Music was pretty big in the seventies, and very much a part of the family. We had a  Rediffusion TV with a switch in the window sill allowing us to listen to the radio through  the telly!

How wondrous that this was achieved in the 70s! On Sunday's almost the entire  family would listen to the top 20 (as it was then) and I'd play along on the drums (chair  seat) with knitting needles - beat that phil collins! Then there was Top of The Pops of  course, Supersonic, Revolver, Marc etc. Even Tiswas was full of cool music!

About this time, I had a then deliquent older brother (now reformed) who would continually  play glam rock, heavy rock and progressive rock LPs on our old stereogram! It was that short  period, around 73-74 when everyone wanted to look like Bryan Ferry (especially the hair). My  brother had got it just right. Problem was his growing beer gut detracted from any progress  in the hair department (sorry mate).

I do remember the day when I was finally brainwashed. Our parents had gone out and my brother  came in from the pub, got the tennis racket, stuck Rainbow on and proceeded to do a headbang  while imitating the lead guitarist (Ritchie Blackmore). Seeing I was watching, he threw me  the battered, old wooden racket for me to play on (he said I could be the bass player). We  then shared 10 minutes of pure rock n roll bliss: older brother and younger brother sharing  an infrequent moment of true empathy. 

And of course the louder the better.
 
My love for rock music was secured. I was anti disco, reggae or soul, and like many "serious"  rock fans things became a bit competitive! I was "into" many bands by this time but mostly  Genesis and Van Der Graaf Generator (who?). My friend, however, was a BIG Yes fan. Around  1977 while the rest of the boys in the class at primary school were fighting over which Star  Wars character was best, my "friend" and I were fighting over which band, Genesis or Yes, had  the best new album. And it got serious! We had a fight on the way home - how progressive is  that? Even now as adults we are on our guard, tending to talk about other issues - "Blair -  the man", "Bush - the martian" etc. Which was the best album?...Genesis' of course!
 
And of course the album covers of the seventies set a precedent in musical art. Some of the  most vivid images you'll ever see exist in someone's moth-eaten pile of records. You just  don't get that with CDs. I remember buying King Crimson's - In The Court of The Crimson King  and being amazed by its cover, but it's not the exception. Loads of those 1970s bands used  great artists to produce mini masterpieces for us to enjoy.
 
The music and the colours are still with us today

It's the music I grew up to