I don't remember much, but I remember......

tireguy: nice query. i do, indeed, remember the very first record i purchased. it was a 45rpm (big hole) of the platters, "the great pretender." must have been around 1957-58. bought it at the magnavox record/appliance store on 2nd street in davenport, iowa, next door to western auto. the first lp i bought was van cliburn playing tchaikovsky's 1st piano concerto, which was also in the 50's (that's the 1950's, BTW). -kelly

Scarey, I do, it was an LP though.

Yes Fragile.

I bought it at Bradley's dept store in Wayne, NJ. I can't remember the price, but I did just happen to see it amoungst my CD's (bought it again) the other day and listened to it again. Great album. It's what was playing the first time I really kissed a girl.

Hi, Tireguy.By jove!, I distinctly recall my first CD as if it were just 18 years ago...oh, wait; it was 18 years ago! (Looking skyward with a pensive countenance) One autumn day in 1983 "pops" picked me up from jr. high, and said that he bought that "new fangled CD player" for me, the one I'd been cajoling for, and that it was waiting for me at home. Well, I rushed towards my room and unpacked the brand-spanking-new player from its carton like a pack of wolfs devours a caucus. My first Cd was the sample one that came with the first generation CD players. It was, what I assume in retrospect to be, a digital recording of jazz; I especially remember track 1, which was "It don't mean a thing if you ain't got that swing" (not sung by Ella, of course). I was mesmerized at the iridescent shimmer of the CD; up to that time I've only seen those colors through a prism. Well, let me tell ya, I was amazed at the sound quality compared to my mid-fi Pioneer turntable. The vocals sounded so real, the ride cymbal also was much more palpable than I've experienced on any turntable. Ah, yes, it was a wonderful time, indeed. I could go on, but I won't bore you any further. ..Thanks

I used to sit in the basement with one of those cheap tape recorders, pressing the microphone up to the 2" speaker on my clock radio to get recordings off the radio of some of my favorite tunes, (I actually still have a couple of those tapes laying around in boxes of debris I think...a window into the past). One of those songs was Billy Thorpe's "Children of the Sun", and I dug it so much that it was officially the first album I ever bought with my own hard-earned cash. Some friends and I started joking about that tune recently and it got me to thinking about it enough that I made a point of picking up a used copy (on vinyl of course) for a buck at the local record shop. Fond memories resurfaced of cranking up those sound effects on the beginning to near-clipping volume.

What a mind blower my first record 45 was Smoke gets in your eyes by the platters in 1959....still like it today as when i was a nine yesr old in 1959....