I've listened to The Wallflowers since I was 8, and still like them.

The Clash were the band that really changed my tastes.

Good thread...
I was obsessed with principally RHCP and the Offspring when I first started buying CD's.

As a kid it was dad's doo-wop and rock n' roll tapes, endless
classical, Gilbert and Sullivan (my dad wasn't too hip), Flanders & Swann, musical soundtracks, all the Monty Python records.

Random records in my mum's collection were later Moody Blues, Cliff Richard, Johnny Cash (the horrible gospel stuff), the Ghostbusters soundtrack....

Nothing much more mind-warping than that...

I didn't even listen to music (literally) until I was 15 or so. I just didn't like anything because all I ever was really exposed to was the standard top 40 crap. I kind of liked the music my parents listened to (The Beatles, Dire Straits, Santana, various classical artists, etc, all of which i love now), but I never really payed attention to it.

The whole 2 tone movement (U.K 1980 onwards) is my earliest recollection of liking music and I still absolutely love The Specials.

from the ages 14 to 18 I was addicted to iron maiden...
haven't listened to them in 5 years though

In the following order;
Earliest recollection was of my fathers uncles playing violins round a camp fire...I shit you not!
Northern Soul courtesy of my eldest sister. A legacy that still stays strong and still keeping the faith.
Punk.
Post punk.

Mention 'music' to a 12 year old version of me and it would bring back horrible memories of Fleetwood Mac's 'Rumors' played on a continuous loop for the entire duration of EVERY summer vacation I ever took with me parents.
Green Day's Dookie was the first album I ever intentionally listened to, and at the time every word seemed to relate to me in a profound way, so I developed an unhealthy obsession with all things Green Day. But then they released 'Warning' and after I cleaned up the puke, I promptly traded that stinkfest for a No Doubt album. Yeah. A No Doubt album. It was that bad.

as a musician/wanna-be producer growing up, I obsessed on Rush, Led Zep, and Pink Floyd. My 'Holy Trinity'...

Kinda crazy that my 'day job' is mostly hiphop engineering!

Great thread, btw- love to reminisce

i listened to alot of TMBG (obvious why) and the pixies.

still love them

Hmm idk...whatever was on the radio.
Didn't really bother to explore much, as i thought every artist would be heard on radio.