# What was the first 45 RPM you bought? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 1, 2014, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-45-rpm-you-bought/685064 "2014-04-01T11:17:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![manila](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@manila](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manila)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-45-rpm-you-bought/685064/81 "2014-04-02T05:12:51Z")
Mott the Hoople All The Young Dudes around 1972. ---
**Author:** ![Helena330](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/helena330/32/531_2.png) [@Helena330](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena330)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-45-rpm-you-bought/685064/82 "2014-04-02T05:29:55Z")
Disco Duck by Rick Dees. Sadly, I’m not kidding. Hey, I was a kid! [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/97RjuC9YeXg/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCOADEOgC8quKqQMa8AEB-AH-BIAC4AOKAgwIABABGHIgXigdMA8=&rs=AOn4CLCUFUIi5KMFRHyyyMjb7g_TjheIdw "disco duck") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97RjuC9YeXg) ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-45-rpm-you-bought/685064/83 "2014-04-02T06:44:30Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > Correct: _denarius_. The symbols £. s. d. were derived from the Roman coins _libra_, _solidus_, and _denarius_. Thanks. I think I knew this, somewhere in the deep, dark recesses of my mind, but it’s been so long since we used that currency, I just couldn’t remember. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-45-rpm-you-bought/685064/84 "2014-04-02T08:43:45Z")
I only ever bought one current chart single. It was “Roadrunner” by Johnathan Richman. I did already posses a few singles I had bought secondhand, though, and I think the first one I bought new was “Jackie Wilson Says” by Van Morrison, but that was in the remaindered bin. I was always more into albums than singles, and I had a good collection of vinyl albums as well as several on cassette, and a lot of cassettes (and, before that reel to reel tapes) with stuff I “pirated” by recording records borrowed from friends, etc. My tapes were mostly of albums, but a few were of singles too. When i moved to America at age 38 my cassettes went with me, but my vinyl records stayed behind, and my mother eventually got my cousin to sell them off. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Sean\_Factotum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sean\_Factotum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sean_Factotum)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-45-rpm-you-bought/685064/85 "2014-04-02T14:40:49Z")
> [@DChord568](#): > > Interesting. That song didn’t do very well on the charts (only made it to #57), so it would have received only limited radio airplay. It could well have been bought by an adult who just grabbed a 45 at random. > > On the other hand, it’s a fun song, and I can see how would appeal to a 5-year-old. I had a very odd music collection as a grade-schooler. A lot of '50s R&B/girl groups/do-wap releases (mostly Best Of collections featuring different groups), Monkees (anything I could afford to buy), Herb Alpert & TTB, Beatles, and a wide variety of current-at-that-time Top 40 singles. My parents weren’t much into music, so I have no idea why I dove into it like I did. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-45-rpm-you-bought/685064/86 "2014-04-02T16:07:30Z")
[QUOTE=NotherYinzer;17247314What was the first 45 you bought for yourself? When did you get it? Do you still have it somewhere?[/quote] I do remember! Tommy James and the Shondells. A-Side = “Love’s Closing in on Me”, B side was “Out of the Blue”. It wasn’t really “my” money but me and my sister got to choose. I was 7. We used to dance (on the bed mattress, no less) while playing it on a cheap children’s record player. > [@](#): > > Before that, I can remember getting those cheapo flexidiscs off the back of cereal boxes. I remember those things too. I had an “Alvin and the Chipmunks / Smokey the Bear” record off the back of a breakfast cereal box. Alvin & company singing the A B C’s of forest fire prevention, then the famous “he can smell a fire before it starts to flame, don’t know why they call him Smokey but I’m sure he deserves the name” song, then on the back side a really cool ballad, “The Sigh of the Dying Trees” about walking in a former forest that had been burned down. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-45-rpm-you-bought/685064/87 "2014-04-02T16:11:14Z")
I think it was “The Night Chicago Died” (by Paperlace?) ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-45-rpm-you-bought/685064/88 "2014-04-02T17:28:15Z")
> [@DChord568](#): > > I’m obviously gonna win the old guy contest, at least so far. Move over, Gramps. I bought “The Witchdoctor” when it came out, so long ago I forget when. It’s long gone. ---
**Author:** ![DChord568](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@DChord568](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DChord568)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-45-rpm-you-bought/685064/89 "2014-04-02T18:39:35Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > I do remember! Tommy James and the Shondells. A-Side = “Love’s Closing in on Me”, B side was “Out of the Blue”. It wasn’t really “my” money but me and my sister got to choose. I was 7. We used to dance (on the bed mattress, no less) while playing it on a cheap children’s record player. Mr. Anal rock ‘n’ roll music guy here: “Out of the Blue” was the A-side. That’s what got played on the radio. > [@](#): > > Move over, Gramps. I bought “The Witchdoctor” when it came out, so long ago I forget when. 1. You win! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-45-rpm-you-bought/685064/90 "2014-04-02T19:07:13Z")
With my own (babysitting) money at the grocery store for, I think, .79¢ was Michael Jackson’s “Rock with You” in 1979. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-45-rpm-you-bought/685064/91 "2014-04-02T19:31:24Z")
I came of age late in the 45 era, can’t even recall which was the first I bought. One of the earliest must have been Ozzy Osbourne’s “So Tired” which contained a unique song on the b-side, named “B-Side”. There was also a trend to produce one-sided 45’s, I bought a couple of those including Santana’s “Hold On”. Used to think it was fun to “play” the blank side of the record…until my needle fell off. :eek: The first cassette single I ever purchased was Grateful Dead’s “Touch of Grey” (b/w “My Brother Esau”) – still own that one, it’s somewhere in a box. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-45-rpm-you-bought/685064/92 "2014-04-02T19:35:24Z")
Either I Want to Hold Your Hand or Do You Want to Know a Secret, I forget which I bought first. Indo remember the last one I bought though. It was Urge for Going, by Joni Mitchell. It was the B side of (I think) You Turn Me On I’m a Radio and hadn’t made it onto any of her albums. As a Joni completist I had to have it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-45-rpm-you-bought/685064/93 "2014-04-02T19:39:04Z")
> [@faithfool](#): > > With my own (babysitting) money at the grocery store for, I think, .79¢ was Michael Jackson’s “Rock with You” in 1979. :eek: As I mentioned in an earlier post, the regular price for a 45 single in Germany in 1979 was DM 5, which equalled $ 2.73 then. I would’ve been happy to get my singles for a third of that. Not to hijack, but what would’ve been the average price for a current LP at this time in the U.S.? ---
**Author:** ![kath94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/67e7ee/32.png) [@kath94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kath94)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-45-rpm-you-bought/685064/94 "2014-04-02T20:06:48Z")
“I Think I Love You” by The Partridge Family. \ David Cassidy! \ ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-45-rpm-you-bought/685064/95 "2014-04-02T20:12:23Z")
> [@faithfool](#): > > With my own (babysitting) money at the grocery store for, I think, .79¢ was Michael Jackson’s “Rock with You” in 1979. > [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > :eek: > As I mentioned in an earlier post, the regular price for a 45 single in Germany in 1979 was DM 5, which equalled $ 2.73 then. I would’ve been happy to get my singles for a third of that. Not to hijack, but what would’ve been the average price for a current LP at this time in the U.S.? Heck, 79/100ths of a cent is damn cheap! ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-45-rpm-you-bought/685064/96 "2014-04-02T20:16:20Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Heck, 79/100ths of a cent is damn cheap! 😃 I hadn’t noticed it. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-45-rpm-you-bought/685064/97 "2014-04-02T20:40:27Z")
The first one I bought was My Sharona by The Clash. Had nothing to do with the cover art. OK, it did. I liked the song, too, though. The first I ever owned were The Archies, cut off the back of cereal boxes as mentined above. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-45-rpm-you-bought/685064/98 "2014-04-02T20:43:36Z")
I’m sure you meant the Knack. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-45-rpm-you-bought/685064/99 "2014-04-02T22:09:26Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > :eek: > As I mentioned in an earlier post, the regular price for a 45 single in Germany in 1979 was DM 5, which equalled $ 2.73 then. I would’ve been happy to get my singles for a third of that. Not to hijack, but what would’ve been the average price for a current LP at this time in the U.S.? At that time (I was in my early teens, and just starting to buy records in earnest), singles were typically between 79c and 99c, depending on where you bought them. Albums were, IIRC, in the $7 to $10 range, again depending on where you bought them (i.e., the Musicland record store at the mall would have likely been more expensive than Kmart or Wal-Mart). According to the [Wikipedia article on Tom Petty](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_petty#Views_on_artistic_control), in 1981, the standard price for an album in the U.S. was $8.98, or $9.98 for a top-tier artist. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-45-rpm-you-bought/685064/100 "2014-04-02T22:20:32Z")
Thanks **kenobi 65**. That means that a single in the U.S. cost the third of the German price, whereas the LP prices were in the same range. Interesting. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-45-rpm-you-bought/685064.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-45-rpm-you-bought/685064.md?page=6)