I was driving, listening to a bootleg of Bob Dylan at the Royal Albert Hall on the last night of his 1966 tour. May 27th of that year, I believe. He sounds a little pharmaceutically unhinged as, just before Visions Of Johanna he accuses the British press of mislabelling a song such as this as "a drug song". He continues, "I don't write drug songs. I never have, and I wouldn't know how to go about it...it's just vulgar to think so" and then proceeds to sing possibly the most perfectly fragile version of what I believe to be his greatest song. I damn nearly had to pull the car over, so floored was I by this recording.

by Junior Parker. I knew the version originally when the Chemical Brothers had used it as an intro to their live show. It seems to set off the day v.mellowly

I was watching an episode of Due South that made use of songs by Sarah McLachlan. Turned out she'd had songs used in earlier episodes but they'd passed me by. This time from the opening bars of 'Possession' I was hooked. I was watching on video so wound the tape back straight away to listen to the song again. Then again and again. That was the first time ever I heard a song and couldn't get it out of my head for all the right reasons. Having just posted in the OCS topic about the part they played in my beginnings as a music listener, it was Sarah that made me start hearing and loving music.

The other defining moment for me was when I discovered Sigur Ros by accident in Tower Records in Seattle, when I was on a holiday there in 2001. I forget now what I was trying to hear on one of the listening stations in the store but I pressed the wrong button and got Sigur Ros instead. I stood there for the full 10 minutes of Svefn-G-Englar utterly awestruck and captivated.

Blew me away the first time I heard it. Proper grown up shouty rock music again. Hoorah!

On my mam and dads bed trying to cop off with the lovely Carol, she was having none of it as a Michael Jackson special was on MTV. Anyway, this ends and on comes 120 minutes (I think that was the alternative show at the time)...first time I ever heard Smells Like Teen Spirit. Amazing. It felt like I had finally been shown the way after all that poodle rock. The band were then interviewed in a bathroom. Noveselic on the john, Grohl on the bath and Kurt, I believe, hidden inside a washing basket. Don't think I washed for the rest of the year.

Good question...seems as though I've spent the rest of my life chasing another musical epiphany like that. Did get Revolution by Spacemen 3 on the ipod this morning, should have probably mainlined some lsd there and then, but I was already 10 minutes late for work.

... but here are a couple:

Hearing "Tinseltown In The Rain" by The Blue Nile on Radio Trent (John Shaw's Sunday night programme 'Here Be Dragons') in 1984.

The first time I listened to "Psychocandy" by the Jesus & Mary Chain an hour after I'd bought it in 1985.

Walking through the Oasis Trading Company in Woodstock, admiring the ethnic rugs etc - heard the most fantastic music - laid back, bluesy, but with what would now be called a rootsy country vibe to it - bearing in mind I was a blues/rock Floyd/Brit blues boy back then (though I had discovered Little Feat by that stage) - but this, as you say, stopped me in my tracks. Never heard anything so simple sound so good. All that space. Rushed to counter - "What is this record" - turns out to be "Naturally" by JJ Cale. Whoops - the world just changed. Legged it to HMV instantly and bought a copy which sits on my turntable right now as it happens.

Imagine my surprise when I subsequently heard the first Dire Straits album which comprehensively pilfered it.

First was Good Vibrations. I was 7. I remeber hearing it on the radio and being so impressed I asked my teacher , the next day, if he had heard of them as they were great. Didn't realise that, in 1974, they'd been around a while.

Last was James Taylor. Caught a bit of his concert on BBC4 and was very impressed. Downloaded the live album from eMusic and it's all just so simple and great (save for the dodgy 80's pastiche track). Shower The People is just so spot on. Will definitely get more.

Best is Sigur Ros. Bought Agaetis Byrjun after reading a review. It sounded like it would be good. Nothing prepared me for just how good it was. And they keep getting better. There is no other band around at the moment that comes close to them.

My first such jaw dropping moment happened in the car with my Dad listening to Radio 1 (Simon Bates probably!). ELO's Roll Over Beethoven came on and I was intrigued by the orchestral violins in old 247 but when the guitar riff kicked in I was transfixed and spent the next couple of months hunting down the LP it came off. A similar thing happened a year later when my brother brought home a copy of GOrdon Giltrap's Fear of the Dark album which similarly blew me away.

About three years ago we were at the "Christmas Party" of a singer-songwriter night we frequent in Shepherds Bush when this slip of a lass wiht Shirley Temple blond curls took the the stage. "Hmmm some sub-Joni winsome folk then..." we thought. NOthing prepared us for the rich, soulful voice which emanated from that delicate frame. We watched her 5 songs LITERALLY slack jawed, convinced that there was some Milli-Vanilli thing going on and behind the curtain was some 18 stone soul diva. Nope. Just a wonderful songer. Laydees an gennulmumn may we present, Beth Rowley.

Then two weeks ago we went to see Eve Selis in a tiny bar in Guildford - I'd recently reviewed her album. We'd expected a pleasant evening of country/Americana with maybe the singer and her guitar player. However, what a rocking band! Bass, drums and twin guitars from Marc Intravaia and former Johnny Cash sidesman "Cactus" Jim Soldi! WOW!!!! Blew us away! Totally rocked the tiny joint!