# Listen to the first song you paid for **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 17, 2008, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listen-to-the-first-song-you-paid-for/473133 "2008-11-17T16:00:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2008, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listen-to-the-first-song-you-paid-for/473133/21 "2008-11-17T21:23:03Z")
March 3rd 1986 we rode our bikes to the record store in town and waited in small line to buy Metallica’s “Master of Puppets” on cassette. I used money that I wasn’t supposed to have yet from my 8th birthday that came 6 days later. I still have that cassette, but all the printing has rubbed off and it’s warped so that it does that odd muffled, loud, muffled, loud thing that worn out tapes are prone to doing. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2008, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listen-to-the-first-song-you-paid-for/473133/22 "2008-11-17T21:24:47Z")
> [@3acresandatruck](#): > > The first record I bought was _The Sounds of Silence_ by Simon and Garfunkle. That would have been in '67 or '68. I still have it. I still like it. That was the first record I recorded onto tape. Unlike today’s technology where you can make perfect digital copies, I took a cassette recorder, and hung the microphone in front of the speakers 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sassy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@Sassy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sassy)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2008, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listen-to-the-first-song-you-paid-for/473133/23 "2008-11-17T22:30:37Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > ahem… > > The Doors > _The Doors_ > LP > > I still own it. This ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2008, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listen-to-the-first-song-you-paid-for/473133/24 "2008-11-17T22:35:19Z")
I couldn’t begin to tell what the first analog music I ever bought with my own money was. The first CD I ever bought was one of two bought at the same time: _Animals_ by Pink Floyd or Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Herbert von Karajan conducting the Berlin Philharmonic. Still own both. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2008, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listen-to-the-first-song-you-paid-for/473133/25 "2008-11-17T22:46:16Z")
The first record I owned was Meet the Beatles, but the first one I bought with my own money was I Got You Babe. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2008, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listen-to-the-first-song-you-paid-for/473133/26 "2008-11-17T22:47:16Z")
Spring, 1965: In an enormous concession by a guy whose musical tastes ossified in 1930, to the disgust of his wife, who had been quite hep in her youth, my father allowed my younger brother and I a dime to play two songs on a jukebox. I chose “1-2-3” by Len Barry and my brother selected “The Birds And The Bees” by Jewel Akens. Little prude that I was, I was embarassed by my brother’s choice because I had some idea that my parents were listening and would realize what it was about. That opened the floodgates and I have only the vaguest idea how many records (33 and 45), tapes (reel-reel, 8-track, and cassette), CDs, and MP3s I have. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2008, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listen-to-the-first-song-you-paid-for/473133/27 "2008-11-17T22:49:36Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Mine was “Sweat Pea” by Tommy Roe. I’m embarrassed to mention it. Luckily, the song’s been forgotten and my taste has improved. > > Second was “They’re Coming to Take Me Away, Ha Ha!” by Napoleon XIV. I like Sweet Pea. My neighbor used to sing it while he worked in the yard. ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2008, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listen-to-the-first-song-you-paid-for/473133/28 "2008-11-17T22:56:29Z")
Great question! My first LP was from the stereo department of Montgomery Wards and was (I believe) a joint purchase with my brother. (We quickly learned as kids we could accumulate things twice as fast by pooling assets.) It was a K-tel or Ronco record called “Funny Bone Favorites” and featured such dreck as Ray Stephens singing “Ahab the Arab” and “Guitarzan” as well as doo-wop classics “Charlie Brown” etc. My first 45, to the best of my knowledge (though this _may_ have been a birthday gift) was Shaun Cassidy’s “Da Doo Run Run.” I pretty much bought it because all the other girls in my class were in love with Shaun Cassidy and I wanted the cover sleeve. The song is excruciating. I would love to put this guy in front of Simon Cowell and see him get ripped a new one. ---
**Author:** ![rolandgunslinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cdc98d/32.png) [@rolandgunslinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rolandgunslinger)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2008, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listen-to-the-first-song-you-paid-for/473133/29 "2008-11-17T22:59:09Z")
I bought my first 45 when I was 9 years old. Undercover Angel by Alan O day. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2008, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listen-to-the-first-song-you-paid-for/473133/30 "2008-11-17T23:11:19Z")
I don’t remember the first LP (probably Elvis) or tape or 8-track or CD but my first 45 was _Only the Lonely_ by Roy Orbison. My first 78 was a gift from grandma – Guy Mitchell’s _Christopher Columbus_. I insisted on playing it over and over whenever I went to visit. She got sick of hearing it and sent it home with me. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listen-to-the-first-song-you-paid-for/473133/31 "2008-11-18T00:28:45Z")
Candi Staton’s Young Hearts Run Free. Bought with my paper round money, and the one song always guaranteed to give me an ethereally brief flash of my time as a happy 14 year old. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listen-to-the-first-song-you-paid-for/473133/32 "2008-11-18T00:44:09Z")
I bought music for the first time when I got tapes of _Nevermind_ by Nirvana and _Blood Sugar Sex Magik_ by The Red Hot Chili Peppers during the fall of 1991. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listen-to-the-first-song-you-paid-for/473133/33 "2008-11-18T00:51:50Z")
First 45 rpm: Waterloo/Abba. 1972? Still a good tune. First LP: Dreamboat Annie/Heart. It had a few meh tunes on it, but “Crazy on You” is enough justification to buy that album…pictures of Nancy Wilson inside didn’t hurt either. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listen-to-the-first-song-you-paid-for/473133/34 "2008-11-18T01:11:28Z")
Er… _The Jungle Book_ soundtrack. Mostly for “(I Wanna) Be Like You”. The first music I paid for with my own money was The Prodigy (as they then were) - _Music For The Jilted Generation._ Still rocks! ---
**Author:** ![SuntanTigerTamer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e5b9ba/32.png) [@SuntanTigerTamer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanTigerTamer)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listen-to-the-first-song-you-paid-for/473133/35 "2008-11-18T01:31:06Z")
The first album I ever bought was Ice Cube - The Predator. I still listen to that album all the time. When I purchased it, I was too young to get the version with the sticker. I thought for a long time that Cube just really enjoyed the sound of gunshots randomly strewn throughout the album. Ahh, to be young again… ---
**Author:** ![Leviosaurus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Leviosaurus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leviosaurus)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listen-to-the-first-song-you-paid-for/473133/36 "2008-11-18T01:41:51Z")
“The Longest Time” By Billy Joel on 45. 1983. I still like it. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listen-to-the-first-song-you-paid-for/473133/37 "2008-11-18T01:49:26Z")
[The Dream Academy, “Life in a Northern Town.”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSmYvuvaJDg) 1985. I actually have this in my iTunes, so it was easy to go listen to. Beautiful song. An elegy to Nick Drake, long before I knew who Drake was. I still put this on mix CDs for friends as a change-up. ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listen-to-the-first-song-you-paid-for/473133/38 "2008-11-18T01:49:56Z")
The first album I bought (well, picked out with my parents’ money) was Appetite for Destruction by Guns N Roses. I still listen to it on occasion, especially the non-singles. ---
**Author:** ![dawson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@dawson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dawson)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listen-to-the-first-song-you-paid-for/473133/39 "2008-11-18T02:15:31Z")
Like a rhinestone Cowboy, by Glenn Campbell. Bought it as a forty-five with my allowance money. Would love to listen to it again but I’m sure my mom threw it out years ago ---
**Author:** ![ShermanAter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@ShermanAter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShermanAter)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listen-to-the-first-song-you-paid-for/473133/40 "2008-11-18T02:19:06Z")
First 45 I remember buying with my own money was “Come Together” by the Beatles on Apple records. I believe “Something” was on the B side, but I could be wrong [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJqNxKdgyqM) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listen-to-the-first-song-you-paid-for/473133.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listen-to-the-first-song-you-paid-for/473133.md?page=3)