The first record I ever owned was The Originals by Kiss. It was a new, special package containing their first three records, the self-titled debut, Hotter Than Hell, and Dressed to Kill, and some stickers and stuff. These records changed my life. It must have been around the last part of 1976, when I was nine. Over the next couple of years I obtained all their albums, excitedly picking them up as they were released, including Alive 2, the solo albums, etc.… I played my Kiss records hundreds of times, actually wearing out several of them. The band and their music invaded my dreams. On several occasions I performed their songs with friends. We made costumes, painted our faces and acted to their music in front of audiences. My favorite members were Ace Frehley (the spaceman) and Gene Simmons (the demon). These two characters were deeply appealing to me in an archetypal way. I saw them play at the Forum in L.A. in 1980, the original members, still in make-up, and experienced it in a state of awe.
But after a couple years, I had grown through them and was ready for another band. By 1978 I had heard Led Zeppelin in an undeniable way. Where I’d been skipping more and more of the Kiss songs, Led Zeppelin captivated me with every track. My first albums were Led Zeppelin II, and the forth one, with the symbols. I can’t describe the impact these had on me. Soon I had the rest of their records. (This was before In Through the Out Door had been released, and when they were still a band). I felt that their music realigned my adolescent consciousness. Especially those electric guitar riffs of Jimmy Page. They activated something in my blood. I was upset when Bonham died. I felt like I had lost a friend with the demise of Led Zeppelin, I had grown so psychically close to them. But in a way, it might have just cemented my bonds with them more, and at least a half dozen of their records played in my mind consistently for a couple of years.
I was also into Pink Floyd at this time. My experience with Led Zeppelin was more overpowering, but at times I would slip into some intense states listening to Wish You Were Here, or Animals, or Meddle, or Dark Side of the Moon, and when The Wall came out it was my favorite album of the year.
There was a period around 1980 when I was also listening to Yes. I had some different albums between Fragile and Drama, and I would play them when I went into these weird and dreamy moods. It’s hard even to recall the experience of listening to them, because of the quality of these meditative moods.
These were the first bands that I attached to, that shaped my young mind, these classic, 70’s, blues-based hard rock/heavy metal and progressive/psychedelic bands, with their theatrics and magic and angst and trippyness, with their imagination, and intensity, and evocative sonic journeys.
Tags: Kiss, Led Zeppelin, Music, Pink Floyd, rock