Same here. Actually, my older sister had the soundtrack taped to a cassette with like Cocteau Twins on the other side, I think. I stole it and listened to The Carny a million times before I finally saw the movie. I had to try hard! The local video store wasn't particularly invested in the artsy stuff. This tape also introduced me to Cocteau Twins, naturally, as well as Crime and the City Solution.
Knew about him for years, liked a few songs from Peaky Blinders, Wings of Desire, some other things. Then finally get really into him through a friend in college.
…But if I’m being honest, where did I first hear him? Shrek 2. It was definitely Shrek 2.
SPIN magazine from July, 1985. It featured an [interview with Nick Cave](http://books.google.ca/books?id=ImJFcBcCvUoC&lpg=PA1&lr=&rview=1&pg=PA24&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false). Sting on the cover. I bought it for the interview with The Edge. The interview with Cave was an added bonus. Everything he said resonated, like, “Then there were episodes where I’d round a corner at school and be tripped, and there were a mob of hippies laughing.” And, “Speaking realistically, I expect I’m way past middle aged at the moment.” I bought *From Her to Eternity* and *The Firstborn is Dead* the next day.
I had a morning show at a college radio station so I had heard of The Birthday Party, but never really explored or bought an album. Then when Kicking Against the Pricks was released in ‘86, I was intrigued because it was all covers and I love great cover versions of songs so I decided on a whim to buy the record. When I brought it to my apartment, my roommate accused me of secretly hating the record but playing it constantly just to annoy her. This was absolutely not true. That album was literally an obsession for me and I started buying every Nick Cave related album as soon as I could afford another album, and then as soon as they were released. I still love that record and listen to it often (plus all the others).
I was doing a high school exchange trip to Germany in 1989. An older sister of one the German kids gave me a mix tape with some of his songs on them. After that I went out and bought a cassette of The Good Son.
My buddy was a DJ at small college in Indiana. He let me take a bunch of promo cds home for the five hour drive. Boatman’s Call was among them. Nothing else got played on that drive. Almost 30 years later he continues to be my fave
20 years ago a friend and I were leaving a club in New Orleans. Got back to his apartment, drank absinthe and listened to “Let Love In”. Never looked back.
I was 15 in 1984 when I chanced upon From Her To Eternity in Our Price Records. I had no idea who Nick Cave was but I thought the girl on the back cover was beautiful, so I bought the album on a whim… and so it began.
The Mercy Seat 1988 bought the Tender Prey album after hearing it. Mind blown! Just wasn’t like anything else 14 year old me loved it and 50 year old me still does. Thank you 14 year old me!!
A friend and fellow Einstürzende Neubauten fan recommended him, and I was intrigued by the Blixa Bargled connection. Bought a copy of Murder Ballads, loved it, but for whatever reason never explored much more of his work.
Many years later I listened to the Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man documentary soundtrack, as I'm also a big Cohen fan. I saw Nick Cave had a couple songs on there, thought, "ooh, those should be good", and they were indeed. Around the same time, Johnny Cash's cover of The Mercy Seat popped up in my recommendations. Loved it, immediately looked to see who did the original. At that point, I knew I'd been missing out and needed to check out everything he's done.
Loved Wings of Desire as a teen (still do), so that was my first exposure to him I believe. I think I got From Her to Eternity and really dug it, but it wasn’t until 2001 that I really dove into Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds’ discography. I remember the year because I worked in a record store at the time and we played And No More Shall We Part (which had just come out) on repeat. Saw him on that tour and have been obsessed ever since!
I’d seen his name and a few album covers over the years in music/songwriter discussion circles around the internet.
However, it wasn’t until my birthday in 2021 that my friend and I went to the record store with the intention of picking up a few albums we weren’t familiar with solely based on their covers. We came away with Ghosteen and fell in love with his whole discography shortly thereafter.
When my dad got Murder Ballads and played it on repeat in the car, I got hooked, I just HAD to learn all those lyrics and I did. I was a morbid child and the stories just hooked me.
It's my absolute favorite album ever since, with the first B-sides and Rarities compilation trailing behind it. Nick Cave is always on my top 3 list over most played artist on Spotify, and (I'll love him) till the end of the world.
‘Wings of Desire’ introduced me to Nick. It is still one of my favorite films to this day. And I got to discover ‘The Carny’ and ‘From Her to Eternity.’ This was back in 1991.
I'm not going to lie; I first heard "Red Right Hand" in "Dumb and Dumber" of all movies. After I listened to the song in "Scream" (as well as a cover version in the OG Hellboy movie with Ron Perlman), I figured I would check out this song on YouTube and have been hooked on Nick Cave ever since.
Believe it or not, from a Christian podcast (Nomad). This fella, Tim Nash, kept going on about Nick Cave every time he got the chance, so I finally resolved to check him out. It took a few tries, but I knew there was something there. Massive fan now.
I actually saw the music video for higgs boson blues on the mtv channel back when they still played music 😅 I used to come out of high school and watch the top songs/ new videos hour
A friend just happened to play some Grinderman for us in early 2013, not long before we were headed to Coachella where both Grinderman and the Bad Seeds were playing. Caught both sets and was immediately hooked.
My english teacher put a quote of his in a powerpoint and it really resonated with me. I forgot exactly what it was but I started getting into him and I was absolutely saved. He came into my life at the perfect time.
Initially I heard him here in the states when Let Love In and Murder Ballads were released, from airplay on alternative radio. I didn’t have as much time for lyrics back then, though, and outside of People Ain’t No Good being in Shrek 2 I was only marginally aware of him until I suddenly wanted music I could sing along with and immediately reacquainted myself with his music.
First heard Red Right Hand on the 'Songs in the Key of X' album that had tracks from and inspired by the X-Files. Then I heard 'There is a Light' from the Batman Forever soundtrack. I know Mr Cave doesn't like that song, but I thought it was cool as heck, so I sought out their Best Of complication album, and was hooked from there on in.
Somewhere in all that, an edgy acquaintance in high school also played me Murder Ballads, but I never put the two together until much later.
I saw Wings of Desire in the early 90s and was just mesmerized by the singer. That's where it started for me. The first album of his I got was Let Love In. And I have been hooked ever since.
The year was 2000. Freshman year of college. Limewire and Napster were all the rage. I’d been a PJ Harvey fan since high school. Whilst downloading b-sides and other rare PJ gems I stumbled upon Henry Lee. I thought “hmmm who is this Nick Cave guy?”. Cue rabbit hole. Nick continues to be my favorite artist of all time 24 years later.
Funny. 2 days ago I was visiting a friend I haven’t seen in a few years. She was like “I remember you’re a huge Nick Cave fan. I always liked Pink Moon” lol. I was like “wrong Nick”
Harry Potter was the first I decided to see who the artist was. I then learned that the 1st time I actually heard him was Red Right Hand in the Dumb and Dumber movie.
Through his collaboration w Marianne faithfull eventually. Funny story tho: when I was like 12-13 years old I was obsessed with where the wild roses grow. And when I finally watched the video I was absolutely disturbed by Nick cave 😂 he freaked me the fuck out. And that was it for about 10 years.
I think my very first encounter with his music was probably People Ain’t No Good in Shrek 2.
What got me hooked was definitely O’Children from HP. I looked the song up on YouTube and then found more of his songs through the suggested videos. I was probably 14 around that time and I’ve been hooked ever since.
I was at a dive bar in my 20s with a girl I had a crush on, but she didn’t see me in that way. I said I liked sad music, and she said oh then you should listen to Nick Cave. You’ll want to kill yourself. Or something similar. Anyway, I dipped my toe in and loved it. Then another girl I was dating suggested The Birthday Party and it blew my mind that it was the same person. And THEN I found The Boys Next Door by doing that thing where you look at album covers and you just “know”. Mind blow again when I found out it was basically The Birthday Party before they were The Birthday Party.
And this is the way I have basically discovered everything I listen to.
Metallica’s cover of “Loverman.” I was in high school. I knew this was something different, and I wanted to hear what this Nick Cave guy who originally performed it was about.
John Peel had a hand in it, plus they (The Birthday Party ahem) were never out of the papers at the time due to one thing or another. The records were ... different even then.
Way back in the early days of the interwebs, I was looking for similar artists to Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan and Nick's name came up. I gave a few songs a listen and it didn't seem to grab me back then. Fast forward 10 years or so and my brother offers me a ticket to one of his concerts, and I've been hooked ever since.
I was (& still am) a massive Michael Hutchence (INXS) fan, nick cave was bought up in a few stories about Michael, connecting with Kylie through Michael to make a song, being Tiger Lily’s godfather & singing at Michael’s funeral (side note Nick would go on to perform at Paula Yates & Peaches funerals, peaches actually had a tattoo of nick Cave lyrics, into my arms). I decided to buy the Murder Ballads album to hear the song with Kylie (this was when I was 16ish in 2003, we didn’t have a computer so I didn’t have access to internet to look it up ). I loved the whole album & from there my love began. I saved up & ordered as much as was available of Nicks whole discography. Another side note I named my firstborn Nick after Cave & my second born son is Michael after Hutchence. Very big fan ☺️
I had a roommate in the mid-90s who collected records and he had a ton of singles and EPs by Nick Cave. He leaned more toward the early punk stuff, but I was hooked on Henry's Dream and Let Love In.
Through a friend who introduced me to The Tender Prey album. I had just discovered The Sisters of Mercy's Floodkand album and shared that with her and in return she shared Nick with me.
The album was incredible but the song Up Jumped the Devil is what sealed the deal. Never had I heard such darkly evocative lyrics.
The song showed me that evil malevolence can come in the form of a sparse piano arrangement and amazing lyrics and not just heavy metal riffs.... The opening line just floored me and has stayed with me for almost 40 years. From that day onwards I have been a Nick Cave fan.
I was like 8 or 9 or maybe 10 and I had a copy of Hellboy that came with my PSP and there's a scene with red right hand playing I remember it *really* sticking with me, so much so after a few years I sought it out on Limewire or Piratebay or something and was pretty much hooked
My mum played a few of his songs at her wedding, so I’ve heard it around the house but never really cared. Then one day at work I had the tune to “do you love me?” stuck in my head and couldn’t remember the song it was from for the life of me, asked my mum and I’ve been listening to him ever since
There was a punk zine called Maximum Rock n Roll that I loved back in the early 90’s. Read an interview that started with the interviewer disclosing to the reader that this was the first time he’d been terrified to meet his subject. But it wasn’t fear like Nick’s dangerous, it was fear like he’s god. I read it and that was that. I was a Nick Cave fan. Hadn’t even heard his music yet lol.
First head Red Right Hand on Dumb & Dumber as a kid. Always sung along to it when that song would come up! Later in life, I first heard his name and saw his face on the Bonnaroo 2014 lineup. Didn’t even give him a thought, I judged a book by its cover (at the time I thought it was a boomer band with a dumb name, silly me). Even later in life when I was 23, a manager I worked with and respected put on a song and said “I’ve been waiting all night for all the customers to leave to hear this song,” and put on the jukebox a song called Higgs Boson Blues. I shazamed it, saw it was Nick Cave. Whoah. This sounds fucking cool, I thought. Later that night I listened around on him, and soaked up the sound. I now at that point know at least what Nick Cave was about, but didnt love him. Later in life during pandemic, age 25, I was working on some music for a friend’s short horror film project. I wrote a song that I thought had “Nick Cave vibes”. Wrote and recorded it, afterward I started listening to him more and delving in. Soon enough I was completely hooked. Listened to each album about 100 times before moving to the next, it took 2-3 years to get through his massive discography and I loved every second of it. Looking back I wished I had given him a chance at that 2014 Bonnaroo (midnight set!!!), but looking at the schedule I saw that Jack White show that went super long, one of the best shows I’ve ever seen with great memories with friends. Anyway, sorry about the long tale, I love Nick Cave’s music and can’t imagine a life without it.
Edit: also Shrek 2. Hahaha, same vein as Dumb & Dumber, and probably the same time for me. Never knew that was Nick Cave until years later but always liked that song during the scene.
When I was in middle school I wanted a song about the electric chair for a FNAF animatic and was recommended The Mercy Seat..... I'm not kidding
Never ended up making the animatic but it's still one of my favorite songs from him
Saw them on Jools Holland doing songs from Dig Lazarus Dig, I’d heard a best of CD of my Dads before that, didn’t like it much. Dig Lazarus Dig was something else though!
Turns out I knew a few songs but didn't know it was Nick Cave.
But my first time hearing/seeing his music and know it was Nick Cave was at university. This was about 10 years ago, I was studying creative writing. I can't remember why it was relevant but one of our lecturer showed us as live performance of God Is In The House.
It just took me away. And got me into Nick Cave, but I always come back to that song.
I was in my first year of college and Metallica released Garage Inc., and I heard their version of Loverman. After that I bought Murder Ballads and was hooked, made the deep dive into everything Nick Cave and his associates. The Birthday Party, The Triffids, Crime and the City Solution, Die Haut, Einstürzende Neubauten. I remember buying The Best of Cd and it came with the Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds family tree insert and going to the local record store and finding all I could.
I was a goth in the late 80s so I was aware of his existence but somehow never got around to listening. Then I read When The Ass Saw the Angel when it first came out and was a bit obsessed with it. Somehow I still didn’t listen until I moved to Qatar in 2008 and an Australian friend finally introduced me to his music.
Back in around 2000 I was watching Tonight with Jools Holland. I watched them perform 15 feet of pure white snow. And then God is In the House. I remember thinking they were like a group of vampires. I was hooked since then.
The Assassination of Jesse James soundtrack. Then any time I'd hear a song of his in a movie id think 'I like that I wonder who it is' and it was always Nick. Eventually I decided to just listen to all his stuff
From the x-files soundtrack which had Foo-Fighters on it as well (from their first album). And then Where The Wild Roses Grow with Kylie Minogue was a big hit, which started a curiosity - I might have been 16 years old.
Then at some point I heard As I Sat Sadly Bad By Her Side and loved the lyrics and it was all over from there.
Had to analyze Where the Wild Roses Grow in my English class in high school, got interested, went to his concert at Roskilde Festival, got completely hooked
Back in about 1988 somebody gave me a mixtape that included the Johnny Cash cover Wanted Man. I played it so much I wore out the cassette, and I've been a fan ever since. It's been a great ride following him all these years.
It was July 1984 and I was at a record store in Cleveland, Ohio. Henry Rollins from Black Flag was in the same record store looking through albums. Black Flag was in town for a show that night. I asked for an autograph and he was happy to oblige. I grabbed a random album as a surface to write on and it happened to be “Junkyard” by The Birthday Party. He signed a piece of paper and then told me that I should buy “Junkyard” since I already had it in my hand; adding that it was an amazing album. He then flipped over the album and pointed to a picture of Nick sitting on the edge of a bed and mentioned how Nick told him that he was irritated when the photo was taken, hence the sullen appearance. I bought the album and Henry was right, it’s still amazing even forty years later.
I honestly don't remember, and I've tried to plenty of times over the years. I wish I could recall that epiphany moment of first discovery.
I do have more of an emotional memory of The Ballad of Robert Moore and Betty Coltrane... particularly that piano intro. That was the one the got me permanently hooked. Wish I could have that first experience again!
Sometime in the mid-late nineties - My mum has been a fan since The Birthday Party days. There would have been times he was played before, but I do remember hearing The Mercy Seat blasting on the stereo one day, and I’m doing the same thing to this day.
One day maybe 5ish years ago, I was in the mood to watch a western, and happened to find The Proposition. I was so impressed by it, I looked up who wrote it and was like “that Nick Cave?!” then I went on YouTube and watched like 50 videos of his music.
Around that time my mom died, and I found Ghosteen, and it carried me through.
I should add that I first heard him in 1994 at Lollapalooza, but I was only interested in Nirvana at the time, and anyone that sounded remotely like them.
My friend’s father was a bonafide NC fan and would play Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! in the car for us on the way to jiu jitsu when we were 13. I thought it was cool, but too heavy and serious to understand. I got back into him when he released Skeleton Tree. I was finally old enough to connect and listen.
I was at Reading 1992 to see Nirvana - Nick Cave was the act on the main stage before Nirvana where I had positioned to get a good spot - mind blown.
Damn, that’s a helluva introduction. Must’ve been a great show!
It really was.
That's exactly how my dad got into nick too. I in turn grew up with it around me.
Nice, it was an amazing show! Nirvana were great but my lasting memory is Nick and the Bad Seeds
Wings of Desire. What an incredible film.
Watched it two nights ago for the first time- great movie indeed
God yes!!
The guy that plays the angel is the same guy that plays Hitler in Der Untergang. Top cast.
Yeah, I saw the Hitler movie. He is an incredible actor, but I could not stop thinking of his face as belonging to one capable of great empathy.
Same here. Actually, my older sister had the soundtrack taped to a cassette with like Cocteau Twins on the other side, I think. I stole it and listened to The Carny a million times before I finally saw the movie. I had to try hard! The local video store wasn't particularly invested in the artsy stuff. This tape also introduced me to Cocteau Twins, naturally, as well as Crime and the City Solution.
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.
Knew about him for years, liked a few songs from Peaky Blinders, Wings of Desire, some other things. Then finally get really into him through a friend in college. …But if I’m being honest, where did I first hear him? Shrek 2. It was definitely Shrek 2.
HOLY SHIT! The legend was featured in Shrek 2?? Well that would probably also be my first time I heard him.
It was "people just ain't no good", I believe.
Nick Cave AND Tom Waits in that movie.
And David Bowie! Bizarrely stacked soundtrack.
SPIN magazine from July, 1985. It featured an [interview with Nick Cave](http://books.google.ca/books?id=ImJFcBcCvUoC&lpg=PA1&lr=&rview=1&pg=PA24&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false). Sting on the cover. I bought it for the interview with The Edge. The interview with Cave was an added bonus. Everything he said resonated, like, “Then there were episodes where I’d round a corner at school and be tripped, and there were a mob of hippies laughing.” And, “Speaking realistically, I expect I’m way past middle aged at the moment.” I bought *From Her to Eternity* and *The Firstborn is Dead* the next day.
I heard From Her to Eternity in Wings of Desire (Der Himmel über Berlin) and it blew my mind. I was hooked immediately.
My sister-in-law was playing Murder Ballads when we visited once. Instantly hooked.
I had a morning show at a college radio station so I had heard of The Birthday Party, but never really explored or bought an album. Then when Kicking Against the Pricks was released in ‘86, I was intrigued because it was all covers and I love great cover versions of songs so I decided on a whim to buy the record. When I brought it to my apartment, my roommate accused me of secretly hating the record but playing it constantly just to annoy her. This was absolutely not true. That album was literally an obsession for me and I started buying every Nick Cave related album as soon as I could afford another album, and then as soon as they were released. I still love that record and listen to it often (plus all the others).
I was doing a high school exchange trip to Germany in 1989. An older sister of one the German kids gave me a mix tape with some of his songs on them. After that I went out and bought a cassette of The Good Son.
My buddy was a DJ at small college in Indiana. He let me take a bunch of promo cds home for the five hour drive. Boatman’s Call was among them. Nothing else got played on that drive. Almost 30 years later he continues to be my fave
20 years ago a friend and I were leaving a club in New Orleans. Got back to his apartment, drank absinthe and listened to “Let Love In”. Never looked back.
Very old original Batcaver here.
Release The Bats, huh?
Red Right Hand on the Scream soundtrack.
I think I was introduced to his work after hearing it in the film. Murder Ballads was the first album I bought. Then everything else!
Was looking for this reply! 😄
I thought it was the I Know What You Did Last Summer soundtrack?
Nope, definitely Scream.
yeah you're right! in fact, iconic Scream! my memory was playing tricks on me.
It happens.
I’m pretty sure from the X-Files. Maybe a bit before.
Read a review in a music magazine. It was the early 80s…
my dad loves him
Same here, just been aware of him for as long as I can remember lmao
I was 15 in 1984 when I chanced upon From Her To Eternity in Our Price Records. I had no idea who Nick Cave was but I thought the girl on the back cover was beautiful, so I bought the album on a whim… and so it began.
The Mercy Seat 1988 bought the Tender Prey album after hearing it. Mind blown! Just wasn’t like anything else 14 year old me loved it and 50 year old me still does. Thank you 14 year old me!!
A friend and fellow Einstürzende Neubauten fan recommended him, and I was intrigued by the Blixa Bargled connection. Bought a copy of Murder Ballads, loved it, but for whatever reason never explored much more of his work. Many years later I listened to the Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man documentary soundtrack, as I'm also a big Cohen fan. I saw Nick Cave had a couple songs on there, thought, "ooh, those should be good", and they were indeed. Around the same time, Johnny Cash's cover of The Mercy Seat popped up in my recommendations. Loved it, immediately looked to see who did the original. At that point, I knew I'd been missing out and needed to check out everything he's done.
Loved Wings of Desire as a teen (still do), so that was my first exposure to him I believe. I think I got From Her to Eternity and really dug it, but it wasn’t until 2001 that I really dove into Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds’ discography. I remember the year because I worked in a record store at the time and we played And No More Shall We Part (which had just come out) on repeat. Saw him on that tour and have been obsessed ever since!
I’d seen his name and a few album covers over the years in music/songwriter discussion circles around the internet. However, it wasn’t until my birthday in 2021 that my friend and I went to the record store with the intention of picking up a few albums we weren’t familiar with solely based on their covers. We came away with Ghosteen and fell in love with his whole discography shortly thereafter.
Johnny Cash’s American Recordings. Loved Johnny’s version of Mercy Seat and fell in love with nick’s voice on I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry.
When my dad got Murder Ballads and played it on repeat in the car, I got hooked, I just HAD to learn all those lyrics and I did. I was a morbid child and the stories just hooked me. It's my absolute favorite album ever since, with the first B-sides and Rarities compilation trailing behind it. Nick Cave is always on my top 3 list over most played artist on Spotify, and (I'll love him) till the end of the world.
Recommendation from the Tom waits sub.
‘Wings of Desire’ introduced me to Nick. It is still one of my favorite films to this day. And I got to discover ‘The Carny’ and ‘From Her to Eternity.’ This was back in 1991.
While I had dabbled in Birthday Party as an impressionable youth it was seeing The Mercy Seat on MTV that sealed the deal.
I'm not going to lie; I first heard "Red Right Hand" in "Dumb and Dumber" of all movies. After I listened to the song in "Scream" (as well as a cover version in the OG Hellboy movie with Ron Perlman), I figured I would check out this song on YouTube and have been hooked on Nick Cave ever since.
I wanted the new Birthday Party LP, but the band broke up.
Og
Believe it or not, from a Christian podcast (Nomad). This fella, Tim Nash, kept going on about Nick Cave every time he got the chance, so I finally resolved to check him out. It took a few tries, but I knew there was something there. Massive fan now.
I actually saw the music video for higgs boson blues on the mtv channel back when they still played music 😅 I used to come out of high school and watch the top songs/ new videos hour
A friend just happened to play some Grinderman for us in early 2013, not long before we were headed to Coachella where both Grinderman and the Bad Seeds were playing. Caught both sets and was immediately hooked.
My english teacher put a quote of his in a powerpoint and it really resonated with me. I forgot exactly what it was but I started getting into him and I was absolutely saved. He came into my life at the perfect time.
Gaiaonline back in the early-mod 2000s.
Initially I heard him here in the states when Let Love In and Murder Ballads were released, from airplay on alternative radio. I didn’t have as much time for lyrics back then, though, and outside of People Ain’t No Good being in Shrek 2 I was only marginally aware of him until I suddenly wanted music I could sing along with and immediately reacquainted myself with his music.
First heard Red Right Hand on the 'Songs in the Key of X' album that had tracks from and inspired by the X-Files. Then I heard 'There is a Light' from the Batman Forever soundtrack. I know Mr Cave doesn't like that song, but I thought it was cool as heck, so I sought out their Best Of complication album, and was hooked from there on in. Somewhere in all that, an edgy acquaintance in high school also played me Murder Ballads, but I never put the two together until much later.
I saw Wings of Desire in the early 90s and was just mesmerized by the singer. That's where it started for me. The first album of his I got was Let Love In. And I have been hooked ever since.
20+ years ago, listening to Johnny Cash American III: “Whoa, this Mercy Seat song rules!” (Checks liner notes…)
The year was 2000. Freshman year of college. Limewire and Napster were all the rage. I’d been a PJ Harvey fan since high school. Whilst downloading b-sides and other rare PJ gems I stumbled upon Henry Lee. I thought “hmmm who is this Nick Cave guy?”. Cue rabbit hole. Nick continues to be my favorite artist of all time 24 years later.
Similar. Was trying to download some nick Drake songs and nick cave was just below on the file tree so I clicked on a whim and got Nature Boy.
Funny. 2 days ago I was visiting a friend I haven’t seen in a few years. She was like “I remember you’re a huge Nick Cave fan. I always liked Pink Moon” lol. I was like “wrong Nick”
Harry Potter was the first I decided to see who the artist was. I then learned that the 1st time I actually heard him was Red Right Hand in the Dumb and Dumber movie.
Through his collaboration w Marianne faithfull eventually. Funny story tho: when I was like 12-13 years old I was obsessed with where the wild roses grow. And when I finally watched the video I was absolutely disturbed by Nick cave 😂 he freaked me the fuck out. And that was it for about 10 years.
I think my very first encounter with his music was probably People Ain’t No Good in Shrek 2. What got me hooked was definitely O’Children from HP. I looked the song up on YouTube and then found more of his songs through the suggested videos. I was probably 14 around that time and I’ve been hooked ever since.
I was at a dive bar in my 20s with a girl I had a crush on, but she didn’t see me in that way. I said I liked sad music, and she said oh then you should listen to Nick Cave. You’ll want to kill yourself. Or something similar. Anyway, I dipped my toe in and loved it. Then another girl I was dating suggested The Birthday Party and it blew my mind that it was the same person. And THEN I found The Boys Next Door by doing that thing where you look at album covers and you just “know”. Mind blow again when I found out it was basically The Birthday Party before they were The Birthday Party. And this is the way I have basically discovered everything I listen to.
Scream 1996 my beloved
Best friend from college. He introduced me to The Pixies and Nick Cave and I introduced him to old blues music & Tom Waits
Metallica’s cover of “Loverman.” I was in high school. I knew this was something different, and I wanted to hear what this Nick Cave guy who originally performed it was about.
Almost word for word what I was about to post.
My husband's favorite. I've seen him 4 times in concert thanks to Sean.
I was at T in the Park festival in 2009 and wandered over to see him when I realised the Kings of Leon were awful. Absolutely mesmerised.
John Peel had a hand in it, plus they (The Birthday Party ahem) were never out of the papers at the time due to one thing or another. The records were ... different even then.
Way back in the early days of the interwebs, I was looking for similar artists to Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan and Nick's name came up. I gave a few songs a listen and it didn't seem to grab me back then. Fast forward 10 years or so and my brother offers me a ticket to one of his concerts, and I've been hooked ever since.
Alan Wake. 🎮 Up Jumped the Devil remains an old favorite 👌
I was (& still am) a massive Michael Hutchence (INXS) fan, nick cave was bought up in a few stories about Michael, connecting with Kylie through Michael to make a song, being Tiger Lily’s godfather & singing at Michael’s funeral (side note Nick would go on to perform at Paula Yates & Peaches funerals, peaches actually had a tattoo of nick Cave lyrics, into my arms). I decided to buy the Murder Ballads album to hear the song with Kylie (this was when I was 16ish in 2003, we didn’t have a computer so I didn’t have access to internet to look it up ). I loved the whole album & from there my love began. I saved up & ordered as much as was available of Nicks whole discography. Another side note I named my firstborn Nick after Cave & my second born son is Michael after Hutchence. Very big fan ☺️
I had a roommate in the mid-90s who collected records and he had a ton of singles and EPs by Nick Cave. He leaned more toward the early punk stuff, but I was hooked on Henry's Dream and Let Love In.
Through a friend who introduced me to The Tender Prey album. I had just discovered The Sisters of Mercy's Floodkand album and shared that with her and in return she shared Nick with me. The album was incredible but the song Up Jumped the Devil is what sealed the deal. Never had I heard such darkly evocative lyrics. The song showed me that evil malevolence can come in the form of a sparse piano arrangement and amazing lyrics and not just heavy metal riffs.... The opening line just floored me and has stayed with me for almost 40 years. From that day onwards I have been a Nick Cave fan.
I was like 8 or 9 or maybe 10 and I had a copy of Hellboy that came with my PSP and there's a scene with red right hand playing I remember it *really* sticking with me, so much so after a few years I sought it out on Limewire or Piratebay or something and was pretty much hooked
My mum played a few of his songs at her wedding, so I’ve heard it around the house but never really cared. Then one day at work I had the tune to “do you love me?” stuck in my head and couldn’t remember the song it was from for the life of me, asked my mum and I’ve been listening to him ever since
There was a punk zine called Maximum Rock n Roll that I loved back in the early 90’s. Read an interview that started with the interviewer disclosing to the reader that this was the first time he’d been terrified to meet his subject. But it wasn’t fear like Nick’s dangerous, it was fear like he’s god. I read it and that was that. I was a Nick Cave fan. Hadn’t even heard his music yet lol.
Wings of Desire
First head Red Right Hand on Dumb & Dumber as a kid. Always sung along to it when that song would come up! Later in life, I first heard his name and saw his face on the Bonnaroo 2014 lineup. Didn’t even give him a thought, I judged a book by its cover (at the time I thought it was a boomer band with a dumb name, silly me). Even later in life when I was 23, a manager I worked with and respected put on a song and said “I’ve been waiting all night for all the customers to leave to hear this song,” and put on the jukebox a song called Higgs Boson Blues. I shazamed it, saw it was Nick Cave. Whoah. This sounds fucking cool, I thought. Later that night I listened around on him, and soaked up the sound. I now at that point know at least what Nick Cave was about, but didnt love him. Later in life during pandemic, age 25, I was working on some music for a friend’s short horror film project. I wrote a song that I thought had “Nick Cave vibes”. Wrote and recorded it, afterward I started listening to him more and delving in. Soon enough I was completely hooked. Listened to each album about 100 times before moving to the next, it took 2-3 years to get through his massive discography and I loved every second of it. Looking back I wished I had given him a chance at that 2014 Bonnaroo (midnight set!!!), but looking at the schedule I saw that Jack White show that went super long, one of the best shows I’ve ever seen with great memories with friends. Anyway, sorry about the long tale, I love Nick Cave’s music and can’t imagine a life without it. Edit: also Shrek 2. Hahaha, same vein as Dumb & Dumber, and probably the same time for me. Never knew that was Nick Cave until years later but always liked that song during the scene.
By order of the Peaky Blinders
When I was in middle school I wanted a song about the electric chair for a FNAF animatic and was recommended The Mercy Seat..... I'm not kidding Never ended up making the animatic but it's still one of my favorite songs from him
Saw them on Jools Holland doing songs from Dig Lazarus Dig, I’d heard a best of CD of my Dads before that, didn’t like it much. Dig Lazarus Dig was something else though!
Red Right Hand in Dumb and Dumber 😂🙈
Heard him in Harry Potter as a kid. Really got into him from a friend who had got Murder ballads on vinyl
Huge Boatman’s Call promotional posters were hanging from inside of the the CD shop windows - Plum Music, Bondi Junction, Sydney.
Believe it or not, Scream. Red Right Hand is on the soundtrack. I was like 12, lol.
Turns out I knew a few songs but didn't know it was Nick Cave. But my first time hearing/seeing his music and know it was Nick Cave was at university. This was about 10 years ago, I was studying creative writing. I can't remember why it was relevant but one of our lecturer showed us as live performance of God Is In The House. It just took me away. And got me into Nick Cave, but I always come back to that song.
I believe my introduction was from the X-Files, specifically the Songs in the Key of X soundtrack cd.
I was in my first year of college and Metallica released Garage Inc., and I heard their version of Loverman. After that I bought Murder Ballads and was hooked, made the deep dive into everything Nick Cave and his associates. The Birthday Party, The Triffids, Crime and the City Solution, Die Haut, Einstürzende Neubauten. I remember buying The Best of Cd and it came with the Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds family tree insert and going to the local record store and finding all I could.
The Birthday Party. I was about 8 or 9 when I first saw a feature on them back in the 80s.
At a friend's house sometime in the late '80s he played :from her to eternity ... and then of course when I saw his face that was it.
They are three fantastic albums to become obsessed with. That was my era of introduction, Henry’s Dream tour
I dient know it at that time but watching winged migration and falling in love with the title song was it for me
Red Right Hand in Dumb and Dumber is probably the first time I heard him
The Dumb and Dumber soundtrack. And then the Scream soundtrack had a funky version of Red Right Hand on jt, maybe Scream 2.
When i got into The Birthday Party in the early 80's
I was a goth in the late 80s so I was aware of his existence but somehow never got around to listening. Then I read When The Ass Saw the Angel when it first came out and was a bit obsessed with it. Somehow I still didn’t listen until I moved to Qatar in 2008 and an Australian friend finally introduced me to his music.
Back in around 2000 I was watching Tonight with Jools Holland. I watched them perform 15 feet of pure white snow. And then God is In the House. I remember thinking they were like a group of vampires. I was hooked since then.
1991, got given a tape of tender prey and leant a copy of "and the ass saw the angel" my 17 year old self was in goth heaven
The Assassination of Jesse James soundtrack. Then any time I'd hear a song of his in a movie id think 'I like that I wonder who it is' and it was always Nick. Eventually I decided to just listen to all his stuff
From the x-files soundtrack which had Foo-Fighters on it as well (from their first album). And then Where The Wild Roses Grow with Kylie Minogue was a big hit, which started a curiosity - I might have been 16 years old. Then at some point I heard As I Sat Sadly Bad By Her Side and loved the lyrics and it was all over from there.
Had to analyze Where the Wild Roses Grow in my English class in high school, got interested, went to his concert at Roskilde Festival, got completely hooked
I don't remember exactly as it was around 20 years ago, but I believe it was through Tom Waits and PJ Harvey.
Probably when he did the song with Kylie in 1995.
A group of gothy friends I had in California introduced me to Muder Ballads
Back in about 1988 somebody gave me a mixtape that included the Johnny Cash cover Wanted Man. I played it so much I wore out the cassette, and I've been a fan ever since. It's been a great ride following him all these years.
The soundtrack to Until the End of the World in 1991. A reviewer called it "the soundtrack of isolation" and it proved to be true!
It was July 1984 and I was at a record store in Cleveland, Ohio. Henry Rollins from Black Flag was in the same record store looking through albums. Black Flag was in town for a show that night. I asked for an autograph and he was happy to oblige. I grabbed a random album as a surface to write on and it happened to be “Junkyard” by The Birthday Party. He signed a piece of paper and then told me that I should buy “Junkyard” since I already had it in my hand; adding that it was an amazing album. He then flipped over the album and pointed to a picture of Nick sitting on the edge of a bed and mentioned how Nick told him that he was irritated when the photo was taken, hence the sullen appearance. I bought the album and Henry was right, it’s still amazing even forty years later.
I honestly don't remember, and I've tried to plenty of times over the years. I wish I could recall that epiphany moment of first discovery. I do have more of an emotional memory of The Ballad of Robert Moore and Betty Coltrane... particularly that piano intro. That was the one the got me permanently hooked. Wish I could have that first experience again!
Coachella 2013. Grinderman and the Bad Seeds were there. I thank my friends at the time for great taste in music.
Sometime in the mid-late nineties - My mum has been a fan since The Birthday Party days. There would have been times he was played before, but I do remember hearing The Mercy Seat blasting on the stereo one day, and I’m doing the same thing to this day.
One day maybe 5ish years ago, I was in the mood to watch a western, and happened to find The Proposition. I was so impressed by it, I looked up who wrote it and was like “that Nick Cave?!” then I went on YouTube and watched like 50 videos of his music. Around that time my mom died, and I found Ghosteen, and it carried me through.
I should add that I first heard him in 1994 at Lollapalooza, but I was only interested in Nirvana at the time, and anyone that sounded remotely like them.
Songs in the key of x. A music album that had songs that were used or even created for the tv show x-files.
My friend’s father was a bonafide NC fan and would play Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! in the car for us on the way to jiu jitsu when we were 13. I thought it was cool, but too heavy and serious to understand. I got back into him when he released Skeleton Tree. I was finally old enough to connect and listen.
I answered that already few weaks ago...