When you heard it. Was it on the radio? Or in the middle of a mix tape? An album? A CD? Did you buy it yourself or borrow it from a friend? After you heard it, did you go out and get yourself a guitar or eyeliner or a preacher’s hat? Did you stick a safety pin in your ear and wear a dog collar to school the next day?

Did you even know what was happening to you?

I’m talking about your Before & After Song: a song or album that defined your musical tastes from the first moment you heard it – something that most definitely wasn’t your parents’ music. As if: this was my life before song X and this was my life after, forever altered.

I had so much fun putting this blog post together. I contacted a bunch of people – flesh & blood friends…