The Afterword

Musings on the byways of popular culture

Menu

You are here: Home / Blog / Your first…….

Your first…….

by 132 Comments

The comment by @paul-wad on my Prefab post that Jordan: The Comeback was the first CD that he bought reminded me of a thread that I posted many many years again on the old Word blog. Given all the changes since then, it’s seems like a good idea to post again. So…..

What was your first….
– Single
– Album
– CD
– concert

And first in any other category you may want to add.

0

Comments

  1. Mine

    1) Single – “Don’t Stop Me Now” / Queen back in 1979 was the first I bought with my own money. I have vague recollections of buying ‘Bright Eyes” for my mum, but I’ll skip that…..

    2) Album – Jazz / Queen – shortly after the above single.

    3) CD – I worked for Philips in Stockport during my vacation at Uni after my 1st and 2nd years (so it would be 1986) spent my hard earned cash on a new fangled CD player at the staff shop at a discount. I went out and bought four CDs to go with it – Kate Bush / Hounds Of Love, Genesis / Wind & Wuthering, Dire Straits / Love Over Gold and Police / Greatest Hits

    4) Concert – I’m sure there were lots of smaller concerts that I have forgotten (and some on holiday when young with parents at Scarborough etc that I want to forget !) but the first big concert would have been Genesis / Mama Tour at NEC Birmingham, which if I recall correctly would have been 1984 ish.

    • Single – Pop Musik by M – my mum had bought ex-jukebox singles for me and my sister before then, but this was the first single I got her to take me into a shop (Scene and Heard in Barnsley) and asked to buy. Me and my mates at school had all decided that we would ask out mums if we could buy a single. We had narrowed it down to a shortlist of two, Pop Musik or Dance Away by Roxy Music, so some of us got one, some the other. Can’t imagine many 9-10 year olds these days wanting Dance Away!

      Album – One Step Beyond by Madness. Again, I’d had albums bought for me (KTel compilations, Barron Knights, Showaddywaddy and Dart spring to mind) but this was the first one I asked for money so I could buy it, from my cousin actually, rather than a shop.

      CD – Jordan: The Comeback by Prefab Sprout. I was a student nurse, living in the nurse’s home. I had a very large vinyl record collection by this point and had never really considered buying a CD player, but one of the girls asked me to come with her into Liverpool to help her get the one home that she had bought. When we got back she played a CD and I thought it sounded great and seemed very convenient, so within a week I had bought one myself. I had just bought J:TC, so I took it back to the shop, paid the extra few quid and swapped it for the CD. I then set about flogging all my vinyl and replacing it with CDs. I would very much like the vinyl back!

      Concert: There’s two really, as I was in the St John Ambulance brigade, so we used to do duties at Sheffield City Hall, so the first one I saw was Elton John in 1985. I then saw loads of gigs whilst working there, including some of my favourite bands, like The Blow Monkeys and Lloyd Cole and the Commotions. It was 3 years later when I paid to go to a concert, which was The Lilac Time at the Limit in Sheffield. I think it was only their second ever gig. It was fab.

        • I got 2 albums as presents as a kid, one of which, Knight Gallery, was brilliant. I also got the singles each Christmas. And yes, I have bought a compilation CD, as well as downloading some of their other tracks that aren’t on the CD. The Chapel Lead Is Missing is absolute genius. Little White Bum is also a favourite of mine and the kids, and my lad loves their skit of Matchstick Men and Matchstalk Cats and Dogs. Another of my favourites is their skit on Angelo. “Orf dahn the High Street like Barry Sheen…” Love it!

            • No, they had 3 albums and another album that never got released until it was included in a boxed set a few years ago. Darts are fab. Went to see them about 10 years ago at the 100 Club and it was a great night.

  2. Single – “Semi-detached Suburban Mr James” by Manfred Mann. 6/9 (that’s six shillings and ninepence boys and girls) at Faheys in Karori, Wellington NZ

    Album – Sgt Pepper for my 14th birthday in 1968. Thanks Mum and Dad. I think they’d read about it in Time magazine and decided they’d be really “with it” if they bought it for me

    CD – I actually can’t remember! I think it was my own group The Umbrellas, I recall having boxes of copies and no CD player to play it on! You can hear it here

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kh01qqDgX2w&list=PLTSx7BvLw7lVWzOn5k9hgLQu58MkBsz9K

    Concert – January 1972, Led Zeppelin, Western Springs, Auckland NZ.

  3. Single- Stevie Wonder, Master Blaster (in defence of my precocious good taste it was also the coolest record I bought for about 5 years after)

    Album- Long Livr Rock an Roll (see?)

    CD – Tom Waits Rain Dogs. Already a favourite,and a decision made before I bought the CD player

    Gig- Saxon Manchester Apollo

  5. 1. Suzanne Beware Of The Devil – led to a lifelong love of reggae.
    2. Electric Warrior – led to a lifelong love of Electric Warrior.
    3. Flesh And Blood – a freebie with my first CD player that led directly to the purchase of Avalon.
    4. Queen – led nowhere.

  6. Single – She Loves You
    Album – Big Western Movie Themes (birthday present). First I bought was Electric Warrior
    CD – “Still got the blues” Gary Moore (though when I got my first CD player I bought 10 CDs together but GM is the one I remember buying)
    Gig – Widowmaker / PFM – Free Trade Hall

  7. Single – Ruby Dont take Your love to town – Kenny Rodgers and the first edition (Mum and Dad had bought me I wanna hold your hand cos I was a massive 6 year old Beatles fan and for years I was convinced the a side was This Boy)
    Album – Electric Warrior T.Rex (seems to be a popular choice)
    CD – Steve McQueen – Prefab Sprout (already had on vinyl but wanted to “mark” my first CD with my fave album)
    Concert – Wizzard – Free Trade Hall

  12. All the way from Memphis – Mott the Hoople
    Death walks behind you – Atomic Rooster
    The Corporate World – Gail Anne Dorsey
    Heavy Metal Kids – Croydon Greyhound

  13. Oh god can I even remember…but very near to the firsts
    Squeeze – Up The Junction
    ELO- Discovery
    10000 Maniacs – Blind Man’s Zoo
    (Taken to the Wurzels aged 8 ish in Weston-Super-Mare)
    Buzzcocks – Manchester Apollo
    Interesting how things moved quickly at 14/15, in less than 18 months had gone from ELO to full-on NME-buying new waver. ELO relegated to under the bed very quickly.

    • Bit of a duffer Discovery.
      I bought it too, but rapidly retreated back to OOTB.

      Diary of Mourice Wimp is just embarrassing…as was Jeff’s description….his “disco album”

  14. – Single
    I Want To Hold Your Hand – The Beatles. Christmas 1963, and on Boxing Day….
    – Album
    With The Beatles
    – CD
    The London Years – The Rolling Stones. I was late into the new fangled, and expensive, new format. This was a leaving present from work.
    – concert
    June 1966 – Edmonton Regal – The Who, The Spencer Davis Group, The Merseys.

    • The London Years was a great set. Did you get it with the 12″ box? I got that with my birthday money in Arcade Records in Nottingham in 1992. All the hits up to ’71, bar Gimme Shelter, and some ace obscurities. Nanker Phelge!

  15. Single: Pushbike Song – Pinky and Perky
    Album: Walt Disney’s Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes with Sterling Holloway.
    Concert: David Soul, Manchester Apollo 1977
    CD: Portishead – Portishead (1997)

  16. I’m sure I’ve already done this recently! But here goes, any excuse for a list….

    Single – U2, The Fly. I didn’t really buy singles before that! And my dad was a DJ so he bought pretty much every top ten single in the late seventies/ early eighties, so I didn’t need to really.

    Album – I’m going to say Queen’s A Kind of Magic, which I got as a tape. But I think I “acquired” it rather than genuinely buying it or being gifted it, so not sure it counts? Maybe it was A Night At The Opera, which I legitimately bought (also on tape) a bit later.

    CD – First CD I bought was Hot Rocks by the Stones when it came out on CD in 1990. I hadn’t really heard the Stones, and it was a choice between buying this or buying a ticket for their Glasgow concert that year. I think I made the right choice!

    Concert – Macca, Glasgow, 1990.

  17. First single I bought – Shapes of things by the Yardbirds or Keep on running by Spencer Davis Group – not sure which one was first.

    First LP – Simon and Garfunkel Greatest Hits.

    First CD – I had just got my first CD player so went to HMV Brum to buy a couple of CD’S. Got
    Eric Clapton Unplugged and Pat Metheney Secret History. Still have them.

    First gig – Deep Purple at Birmingham Town Hall.

  19. Free…Alright Now. One of those terribly worn ex jukebox singles…you payed extra for the adaptor.

    ELO..New World Record…but it may have been Once Upon A Star by the Bay City Rollers, given to me by my suddenly reggae loving older sister.

    Van Halen ll….still in rotation.

    Nottinghams finest…Dawn Trader..a free gig in the Market Square…got a patch, sewed on me cut off the next day.

  20. First Single – Back Of My Hand – The Jags
    First Album – Smash and Grab – Racey
    First CD – Disco -Pet Shop Boys
    First Gig The Jam – Wembley Arena Dec 1982. Their last London gig, supported by Big Country.

    Not sure what all that lot says, except I still play Disco, and listen to the Jam. Whenever I hear Mickey by Toni Basil, I always (always) say “I had the original of that – by Racey’

  21. First Single ~ The Legend Of Xanudu ~ Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich
    I was a forces brat, so I bought this from the NAAFI in RAF Bruggen West Germany, where we lived. They usually were displayed on some kind of carousel dispenser, and they rarely had more than one or two copies, so you had to be quick.

    First Album ~ Rubber Soul ~ The Beatles
    Purchased in 1968, a whole three years after release, again from the ever reliable NAAFI.
    I was then hooked completely, but couldn’t buy the newly issued White Album, due to lack of funds. A kind friend of my fathers bought it and taped it on his reel to reel for me.

    First CD ~ Island Life ~ Grace Jones
    In 1986 some guy came around the garage where I worked with a boot full of CD players.
    We all stood there gaping at this pile of contraband in the back of his Renault 18.
    I couldn’t get my £50 out quick enough, it seemed an essential purchase, and as I drove up to Our Price in Aldershot, I was working out in my mind, what to tell the GLW about the lack of this month’s housekeeping money.
    Inside the shop, the selection was dismal.
    Blimey they only had about fifty, but I plumped for Island Life and 90125 by Yes
    The pair of discs cost me a wallet groaning £26, which was a pretty penny at the time.
    Shit, what have I done!

    First Concert ~ Santana at Hammersmith Odeon 1975
    Front row on the left by a huge bank of speakers, but with a great view of Carlos grimacing through all that feedback.
    I had tinnitus for the next week ~ fantastic
    Support was Earth, Wind & Fire, who had a revolving drummer, which I had never seen before or since..

  22. First single: Stevie Wonder – Master Blaster
    First album bought on my own, with my own money: Queen – Live Killers (the first one I was bought as a gift must have been a Beatles album, as I was obsessed with them as a child).
    First CD: Jean-Michel Jarre – Oxygène (because everyone had told me that CDs were mainly good for music with very pure/clear sounds, so I thought it would be a perfect match)
    First gig I was brought to without a say in the matter: awful Swedish troubadour Gösta Linderholm in the park.
    First gig I accidentally went to on my own: Phil Lynott at the Gröna Lund funfair (went for the rides, stayed for the amazing gig).
    First gig I bought a ticket for with my own money: The Police at Isstadion in Stockholm.

  23. Single: I was never a big singles buyer – very few in fact – one of the first I bought with my own money was Master Blaster
    Album: I think it was News Of the World – Queen
    CD: Bought two on the day I bought the player – The Very Best Of Elton John and, funny enough, Jordan, The Comeback.
    Concert: Knebworth 1979 – LZ, Utopia, Fairport

  24. Virginia Plain
    Selling England by the Pound
    I was late to the CD party. I have no recollection. But I’ve made up for it since. Will anyone be saying ‘I remember my first download ‘ in 20 years time?
    Rush Manchester Apollo May 1979

  25. To add a few categories…

    First 12″ Single – Frankie GTH – Two Tribes – Two Tribes (Annihilation) is still one of my favourite tracks. I think it just beats the Perfecto Mix

    First DVD – LA Confidential

    First Blu Ray – The Thing – I bought it to check whether the difference between the Blu Ray and DVD was noticeable enough to switch to buying Blu Rays instead of DVDs. It was a lot better, thus began the flogging of hundreds of DVDs and the buying of hundreds of Blu Rays. I can’t see me ever pining for the DVDs the same way I pine for all the vinyl I sold!

    First video rented – Driller Killer! My dad was a low paid labourer, so we wouldn’t have been able to afford a video recorder had he not had an accident at work and get given £700 compensation. We bought a video recorder and a tumble dryer. We never used the tumble dryer once we learned how expensive it was to run, but we certainly used the video recorder. I went to the video shop with my dad and my sister and we rented some cartoon or other for my little sister and Driller Killer for me and my dad. I was 11. We went on to watch all the ‘video nasties’ and horror films that got ‘banned’ a few years later. I remember going down myself and renting some of the zombie films when I was 12-13. It started a lifelong love of horror films (and didn’t turn me into a psychopath, sorry Ms Whitehouse!).

    • I have a cautionary tale about The Thing. Bought from CEX for oh a quid, put it on, ‘I’m sure Kurt Russell should be on now’ ‘the FX stand up really well’ ‘did they really get the creature out this early’….oh hang on. What we have in the box is the rubbish prequel/remake Thing from the early 00’s rather than the Kurt Klassic.

      • What’s funny about most of them is that they are now being released totally uncut and are so tame when compared to films like Saw and Hostel. My daughter loves horror films, but to her these films might as well be the old Hammer films or Universal films of the 1930s, They’re just old films with rubbish acting and poor special effects as far as she is concerned. Whereas when I was her age, or a bit younger, renting films like Dawn of the Dead or Superstition or Cannibal Holocaust or The Beyond was the highlight of the week.

        And I’m with you on Annihilation. It’s fantastic and just as exciting now as it was when it was released.

    • And how about the last ones?

      Single – Pet Shop Boys: Agenda (CD Single) – came with their 2019 fan club annual

      Album – The Lilac Time: Return To Us – will be arriving shortly – I no longer buy vinyl records apart from Stephen Duffy ones, as I have a complete* collection of his releases.

      CD – 3 arrived this morning – a Bobbie Gentry compilation, Mingus Ah Um by Charles Mingus, and a double CD of John Coltrane’s Blue Train, which also includes Traneing In (which is playing as I type) and Dakar on the bonus disc, although the packaging says it should be Soultrane, rather than Traneing In.

      Concert – Lucinda WIlliams at Holmfirth Picturedrome…hang on, that’s not right. I saw Chapter 13, the ‘boyband’ from Britain’s Got Talent at the Leadmill in Sheffield a couple of nights later, because my mate’s son is the lead guitarist. They’re not really a boyband in the style of One Direction, they’re a proper rock band, writing all their own songs, etc, and, although it’s not really to my taste, they are really talented for 15 year olds. My 14 year old daughter, who I took with me, thinks they’re brill, and loves the fact that she’s known Jake all her life and now knows all the band. Gives her kudos at school!

      *not exactly true, as there is one withdrawn 7″ single that I’ve never been able to track down

  26. First single I bought was ‘Children of the Revolution’ by T.Rex. Fifty pence in Bangor Woolworths.

    The first album bought for me was David Cassidy’s ‘Cherish’ (on cassette) by my mum. The first album I bought for myself was ‘Sgt Pepper’ (about eight years after it was originally released). I didn’t have a record player at the time (I was getting one for Christmas) so I spent a couple of months just reading the lyrics on the back and staring at the grooves imagining what it all sounded like.

    Bands hardly ever came to North Wales where I lived so I never got into the gig habit but the first ‘proper’ band I saw was Druid who were taking part in the OGWT Roadshow at Bangor University. All the students there were about thirty feet tall and impossibly cool. In the queue one of them asked me what I thought of Druid. I cleared my throat and attempted to hide my nervous treble. I said I liked them (I’d seen them on OGWT the previous week). The thirty foot tall student sniffed and said they were Yes rip-off’s. I cynically agreed and tried to sniff cynically too. At that point I had never heard Yes.

  27. Some of these firsts look to cool to be true! As you’ll see below mine don’t fall into that category.

    Single – Beg Steal or Borrow – The new Seekers

    Album – Ride a White Swan (cheap music for pleasure release) – T Rex

    CD – Paul McCartney – All The Best

    Concert – Kenny Ball and his Jazzmen

  28. Single – was never really a single buyer – but I recall getting somehow (possibly a give away) – The Clash – Groovy Times/Gates of The West.

    Vinyl – My first was KTel – Dynamite – likely 1973? Mud, Wizzard, Beck. First “real” album was Thin Lizzy- Jailbreak. Last vinyl I bought – was Steve Earle at the Centennial Club

    CD -Led Zeppelin – Remastered. Recall flipping the switch from phono to CD and the volume just blowing me away. Last CD bought – Standards – Lloyd Cole direct from his website – crowdfunding. CD purchase very rare nowadays

    Concert – was taken to see Georgie Fame by my folks – my first “with my money” gig – Thin Lizzy – Newcastle City Hall – the Jailbreak tour – again – the sheer volume blew me away. Last gig – Amanda Shires,David Crosby/Jason Isbell at Red Rocks , Denver CO. Quite the night.

  29. *sighs wearily*
    Single: The Duke Wore Jeans/What Do You Do – Tommy Steele (78, not single…)
    Album: The Blues Vol.1 – Howlin’ Various Artists (won it for getting a letter printed in NME)
    CD: Honestly can’t remember – Brothers in Arms, probably.
    Concert: Rock ‘n’ Trad Spectacular, Southend Odeon, 12.10.60. Billy Fury, Joe Brown, Tommy Bruce, Nelson Keene, Dickie Pride, The Vernons Girls, Peter Wynne, The Viscounts, Dave Sampson, Johnny Gentle, Duffy Power, Georgie Fame, Billy Raymond, Johnny Goode, Red Price with Jimmie Nicol and his 15 New Orleans Rockers, The Valentine Girls, Dale Sisters.

    Jimmie Nicol! Little did he know that in a mere 4 years he’d be a temporary Beatle. All I remember of the show is Georgie Fame pumping away energetically at the 88s pretending to be Jerry Lee Lewis, and Billy Fury standing in front of the curtain in a long mac, singing Wondrous Place with a gasper on.

  30. Single: Banner Man by Blue Mink. Still a great pop song…. and still desperately uncool!
    Album: Billion Dollar Babies by Alice Cooper…. this probably marks the point I noticed my parents were starting to despair which always seemed odd to me because I was simply following a path and not trying to annoy anyone.
    CD: When I bought my first player (I think at the start of 1984) the shop had a deal on to bundle it with 3 CDs so I got Compact Snap by The Jam, The Nightfly by Donald Fagen and Speaking in Tongues by Talking Heads. In a mirror of the changing circumstances in media outlets, I bought the bundle from 84 Charing Cross road which was no longer a bookseller.
    Gig: I was a late starter so the first one was the Freshers Ball…. First band was actually Clover but the headliner was Linda Lewis.

  31. Single: “Back Home” by the England World Cup Squad, 1970.

    Album: The Music for Pleasure “Jungle Book” album.

    CD: QCD – none more 80s.

    Gig: John Williams performing “The Height Below” with what would become “Sky”, 1973, Brighton Dome.

      • My first LP was the 1970 England World Cup Squad, released on the back of Back Home. Nagged Dad for it till he relented. Fragile paper gatefold sleeve shaped like a football, eventually fell to pieces in my nine year old hands.

  32. Single: secondhand from a mate, T.Rex Jeepster: first hand from a shop, The Temptations Papa Was A Rollin’ Stone and Roberta Flack The First Time Ever I Saw His Face, bought together.

    Album: T.Rex Electric Warrior.

    CD: Marvin Gaye What’s Goin’ On & Let’s Get It On on the same disc.

    Gig: Gilbert O’Sullivan 1971, Liverpool, complete with flat cap and shorts.

  33. Single: I’m pretty sure it was Daydream by The Lovin’ Spoonful, which I bought at a second hand stall in Smithfield Market in Belfast. The B-side was an instrumental called Night Owl Blues that was my first introduction to blues harmonica

    Album: Best of Cream. I bought this before I had a record player and played it on my brother’s dansette

    CD: Talking Book by Steve Wonder. Still sounds pretty good

    Gig: first ticketed gig that I paid for myself – Pentangle at the Ulster Hall Belfast in Dec 1968. Prior to that I’d seen a few that my parents had stumped up for, mostly Belfast Festival related as my Mum had a seasonal job there as a ticket seller. Gigs included Larry Adler, Jake Thackeray, Ewan McColl & Peggy Seeger who I think were supported by Boys Of The Lough, and the mightily impressive Oscar Peterson Trio

  34. First single was Caroline by the mighty Quo.
    First album? Possibly 20 Golden Greats a K-tel collection. A fine introduction. I remember Albatross and Let’s Dance (Chris Montez) were on it.
    First gig would be Culture Vulture tour with Don Cherry and The Slits at Oxford New Theatre 1979.
    First CD? Could be Neil Young Sleeps With Angels. Prior to that was buying tapes.

  35. Single – Gudbuy T’Jane. Still sounds great.
    Album – Pepper. Or Slayed? Definitely the first two, not sure all these years later which came first.
    CD – Astral Weeks. Bought on the same shopping trip on which I bought my first CD player.
    Gig – (discounting stuff I was dragged along to by parents) – 10cc, Newcastle City Hall.

  36. Single
    Human League – Don’t You Want Me (WHSmith, £1.10, Christmas 1981)

    Album
    Iron Maiden – Number Of The Beast (Listen Records, £3.99, March/April 1982)

    CD
    Jimmy Page – Outrider (from a mates Britannia Music Club book, £10.99, Sept/Oct 1988).
    And I didn’t even own a CD player when I bought it

    Concert
    Reading Festival 1987 – Saturday only, Status Quo headlined
    (although a mate of mine is convinced I went to Donnington 1986 with him. This is the same mate I went to Reading 1987 with (and Bad News played both) so I reckon he is confuse)

    • I know, because of its significance, that you’re fat more likely to remember the price than me but I’m amazed that singles had gone up that fast. I’ve still got my copy of anarchy in the UK that has a 69p sticker on it.

        • Oh yes…i don’t think it’s worth as much as you might think though. Discogs median is $55. This is probably a thread on its own but I have a copy of Yodelling by The Exits that’s listed as $666. My copy is hardly played because I don’t like it that much. I was collared in the Students Union one morning by a friend of a band member and couldn’t say no!

      • An older cameraman I used to work with got given the long shot at Donington one year. The youngsters all wanted to be on the stage where the action was until they started getting hit by the piss bottles. Ron just stood by the control tower, moving slightly to cover the long shots and drinking coffee.

  37. Single – Captain Scarlet. Theme plus a story.
    Album – Follow Follow Rangers by, if memory serves, The Blue Billy Boys of Ibrox.
    CD – Peter Gabriel, So.
    Concert – Rush, Edinburgh Odeon, 1979.

  38. Single – Hong Kong Garden. Which still sounds great if it is a bit racist.
    Album – Bedknobs and Broomsticks original soundtrack
    CD – That Peter Gabriel greatest hits, Shaking The Tree?
    Gig – The Jam, Brighton Centre

  39. Single: Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields Forever.
    Album: Electric Warrior – T.Rex
    CD: Don’t remember
    Concert: David Bowie, Hammersmith Odeon, 1973.

    EW seems to be a very popular choice! I just looked it up and it was the best selling album of 1971, so it’s not that surprising that it’s popped up here several times.

    • Aha, another football single. Mine was Back Home by the England 1970 World Cup squad (b side Cinnamon stick. I had no idea what one of those was for years)
      Album – a collection of Beatles oldies but Goldies (in fact my first 3 albums were Beatles – rubber soul and Sgt Pepper) 1973ish
      CD – Tallulah by The go-Betweens 1987. Bought along with a stereo with my very first pay check.
      Gig – The Pirates in Hull 1978. Johnny Kidd long gone by then

  41. 1) Single(s):
    – The Sweet – “Blockbuster”
    – David Bowie – ” The Jean Genie”

    To Boots in 1972. Wasn’t sure what the name of the song was, so I did the riff to the glamorous assistant…My saved pocket money stretched to the two she suggested.

    2) Album:
    – Pure Gold On EMI

    20 track compilation. Plenty of glam. And my first introduction to Deep Purple (“Strange Kind Of Woman”).

    3) CD:
    – The Cure – “Disintegration”

    My cassette wore out, and that is how I replaced it.

    4) Concert:
    – Status Quo – 7 May (I think) 1978.

    After European leg of “If You Can’t Stand The Heat” tour, Quo de-camped to Guernsey before UK leg started and played a gig at the local leisure centre. Had to bunk-off school to see everything.

    In other news, “Living On An Island” was written on/about Guernsey, NOT that other island (Jersey).

  43. Single Let’s Dance by Chris Montez 1962/63. Bought by me and my 2 older brothers. Think I put about a shilling (5p) in.
    Album Morituri Te Salutant – Colosseum. around 1970. Bought 2nd hand from Kenny McFadzean whilst at high school.
    CD Vangelis Blade Runner soundtrack early ’80’s
    Gig – The Jack Bruce Band at Hamilton Town Hall November 1971. Jack, Graham Bond, Chris Spedding, Art Themen, John Marshal. Ticket £1. Jack’s parents attended and the gig was not sold out

  44. Hmmm.

    1. Amii Stewart – Knock On Wood
    2. Difficult this, but possibly the first album I properly bought with my own money under my own steam was Kings of the Wild Frontier.
    3. Another difficult one. I may have bought either the Pet Shop Boys’ It’s a Sin, or Chronologie by Jean Michel Jarre before I even had a CD player.
    4 JMJ – Docklands October 8, 1988

  45. Single: The Windmills Of Your Mind – Noel Harrison. B-Side was Leitch On The Beach a homage to Donovan.
    LP: Fill Your Head With Rock CBS double sampler LP. Introduced me to Leonard Cohen, Laura Nyro, Al Stewart and Trees among others.
    CD: The Island Story and Peel Sessions compilations. Chosen by my wife to accompany CD Player birthday pressie.
    Concert: Genesis, Lindisfarne and VDGG in Croydon. VDGG were the headliners in January 1971.

  46. um..
    single: Love Sculpture – ‘Sabre Dance’
    LP: Deep Purple ‘In Rock’
    CD: XTC – ‘Oranges & Lemons’
    Gig: Hawkwind circa 1973 DoReMi/Space Ritual

  47. Blockbuster – The Sweet. Inspired by hearing it on ‘Crackerjack’
    Goodbye Yellow Brick Road -Elton John
    Roll With It – Steve Winwood, an album mostly overlooked but sounds great
    Kraftwerk – Birmingham Town Hall 1975, following their appearance on ‘Tomorrow’s World’

  48. Single: Living in the Past, still the only Tull song I really like. It was my 2nd choice, as Mac’s Man of the World had sold out.
    Album: Discounting Sgt Pepper, bought for me by my sister for my 10th birthday, it will have been Pictures at an Exhibition by the ELP.
    CD: Probably the Rod Stewart best of that came out to cash in on these new fangled coasters. Actually not too bad, as it featured, as a bonus track, Downtown Train, a song that set me off Tom Waits-ward, albeit in the opposite direction, having heard also his original. (I remember arguing with my wife about the purchase, as I felt it was superfluous to needs as I already had Sing It Again, Rod on vinly.)
    Gig: School trip to Steeleye Span’s Below the Salt tour doesn’t count. (It was deemed appropriate preparation for the General Studies exam that came as a bonus with any A-levels in those days.) So it was Procol Harum at the Dome in Brighton. About 1973, maybe 1974.

  49. Single: Well, conveniently forgetting early embarrassments like Benny Hill’s “Ernie” and (ahem) Rold Harris’s “Two Little Boys”, the first decent single I bought was, I think, “This Town ain’t Big Enough for Both of Us” by Sparks. I still like that single, but it has not led to a lifelong love of Sparks as a band.

    LP: Elton John – “Greatest Hits”. The one with him in a white suite on the cover that sold an absolute shedload.

    CD: Erm … I think it was Kate Bush’s “Hounds of Love”

    Gig: Genesis, Earl’s Court, 24 June 1977. One of Steve Hackett’s last concerts with the band. Support act was Richie Havens.

  50. Single: Steam – Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye from Brady’s in Preston – something of a terrace favourite at one time and still sung occasionally by PNE fans – decent B-side as well.

    Album: “England: The World Beaters sing the World Beaters” – an actual album of the England 1970 World Cup squad singing…includes “Back Home” and Alan Ball on a couple of folk/psych classics. A gift for passing my 11-plus – the zenith of my academic career – it had a spectacular circular cover which opened out several times.

    CD: Blimey…no idea.

    Concert: Humble Pie at Preston Guildhall – Steve Marriott completely hammered but an epic night.

    • Re: “an actual album of the England 1970 World Cup squad singing…includes “Back Home” and Alan Ball on a couple of folk/psych classics.”

      Crikey. that sounds like quite an album. I wonder whether it had the Peter Bonetti mix of “Back Home in dub”?

      • My first LP also. The lovely football shaped gatefold sleeve was wafer thin card and my mum had to sellotape it up for me to hold it together after only a month in my possession.

        Francis Lee and Brian Labone ‘s stunning duet on “Cinnamon Stick” is seared into my memory nearly 50 years later. There’s real childhood trauma for you.

        For those fortunately too young to have lived through this precursor to World in Motion, I present one of the album’s highlights. Midfield ginger dynamo Alan Ball leads ‘the lads’ in “Make Me An Island”:

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=9&v=pgiQAUjnPpw

  51. Single – Something by ABBA possibly Name of the Game
    Album – 20 Wombling Greats – I could still sing most of the tracks from memory.
    CD – Hippopotamomus by Momus – the start of his decline from greatness IMHO
    Gig – Aztec Camera in McGonagles, Dublin. Still one of my favourites ever.

    • @Bamber: was at that Aztec Camera show myself. First time I’d heard that cover of Jump. Was Roddy in jodphurs at the time? The gag then was whatever Roddy wore, Nick Heyward would bite and show up in the same outfit a week later

      Single: Turning Japanese by The Vapors. Great pop-rock tune, well produced too.
      Album: Police – Zenyatta Mondatta. Jesus, that was a terrible album. Even the singles weren’t great. Bought with cashish from 13th birthday. Palate cleansed by Kilimanjaro – The Teardrop Explodes a couple of months later
      CD: Kamakiriad – Donald Fagen. Still a favourite, play it at least once a week. Like Gaucho, it’s a little chilly and I dig that
      Gig – Dexys Midnight Runners, Dundalk, July 1980. I snuck out of the house with my brothers and their mates. It was quite a thing!

  52. single: bought for me – Poppa Joe by the Sweet. Bought by me: Crazy by Mud.
    LP: bfm – We’d Like to Teach the World to Sing by the New Seekers. Bbm – Kimono My House by Sparks
    CD: Nirvana Unplugged – I was late to CDs
    Gig – Mott (post the Hoople) at St Georges Hall, Bradford in 1974 … I think.

  53. Single – Two Little Boys by that nice Mr Harris chap
    LP – Pinups by Bowie
    CD – Knife by Aztec Camera
    Gig – Wishbone Ash at Sheffield City Hall in 1978

    A first in another category would have to be Jean, by the swings in the local park.

  54. Single – Night of Fear – The Move 1967
    LP – Space Oddity – David Bowie 1974
    CD Dalis Car – Brian Eno 1995
    Concert – Cockney Rebel/ Sailor Leicester De Montfort 1974

  55. Ignoring childish things like Jungle Book soundtrack…
    7 inch Single – Not sure. Early 70s so could have been Osmonds – Crazy Horses / Mud / Sweet etc.
    12 inch Single – Vienna – Ultravox
    LP – Sladest.
    CD – Rhythm of the Saints & a classical comp. to test my 1st CD player.
    Gig – Depeche Mode @ Tiffany’s Ballroom, Glasgow, first album tour 1981 or 82.

  56. Single
    She Loves You/I’ll Get You by The Fabs, bought for me by my aunt on my 6th birthday. Can’t remember the first one I bought but it almost certainly wasn’t as cool as that Parlophone 45

    Album
    Cosmos Factory by Creedence Clearwater Revival bought after I got a record player for Christmas in 1970. Good choice

    CD
    I bought 4 or 5 as my first purchase; can’t remember what they were other than that one was certainly Cosmos Factory. I have made it a tradition for it to be the first play on any new format I’ve invested in.

    Gig
    Horslips at Liverpool St George’s Hall, in 1974 I think. Stonkingly good.

  57. Single : The jean Genie , late 1972

    Album: Ziggy Stardust, early 1973

    First gig: Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames, 1975 uncool at the time but now pretty hip in hindsight

    First CD: London Calling, Exile on Main Street, Kind of Blue , all on the same day in maybe 1996. I was a late adopter

  58. Single: I’m fairly sure it was Mr Soft by Cockney Rebel…

    Album: I was bought Pure Gold on EMI on cassette….first one I bought myself would have been Country Life…

    First gig: Uriah Heep, with the mighty John Wetton on bass, Glasgow Apollo, 1975

    First CD: Von Karajan, BPO, first 1960s stereo recording of Sibelius’ 4th symphony and Swan of Tuonela…..I stuck with vinyl for pop, rock, jazz, etc for ages….

  59. Single: Waterloo – my mum bought it for me during her luch hour in Tracks Records, Hertford, where I would years later hand over almost all my income. Bought for myself 5 years later (spot the trend): Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight).

    LP: Human League – Dare, £3.99 from the Virgin megastore.

    CD: Seal – Seal. I was late to the CD party.

    Gig: New Order at Hemel Hempstead Pavillion supported by The Beloved.

  60. Single. Buzzcocks. Promises. ( Was that a single?)
    Lp Best of Abba. Gatefold of them snogging.
    CD Possibly Rush . Power Windows.
    Gig. Definitely Wishbone Ash. I imagine their appeal was more selective at the time as it was a Sunday night at a pub in Gt Yarmouth. I had to leave early as Monday was a school day..

  61. Planet Earth 12” – Duran Duran
    No shame in that for me, as an 11 year old the first time I saw them on the telly the looked like they’d been beamed down from another planet (see also Prince and The Revolution). They soon went pretty awful after that

    Album would be Divine Madness. At that age I tended to buy a lot of Best Ofs as they were he best value for money!

    CD would be Best of Blondie. The original one.

    First gig would have been The Ramones at The Odeon, New Street in Brum but I struggle to remember the year. May have been 84 or 85

  62. We got first record player same day that Elvis Presley died. Day after went out and bought my first single, from the bargain bin at local record shop, “I Need Your Love Tonight” by Presley
    Album – Buddy Holly 20 Golden Greats, had “Buddy Holly Lives” graffitied onto a wall on front cover
    CD – Almost Blue – Costello
    Concert – The Jam October 1982 at Whitley Bay ice rink

  63. Single: “Rubber Ball” by Bobby Vee, bought by my mum at my request. First purchase with my own money (record token) was “Genie with the Light Brown Lamp” by The Shadows. Most recent purchase, from a charity shop, was “Forever” by Roy Wood (actually for the b-side).

    LP: “With the Beatles”, a Christmas present. First purchase with my own money was “Are You Experienced”. Most recent purchase was “Nightscapes” by David Rothon plus “Inner Roads And Outer Paths” by Vic Mars, both on Frances Castle’s Clay Pipe label.

    CD: I bought a magazine for its 3 track 3” covermount CD “Live at the Marquee” by Jeff Healy. I didn’t have a player at the time but knew I soon would. Most recent purchase was “Songs of Our Native Daughters”. Every home should have a copy.

    Gig: 24th March 1969 at the Royal Festival Hall – The Fairport Convention, Pat Sky, Al Stewart, The Sallyangie and John Peel. The programme cost 1/- and my copy will hopefully be signed by Ashley Hutchings when he plays at our village hall soon. Most recent gig was Bokante in Bury St Edmunds.

  64. Single – Cum On Feel The Noize – Slade

    Album – Eddie and The Falcons – Wizzard

    CD – All Shook Down – The Replacements

    Gig – Rory Gallagher – Stadium Dublin 28/12/76

    • I’m not suggesting that the Roy Wood album isn’t worthy of a first album, my younger brother bought it as one of his first ones and ( at least) half of it is very good but did you greet it out of a bargain bin?

  66. What was your first….
    – Single – Possibly Die Young by Black Sabbath (unless we count the Chris Cross Arthur’s Theme one, which we’re clearly not…). I played it on my parents’ stereo (nice and loud…) while they were out on the Saturday I bought it and the first powerchord nearly made me jump through the ceiling. Could also have been Number of the Beast on red vinyl.
    – Album – tape I bought myself was I think Back in Black, or If You Want Blood… by AC/DC, or No Sleep ’til Hammersmith. I had all three, but can’t remember which order they appeared. The IYWB… tape was miscut, starting 15 seconds into Riff Raff, with the intro right at the end of that side of the tape.
    – CD – I have completely forgotten. Could easily have been the Best of Rainbow, the one with the “none more arty” person with umbrella cover. Bought as a replacement for the tape I nearly wore out of same album.
    – concert – MSG and Vandenberg at the Royal Concert Hall in Nottingham, October 1982, the first “rock” gig at this sparkly new venue. I was 14 and a half. Happy days.

    I listen to more than 70s/80s rock and metal these days.

    Sorry this is a bit late, I’ve been busy…

  69. Single: “Mouldy Old Dough” – Lieutenant Pigeon
    Album: “American Pie” – Don Mclean
    CD: Possibly(?) “Flaunt the Imperfection” – China Crisis
    Gig: Duke Ellington and his Orchestra – Hammersmith Odeon 1967/8?

  71. Single – thank you girl (Beatles EP)

    Album – 67-70 (Blue album)

    CD – sergeant pepper (bit of a theme developing here)

    First concert – Lindisfarne at Portsmouth guildhall (supported by Chris Rea – both were brilliant).

Leave a Reply