Hmmm. Significant?  A Whiter Shade of Pale, Nights in White Satin, The whole of the Moody Blues' "Days of Future Passed," the first Hendrix track I ever heard, although I can only remember being mindblown, not which track it actually was.  Pink Floyd, and in particular a track called "Embryo," whaich was only avaialble (at the time) on the Harvest sampler album "Picnic, A Breath Of Fresh Air," and which I had been lucky enough to hear them play live in 1970.

Those are the ones that stand out without me actually having to think much about the question.


I think Embryo would be the most significant to me.

This was the original(?) 1968 recording.



and this would have been the version I saw/heard them play two years later,although the sound is a bit better here. 

There is a recording on YouTube of the concert I was at, but the sound is not great. I'll add it below purely for completeness.  It's the opening track.

 



It's significant to me because at the time I was a budding (though decidedly amateur) musician, and this one song showed me that nothing need be set in stone, songs can have a life of their own.  Even after you think you've done with them they are still, often, just in an embryonic stage, still waiting to be born.

For more pretentious twaddle please contact... 

I have so many
They sounded wonderful.

Some influenced me off in a direction I hadn't thought about previously
My first record was an album and I mostly bought albums anyway

Black Sabbath - one of my first gigs at the Lewisham Odeon. Very loud, very influential.
Interstellar Overdrive - listened to early PF with a friend on days at his house on his AR speakers.
Ricochet - Discovered by me, bought from Branson's first Virgin shop, served by him (or maybe Phaedra).
Amerita - played with same friend as above, loved the Sense of Direction album.
The Sound of Silence - played S&G in my aunt's house in Melbourne when I thought we had a new life there.

Well, at the risk of repeating myself, I've already said, mine are tracks that stood out (in particular. In some way shape or form) for me, at that particular time, rather than being simply liked.

Again, at the risk of repeating myself, when the idea for the thread entered my head, I wasn't curious enough to want to know why others' tracks might be significant for them, just that they were. Billy Preston & Syreeta's "With You I'm Born Again" might be significant to someone as its what they like to listen to during a night of passion. Not really something that I'd be that interested in learning of. Sufficient enough, (for me), for it to be simply listed. Wasn't really expecting The Spanish Inquisition when the thread came to mind. But, if explanations have to be extricated, they have to be extricated.

Halfway To Paradise.
1961 it came out. I was 4 at the time. I don't remember it from that age of course. I might have been 7 or 8 when it made an impression on me. It did so for it's use of tympani, which Id never heard on a pop record before. My knowledge of musical instruments was pretty limited, but I knew what a tympani looked and sounded like. I knew that from watching a clown act on TV who were part of a circus routine. I think there was 5 in the act and each played and utilized a musical instrument in the act. One had a tympani.

Telestar.
The first pop instrumental I heard, I think. 1962, apparently. That made me 5. Significant as I'd heard nothing like it, including it's use of sound effects.

Danger Man Theme.
Not the Bob Leaper version, but the Edwin Astley one. Significant for the intro & instrument sound. Never discovered if it was a spinnet or not. Think it probably was. Introduced me to Edwin A's work.

The Prisoner Theme.
Significant for it's opening (I have a bit of a thing about intro's) and it use of sound effects. The week couldn't come fast enough so I could get to hear it again, and follow the next episode.

Tin Soldier.
Again, significant to my mind for it's opening. I'll limit myself to that.

All Or Nothing.
Again, it's the intro - and Kenny Jones' drumming.

Out Of Time.
Yet again, the intro. But there's more. 1966 it came out. I was 9. It was the first time I ever thought that there was some disparity between the vocals I was hearing and the visual image I got to see of Chris Farlowe on TV. For some reason, there seemed a certain incongruity between the two, to my mind. Couldn't really explain it. I just found it hard to equate one with the other.

So, there you have it. There are others of course: Richard Harris' MacArthur Park. Significant as it was unlike anything I'd heard from a pop record, ditto Barry Ryan's Eloise. Mission Impossible Theme as it introduced me Lalo Schifrin. Vendetta Theme and John Barry. Moody Blues Go Now significant for it's use of piano, ditto The Beatles Not A Second Time. Loads more. Significant, rather than being just liked.

Sorry to be late with this.
Here are tracks that were part of my early music foundation. I think for me it was getting me into discovering music and I just wanted to absorb more
I think I will have to start off with 7 Screaming Diz Busters by the Blue Oyster Cult from On your feet and knees

Next up would be Boston the first album is a classic and my favourite track is Longtime/Foreplay I remember the first time hearing it when I got on tape it was something I liked playing loud

Rush of course played a big part and loved All the Worlds A Stage I just loved Neil Peart drumming and yet again was part of all thoses live albums I was getting to introduce me to bands. My first Rush album 


UFO Strangers In the Night would be next up with the great Rock Bottom I loved the guitar solo and Phil vocals
Diamond Head were a massive influence I go for Sucking My love as always will remember with fondness due to them blowing of April Wine and after playing this I became a fan! I saw them about 20 times 


Y&T Earthshaker. Back when it came out they were considered pretty heavy tracks like Hurricane and Squeeze demonstrated this however just loved was I believe in you I saw them at the Marquee and that introduced me to going to small clubs in London 


Last but no means least is the Mr Crowly with Randy blistering second guitar solo. First classical influenced solo I liked 

For me it's mostly about classical music.
The main reason I listened to any rock or pop music was because my school friends did.

The significant pieces that started me off down the classical road...

Tchaikovsky Nutcracker Suite, just great tunes.

The opening of 2001 A Space Odyssey, Also Sprach Zarathustra by Richard Strauss. Gosh, it just blew me away.

Vivaldi, the Four Seasons, Susanne Lautenbacher, violin, with Jorg Faerber conducting the Wurtemberger Chamber Orchestra.
Wow, so exciting.

Beethoven's Pathetique piano sonata introduced me to structure in music, aided and abetted by some great tunes!

Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony, Karl Bohm and the VPO, taught me about beautiful flowing melody and, once again great tunes.

I remember, at about age 12, I guess, listening to my just bought LP of Beethoven's Emperor 5th piano concerto continuously one morning. It just seemed like random noises, but I stayed with it, then on the 5th or 6th listen it suddenly transformed into the most marvellous music I'd ever heard. Wilhelm Kempff on DG, Ferdinand Leitner conducting.

Lots of others, I'm sure - Tchaikovsky 1812 Overture and 4th symphony, Mendelssohn's Fingals Cave overture, Beethoven 5th symphony. Just all very influential and significant.

That makes me somewhat nostalgic. I can't imagine many / any schools doing that now. They would be accused of all sorts ...

Not significant for me personally but My Chemical Romances album "the black parade" was one of those albums where it just exploded and all of a sudden all of the kids were wearing faux military coats and dying their hair. It really took the punk/emo/scene to a whole new level and people were obsessed. It's a solid album with some great tunes but the fan base made it pretty unbearable at the time. Still a great album though with a really well composed and produced set of songs.