My name is Bill Antonelli, and I was born on October 1st, 1970, in Pittsburgh, PA.  As a little kid, I always liked music.  While no one in my immediate family was really proficient at any instruments, there was always alot of music in my house.  There was always stuff on the radio, or my Mom listening to Polkas on Sunday morning, or my Dad singing carols at Christmas.  Well, actually, they listened to more things than just Polkas and Christmas songs, but I thought those were two bitchin' examples!
The first records I had belonged to my Sister and Brother, and were such classics as The Partridge Family's "I Think I Love You" and The Archies' "Sugar, Sugar".  In the mid to late '70s, Disco was big, and being a kid, I dug it.  Before you laugh, you have to realize that it was a cool time in life.  The Steelers were winning Super Bowls, the Pirates won the World Series, and you have no responsibilities when you're that young.  Because of all this, Disco will always represent some good years.  Beyond that, I had some of the K-Tel albums, featuring a variety of Top 40 bands.
The first "cool" record I ever got, was from my Uncle Ed.  It was a 45 of the Beatles' "I Wanna Hold Your Hand", but I liked the B-side even more, which was "I Saw Her Standin' There".  I got into the Beatles alot then, but I was still too young to really know anything about music.

In the early 80s, the British New Wave pop stuff was big.  Duran Duran, Culture Club, etc.  When you're 10 or 12 years old, you dig the pop stuff.  You're too dumb, musically, to know any better.  I know alot of people who are 30, 40, 50, 60, etc., and they still don't know any better!
Other than the pop stuff, I did like more rockin' music at the time too, like ZZ Top and The Police.

My first influence from "heavy" music, came when I was in 8th grade, 1983-84, with The Scorpion's "Rock You Like A Hurricane" and Def Leppard's "Photograph" and Pyromania album.
The Summer between grade school and high school, I was introduced to metal, thanks to my bud since Kindergarten, and to this day, Queensryche Craig.  Me and some of the guys were at his house, and he had Motley Crue's Shout At The Devil album.  WHOA!  This was the shit!  I was really into the Crue for several years, but they became too "pop-y" for me.  I was into other rockin' stuff at the time, like The Scorps, Ratt, Def Lep, etc.