First Album
The passing of MCA is truly sad news. I was a big fan.
Licensed To Ill was the first cassette tape I ever bought with my own money. I carried it to school with me every day and delighted my friends with the mild cuss words printed on the cassette insert. I haven't listened to it in years but I bet I still know every word. I can certainly make it through Paul Revere without a hitch.
It's almost a shame that my children will never experience the thrill of holding an album or cassette or CD. (Or, I suppose, the thrill of thrusting an 8-track into the stereo and listening to two songs simultaneously.) They weren't just tapes. They were my tapes.
And Licensed To Ill was my first tape. Born in the U.S.A. was my first album. Cooleyhighharmony was my first CD.
I have no idea what my first MP3 download was.
What was your first album? What does it mean to you? Describe your experience.
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Comments:
Jun '11
Re: First Album
I hate to be contrarian here, but I welcome the new download era. I did not say "digital era" because that began with CDs. I can also appreciate the fact the tactile sensations of physical items can help link us to our memories. However, the download era has allowed me to download and listen to songs from my past that I had forgotten about and would have had to go to extraordinary efforts to find in a world of only physical media.
Dec '10
Re: First Album
The first album I remember owning was Urban Chipmunk. I loved the song with Jerry Reed.
Apr '11
Re: First Album
First 8-Track tape: Black Sabbath
First Cassette Tape: Rush - Hemispheres
First Vinyl LP: Pink Floyd - Dark Side of The Moon
First CD: Stevie Ray Vaughn and Double Trouble - Texas Flood
Apr '12
Re: First Album
The Sweet, my Scottish cousins watched Top of the Pops, and I was entranced with the glam rock. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BHT4yIE_E0&feature=youtube_gdata_playerWhen I moved to Canada, I hoped to find my own Hiawatha in the Northern mining town, but the reality was a tragedy.
Mar '11
Re: First Album
I was an odd child.
Aug '11
Re: First Album
For me, Billy Joel's 52nd Street, a gift from my sister for my 11th birthday. For my younger brother, Kiss Alive--pretty sure he wore it out.
Jul '10
Re: First Album
Mollie Hemingway, Ed.
ChristmasBeard:
I remember my dad catching me listening to "Fight for Your Right" on the radio and was told to change the station because I wasn't old enough.
Those are three seriously divergent artists. Also, I'm glad my parents weren't the only ones telling their kids to turn off the Beastie Boys. It added to their charm. ยท 16 hours ago
So wait, your mom literally busted in and said, "WHAT'S THAT NOISE?!?"
I have it on good authority that she's just jealous.
First (and only) LP: Bruce Springsteen's "Greetings From Asbury Park". I later got it on cassette so I could listen to it on my cherished Sony Walkman, and found that there were tracks on the vinyl that weren't on the cassette, and vice versa. I remember finding that mystifying.
First Self-Purchased Cassette: Metallica, "Master of Puppets".
First CD: Bernard Herrmann's "Taxi Driver" soundtrack. I'm weird.
First MP3: Hard to say, but I think it was "Stukas Over Disneyland" by the Dickies.
Apr '11
Re: First Album
Early on, my collection mostly consisted of records I had requested and were bought for me by my parents, or were Christmas/birthday gifts, etc. As a kid, Murmur was maybe one of the first records I actively searched out and bought with my allowance money. Hard to believe there was a time when R.E.M. was actually obscure, and there was such a thing as "college radio" which was a very distinct and separate thing from "commercial radio".
I had become fascinated with the "Radio Free Europe" video on MTV (most of us know it as Mr Delingpole's current podcast theme tune); it was so much cooler than the Toto/Pat Benatar/Journey/Quarterflash stuff that it was sandwiched between.
I remember asking around at a couple different Sam Goody type record store chains, and I got shrugs from the staff. No idea who R.E.M. was. I eventually wandered into one of those small, underground hip-and-vaguely-intimidating record stores right by the college campus. Success!
Edited on May 6, 2012 at 10:50pmDec '11
Re: First Album
I remember buying my first CD player and purposefully playing Dark Side of the Moon on the machine first - as if that would somehow make everything played on it afterwards better (which, of course, it didn't). I try to repeat the episode each time I buy a new audio device.
Apr '11
Re: First Album
I feel compelled to mention-- since Adam Yauch was Casey's inspiration for the post-- Paul's Boutique was a HUGE album for me. And I just noticed that there was an actual 20th anniversary edition(!) released over 3 years ago... I don't have much to add beyond some platitude like "wow, time sure flies!":-)
Dec '11
Re: First Album
Don't forget Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon & Garfunkel.
Edited on May 7, 2012 at 12:56amMar '11
Re: First Album
Ha - Not even close! I'm not 100% sure, but I believe my first LP involved the the Partridge Family.
Jul '10
Re: First Album
EThompson
Don't forget Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon & Garfunkel.
If you are going to start that I have to bring in Joni Mitchell, Lou Rawls, Al Green, Steeleye Span, Cat Stevens, the early Bruce Springsteen, Cream, Steely Dan, George Harrison, that great conservative iconoclast, Arlo Guthrie, Randy Newman, the Band, Mose Allison, Sam Cooke, Jackson Browne, and, well, the list goes on for quite awhile.
And then there was Barance Whitfield and the Savages, and Root Boy Slim and the Sex Change Band (their "hit", Stealing at the 7-11).
Jul '11
Re: First Album
Sisyphus,
Root Boy Slim and the Sex Change Band had other hits, like "Mood Ring" {"You made my mood ring sweat!") and "In Jail in Jacksonville."
Feb '11
Re: First Album
I grew up in a musical home, with lots of "classical", opera, and band music. Also, some jazz, big-band and early folk. The first album bought for me as a little kid was Walt Disney's "The AristoCats". The first album I bought myself was The Who's "Tommy". I was in middle school when the movie came out, my mother finally relented since the protagonist and I shared the same first name (or at least that was her excuse for caving under my incessant nagging). "Tommy" was quickly followed by Elton John's "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" andBowie's "Changes One", and then my record-buying exploded. First 45 was Sweet's "Ballroom Blitz". I did a lot of home recording on cassettes, but never bought pre-recorded ones.
The LP's that made the biggest impression on me when released were Rush's "All The World's A Stage", The Clash's "London's Burning", and U2's "Boy". Probably because they spanned my high school years.
I came late to the switch from LP to CD, because the early DACs sounded too brittle. My first two were Paul Simon's "Graceland" and U2's "Unforgettable Fire".
Edited on May 7, 2012 at 5:56pmFeb '11
Re: First Album
First name band live concert was Kiss on the "Destroyer" tour. I was gob-smacked.
Feb '11
Re: First Album
Tommy De Seno: IWhenever we are somewhere a band is playing, one of my wiseguy sons will yell "Free Bird!" just to make me laugh. ยท May 5 at 7:52pm
Edited on May 5 at 7:53pm
We used to say "Stairway to Freebird" when I did college radio in the early 80's. Yes, we were too precious, because Zep at their peak were/are the Hammer of the Gods.
Having said that, I also love late 70's-early 80's music. Still do! From Talking Heads to Duran Duran. From XTC to Genesis. From Van Halen to Billy Joel. From Big Country to Adam Ant. From ABC to the Sex Pistols. From Gentle Giant to Blondie. From Steely Dan to The Cars. From Be Bop Deluxe to REM. From UK to Queen. From Devo to Dire Straits. From INXS to GnR. From Michael Jackson to Joe Jackson. From Prince to The Police. Etc.
Just naming them brings more to mind....
Edited on May 7, 2012 at 6:28pmJun '11
Re: First Album
Great post built around a very sad event.
As a pre-teen I was a collector of 45's. The first that wasn't a novelty song like Sheb Wooley's "Purple People Eater" or David Seville's Chipmunks efforts was The Beach Boys "Surfer Girl" b/w "Little Deuce Coupe" which I bought the week after my 10th birthday in July 1963 with the dollar I got from Grandma & Grandpa as a present.
My older sister bought LP's and let me listen to them so I didn't get my first album until 1966: The Rolling Stones- Aftermath. Thousands would follow.
I never bought tapes so never had a first one. By the time CD's were introduced I was a record company executive and wasn't buying music.
My next MP3 download will be my first one.
RIP, Adam.
Feb '11
Re: First Album
I've always been more of a LP/CD listener, not so much singles. So very few 45s. I do buy some MP3s, but not many. The only way I know my first download is by looking in iTunes "Purchased" group and scrolling to the bottom: it was U2's "Staring At The Sun (Sad Bastard's Remix)".
My daughter, on the other hand, buys over three-quarters of her music from iTunes.
Edited on May 7, 2012 at 6:48pmMar '11
Re: First Album
My new favorite member.