John Waters Quotes

My mom would always play me a lot of late-'50s, late-'60s rock.

My dad sat me in front of the TV, and instead of putting on Nick Jr. or something, he put me in front of 'Jailhouse Rock' and all the Elvis movies.

The first purchase I made with my own money was a single by The Kinks, "All Day and All of the Night" and still one of my all time favorites.

I think the first song I remember hearing was Joni Michell's 'Big Yellow Taxi,' my mom played it for me on the car radio.

The first record I was really into was the Drifters' 'When My Little Girl Is Smiling.'

My first vinyl was a Kiss record and a Walt Disney record. I liked the energy of rock and roll.

The first rock record I ever bought was 'Great Balls of Fire.' I was real little, and I went to Atlanta to get it.

I grew up in the 1950s at the beginning of rock n' roll, and would strum a tennis racket in front of the mirror.

The Beatles did their best cover work on Little Richard's 'Long Tall Sally' and music influenced by Richard, such as Larry Williams's 'Dizzy Miss Lizzie.'

One summer I remember, I got exposed to Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly and Buddy Holly was a very very big, made a very big impression on me. Because of a lot of things, you know, the way he looked and his charisma.

When I was seven or eight I was really into Cream, really into Led Zeppelin.

I've loved music always, and my music fire was lit by Elvis Presley, really, and all that was happening back then.

Buddy Holly and the early rock 'n' roll was no lighter than the way I play. It's very minimal.

It was Elvis who really got me hooked on beat music. When I heard 'Heartbreak Hotel' I thought, this is it.

When I heard Little Richard, I mean, it just set my world on fire.

My dad influenced my musical taste. I grew up listening to Bob Dylan and The Rolling Stones and a bunch of rock music from the '60s. Now, instead of watching TV, I'll play a record from start to finish.

A teenage foot that never tapped to 'Heartbreak Hotel' in the '50s probably belonged to a hopeless grind.

Doo-wop is the true music to me, man. Doo-wop was what nurtured me and grew me into who I am, and I guess even when I was in school, the teacher probably thought I had ADD or something every day, because I'd be beating on the desks, singing like the Flamingos or the Spaniels or Clyde McPhatter or somebody.

We'd play the American bases and found all these wonderful records by Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Fats Domino, Sam Cooke. Without American music, there would not have been a British Invasion.

I plug into a lot of old rock & roll. Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis - I love all that stuff.

I probably spent more time as a kid playing air guitar to Jimmy Page than any other guitar player.

There's so many influential albums my parents would put on. Like the first album I ever heard was 'Help!' by the Beatles and from there I just loved rock music.

I just sort of grew up with music always in the background like a soundtrack. And it really hit me hard when The Beatles came along, like so many people. That got me started digging back further to Chuck Berry.

My first record I ever got was 'Full Moon Fever.' My dad gave me a copy when I was maybe nine years old or something. And I listened to the heck out of that record. I loved that record.

I was pretty young when my folks were playing those kinds of records, '70s rock and psychedelic stuff. So I just remember those songs being synonymous with my childhood, and I was always trying to imitate them on piano.