# First album you bought for yourself? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 9, 2007, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-album-you-bought-for-yourself/403342 "2007-05-09T02:06:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![happywaffle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ee59a6/32.png) [@happywaffle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/happywaffle)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-album-you-bought-for-yourself/403342/121 "2007-05-10T16:16:51Z")
1991-ish, a new Columbia House membership, so I actually had 8 first albums. \ U2, Achtung Baby Nelson, After the Rain Arrested Development, 3 Years 5 months and… Michael W Smith, Change Your World Winger, In the Heart of the Young Toad the Wet Sprocket, Fear …After careful thought, I’ve either forgotten or blocked from my mind the final two. U2 and Arrested Development are the two that I’m proud to have owned. Well, Toad the Wet Sprocket was good also. ---
**Author:** ![dwc1970](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@dwc1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwc1970)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-album-you-bought-for-yourself/403342/122 "2007-05-10T16:20:53Z")
My memory is fuzzy, having bought my first album at age 13 (1983), but it was one of these three: [ul] [li]The Police- Synchronicity[/li][li]Quiet Riot- Metal Health[/li][li]ZZ Top- Eliminator[/li][/ul] While I’m at it, my first CD purchase (1986) was Cinderella’s “Night Songs”. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-album-you-bought-for-yourself/403342/123 "2007-05-10T16:28:38Z")
I think the first LP I ever bought on my own was Talking Heads’ _Remain in Light_. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-album-you-bought-for-yourself/403342/124 "2007-05-10T21:58:47Z")
[QUOTE=Sarahfeena] Don’t feel bad. I have a friend (my age) who still is a member of his fan club, and e-mails her circle of friends with updates on what he’s been doing. Cracks me up. [/QUOTE] (Can you give me her number? Pass me a note in English.) ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-album-you-bought-for-yourself/403342/125 "2007-05-10T22:02:40Z")
My baby sister had a big-ass poster of Bobby Sherman thumbtacked to the wall. The urge to throw things at it was overwhelming at times. I love to remind her of that. ---
**Author:** ![MrFloppy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/43a26b/32.png) [@MrFloppy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrFloppy)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2007, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-album-you-bought-for-yourself/403342/126 "2007-05-11T00:15:25Z")
The first album that I bought was ‘A Night At The Opera’ by Queen. Still brilliant to this day. I was 11 or 12. I remember listening on headphones because the opening track ‘Death on Two Legs’ includes the lyric “and now you can kiss my ass goodbye”. I thought my parents may not approve lol. I think the second purchase was ELO’s ‘A New World Record’. The first CD I bought was Don Henly’s End of The Innocence in about 1990. 4 great songs, 6 bad ones. I was a vinyl hold-out (my turntable was quite expensive) and I still have about 350 ‘albums’. ---
**Author:** ![lawoot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/35a633/32.png) [@lawoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawoot)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2007, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-album-you-bought-for-yourself/403342/127 "2007-05-11T03:38:04Z")
The _Star Wars_ soundtrack - and I still have it - and it doesn’t say “A New Hope” anywhere on the cover. ---
**Author:** ![JpnDude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/838e76/32.png) [@JpnDude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JpnDude)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2007, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-album-you-bought-for-yourself/403342/128 "2007-05-11T04:19:20Z")
Men at Work’s “Business As Usual” LP. I was 10 years old at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2007, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-album-you-bought-for-yourself/403342/129 "2007-05-11T05:02:54Z")
I bought Criminal Minded by Boogie Down Productions. I was 12 years old. After hearing a dub of a dub of it on cassette tape, I just _had_ to spring for the album. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2007, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-album-you-bought-for-yourself/403342/130 "2007-05-11T06:15:05Z")
[QUOTE=AHoosierMama] But the first one I went out and bought myself was AC/DC Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap. What was I thinking? [/QUOTE] You were thinking, “Wow! What an awesome record!” Dirty Deeds, Problem Child, Ride On, Big Balls! Three classic rockers and one that still makes me laugh! Joe ---
**Author:** ![thirdwarning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecccb3/32.png) [@thirdwarning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdwarning)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2007, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-album-you-bought-for-yourself/403342/131 "2007-05-11T06:54:06Z")
[QUOTE=Kalhoun] My baby sister had a big-ass poster of Bobby Sherman thumbtacked to the wall. The urge to throw things at it was overwhelming at times. I love to remind her of that. [/QUOTE] Mine wasn’t so big, I think it was the picture from Teen or Tiger Beat. Along with the one of Leonard Whiting, who was cuter, although from what I remember now, he was quite the ‘pretty boy’. Really the one (short-lived) concession I made to what everybody else was doing. First album? The first one I owned was Gold, by Neil Diamond, which was a birthday present from my sister. Oh, I was happy! The first one I bought was Good Morning Starshine, by Oliver. Three dollars and eighty seven cents at Woolworth. And the collection doesn’t get much cooler after that. Oh, well, cool was never one of those things I was destined to be. Man, I really need to get some of these transferred from vinyl to CD. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2007, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-album-you-bought-for-yourself/403342/132 "2007-05-11T11:37:23Z")
[QUOTE=thirdwarning] Mine wasn’t so big, I think it was the picture from Teen or Tiger Beat. Along with the one of Leonard Whiting, who was cuter, although from what I remember now, he was quite the ‘pretty boy’. Really the one (short-lived) concession I made to what everybody else was doing. First album? The first one I owned was Gold, by Neil Diamond, which was a birthday present from my sister. Oh, I was happy! **The first one I bought was Good Morning Starshine, by Oliver.** Three dollars and eighty seven cents at Woolworth. And the collection doesn’t get much cooler after that. Oh, well, cool was never one of those things I was destined to be. Man, I really need to get some of these transferred from vinyl to CD. [/QUOTE] I hate that song, but what a _brain worm_! ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2007, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-album-you-bought-for-yourself/403342/133 "2007-05-11T12:22:36Z")
_Rumours_, Fleetwood Mac The first album I ever received (I was 7 at the time) was _Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy_, by Elton John. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2007, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-album-you-bought-for-yourself/403342/134 "2007-05-11T12:51:38Z")
[QUOTE=JohnT] _Rumours_, Fleetwood Mac [/QUOTE] This was my daughter’s answer as well. She’s fifteen. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Sunrazor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sunrazor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunrazor)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2007, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-album-you-bought-for-yourself/403342/135 "2007-05-11T14:11:48Z")
I was 11. Summer of 1962, Claude King’s only hit, “Wolverton Mountain.” I bought the album “Meet Claude King” just to hear that one song over and over and over again. I have no idea what it was that I loved so much about that song – maybe it was the tragic romance of a lad so smitten that he ignores warnings of almost certain death to claim the girl he loves. ---
**Author:** ![Brainiac4](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brainiac4/32/3534_2.png) [@Brainiac4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brainiac4)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2007, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-album-you-bought-for-yourself/403342/136 "2007-05-11T14:23:50Z")
I am not sure. I think it was Freedom of Choice (Devo), but it may have been The Pleasure Principle (Gary Numan). Those are my first two, and I honestly cannot recall the order. I’m a huge fan of both, and have seen both perform live within the past year… Devo at the Oneida Bingo Casino in Green Bay (which KICKED ASS) and Numan at The Fine Line here in Minneapolis. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2007, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-album-you-bought-for-yourself/403342/137 "2007-05-11T14:41:36Z")
I believe that might have been the album “Our Finest Flowers” by the Residents. I was sixteen, had just got my first paycheck, was just starting to understand there was music in the world that I could enjoy, and so decided to go find something at the music store that I liked that I had never heard of. (“Never heard of” was of course a very broad category.) Shuffling through the "R"s (a randomly chosen letter) I came across an album whose cover art I liked or something. (I don’t really know why I picked it. To be honest, it just seemed to “call to me.” I know that’s silly.) This was back when a lot of music stores would let you listen to their CDs at little kiosks (do any still do this?) so I took it over, thought the music odd but potentially intriguing. So I bought the CD. And it has been one of my absolute favorite CDs, by one of my absolute favorite groups, during the entire thirteen years\* ever since. -FrL- \*yeesh ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2007, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-album-you-bought-for-yourself/403342/138 "2007-05-11T20:53:34Z")
[QUOTE=Sunrazor] I was 11. Summer of 1962, Claude King’s only hit, “Wolverton Mountain.” I bought the album “Meet Claude King” just to hear that one song over and over and over again. I have no idea what it was that I loved so much about that song – maybe it was the tragic romance of a lad so smitten that he ignores warnings of almost certain death to claim the girl he loves. [/QUOTE] I did that with “I Got You Babe”. Played it until my parents wanted to wing it out a window. ---
**Author:** ![Wakinyan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wakinyan/32/352_2.png) [@Wakinyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wakinyan)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2007, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-album-you-bought-for-yourself/403342/139 "2007-05-11T21:24:34Z")
[Demons and Wizards](http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=&sql=10:wpfixq95ldfe) by Uriah Heep. ---
**Author:** ![Zambini57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/4491bb/32.png) [@Zambini57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zambini57)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2007, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-album-you-bought-for-yourself/403342/140 "2007-05-11T21:35:45Z")
[QUOTE=Kalhoun] I hate that song, but what a _brain worm_! [/QUOTE] I love that song. Blibby bloop blooby, nibby nabba nooby la la la lo lo sabba sooby sabba dooby abba dabba hey hey lo lo Chabba woobie dabba doobie abba dabba early mornin’ singin’ song. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-album-you-bought-for-yourself/403342.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-album-you-bought-for-yourself/403342.md?page=8)