had to make my own way but was very influenced by cousin Joe's collection: Genesis, King Crimson, Soft Machine, Caravan, Tubular Bells.
There was some stuff I didn't dig like: Audience, Dylan and that Bley/Bruce horror Escalator Over the Hill.

I think I turned out alright and discovered my 'Tr00 Metalness' a few years later

And had mixed responses to the Big Brothers of mates.

One was all Bowie, Roxy and glam, and we liked that, but later on I had a mate whose brother was a surly bugger who didn't like us upstarts playing his precious albums, which were of the Roger Dean persuasion and which he has in clear covers pinned up in reverent display in their bedroom. Strangely, I ended up not really picking up influences from him. Funny that.

And had mixed responses to the Big Brothers of mates.

One was all Bowie, Roxy and glam, and we liked that, but later on I had a mate whose brother was a surly bugger who didn't like us upstarts playing his precious albums, which were of the Roger Dean persuasion and which he has in clear covers pinned up in reverent display in their bedroom. Strangely, I ended up not really picking up influences from him. Funny that.

but I owe my big brother Elton John, Ian Dury and The Jam. That'll do for me.

Little sisters are far cooler.

Mines like Bananarama, Yazz and The Plastic Population and Men n Kim. All of whom are miles better than Simple Minds I think.

I learnt not to listen to the same CDs as my brother, and plough my own furrowed brow instead. Whereas he'd happily listen to the radio, and any of the commercial dance albums that are released every three months; I found solace in something better.

...which was quite good for pop when I was little, but her most outre album is Texas' debut, so we parted ways (musically) when I was around 12.

Now she is 40, her favourite is Robbie Williams. So we never managed to re-unite (musically).

One of siblings became a huge Neil Young fan having been turned on to him through my copy of After The Goldrush. He not only bought Archives, but bought the Blu Ray system solely so that he could play it.

And they influenced my musical education from an early age.My brothers tell me that they sat me down in front of the tv ( I was 2) when the Beatles played on Ed Sullivan.I listened to their record collection when they were at school.Some bands' records I remember were by: Hendrix, Led Zepplin, Beatles, Stones, Kinks, Herman's Hermits, Andy Kim, ELO, Dylan, Tommy Bolin, Harry Nillson and the Who. My oldest brother also played a huge part in educating me about Folk and what would be Alt. Country.He would have loved Lucinda Williams.And my other brother and I used to play a game where 1 person would pick a record and play it, and the other person had to guess who it was within 5 seconds.If you didn't guess right you had to let the other guy pick the tune until you guessed right.They were my biggest influence by far.

in my aunt's bedroom and a bizarre-looking object that I thought was a lamp but turned out to be a bong. She played me the record and simultaneously expanded my mind, for which I am very thankful.

When I hear the delicate strains of a Stiff Little Fingers, Damned, Sex Pistols, or (God forbid) UK Subs song now.
While others may hark back to their days of leather jacks veneered with gob, I start to sing along in the same way I do to nursery rhymes, as I was only a wee little spitlet aged six or so. Big brother Mark was into punk, and he was my hero, so I begged and pleaded with him to tape those strange-sounding songs onto a cassette for me. He did so, only on the strict proviso that anything he marked with a red cross should NEVER be played within Mum's earshot. I can remember singing along phonetically to Friggin' in the Riggin' without an inkling of what most of the words meant. Although our little record and tape exchanges were monitored a little more after my dad walked into my bedroom to hear his sweet little moppet's voice trinkling out: "Cos there's fuck all else to do..."
Next copycat phase was Motorhead and Black Sabbath. This was properly scary and thrilling to a little girl. It was considerably more exciting than Enid Blyton, anyway.
Then, strangely, Mark stopped buying records, so I had to start choosing for myself*
And what darned fun it continues to be.

*Apart from slavishly following the Massive's lead. Sometimes.

was Stevie Wonder's Songs In The Key Of Life. In fact, apart from a few singles ( not enough of them to be called a `stack´ ) he never brought home any records. He was more into practising his classical pianoplaying, and later on he introduced me to the horrors of the flute...
The singles were a slightly odd collection; The Osmonds - Down By The Lazy River, Sweet - Poppa Joe, CCS - Tap Turns On The Water, Redbone - The Witch Queen Of New Orleans, Jethro Tull - Living In The Past and the swedish comedy song of Robert Karl Oskar Broberg - Upplåsbara Barbara ( Inflatable Barbara ).
The Beatles albums that we had ( one and a half of them to be exact ) had been left behind by our older sisters.
So I just started buying records of my own, taking my chances with artists I had heard of, or simply an albumcover that I liked, or a cool bandname, and in time reading up on the subject in books and magazines.
Since my early teens I have been the one trying to inspire my brother to listen to music that I love, and these days I make him CD-compilations for christmas, with the best songs of the year; with educational linernotes to make it so much more annoying...!
So that's one point for the little sisters of the world :)

and I like to think my younger brother has inherited my Beatles obsession.

When he was about two I hid his Thomas The Tank Engine videos and pretty much forced him to watch Yellow Submarine on repeat. Get them while they are young, I say.

and a big Sister very into the Beatles,Rock & Roll and the Stones so I got off to a good start.My best friend however did have a big Brother.It was He who took us to our first gig in Liverpool, The Who at the University.It was also through Him that I first heard The Incredible String Band,Van Morrison,Dylan,Fairport Convention,Pentangle and Capt. Beefheart.
From there It's been mostly down to me and the influence of various mates and lately you lot and you are costing me a fortune!!

My big brother was a big influence on the music I was into growing up (and still like).

From my brother I got into: Blur, Ocean Colour Scene, Sleeper, Joy Division, New Order, The Stone Roses, Elastica, Black Grape, Happy Mondays, Cast, Catatonia, Echobelly, Morrissey, James, Inspiral Carpets, Lightning Seeds, The Prodigy, Manic Street Preachers, Pulp, The Seahorses

Ah the heady days of Britpop, so close to my heart!

My wifes brother had a lot of late sixties, early seventies vinyl. Zep, Sabs, Deep Purple and more of that ilk.

He left them behind when he left home and we have looked after them ever since including moving them from house to house four times. We asked him for years if he still wanted them and he always said yes but never collected them. Of course now he is divorced he wants them back but.......

But last year I went through them sorted out the decent stuff, sold it online and the rest went to a dealer in Brighton. We made over £1500 which I think covers 25 years storage costs.

Thems the breaks I'm afraid!

Ian

Made me an early Smiths adopter. That, Pogues, ver Boss, and (later) proper country music all came into my life from him.

Gave me The Human League. Sound of the Crowd and Love Action on 7".

Utterly brilliant. I also used to "borrow" (i.e. nick) her Police albums, despite being threatened with death and worse!

Also, Madness and the Bee Gees. Eclectic, or what?

...were crap - pure and simple. Strangely enough, he had no real interest in music at all. I have vague recollections of some bad jazz but, all these years on, there is nothing specific that I remember. I probably tried to block it all out!

The folks - Country, country, and more country. Hated it at the time, but it was quite an education: Haggard, Cash, Kristofferson, Charley Pride, and Buck Owens. Not too long ago, my dad took exception when I described Porter Wagoner as old on the release of Wagomaster.

From two older sisters and an older brother, I inherited a stand-alone record player with a broken tone arm and three singles - Hey Jude, Sugar Sugar, Honky Tonk Women/You Can't Always Get What You Want - that set me off in this direction long ago.

Big Brother - Yer Beatles, and a proper chastising when I once pronounced that Americans made no contribution to rock n' roll;

Eldest Sister - Stevie Wonder, Earth Wind & Fire, Michael Jackson;

Older Sister - Songwriterly stuff, like Carole King, Fleetwood Mac, and the like.

Aside from their endorsement of the Eagles, it has proven to be a pretty solid foundation.

Wham! Tears for Fears. A-ha. "Now"s 7 through to 14. I can't thank her enough - there was so much great stuff there.