the studio version of STH is the best song of all time.  

[Electrophile]

That's the beautiful thing about opinions. Everyone has one. I think the greatest song of all time was written by Tchaikovsky, but if you'd asked me that question when I was 13, I'd have picked a song by Mariah Carey. People's tastes change as their exposures to different styles and genres of music grow and evolve. If a Led Zeppelin fan doesn't like STH or likes it but likes other songs better, they're no less a fan. We're all here for the same reason after all.

[1975NQ]

On 10/22/2021 at 7:32 PM, BobDobbs said:

I still look at CB as one of the first punk rock songs.

Me too. Aong with of course "You Really Got Me" by the Kinks - released 5 years earlier, in 1964!!!  Of all the "garage bands" from 64-65 time period, I think they were actually the best (pre Face to Face, the next of many new phases for them)

[BobDobbs]

On 11/24/2021 at 10:22 AM, 1975NQ said:

At my funeral, there are detailed instructions for a 16 person gospel choir to sing Salt-N-Pepa's "Whatta Man" LOUDLY. If the police don't show up, they won't get paid. 

Ha, for my send off it will be Shoop! 

12" to a yard, make you scream like a r****d.

Of course it's nonsense but who's gonna check? Keep em guessing 🙂 

[1975NQ]

6 minutes ago, BobDobbs said:

Ha, for my send off it will be Shoop! 

12" to a yard, make you scream like a r****d.

Of course it's nonsense but who's gonna check? Keep em guessing 🙂 

Haha that song reminds me of an encouter I had in 95 that I can't repeat on this forum. It's an entertaining story tho lol. Keep em guessin, kid!

[LedZeppfan1977]

On 11/24/2021 at 8:02 AM, JTM said:

First few times I heard STH I didn't get more than a minute into it. A RECORDER, you have to be joking, it was a while before I heard the whole thing. I prefer the SRTS (76 mix) live version to the studio though.

So that means you never heard the best guitar solo ever done on studio for a long time either

[JTM]

4 hours ago, LedZeppfan1977 said:

So that means you never heard the best guitar solo ever done on studio for a long time either

Don't know about STH solo being the best, it's not too shabby though, but yeah, a while before I heard it. Like I said. that recorder, only girls played recorders. Sorry ladies.

[1975NQ]

3 hours ago, JTM said:

Don't know about STH solo being the best, it's not too shabby though, but yeah, a while before I heard it. Like I said. that recorder, only girls played recorders. Sorry ladies.

Slack-jawed, clutches pearls, drops recorder in lap, hitting startled cat that jumps off lap. How DARE you ..?!!

Picks up recorder and starts playing again.

Jk. Obviously. Showing my age a bit here, but they actually made all the kids play recorders when I was in third grade. 😂 Music appreciation or something.

[JTM]

1 hour ago, 1975NQ said:

Slack-jawed, clutches pearls, drops recorder in lap, hitting startled cat that jumps off lap. How DARE you ..?!!

Picks up recorder and starts playing again.

Jk. Obviously. Showing my age a bit here, but they actually made all the kids play recorders when I was in third grade. 😂 Music appreciation or something.

I dare, nothing wrong with that we all have our own favourites (I hate the term best). Anyway, they were only played by girls in my Junior School, when I went to "high school", Boys only we didn't do music as in playing instruments. I believe that did change after I left in 1972.