Well, I should make a not about my generation:
When I was a child, I was musically lost. My parents never listened to popular music around me, so I was oblivious to everything. I grew up hearing a collection of children's songs and rare snippets of Eric Johnson.
Sometime in elementary school, music courses began exposing me to "oldies"--hits from the 50's. I was oblivious to most music, really, and I was lost in and endless sea of genres and stuff. One day I was channel surfing on a wooden handmade radio that my dad gave to me as a toy (we're not talking a fancy radio or anything like that...just a circuit pinned on a plain old board), I happened across an oldies station. I recognized one of the songs and kept listening. I was then mesmerized by Simon and Garfunkel, and then after having a taste of that I began to devote a lot more time listening to music.
I'd sit and listen to the radio for hours, I guess (I don't remember). I stayed with oldies for several years until I had heard most of the genre. One day I heard my dad listening to a classic rock station, and I was ready for something new, so I made the switch. Now I was enveloped in the 60's and 70's--it was all I knew. I also got exposed to a select few 80's and 90's bands that way.
Slowly I worked my way up through the decades, and by the time I made my journey to contemporary music, prog was the only clear choice here. While I listen to much popular and recent prog, you must understand that my roots go way back.
However, it is true that I've had to go back and rediscover certain bands like Yes. While I was exposed to quite a few Yes songs back in the classic rock days, I only got to hear the neatest tunes that were radio friendly. It wasn't until much later that I discovered the beauty and depth of artists like Yes. Before you get all up against radio, though, it was thanks to a classic rock station that I truly grew to love Yes, because I heard one of their albums played in entirety during a special program. I can even remember writing an e-mail to my uncle (a long time Yes fan) telling him that I just realized how great they were.
