Inflammable Material by stiff little fingers, from some second hand shop. Bought Parallel Lines the following week and for the only time ever had the top two chart albums in my possession.
Love that SLF album. One of the great live bands at the end of the punk explosion.
My first album was Gasoline Alley by Rod Stewart. Wanted the one with Maggie May on it but the shop had sold out.
Remember signing up for one of them Music Clubs to get a couple of free tapes, then getting sent a tape every month for about 3 years. All sorts of shite
Electric Warrior (T.Rex, 1971) - would it be one of my favourites now? No - but I do occasionally listen to some of the tracks, regrettably not on the original vinyl!
Bought in the record shop that was on the corner of Hare Street and Powis Street - can't remember the name but remember it was downstairs with booths and headphones where you could request tracks to be played.
Electric Warrior (T.Rex, 1971) - would it be one of my favourites now? No - but I do occasionally listen to some of the tracks, regrettably not on the original vinyl!
Bought in the record shop that was on the corner of Hare Street and Powis Street - can't remember the name but remember it was downstairs with booths and headphones where you could request tracks to be played.
was that called "Civics" ?
That rings a very loud bell - I think you're right.
Can't really remember but probably the "Red" album (62-66) by The Beatles when I was around 12/13. First single was "Are friends electric" by Gary Newman. Mate was a big fan & he was well annoyed that I got a picture cover sleeve whereas he's was a poor plain one from the record shop.
The first album I bought with my own money was the Kinks album "Something Else by the Kinks". This was in early 1968 a few months after it's release. Cost me 36/6d from, I think, the record department downstairs in Boots in Hare Street Woolwich
Electric Warrior (T.Rex, 1971) - would it be one of my favourites now? No - but I do occasionally listen to some of the tracks, regrettably not on the original vinyl!
Bought in the record shop that was on the corner of Hare Street and Powis Street - can't remember the name but remember it was downstairs with booths and headphones where you could request tracks to be played.
I’ll kick this off with two albums, as the first was a lo-priced sampler and doesn’t count:
Immediate Let’s You In (1969) which featured tracks by The Small Faces, The Nice, Eric Clapton, John Mayall etc
But my first real LP (bought with cash received for my twelfth birthday in Sept ‘69) was Hot Rats by Frank Zappa. I had no idea who Zappa was, but I liked the cover.
Bought from the record department at Medhurst’s in Bromley, where David Bowie used to hang out after school. A few years before me of course!
I still have the Hot Rats LP, still no scratches or pops etc. I re-bought the Immediate LP as part of the blog I just wrote about buying records from ‘69-74 while at (boarding) school.
Prog, to Roxy and Bowie and The Velvet Underground.
Blog URL by DM for any record nerds out there. Most recent post is about dub reggae, a favourite genre of mine.
A fabulous choice. And an interesting one for first album. It's a record I have and cherish; it's a US import version. Back then I used to try to get US imports as the covers were much more robust than the slightly odd, glossy UK ones with the laminate that always used to peel off.
My first album paid for with my own money was The Rolling Stones No 2 (1965) I was also 12; closely followed by Kinda Kinks. Back then a LP cost 32s 6d. Which was a hell of a lot of money for a young kid. Albums were therefore carefully selected, acquired and cared for. (This was why the listening booths in record shops were so important. You wanted to be sure you weren't going to be buying something with just one decent track). Of course albums regularly went onto birthday and Xmas lists.
Edited to add: just run the cost through the BoE inflation calculator: 32s 6d would be £32.17 in today's money.
My paper round money went on Electric Warrior and started a life long interest in music. Still think it's a great album. Purchased either from a little record shop in provincial Baughurst, or more likely in Reading. Played on the family Dansette, it would be a few years before I had my own sound system.
Electric Warrior (T.Rex, 1971) - would it be one of my favourites now? No - but I do occasionally listen to some of the tracks, regrettably not on the original vinyl!
Bought in the record shop that was on the corner of Hare Street and Powis Street - can't remember the name but remember it was downstairs with booths and headphones where you could request tracks to be played.
Was that Broadmeads?
I thought @charlton4ever had nailed it with Civics, but now you've confused me. On reflection I think you're correct.
I’ll kick this off with two albums, as the first was a lo-priced sampler and doesn’t count:
Immediate Let’s You In (1969) which featured tracks by The Small Faces, The Nice, Eric Clapton, John Mayall etc
But my first real LP (bought with cash received for my twelfth birthday in Sept ‘69) was Hot Rats by Frank Zappa. I had no idea who Zappa was, but I liked the cover.
Bought from the record department at Medhurst’s in Bromley, where David Bowie used to hang out after school. A few years before me of course!
I still have the Hot Rats LP, still no scratches or pops etc. I re-bought the Immediate LP as part of the blog I just wrote about buying records from ‘69-74 while at (boarding) school.
Prog, to Roxy and Bowie and The Velvet Underground.
Blog URL by DM for any record nerds out there. Most recent post is about dub reggae, a favourite genre of mine.
A fabulous choice. And an interesting one for first album. It's a record I have and cherish; it's a US import version. Back then I used to try to get US imports as the covers were much more robust than the slightly odd, glossy UK ones with the laminate that always used to peel off.
My first album paid for with my own money was The Rolling Stones No 2 (1965) I was also 12; closely followed by Kinda Kinks. Back then a LP cost 32s 6d. Which was a hell of a lot of money for a young kid. Albums were therefore carefully selected, acquired and cared for. (This was why the listening booths in record shops were so important. You wanted to be sure you weren't going to be buying something with just one decent track). Of course albums regularly went onto birthday and Xmas lists.
Wow, kudos for getting the Stones second album as your first purchase. You are the same age as me, but I could never afford an album in those days and to be fair nor could mum and dad afford to buy me one. Lucky for me my best friend had an older brother, who bought everything worth having and we would spend hours listening to the latest sounds on their radiogram (a much deeper bass sound than my "tinny" dansette). I used to get singles with my pocket money and EP's for birthdays and xmas. I did get Sgt Pepper for xmas in 1967 and once I started a paper round I could afford a bit more. Once I started work in 1971 I spent the first couple of years buying up all the albums I wanted but couldn't afford from the 60's.
Electric Warrior (T.Rex, 1971) - would it be one of my favourites now? No - but I do occasionally listen to some of the tracks, regrettably not on the original vinyl!
Bought in the record shop that was on the corner of Hare Street and Powis Street - can't remember the name but remember it was downstairs with booths and headphones where you could request tracks to be played.
Was that Broadmeads?
I thought @charlton4ever had nailed it with Civics, but now you've confused me. On reflection I think you're correct.
It was 50 years ago (shit!).
First place in Woolwich where you could go in a booth and listen to see if you liked the record.
Comments
I made it to 17 years old before i finally had to buy my own records!
My first Album was Paul Simons first solo album in 1972.
I bought it in the record shop at the top end of Eltham High st. Can't remember the name of the shop.
My first album was Gasoline Alley by Rod Stewart. Wanted the one with Maggie May on it but the shop had sold out.
No regrets.
One was the Beatles Magical Mystery Tour on LP, as a follow up to Pepper which had been a Christmas present.
The other was Squeeze's Cool for Cats on cassette, which I bought as it was a bargain, from Boots in Dartford! Not my last Squeeze album.
This was in early 1968 a few months after it's release.
Cost me 36/6d from, I think, the record department downstairs in Boots in Hare Street Woolwich
Not as bad as some of their later stuff. I was only 10.
My first album paid for with my own money was The Rolling Stones No 2 (1965) I was also 12; closely followed by Kinda Kinks. Back then a LP cost 32s 6d. Which was a hell of a lot of money for a young kid. Albums were therefore carefully selected, acquired and cared for. (This was why the listening booths in record shops were so important. You wanted to be sure you weren't going to be buying something with just one decent track). Of course albums regularly went onto birthday and Xmas lists.
Edited to add: just run the cost through the BoE inflation calculator: 32s 6d would be £32.17 in today's money.
Not just for the cover.
It was 50 years ago (shit!).
You are the same age as me, but I could never afford an album in those days and to be fair nor could mum and dad afford to buy me one.
Lucky for me my best friend had an older brother, who bought everything worth having and we would spend hours listening to the latest sounds on their radiogram (a much deeper bass sound than my "tinny" dansette).
I used to get singles with my pocket money and EP's for birthdays and xmas.
I did get Sgt Pepper for xmas in 1967 and once I started a paper round I could afford a bit more.
Once I started work in 1971 I spent the first couple of years buying up all the albums I wanted but couldn't afford from the 60's.