# What was your first record (or cassette, or CD...)? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** liquor-alcohol\ **Created:** [February 6, 2025, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-record-or-cassette-or-cd/1013952 "2025-02-06T14:38:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![veryfrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/87869e/32.png) [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2025, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-record-or-cassette-or-cd/1013952/1 "2025-02-06T14:38:57Z")
The thread on [old bands you’d forgotten](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-rediscovered-old-bands-that-youd-completely-forgotten/1013872/15) got me thinking about my CD collection, so here’s one for the longtime music listeners/collectors: Do you remember the first piece of music you bought or owned? And on the different formats? I got my first cassette player for Christmas 1981, and my folks included a couple of tapes with it: The Beatles “Blue” album (1967-1970), and _Hooked on Classics_. Got a CD player in the summer of 1988. Went to one of the used music stores in town and picked up R.E.M.‘s _Document_ to break it in. A month later I’d added Wire’s _The Ideal Copy_ and The Pogues’ _Rum, Sodomy and the Lash_ to the collection. No idea about vinyl. I became a collector later on, but as a kid I just listened to my parent’s records. I think I got Queen’s _Flash Gordon_ soundtrack as a reward for finally jumping off the diving board at a neighbor’s pool. How 'bout y’all? ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2025, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-record-or-cassette-or-cd/1013952/2 "2025-02-06T14:40:07Z")
_Appetite for Destruction_ on cassette. Still have the cassette, but I do not own a cassette deck anymore. 😄 ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2025, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-record-or-cassette-or-cd/1013952/3 "2025-02-06T14:43:21Z")
An old Bill Cosby comedy cassette. Long worn out & junked. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2025, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-record-or-cassette-or-cd/1013952/4 "2025-02-06T14:44:02Z")
_Joy to the World_, Three Dog Night, 1975, I was 12. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2025, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-record-or-cassette-or-cd/1013952/5 "2025-02-06T14:45:40Z")
I can’t remember my first 45 rpm. As for albums: 1968-69, The Monkees, very first, a gift from my brother. Then he have me Sgt Pepper and Abby Road. I guess he wanted to make sure I had a proper musical upbringing. First CD: A-Ha in 1985, when I bought by first CD player. Still plays fine. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2025, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-record-or-cassette-or-cd/1013952/6 "2025-02-06T14:47:37Z")
LP: Mickey Mouse Disco Cassette: Not 100% sure. I used to say Led Zeppelin IV, but I don’t think that’s right. _Forever Your Girl_ by Paula Abdul sounds more correct, although it could have been the Bangles’ _Everything_. CD: I was gifted _Southern Harmony and Musical Companion_ by the Black Crowes along with my first CD player, but the first album I bought was _Cheap Beer Night_ by local band The Bad Examples. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2025, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-record-or-cassette-or-cd/1013952/7 "2025-02-06T14:50:18Z")
‘Mickey’ by Toni Basil, whenever that song came out. That was my first vinyl. I sold it to a girl in my class (I was probably in first or second grade). When her mom heard the lyrics, my mom got a phone call and I got a stern talking to for listening to “inappropriate music.” (My argument was, “Mom, I’m 7. You were at the store with me and paid for it.” Her argument was, “I thought it was about Mickey Mouse.”) Don’t remember my first cassette. It was probably a pile from Columbia House First CD was Steve Miller Band Greatest Hits 1968-1973. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2025, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-record-or-cassette-or-cd/1013952/8 "2025-02-06T14:50:27Z")
The first record I ever bought with my own money was the Beatles’ _Yellow Submarine_ (vinyl $3.99). As one side was soundtrack filler; I chose badly. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2025, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-record-or-cassette-or-cd/1013952/9 "2025-02-06T14:51:56Z")
My very first record purchase was in 1971 when I bought a 45 of Rod Steward’s song Maggie May for 50 cents at a small department store whose name I cannot remember. The line about stealing my daddy’s cue and make a living out of playing pool appealed to me. Sadly, I wish I had found myself a rock and roll band that need a helping hand instead. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2025, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-record-or-cassette-or-cd/1013952/10 "2025-02-06T14:52:45Z")
_Lost in the Ozone_ by Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen. I loved _Hot Rod Lincoln_ when it came out, so my parents bought me the LP. Still have it from when I was four or five years old! ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2025, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-record-or-cassette-or-cd/1013952/11 "2025-02-06T14:53:38Z")
Chicago IV was the first album I ever bought. I don’t remember the first 45 but it very well could have been “Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl)” ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2025, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-record-or-cassette-or-cd/1013952/12 "2025-02-06T14:56:17Z")
It was a record by Spike Jones and his City Slickers containing the song “Beetlebaum”. My family owned it, not me. I didn’t get my own record player till much later. The song was called “Beetlebaum” (or “Beetle Bomb” or “Feetlebaum” or whatever, depending on what source I check). It was released in 1960, I think, and our family acquired the record in the 1960s. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2025, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-record-or-cassette-or-cd/1013952/13 "2025-02-06T15:02:50Z")
45 record-Venus by Shocking Blue Cannot recall LP, cassette tape. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2025, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-record-or-cassette-or-cd/1013952/14 "2025-02-06T15:03:15Z")
Ah, you youngsters! 😉 My first record was [Lonnie Donegan - My Old Man’s a Dustman](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7GeZ3YmONw) This was 1960 (I was 7 - it was a gift from my aunt…) ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2025, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-record-or-cassette-or-cd/1013952/15 "2025-02-06T15:04:26Z")
Any records I have I took from my parents/aunts and I have no idea what the first cassette I bought was, but as for CDs it was a single, John Mellencamp’s Wild Night (with Me’shell Ndege Ocello). ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2025, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-record-or-cassette-or-cd/1013952/16 "2025-02-06T15:05:21Z")
The first record I can remember was “Meet the Beatles” sometime in early 1964, not long after their appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. I would have been 9 years old at the time. I played it so many times that I wore it out. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2025, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-record-or-cassette-or-cd/1013952/17 "2025-02-06T15:05:29Z")
_Sgt. Pepper_. In mono. I didn’t have a stereo record player, and I’d heard it was good. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2025, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-record-or-cassette-or-cd/1013952/18 "2025-02-06T15:07:26Z")
In high school I saved my nickels and dimes and bought the original portable CD player, the Sony D-5, at a time when _nobody_ had CDs. I had a CD of Pink Floyd’s **Wish You Were Here** that a friend lent me, since he didn’t actually own a CD player. That one doesn’t really count. On the day I bought that CD player, I also bought **The Dark Side of the Moon** and The Who’s **Tommy** double CD set. I don’t remember my first LP. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2025, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-record-or-cassette-or-cd/1013952/19 "2025-02-06T15:12:36Z")
Bad Hair Day (1988) - “Weird Al” Yankovic was my first purchased CD. ---
**Author:** ![GESancMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gesancman/32/2923_2.png) [@GESancMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GESancMan)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2025, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-record-or-cassette-or-cd/1013952/20 "2025-02-06T15:12:40Z")
First 8-track: Blondie, _Parallel Lines_ First record: AC/DC, _Back in Black_ First Cassette: I don’t remember for certain. Quite possibly it was _Paradise Theater_ by Styx. First CD: Joe Satriani, _Not of This Earth_ The first three were 4th grade or so. I got my first CD player in 1987 or 1988, when I was in high school. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-record-or-cassette-or-cd/1013952.md?page=2)