Post the top fifteen artists/bands according to your profile. State the first song you heard of theirs, How and when you started listening, Then the song that made you fall in love, Finally post your current favourite. I'm going to do it in a fairly loose format, though.

15. Shriekback

The first song I heard was undoubtedly Nemesis, which was in rotation on MuchMusic shortly after we got it in 1985. I liked that song, but I really didn't get into them until listening to my brother's copy of Oil and Gold. It was probably Faded Flowers from that album that made me fall in love. It's hard to pick an overall favourite, though--Malaria has grown on my over the years, but they have a lot of great songs on other albums as well.

14. Thrill Squad

I actually first heard these guys when they were Go Four 3, and I loved most of their songs. I knew that they had changed their name, and I think I may even have seen part of a video of theirs once, but I don't remember which one. So the first song of theirs I actually heard would probably be the first track from It's Party Time, after I bought that one and Here Comes Tomorrow from CDBaby a few months ago. I'd have to look it up, though...looks like it's Heart Of Tears. So I'd have to say that the track that made me fall in love with them would be Just Another Day. Current favourite...well, I haven't had the chance to listen to them that much, so I really couldn't even say. (They re-record two Go Four 3 songs on the first album, but I like the originals better.) If I had to pick one at random, I'd go with Change or World Goes Smash.

13. Crowded House

I already posted about them at length, so briefly, let me say that the first song I heard was World Where You Live, which was their first video played on MuchMusic. Don't Dream It's Over and Mean to Me really sold me on them. My current favourite would be either Hole In The River or Weather With You.

12. R.E.M.

The first song I heard by them was probably Can't Get There From Here. I picked up their album Fables of the Reconstruction at some point, but got into them fairly gradually. It was probably something from Document that really got me into them, like King of Birds. That song may still be my favourite, or perhaps Fireplace or Drive.

11. The Bangles

It was probably Manic Monday that I heard first, though it's not impossible that I encountered Going Down to Liverpool first. It was the album tracks on Different Light that really got me into them, though, songs like In A Different Light and Following. (Eternal Flame was my wedding song...) My current favourite would probably be Angels Don't Fall in Love.

10. Barenaked Ladies

I first heard of them when they did an OK cover version of one of my less favourite Bruce Cockburn songs, Lovers in a Dangerous Time. I thought they were okay in their Gordon phase, when they were still trying to be determinedly wacky, with songs like Enid and If I Had $1,000,000. I kind of lost interest in them for a while(as did most of Canada, apparently)until I heard The Old Apartment on the radio, and was quite impressed. I didn't really fall in love with them, though, until Maroon and Pinch Me. My current favourite may be Falling for the First Time or Sell Sell Sell.

9. John Lennon

Not really one of my favourites, actually, it's just that listening to two entire albums by an artist is still enough to propel them up my charts. Still, I'm sure I first heard him with the Beatles; I don't remember much of his solo work before his death, but it was probably something from Milk and Honey that I heard first, like Woman. I'm still not completely sold on his solo work, though. My current favourite is probably Watching The Wheels.

8. Pat Benatar

My brother used to have a crush on her, so I'm sure I heard songs like Hit Me With Your Best Shot and Fire and Ice early on. I got into her myself closer to Seven the Hard Way, though it was probably All Fired Up that really sold me on her. That song is still probably my favourite, in fact.

7. Better Than Ezra

These guys deserve to be up this high even less than John Lennon. Not that I have anything against them, but the tracks listed here are two albums I've gotten in the months since I joined last.fm. The first song I heard from them was almost certainly Normal Town; I liked their album Friction, Baby when I tried it from the library, and bought myself a copy later. I wasn't that impressed with their "breakthrough" album, Deluxe, but their later stuff sounds pretty good. I'd be hard-pressed to pick a song that was a favourite, though--I'd probably just go with "Normal Town" again.

6. Debbie Gibson

I remember seeing the video for Only in My Dreams when it came out, but I developed an instant dislike to Shake Your Love, so it was years before I got a copy of that album. In fact, it wasn't until the surprisingly good Anything Is Possible that I got into her much at all. My favourite track would have to be Another Brick Falls.

5. The Cure

I wasn't too sure about The Cure when they first came out; though their first song I heard, In Between Days, grew on me, and Love Cats was cute, I wasn't sure about the rest of it. It was probably Lullaby that won me over, and I got into some of their other albums thereafter. They're still a little hit-or-miss with me, though. My current favourite track me be Close to Me, which I didn't like at all on first listen--go figure.

4. Bruce Cockburn

I'm sure I first heard If I Had a Rocket Launcher on the radio, though the first video I saw was the unpromising People See Through You. It wasn't until I heard some of the great back catalogue on [album artist=Bruce Cockburn]Waiting For A Miracle[/track] that I really got into him, though, with songs like Silver Wheels. My current favourite would be either Fascist Architecture or Pacing the Cage.

3. They Might Be Giants

I heard these guys when they first came out, but Put Your Hand Inside the Puppet Head was a little too off-putting. It took Birdhouse in Your Soul to really sell me on them, and I've been a fairly avid fan ever since. I have many favourites, so let me pick Narrow Your Eyes and Lucky Ball and Chain as the top.

2. The Beatles

I probably heard these guy first, I don't know, in the WOMB or something. They're like the soundtrack of my childhood, though it took me years before I heard some of their albums(and their pre-Rubber Soul work I'm still iffy on). My favourite for many years, though, has been Within You, Without You.

1. Depeche Mode

I remember seeing a video for Blasphemous Rumours on MuchMusic, which impressed me right away. I think the first album of theirs I bought was a compilation called People Are People, which introduced me to some of their earlier work as well. They just got better and better with each further album, but A Question of Lust and But Not Tonight served well enough to sell me on them. My favourites would mostly be from Violator, though, particularlly Halo.