I still remember the first time I was exposed to Guns N' Roses. I was 7 years old. My Mum's best friend's son was OBSESSED with the band. He was 5 years older than me and was right in the thick of the Illusion albums. I was at their house one night playing Sonic The Hedgehog on his Megadrive. All of a sudden he pauses the game, pops a tape in his stereo, grins from ear to ear and says, "check this out". I didn't know it at the time but we were listening to Get in The Ring. All I remember thinking was, "woah, hold up. These guys swear on their record!! Cool!!" That was my first Guns memory - they swore. It wasn't but 2 hours later and there we were cutting the sleeves off his brand new denim jacket so he could "look cool like Axl". I can remember his Mum shouting from the living room, "You better not be listening to that fucking Guns N' Roses again!!!" The irony of her swearing was lost on me as a kid. The language moved up a gear that night when she discovered the modifications we'd made to his denim jacket.
It would be another 8 years at the turn of the millennium before my own obsession would kick in and I would fully appreciate the band. Up until that point music was such a passive thing for me. Take it or leave it. I don't know what happened but when the Guns N' Roses thing kicked in, it kicked in big time. The same guy who gave me my first taste of the gunners is sadly now a heroin addict and has been for over a decade. No word of a lie the last time I saw him he came round my parents house strung out trying to effectively fleece us for cash. I hadn't seen him for years at that point. The last thing he did before leaving was ask me if we could listen to Civil War. I stuck it on and we listened all the way through.
However, I digress! The kids reactions were great. Loved the kid who explained to Slash that smoking was bad for him.
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