In middle school I got into skateboarding. This was the height of Tony Hawk Pro Skater, X-Games, etc.

Skateboard companies would put out short VHS tapes featuring skaters they sponsored.

I would hit up the local skate shop and spend $15 on whatever brand I was feeling loyal to at the time.

Unbeknownst to me, but these tapes exposed me to some of my favorite bands of all time. The soundtrack on Flip’s “Sorry” video remains one the greatests.

It includes David Bowie, the Velvet Underground, and the Stooges.

A close second was Real’s “Real to Reel” which got me into Modest Mouse and Gil Scott-Heron.

I saw recently this article on Hacker News: When Do We Stop Finding New Music? A Statistical Analysis

According to that, males hit the age of “musical lock in” around the age of 14, which very much tracks with my experience.

I continued to grow my tastes by working at a college radio station for a couple of years where I hosted jazz and classical music shows.

But, those tracks that really hit my nostalgia bone are from the skateboarding years.