Here’s a fun fact: the first two CDs I ever owned were Spice by the Spice Girls and Middle of Nowhere by hippie-pop-children Hanson. I was about nine years old at the time and in an impressionable period of life, frequently adopting the tastes of my two older sisters.
As I’ve aged over the last eleven years, the familial influence on my musical taste has become increasingly apparent. My dad was really into Bruce Hornsby; my sisters loved teen pop; my mom was all about Christian-laced Adventures in Odyssey. And I liked it all at the time, because it was all positive and up-beat and easy to listen to.
Reflecting back now, though, I realize that my family’s taste left much to be desired. Where were the Beatles? Or Miles Davis? Or Johnny Cash? How did I miss all of these artists in my youth? I certainly don’t feel embittered—there was no conscious “withholding”—but I still wish I’d had a more eclectic musical upbringing.
Given this want, I’ve begun to introduce a broader range of music to my little sister, Elizabeth, who’s nearly nine years old. The selections are nothing drastic, just artists she wouldn’t typically encounter until an older age, all conveniently uploaded on her iPod Nano.
Results have been mixed: she now has an affinity for Ratatat (“Seventeen Years”) and New Order (“Blue Monday”), but has shunned Grizzly Bear and the Wrens as “boring.” The Beatles, meanwhile, are a perennial favorite, and I’ve recently been trying to convince her that she would enjoy the latest Spoon disc, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga.
If I sound like some over-zealous, hyper-controlling parent, you’re probably onto something. But don’t take the analogy too far: Elizabeth still knows the work of Hannah Montana and High School Musical 2 far more intimately than anything I’ve given her. And who knows, maybe my efforts will eventually be futile (I know my sisters’ were). But I can’t imagine my little sister resenting me for offering alternatives to what she already likes.
My older sisters have even gotten her into Hanson a bit.
We’ll see how long that lasts.
