First records:

First record I loved: My dad had a Kingston Trio album with a song about the ghost of Anne Boleyn. "With her head. Tucked. Underneath her arm she waaaaaalked the bloody tower!"

First record I wanted: Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. Why my parents thought that was inappropriate for an eight-year-old, even if he DID save up his money, I don't know.

First record I bought on my own: Rode my bike a few miles to a Grand Central (now Fred Meyer) and scored a single - Carry On My Wayward Son

You? Other categories may suggest themselves...

First records I loved: My dad had a 45rpm collection from the 1950s. I played Little Richard's "Heebie Jeebies", Bill Justis's Midnight Man (flip side of Raunchy) and "Boll Weevil" (version by a female vocalist whose name I cannot recall).

First record owned. Oh god - it was a Donny Osmond greatest hits lp. In 5th grade I moved up to CCR and in 6th grade, Alice Cooper. My parents (and the eavesdropping nuns) began to monitor my activities more closely at this stage.

First single: Osmond Brothers: Down by the Lazy River.
First lp I bought: Alice Cooper: Killer.

When very small, I had a little portable record player, and two hand-me-down singles stood out. One was a version of Woody Guthrie's "Philadelphia Lawyer" by some country singer, which I enjoyed because of a spooky laugh when Wild Bill found his maiden in the arms of her lover. The other was another country gem called "Electrified Donkey".* I still recall the refrain:

Which way did my donkey go?
If you see her let me know
Haven't seen my donkey since
He backed into that electrified fence

Country music has gone downhill from there.

The first new single I ever had was some obscure number called "Light My Fire" by the Doors. Not a conventional single, but one of those promo copies on flimsy square vinyl they used to give away with laundry soap that my dad had brought home, along with a cut-out figure of Rex Harrison as Dr. Doolittle.

First new album I bought was some colorful thing by the Partridge Family, before they replaced the youngest son with some no-talent hack. I really liked Shirley Jones - she seemed quite nurturing.

* I just googled and found out that "Electrified Donkey" was a Johnny Horton song. Pretty cool.

Great thread idea. Benwaugh, I'll see your Donny Osmond and raise you one Shaun Cassidy. That was definitely one of the first LPs I owned. It had his version of Da-Doo-Ron-Ron on it. Then at some point I wound up with a Styx record. Then I smartened up.

First record loved? Probably either my parents LP of Fiddler on the Roof or their LP of Simon and Garfunkle's Greatest Hits... The dream song from Fiddler used to scare the bahjebbies outta me when I was 6.

First record I bought?

I'm not sure, but it may have been Oingo Boingo's Good For Your Soul.

Wow ... hard to remember ... I was fortunately able to wheedle albums from my Mom when I was quite young ... I had a couple of early Beatles albums, a Herman's Hermits album, an inexplicable Peggy Lee album ... and slowly more over the years. I used to spend hours over at the local Woolworth's (man, I miss those stores!) plowing through the 45's ... bought a lot of singles there. I'm not sure what the first album I bought was, though ... you would think with a 1,200+ vinyl collection (and who knows how many CDs!) that I might recall the milestones of it, but it's just a blur.

 

>6 BTRIPP: Wow, I almost forgot that I inherited (read: stole) all my parents' Beatles and Stones albums. My dad even had that Janis/Big Brother & the Holding Company record with the Crumb cover. Damn, I wish I still had that.

(And you'd have to know my dad to know what a mindfuck it is to think of him listening to it.)

First records I loved were the children's records I had from the time I was a little boy that I would play on my small portable record player. I remember the vinyl was yellow and they had all sorts of children's songs on them. Then there were a few red ones that had stories (nursery rhymes) on them instead of songs. I would play "radio" with these records, and when I would play the storytelling records, I would say, "Now it's time for the news."

I also loved the Broadway show tune soundtrack albums that my parents would play.

My sister, who was four years older than me, began buying 45s when she was 12 and I was 8. That would be 1963, so we're talking about everyone from Bobby Rydell to, in short order, the Beatles, Chad & Jeremy, Peter & Gordon and others of that sort. I know that if you are not at least 50 right now you've probably never heard of the latter two of those.

The first 45 I bought was "Hey, Little Cobra" by the Rip-Chords (http://lyricsplayground.com/alpha/songs/h/heylittlecobra.shtml). It came out in 1964, so I was either 8 or 9 years old.

The first LP I bought was Time Peace: the Rascals Greatest Hits. Next was the Doors first album, followed by Iron Butterfly's In-A-Gadda-Davida. And, yes, I still have them all! After that I lose track.

I was a very late adopter when it came to CDs. I had so many LPs, I was just too lazy to go out and get a CD player, basically. But when I finally broke down, the first three CDs I bought (all at the same time) were "Sleeps With Angels" by Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen "Plugged" (the soundtrack from his appearance on the MTV "Unplugged" series, except Springsteen brought his whole band, so they called it "Plugged" instead of "Unplugged"). And "Avalon" by Brian Ferry.

The Eleanor Rigby/Yellow Submarine single, purchased improbably by my grandparents in a kind effort to appease rowdy older brothers. I remember watching the Capitol label, with its yin/yang design for optical illusion, turning round and round, on a crap box player. And wondering about the peculiar words and different accents coming out. With hindsight, a damn good choice of nursery rhymes, and beyond. Bless the Beatles.

>9 krolik: Still got it? You could eBay your way out of the economic slump with it.

Sitting here reading all this, I thought "I just can't remember", but then someone mentioned Bobby Rydell and I clearly remember buying an album -- more correctly, talking my grandmother into buying the album for me. The earliest song I remember is "The Shrimp Boats Are A'Coming". I just googled it and it appears to have been by Rosemary Clooney. My parents had a 78 and we kids, who loved the song, got up early every morning, put it on, and played it over and over. Oh,the sacrifices parents make for us.

first album purchased w/ saved lunch money: Byrds "Turn, turn turn", 2nd "Animal Tracks" (animals, duh), 3rd "the rolling stones 12x5 or the one that had "England's greatest hitmakers" on the cover. Took me a year or two to get into the beatles

first single: either "eve of destruction" or "five o'clock world" (vogues).

First record I ever bought was In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida--Iron Butterfly. Then I joined Record Club of America, and got Tommy and Climbing by Mountain.

Oh dear, you're going to hate me (especially as I HAVE read the title).

First record I loved : The Concert Hall series version of Mozart's "Eine Kleine Nachtsmusik" conducted by Adrian Boult. My dad had Radio 3 on all the time at home, I was brought up on a diet of classical. It took Keith Emerson finally to cure me of that!

First record I wanted : probably The Beatles "Rubber Soul" album. We lived in Liverpool and it really was Beatles City, though they had long gone by then.

First record I owned : "The Who Sell Out" - I still rate it one of my favourite albums of all time - only recently getting the acclaim it deserves.

I still love Eine Kleine Nachtsmusik - my favorite chamber piece, though, is Giuseppe Tartini's The Devil's Trill (and Schubert's Trout Quintet... and Death and the Maiden).

15
On dark, stormy mornings (apologies to Bulwer-Lytton) I put "Death and the Maiden" on the turntable at high volume*, recalling the first scenes in Polanski's film of the same name.

*at least, I used to before moving to Arizona, where we don't have dark and stormy mornings.

*sigh*

Little late here to the party...

first record I remember loving, (it was an 8-track of my Dad's): Eagles Greatest Hits, 1971-1975.

first record I bought (cassette): I bought two the first time: Asia's eponymous debut, and Loverboy's "Get Lucky". And I'm still, nearly 30 years later, working for the weekend.

I was raised on my mother's music, and she bought the top ten in the late 1940s and early 1950s. I remember the Crewcuts' ShBoom well and can still sing it now en toto. catchy tune. My first record probably was a bill haley, probably rock around the clock and kay starr's rock n roll waltz. the 78s were still being made, but i had mostly 45s in the collection. being obsessive-compulsive, when i bought my first album (which was called, simply, elvis presley, I took all the 45s, put them over charcoal in a big barrel burner, and lit them afire. and yes, i know i'm crazy. and yes, i know what they are going for now. i gave up on changing technologies with lps to cds. i have a few cds imanaged to keep from a former relationship, but my collection of some 500 and more lps lays moldering on the shelves. now the music i listen to is inside my head. anyone wants to offer a few hundred dollars, they can everfy 45, 78 and 33 rpm record i have.

the Who Sell Out has always been my favorite Who lp. The cover w/ Daltrey(?) sitting in the mess of heinz baked beans. But mostly for the songs - Rael, I can see for miles, I can't reach you, Armenia, Maryanne w/ the shaky hands, etc. and the jingles.

Was just listening to the release of the Who's performances for the BBC this weekend, many of which were awfully good, in a few cases rather more inventive than the album versions. Though they probably didn't need to put Substitute on 2x.

Bob - You might like (and you might not!) Petra Haden Sings The Who Sell Out - she covered the entire album acapella. Here is a taste (Can't Reach You): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBzwxdaQFg4

> 20

I've got Armenia City in the Sky on a MOJO CD, I was gobsmacked but it was a pleasant experience! I've heard extracts in iTunes of every track, she seems to be pretty faithful to the original instrumentation, and all done 'voice box' style. Some work better than others but even so.. Amazing.

Andy,

I just sent you an e-mail regaring your post (18).

LP: Billy Joel -- Glass Houses

Tapes (got 'em all with my first Walkman):
Clash -- Combat Rock
Bow Wow Wow -- "See Jungle..."
DEVO -- "Oh No! It's Devo!"
Black Flag -- "My War"
The Who -- "Live at Leeds"

I still like "My War" ("you say - you're my friend - but you're one of theeeeeeem!!!")- and that whole Bow-Wow-Wow lp, which includes a great spaghetti-western/Bo Diddleyesque instrumental: "Orangutan".

Bow-wow-wow, once you get past all the silly crap, had its moments.

And funny enough, I gave My War a spin last night after posting it, and I have to say it stands up pretty well. My high school hardcore purist self would probably cringe, but what does that guy know.

I like the silly crap. Louis Quatorze (sp?), Cowboys and all!

The more hardcore stuff on the first side stands up better for this now middle-aged listened than the long angsty songs on side two. However, I still get a kick out Three Nights.

Someone handed me a ladder and for the longest time I've been climbin' to
the bottom of it. Someone reached out and gave me their hand and for the longest time I've been trying to dislodge my teeth from it. My life is a piece of a shit that got caught in my shoe and I've been grinding that stink into the dirt for a long time now...

But my favorite is probably Forever Time - with skin and a heart and muscles that pump my blood!

I can't really listen to much of the hardcore stuff I listened to so much of in the 80s - Minutemen, things like that - 30 seconds of improv fury, but I do still enjoy the stuff that retains a tie to the rhythmic "fun" rock and roll of the 50s and 60s (by which I mean stuff like Jerry Lee Lewis, The Trashmen, The Rolling Stones) - The Dead Kennedys, The Gun Club, most Australian and British punk rock, etc.

I know what you mean. I bought the Minor Threat Complete Discography, thinking I'd at least get a surge of muscle memory, but... nah, not really. Just a blur of random chords.

I disagree - there's still a lot of hardcore this middle-aged dude can listen to and enjoy, especially in the car or when no one is home! The thing I can still appreciate about Minor Threat is that Brian Baker (I think that's who it was) was a clean tight guitar maniac, banging out the riffs like a hardcore Jimmy Page (for instance, recall Small Man, Big Mouth.) I will grant you that listening to the entire discography at once is rough. After all, even at the time, most of this stuff was multi-song seven inches or, even if 12", only a few minutes long. It wasn't meant to be an 80 minute blur, only, say, eight minutes. Also, Salad Days is a great song period. Don't write it off with the hardcore...

Salad Days (Their last seven inch, if I am recalling things correctly) is great, as well as their cover of 12XU. Egg Hunt was not bad either.

First record I owned: The Cowsills “Meet the Cowsills”- arrgh, I'm embarrassed to even put that in print.

First record I bought myself: King Crimson, in the Court of the Crimson King... Between the Cowsills and King Crimson there were quite a few that I inherited from my older cousin such as The Moody Blues' "Days of Future Past" (I still have that vinyl), Rare Earths' "Get Ready" (still have it THAT vinyl), The Yardbirds' "Five Live Yardbirds" (wish I still had that).

This was the music that influenced me to the point I became the musical freak. Imagine showing up to a Catholic grade school dance with a copy of The Siegel-Schwall Blues Bands' "Shake" and getting it played...the nuns had a hissy fit. I loved it!

Now for me, I still listen to most of it, but I have become an all out devotee of groups like Fairport Convention, Steeleye Span, Lindesfarne and the Bothy Band.

Still like the occasional "She-bop", or "Don't Pay the Ferryman" or "Pass the Duchy" just to trip down that memory lane of the 80's, but most of that music was quite forgettable (though I still have all my early The Clash, The Jam and The Tom Robinson Band albums).

That just brought back another memory, Dearborn Michigan, College radio (WHFR), 1982...playing Marianne Faithfulls' "How Can You do what you Did"...yeah...maybe not a smart move, I was banned from the station for the rest of the year...but it was worth it.

Great song!

Re. #31:

I, too, owned "Meet the Cowsills", albeit it wasn't the first record I had (I don't know if that's potentially more embarrassing than had it been so!).

 

The Cowsills have some good stuff. I like the The Prophecy Of Daniel & John The Divine (Six-Six-Six) and Hair.

Oh I liked the Cowsills! Didn't they do "Sunday And a Rainstorm with Thunder and Lightning and Flowers in the Park and all Kinds of Things" (or something like that , lmao)

one of the few fruitful acts of my life was introducing Steeleye Span to Williamsburg, Va (William and Mary) when i ran and got to order all the stock for the one record store in town. Since i got to play whatever i wanted, for a good while Steeleye Span was on heavy rotation in the bandbox.

10cc figured prominently in my formative years. The first rock/pop LP I bought back in 1974 was the band's eponymous debut album. The Original Soundtrack was the first album that I bought on its day of release in March 1975 and, later that month 10cc were the first band I saw live, at the Free Trade Hall, Manchester.

In spite of this rush of enthusiasm, I didn't acquaint myself with Sheet Music - easily 10cc's finest forty minutes, in my view - until 1983, by which time my interest in the band had long passed. That album still sounds great.

Indian Lake is a scene you should make with your little one...

My first record was a 78 of Mule Train b/w Carry Me Back to Old Virginnie by Frankie Laine. Still one of my favorite songs.

The first song I can remember hearing on the radio, "Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief". Don't know who did it.

The first rock n' roll song I ever heard was "Woman Love", the flip side of "Be-bop-a-Lula". Unless you call some of the early fifties race music, proto-rock, rock n' roll. Then you get things like "Since I Lost My Baby" by Ivory Joe Hunter.

First record I ever bought: R-O-C-K, a rock anthology album that had a couple of Bill Haley tunes.

First live concert (not counting Jascha Heifitz when I was four): Doug Clark and the Hot Nuts. Not exactly a concert, more like a large beach party.

Nuts, hot nuts, get 'em from the peanut man.
Nuts, hot nuts, get 'em anywhere you can.

First Beatles song (this is important because just before this song hit the charts, rock n' roll was dying in America.): "I want to Hold Your Hand". The Beatles saved rock 'n roll single-handed. They injected it with the anarchy it needs to thrive. Groups of the time like the Beach Boys were derivative of other, older singers. Rock was being replaced by the likes of Gene Pitney, Frankie Avalon and the three Bobbies, Rydell, Vee, and Vinton. Some of their songs were sort of okay, but the heart of rock 'n roll, as Huey Lewis might say, was not in them. For all you young whippersnappers out there, without the Beatles there would be no rock 'n roll today. That's what makes them so important.

First (and last) music idol: Bob Dylan.

Of course these firsts were followed up by many, many more.

"Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief" was a hit for Betty Hutton, and can be found on the collection Mairzy Doats: 44 Wacky Hits (touchstone not working), an anthology which, incidentally, would make excellent background music for a reading of Gravity's Rainbow.

The first record I loved was probaly Elvis Presley singing baby let me be your lovin teddy bear put a chain around my neck and lead me anywhere that was my moms.The first record I wanted and got after saving up my money was Tokyo Tapes by the Scorpions in 1977.First concert I ever saw was Uriah Heep with my older brother.