My start was similar to Aricauricle's. For some reason, my dad got his 45s out of my grandma's basement, and gave them to me, followed by a bunch of 8-tracks. I ate that stuff up, which was 60s rock/pop stuff like early Beatles, Beach Boys, Jan & Dean, Kinks, and the Rolling Stones. That triggered the passion and taste of my music listening. The trigger pushing me into non-mainstream music was in 9th grade, when a guy transferred in to our school. I grew up in rural Iowa in a town of 3000, and he came in with a long rat tail and strange looks. We became friends and he introduced me to the Dead Kennedys, The Smiths, and Oingo Boingo. I got so into punk and alternative music that I would go to the record store and buy albums based on the cover art alone.