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What was your first record?

WTOP Staff | WTOP_Web_Team@wtop.com

October 10, 2014, 2:32 PM

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'Pyromania' by Def Leppard (1983) "Sadly I joined the Def Leppard party after their five minutes of being cool (the world had moved on to Judas Priest) …

I tried to rewrite 'Too Late For Love' Weird Al-style into 'Too Late For Lunch' -- not as awesome as my rewrite of Graham Nash's 'Immigration Man' into 'Application Man' when I was looking at colleges four years later." -- Dave Preston, WTOP Sports

(Amazon)
Amazon
'Heart Of Glass' by Blondie (1978) "My first music-buying format was 45 records. When the original 'Star Wars' movie came out in '77, I absolutely loved it. The first 45 I remember thinking of as 'mine' (although my parents bought it for me) included the Cantina Band tune from that movie.

I think 'Heart of Glass' by Blondie is the first 45 I bought myself, and it still wows me. The percussion sounds at the very beginning! The bass! The female vocal! The shimmer and simmer throughout that sounds like heat rising ..." -- Michelle Basch, WTOP News

(WTOP/Michelle Basch)
WTOP/Michelle Basch
'Meet the Beatles!' by The Beatles (1964) "'Meet the Beatles!' was my first album. And it was a gift to me from my very musical and very hip grandmother. The summer that album came out, she and I along with Gramps did a cross-country road trip and harmonized to all those tunes coming out of the radio: 'I Wanna Hold Your Hand,' 'All My Loving' and 'I Saw Her Standing There' -- the 'wooos' were the best part. We had the best time together.

When I got home, that album was my treat along with a Paul pillow (he was my favorite; Grandma liked Ringo). Can't hear any of those songs now without thinking of her." -- Randi Martin, WTOP News

(Amazon)
Amazon
'Meet the Beatles' "Even though I was just a kid, I knew that album had changed the world." -- Paula Wolfson, WTOP News(Amazon)
'Destroyer' by KISS (1976) "I was just 8 years old and bought it ONLY for the cool album cover. I'd never heard the music -- I guess that's the marketing brilliance of that band during that era.

I've been a KISS fan ever since. I saw them in July at JiffyLube Live.

A funny memory from my kid brother, who came into my bedroom back in the 70s and said, 'Are you listening to those LADIES again?'" -- Dimitri Sotis, WTOP News

(Amazon)
Amazon
'Rumors' by Fleetwood Mac (1977) "I was in the 7th grade (in 1977) and my dad won the vinyl album from a radio station in South Jersey where I grew up, near Atlantic City.

My parents had had plenty of Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett albums in our home, but this was the first time we had current rock in my house.

I played that album over and over again, knew every song by heart within a week!" -- Joan Jones, WTOP News

(Amazon)
Amazon
Music from 'Hair' (1968) "I bought my first two singles the same day in the spring of 1969, at the Caldor in the town where I grew up. I'm pretty sure each 45 rpm single cost less than a buck. Both were from the musical 'Hair,' which I didn't know at the time.

The 'Fifth Dimension' single was 'Medley: Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In' backed with 'Don'tcha Hear Me Callin To Ya.' The other single was The Cowsills' 'Hair' backed with 'What Is Happy?'

Ironically, the B-side of the Cowsills record is the only one I have in my current iTunes collection." -- Neal Augenstein, WTOP News(Amazon)
'England's Newest Hitmakers' by The Rolling Stones "I first heard their song 'I'm a King Bee' at an older guy's house. I asked my mother to buy it for me. She didn't like the Stones. They were too mean-looking.

My inspiration to buy their album was the fact that they sounded black and covered a Marvin Gaye song 'Can I Get a Witness.' I couldn't believe that an English rock band could sing convincing R&B songs.

I started with this first album and now have everything they've ever recorded." -- David Burd, WTOP News

(Amazon)
Amazon
Jazzmatazz Vol. 1 by Guru (1993) "Excellent fusion of hip hop and jazz. Need I say more? OK, I will. Just enough beat to make you bob your head, and just enough jazz to lounge to. Just like the single, 'Loungin'.'" -- Rob Woodfork, WTOP News(Amazon)
'The Score' by The Fugees (1996) Lauryn Hill's cover of "Killing Me Softly" became popular both on the radio and on MTV when I was about 11. Since I was just a kid I didn't know what it meant nor did I know the song was originally sung by Roberta Flack, but it was the most beautiful song I'd ever heard. At the time we didn't even have a CD player much less a CD, so I lived for those lucky moments when I caught it in the car or on TV. Then, for my 12th birthday, we got a CD player and I got this album. All the songs are special to me, but that one will always be my favorite. And Lauryn Hill continues to be one of my most beloved artists. -- Lacey Mason, Digital News Editor, WTOP.com

(Columbia Records)
Columbia Records
'Seventh Sojourn' by The Moody Blues (1972) "My first album was The Moody Blues' 'Seventh Sojourn.' I played it so many times there must have been deep grooves in the vinyl. I loved the range of the band, from the hard-rocking 'I'm Just a Singer in a Rock & Roll Band' to more melancholy tracks like 'Lost in a Lost World' and 'Isn't Life Strange.'

I suppose my infatuation with the album's ups and downs had a bit to do with being a moody teenager myself!" -- Laurie Cantillo, WTOP program director.

(Amazon)
Amazon
Misc. "I made a run on the music store for my first purchase on 8-track. Bob Seger's 'Live Bullet,' Peter Frampton 'Comes Alive,' Pink Floyd's 'Dark Side of the Moon' and Lynyrd Skynyrd's 'Second Helping.'" -- Kristi King, WTOP News.

(Amazon)
Amazon
'Desperado' by Eagles (1972) "I was a rebellious teen and it spoke to me." -- Lori Lundin, WTOP News.

(Amazon)
Amazon
'Saturday Night' by The Bay City Rollers (1973) "The first record I bought with my own money was the 45 of 'Saturday Night' by The Bay City Rollers. They were one of my first band crushes -- five pretty boys from Scotland that dressed in Tartan plaid. *sigh*

I was really young, about 6 or 7, and I remember going to Waxie Maxies in the White Oak Shopping Center in Silver Spring with my dad.

Forty-fives were 99 cents and I paid with rolls of pennies. I really hope my dad slid the cashier a dollar when I wasn't looking, because who wants to count all those pennies!!" -- Reada Kessler, WTOP Traffic

(WTOP/Reada Kessler)
WTOP/Reada Kessler
'Nevermind' by Nirvana (1991) "I was only about 10 or 11 when I got this album, but something about its raw power really spoke to me even at that age. It was a precursor to my later foray into punk and garage rock, and eventually heavy metal. Nine Inch Nails was my first true love after Nirvana." -- Alicia Lozano, WTOP Arts and Entertainment editor

(Amazon)
Amazon
'Greatest Hits' by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (1993) "I got my first CD at the same time I got the next four. My little brother and I signed up for Columbia's 10-CDs-for-1-cent promotion and split the order, but I decided after hearing 'Learning to Fly' by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers that I wanted their CD. And since I didn't know what album it was on, his 'Greatest Hits' CD was the first choice of my five.

The Cranberries album 'Everybody Else Is Doing it, So Why Can't We?' was definitely in the set.

In the same school year, I bought Warren G's single 'Regulate,' featuring Nate Dogg on tape. I still know all the words." -- Megan Cloherty, WTOP News

(Amazon)
Amazon
'Music Box' by Mariah Carey (1992) "I am slightly embarrassed to admit this, but the first album I purchased with my OWN money was Mariah Carey's 'Music Box' in 1992. My dad was (and still is) an amazing music junkie, so I never had to buy the good stuff, but I was on my own when it came to pop music.

I was determined to buy Mariah's tape so I could rewind 'Hero' as many times as possible and sing along into my hairbrush." -- Rachel Nania, WTOP Living editor

(Amazon)
Amazon
'Nothing Compares 2 U' by Sinead O'Connor (1990) "I remember going to Sam the Record Man, a huge music store chain in Canada, and buying the tape. It was one of the first times I had gone out with a group of friends to downtown Toronto on the subway, so it was pretty exciting for me." -- Meera Pal, WTOP.com managing editor
'American Fool' by John Cougar (1982) "First I chose via Columbia Record club."-- John Meyer, director of digital media.

(Amazon)
Amazon
'Let's Get It Started ' by MC Hammer (1988) "My cousin Eric was a DJ at the time. Though he's from Maryland, he went to high school in California. When he came back to Maryland, he kept telling me about some guy from Oakland named MC Hammer. 'I'm telling you, this dude's gonna be large,' he kept saying. I had no idea." -- Marcus Moore, WTOP.com
Beatles Magical Mystery Tour Double RPM British Release =20 (Provided by Paul Markey )
Provided by Paul Markey
1961 - the 45 rpm: Joe Jones, "California Sun" (Provided by Dick deVaughan
)
Provided by Dick deVaughan
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