# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-45-rpm-you-bought/685064/101 "2014-04-02T23:53:42Z")
“Big Bad John” by Jimmy Dean - 1961. I think I place second in the geezer department, behind **Son of a Rich**. ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-45-rpm-you-bought/685064/102 "2014-04-03T03:37:34Z")
I think it was She Loves You by the Beatles, but the B-side was Love Me Do which I loved even more. A lot of 45s met a slow-oven death during the fad of heating them, then “fluting” them into ashtrays and candy dishes and…and, stuff. I’ve got a drawer full of them from the '60s, though, but I need one of those yellow spidey things. ---
**Author:** ![DChord568](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@DChord568](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DChord568)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-45-rpm-you-bought/685064/103 "2014-04-03T05:42:24Z")
> [@Becky2844](#): > > I think it was She Loves You by the Beatles, but the B-side was Love Me Do which I loved even more. Apparently it’s my mission in life to be the PIA of this thread, but the B-side of “She Loves You” was “I’ll Get You.” “Love Me Do” was an A-side in its own right. Its B-side was “P.S. I Love You.” ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-45-rpm-you-bought/685064/104 "2014-04-03T05:46:33Z")
If memory serves, it was “Hot Rod Lincoln” by Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen. That would have been about 1972. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-45-rpm-you-bought/685064/105 "2014-04-03T08:34:51Z")
> [@DChord568](#): > > Apparently it’s my mission in life to be the PIA of this thread, but the B-side of “She Loves You” was “I’ll Get You.” > > “Love Me Do” was an A-side in its own right. Its B-side was “P.S. I Love You.” Is that true regardless of where the single was released? As previously mentioned, _This Boy_ was the B-side of a completely different song in the US, as compared with the UK and Australia. ---
**Author:** ![DChord568](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@DChord568](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DChord568)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-45-rpm-you-bought/685064/106 "2014-04-03T13:05:53Z")
> [@jabiru](#): > > Is that true regardless of where the single was released? As previously mentioned, _This Boy_ was the B-side of a completely different song in the US, as compared with the UK and Australia. It’s true of the four songs in question with regard to the US and the UK. The only difference is they were all released on the Parlophone label in the UK — whereas in the US, they were passed on by the American branch of EMI when initially released. They came out instead on small, independent labels (Tollie and Swan). But the configuration was the same. ---
**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 3, 2014, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-45-rpm-you-bought/685064/107 "2014-04-03T13:31:34Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > I’m sure you meant the Knack. 😉 Hey, I had a migraine at the time. [sub]The Clash? Where did THAT come from? Had to be the drugs…[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![80sMusicfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/8/2acd7d/32.png) [@80sMusicfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/80sMusicfan)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-45-rpm-you-bought/685064/108 "2014-04-03T23:17:35Z")
Mine was Bo Donaladson and the Heywoods Billy Don’t be a hero side 2 was Don’t ever look back. I was about 9 or 10 years old, My mom bought it for me at the old Nanuet Mall at a store called Music den which was on the bottom floor next to Sears, it cost I think it was about 50 cents, I think I still have it somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-45-rpm-you-bought/685064/109 "2014-04-03T23:40:26Z")
I don’t know what order, but my first two were The Rolling Stones _Shattered_ and The Cars _Good Times Roll_. I was about 10 years old. I remember walking around in the snow and ringing doorbells and asking if I could shovel anyone’s sidewalk for them. I rang the bell of a doctor’s office and the doctor himself answered. He asked how much, and not really knowing what to answer, I replied “two dollars.” The office was on a corner and I had to do both sides and the snow was pretty deep and took quite some time for my 10 y.o. self. When I was finished shoveling, I rang the bell and told him I was done and with a smile on his face, he handed me $2. I stopped at the music store on the way home and bought The Stones _Shattered_ record with it. I went home and right away put it on my my cheap radio/phonograph/8 track setup and thought to myself, “all that work and all I get is one song?” I know, I got the B-Side too, but it was _Everything Is Turning to Gold_ and I didn’t care for it. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-45-rpm-you-bought/685064/110 "2014-04-04T00:51:35Z")
> [@DChord568](#): > > It’s true of the four songs in question with regard to the US and the UK. The only difference is they were all released on the Parlophone label in the UK — whereas in the US, they were passed on by the American branch of EMI when initially released. They came out instead on small, independent labels (Tollie and Swan). But the configuration was the same. OK. I think there were also different albums released in the US, no? Or with the order of songs changed. I’m cranky I no longer have the Christmas messages they released. ---
**Author:** ![DChord568](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@DChord568](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DChord568)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-45-rpm-you-bought/685064/111 "2014-04-04T02:30:24Z")
> [@jabiru](#): > > OK. I think there were also different albums released in the US, no? Or with the order of songs changed. Yes. _Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band_ (1967) was the first Beatles album released in which the content was identical across the UK and US versions. All that preceded it had different tracks, and in many cases, different titles. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-45-rpm-you-bought/685064/112 "2014-04-04T02:36:14Z")
Dionne Warwick’s “I Know I’ll Never Love This Way Again.” ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-45-rpm-you-bought/685064/113 "2014-04-04T02:56:03Z")
Here’s [the first 78](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hj4FRLBUWiU) I bought. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-45-rpm-you-bought/685064/114 "2014-04-04T03:11:29Z")
“Tell It All Brother” - Kenny Rogers and the First Edition. 1970. ---
**Author:** ![zoogirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b9bd4f/32.png) [@zoogirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoogirl)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-45-rpm-you-bought/685064/115 "2014-04-04T03:58:55Z")
I kind of had two firsts. When I was about two years old I loved to do the Twist to “Walk Right In” by The Rooftop Singers. Y parents got such a kick out of it that they but the record. The first I actually asked for was “Leaving on a Jet Plane” when I was seven. I still have both records and several players. ---
**Author:** ![Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/les_espaces_du_sommeil/32/308_2.png) [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Les_Espaces_Du_Sommeil)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-45-rpm-you-bought/685064/116 "2014-04-04T13:12:27Z")
**F-R David** : _Words_ (1982). Was I proud! [http://static.skynetblogs.be/media/135107/dyn002\_original\_415\_416\_jpeg\_2634841\_f60e23fb5dc7e7b9ec8537ae8dac89ac.jpg](http://static.skynetblogs.be/media/135107/dyn002_original_415_416_jpeg_2634841_f60e23fb5dc7e7b9ec8537ae8dac89ac.jpg) Pretty sure the second one was **Michael Jackson** ’s _Billie Jean_. ---
**Author:** ![AppallingGael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9bd4f/32.png) [@AppallingGael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AppallingGael)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2014, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-45-rpm-you-bought/685064/117 "2014-04-05T05:41:21Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > 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. Maybe, but in my busiest album-buying year (1984), in New York City, I usually paid $5.99 for a Beatles album (the majority of my purchases). $6.99 was probably most typical for a recent release by a big-name act. Maybe cassettes were cheaper than vinyl. Also, with the single exception of “Revolver”, I bought them all from places like Disc-o-Mat and Record Explosion; at Sam Goody it would have been more like $10, and encased in a dirty piece of formerly white plastic, a primitive sort of inventory-control device. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2014, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-45-rpm-you-bought/685064/118 "2014-04-05T22:01:03Z")
IIRC, the first 45 I bought was Frank Mills’ “Music Box Dancer”. My mother was very anti-rock & roll at the time, and I figured that song was a safe choice. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2014, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-45-rpm-you-bought/685064/119 "2014-04-05T22:09:12Z")
I think I’ve only ever purchased 2 or 3 45s, preferring to get my music in album form. I believe the first one was Led Zeppelin’s _Immigrant Song_, only because it was the only way that I could get the B-Side, _Hey Hey What Can I Do_, which had never been released (at the time) on an album. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2014, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-45-rpm-you-bought/685064/120 "2014-04-05T22:53:32Z")
I was just a kid too - age 9 & lousy taste in music. 1958 - [Beep Beep (song) - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beep_Beep_(song)) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/enqNl7tdLR4/maxresdefault.jpg "BEEP BEEP ~ THE LITTLE NASH RAMBLER ~ The PLAYMATES ~ ANIMATION") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enqNl7tdLR4) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-45-rpm-you-bought/685064.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-45-rpm-you-bought/685064.md?page=7)