I grew up on music pretty much the polar opposite of metal: my dad was a military man with Victorian sensibilities, so we listened to an awful lot of military marching band music and waltzes. I AM NOT KIDDING. Also, classic movie soundtracks, like Chariots of Fire. We also listened to a lot of Nana Mouskouri and Mireille Mathieu. Again, I am not kidding! My parents also adored Roger Whittaker and The Irish Rovers. Actually, I can credit the Irish Rovers for interesting me in Celtic music, Irish culture, and folk music in general, and I still have a really soft spot for Roger Whittaker.
I don't think I ever heard any metal until I was about 12 or 13 (which would have been about 1986), the height of hair metal/glam metal. I can't list all the bands from that era that I listened to, but I can tell you the one that amused my parents no end: Twisted Sister. They thought these guys were hilarious! We had this show in Canada back then that came on the CBC at 5pm every week night called Video Hits. They used to play this video every so often and it always got my parents' attention and we all had a family laugh!
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Funny that you would mention Roger Whittaker. Did you know that he is very popular in Germany too? He's had various German-language hits here. I never realised he's South African; his German is really good and his voice ... well, I can see why you have a soft spot for him, it's ... quite warm. When I was once out together with a few friends from uni and we were already a bit drunk, one of them, who happens to be an avid fan of thrash metal and plays bass, suddenly started to warble "Albany". It was really funny because I wouldn't have expected that from him! And I realised that the song has a quite beautiful mood. =)
Nana Mouskouri and Mireille Mathieu ... again, didn't realise they are not only known in Europe. Suddenly I wonder if a metal band covering classic "schlager" wouldn't be an interesting idea, lol.
Whittaker is actually from Keyna, but did spend some time at a university in Capetown studying medicine, before he gave up after 18 months.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Whittaker
Bear in mind that my dad is British; I think he most likely knew Nana & Mireille before he came to Canada, as neither of those artists are exactly my mom's cup of tea!
Oh, damn, you're right, haha. No idea why I thought he was from South Africa ... must've confused him with another singer. I didn't know that your father is a Brit, sweeeet!
Oh yeah, Dad's from Birmingham, though he doesn't like to admit it!
By the way, haven't COB covered this one? I mean the Twisted Sister song of course.
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