i think i only got into him because of all the guitar magazines i was reading AFTER i had brought my first guitar
Not a bad call here Wez! :D
I only got into Hendrix from showing further interest in "what can you do with this 6 string thing". It was word-of-mouth from peers, media, heavy-rock-discos (! what happened to them?), etc... And all this happened in 1979-80, much nearer to the event (I can remember a load of fuss on the 10th anniversary - I've even got the singles "box-set" somewhere!!)
I started on guitar to accompany my voice, influenced by folk/pop/country stuff. The things that grabbed me shortly after (ELO, Bolan, Queen, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, then Hendrix) came as an extension to what I was already doing.
However, I have since come across, over the years, young folks who are getting interested in playing an instrument because of "rock", and they already know their "history". I've been constantly amazed by teens (or younger) who know about stuff, in depth, that was "old-sh1t" before I started :lol: (I've got one, a nephew, coming round tomorrow - he knows "modern" stuff I've never heard of, sure, but he'll play some riff he's picked up and I'll go "who's that? sounds like xyz..." and he'll go "yeah it's great, isn't it?" - it was barely recognisable Deep Purple last time... I'm half expecting Purple Haze, Little Wing, et al, tomorrow... :lol:)