The First Records We Bought
A few well-known artists and WFUV hosts go on the record with the first records they bought.
Back in the days of vinyl, buying your first record, whether it was a single or an album, was a rite of passage. Do you remember buying your first? That may have been the first time you realized that good music is worth your hard-earned money.
WFUV DJs:
Darren DeVivo
The Foundations - "Build Me Up Buttercup"
"Build Me Up Buttercup" by British soul pop band The Foundations, was the first, or one of the first, records to make an impact on my life. It was released in late 1968 or early '69, so that means it affected me at the tender age of three or four! I can still picture the multi-colored Uni Records label spinning on my Show 'n Tell phonograph.
Dennis Elsas
Del Shannon - "Runaway"
It jumped out of the AM radio with his unusual voice and that amazing hook played on an electronic keyboard. My 45 (RPM single) was on BigTop Records with a distinctive logo on a pink label.
Pete Fornatale
Elvis Presley - "Hound Dog/Don't Be Cruel"
Rita Houston
The Foundations - "Build Me Up Buttercup"
I guess my Mom gave me the money. We got it on 4th Ave in Mount Vernon. I can't remember the name of the store, but I do recall it had a super-high counter that I couldn't see over. They posted the Top 40 chart on the front of the counter, and the records hung on the wall arranged by chart position. I knew all the words to the "Build Me Up Buttercup" and just had to have it for my Close and Play. As I recall it cost 69 cents.
Claudia Marshall
Carole King - Tapestry
She was barefoot and had a cat. I remember staring at the album cover and admiring how cool she looked. But, of course, it was the soul in the music that really connected for me. I couldn't have been more than 9 at the time, but it was a lovely introduction to so many sounds and ideas.
Corny O'Connell
The Blues Image - "Ride Captain Ride"
When I was eight years old, I bought it at Discount Records in Eastchester.
Artists:
The Bird & The Bee
Inara George: It was Around the World in a Day by Prince.Greg Kurstin: It might be a Steve Martin stand up record, or a disco, Star Wars/Battlestar Galactica-type thing.
David Bromberg
Muddy Waters Sings Big Bill BroonzyI bought it in White Plains, New York on a trip with my older brother and one of his friends. I was pretty young - too young to take the bus to White Plains by myself.
Peter Buck (R.E.M.)
The Beatles - A Hard Day's NightI still have [it] in the original picture sleeve, which I cut in half and tacked to the wall everywhere I've lived.
Mary Chapin Carpenter
The Beatles - Rubber Soul
Rosanne Cash
Janis Joplin - PearlI was a freshman or sophomore in high school when Janis first connected with me. Pearl was the first record I bought.
Cory Chisel
U2 - Achtung BabyI think it was because there was a breast exposed on the cover. That's so sad, isn't it?
Eric Clapton
Buddy Holly and the Crickets - The Chirping Crickets
Marc Cohn
The first single I ever bought was "Angel Of The Morning" by Merrilee Rush and The Roundabouts. I must have been around 9 years old when it came out, and I remember walking to John Wade Records at Shaker Square in Cleveland, Ohio to go buy it. As a kid, I had no idea what the song was really "about." Listening to it now, it was actually pretty risque for its time. For me though - a little kid who had lost his mother suddenly 4 or 5 years earlier - the story in the song resonated on a whole different level. Lyrics like "just touch my cheek before you leave me" must have reminded me of my mother at the time. For me, it was about the deepest kind of loss, not a one night stand. Amazing how songs can move us so deeply, even if our interpretation has nothing to do with the writer's intent. Even now, it still stands as a great-sounding record I think, and an incredible vocal by Ms. Rush. And - as if i needed any more evidence that things have a way of coming full circle sometimes - I only recently found out that "Angel Of The Morning," the first record i ever bought, was recorded, in of all places... Memphis. Go figure.
Judy Collins
The Black Knight soundtrackIt was the Alan Ladd movie about King Arthur and his merry men. I bought it just because it had "The Gypsy Rover" on it.
Elvis Costello
The Beatles - "Twist and Shout"
Ray Davies
Chet Atkins - Teen Scene - at the Muswell Hill record shop.
Eliza Gilkyson
Phil Ochs - I Ain't Marchin' AnymoreMy aunt had a record store in Santa Fe, and we each got to choose a record. I think it's kind of perfect in a way. He was dark, complex, politically oriented, and socially concerned - it fits!
Gomez
Tom: Kick by INXS.
Ben: I think it was Shakin' Stevens, This Ole House.
Ian: I think it was something like Now That's What I Call Music.
Olly: That was Rio by Duran Duran.
Levon Helm
Chuck Berry - "School Days"
Robyn Hitchcock
Bob Dylan - Highway 61 RevistedI was thirteen, and I think I've bought it four times since then in various formats.
Billy Idol
The Beatles - "She Loves You"
The first rock & roll I was into was the Beatles. My mother played a lot of jazz, and R&B. Like King Curtis and His All-Stars. But I saw The Beatles on television on the show Ready, Steady, Go! I went and bought "She Loves You" when I was seven.
Indigo Girls
Emily: The Jackson 5
Amy: The Partridge Family. I'm a David Cassidy fan.
Rickie Lee Jones
The first one my mother bought for me was a Beatles record. The first album they got me was The Beatles vs. The Four Seasons. It was a double record and I never listened to the Four Seasons part, but it had all these facts about The Beatles, and "Anna," and "Twist and Shout," and "There's a Place" which is just about my favorite Beatles song.
Maura Kennedy
The Partridge Family AlbumI learned every song on it and did my first gig on the front steps of my house, singing along with the record. My brother charged a nickel to everyone who came by, so it was my first paid gig. I was seven.
Pete Kennedy
The Ventures - "Walk, Don't Run"
I was riding my bike when I heard it on the transistor radio. That song had two things I fell in love with - cool guitar and a great melody. I'm sure that's when I got hooked on music (it was dinosaurs before that), and I have pursued cool guitars and great melodies ever since!
Patty Larkin
Joni Mitchell - Clouds
Sean Lennon
The Human League - "Fascination!"
I like all classic rock stuff because those were the records my dad played - Elvis, Buddy Holly, The Everly Brothers. I was also into all the new wave stuff, and mod stuff, like The Specials. The first record I bought was actually "Fascination" by The Human League.
James Maddock
Elton John - Don't Shoot Me, I'm Only the Piano PlayerI remember hearing "Crocodile Rock" on the radio as a kid and asking my dad if he could get the album. One day I was waiting at home when he came in, and suddenly there on the table was the album! It had a big gatefold sleeve. You opened it up, and there all these pictures of Elton John and Bernie Taupin. My favorite song was "Blues for Baby and Me."
Dave Matthews
The Beatles - Magical Mystery Tour
Erin McKeown
Cyndi Lauper - True Colors
On cassette, from the Sam Goody in the mall.
Madeleine Peyroux
U2 - "Sunday Bloody Sunday"
Lou Reed
Fats Domino - "The Fat Man"
Keith Richards
Little Richard -"Long Tall Sally"
Fantastic record, even to this day. Good records just get better with age.
Josh Ritter
Mississippi John Hurt Today!I was living in Australia in 1994. I'd just discovered him on a blues cassette at the library. I walked down the hill into Adelaide and paid $22 for a copy of it. I learned how to play guitar listening to that record. You can almost see in your mind's eye how he played.
She & Him
M. Ward: The Queen is Dead by The Smiths
Zooey Deschanel: I think it was either A Hard Day's Night or Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. I was obsessed with The Beatles when I was 9.
Michelle Shocked
When I was 22 and living in a squat on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, I scraped together enough money to buy a cassette of Paul Simon's Hearts and Bones. I would ride the subway with a Walkman listening to this cassette. He's got that song, "Everybody loves the sound of a train in the distance." And when you're waiting for a subway, it's just so enhanced by the effect of that song.Jill Sobule
David Bowie - Young Americans
It was 10th grade, Denver, CO, and I heard it at this club where my friends and I could get in. "Young Americans" was kind of my "American Pie." I thought it was deep and political and mystical, but to this day I don't know what the hell he's talking about.
Bruce Springsteen
Elvis Presley - "Jailhouse Rock"
Jeff Tweedy
Blondie - Parallel LinesI was visiting my sister in Arizona. We drove down to a border town and went into Mexico. My mom bought some kahlua and I bought Parallel Lines.
Steven Van Zandt
Little Anthony & The Imperials - "Tears on My Pillow"
Little Anthony - hence, my nickname.
Loudon Wainwright
Elvis Presley - "All Shook Up"It was a 45 RPM single on the RCA Label - March 22, 1957, so I would've been 11 years old. Otis Blackwell wrote the song, and the B-side was "That's When Your Heartaches Begin." What an exciting afternoon that was! It cost one dollar, walking up Tarleton Rd. in Bedford Village in 1957. I remember the cover sleeve - an amazing profile, color shot of The King with his fabulous sideburns. Changed my life!
Jenny Owen Youngs
At the same time, I bought Green Day's Dookie and The Cranberries' Everyone Else Is Doing It So Why Can't We?
