Here we see Baby Walker with the Beatles LP he bought when he was a week old. He thought it was shit.
People will say some shameless things when asked what the first record they bought was (Giles Smith, as ever, is pretty hot on this topic in his book Lost in Music q.v).
I knew punks born in the late sixties who swore blind that the first record that they had ever bought was Raw Power by The Stooges, or Anarchy in the UK. Unlikely…
I think my son can justifiably claim the B52’s, which is pretty cool even if it was The Flintstones music, but I can hand on heart say that it was Bowie for me.
Let me think, was it the spaced out Space Oddity that first rocked my rocket? No? What about the fantastic sexual ambiguity of the metarockstar of the Ziggy Stardust era? Mmm? Did my ten year old sensibilities find kindred spirits in the Bowie and Eno of the Berlin period? Nein!
What drove me to Falcon Music in 1973 was the reissue of The Laughing Gnome.
There, it’s shamelessly revealed to a potential audience of millions that this was Walker’s first foray into record buying. I didn’t get a picture cover- but I did get an addiction to the feel and smell of the vinyl platters in their flimsy paper sleeves and to the racks of albums and cases of styli on display.
The b-side intrigued me, and made me think about the songwriting form as a potential career (although I remained convinced for years that Pat Hewitt was Fats Hewitt).
Sadly I don’t still have that 7” record, so I hope you’ll indulge me in a bit of fakery.
Oh, and I still love Bowie.
Ps- I checked the veracity of this with my mother and she said: Are you sure, dear? I thought you bought an import copy of the rare Ultima Thule 7" by Tangerine Dream the week before with some money that Auntie Bunty gave you?
OK as you went first I'll out myself too...it was in my first 10 singles definitely. My first was Slade's 'Mama Weer All Crazee Now'. It was great, my mum gave me my lunch money for school dinners which was enough to buy a 7" (and then I would starve all week!) Some things never change LOL!
ReplyDeleteRegards/
As an auld punk I am never embarrassed to admit in the name of honesty that the first single I ever bought was 'Me, The Peaceful Heart' by Lulu. Fact!
ReplyDeleteFirst, Emerson, Lake, and Palmer (self-titled).
ReplyDeleteSecond, Deep Purple (Made in Japan - purchased entirely with pennies and nickels).
First single I ever bought was The Great Rock n Roll Swindle 7inch from my school mate Big Roy. First new record I ever bought was I Just Can't Be Happy Today by The Damned. Unfortunately my most embarressing purchases were still to come including a heart shaped disc of love Me Tender by Roland Rat :)
ReplyDeleteT'was a weird time for youngsters buying records. All these old tracks started cropping up. I remember just about coming to terms that Rod Stewart was also the lead singer of The Faces when out came In A Broken Dream by Python Lee Jackson and I've Been Drinking Again by The Jeff Beck Group and both hit the UK charts. A good grounding in searching for lost gems I suppose. For my first record see my blog.
ReplyDeleteThe first record I ever bought with my own money was "Alvin's Harmonica" by David SeVille & The Chipmunks on the blue Liberty label. I was 7 years old at the time.
ReplyDeleteFirst 45 was Zager and Evans In The Year 2525 and the first LP was Alice Cooper's Love It To Death. And I do to this day.
ReplyDeleteSnap - my first ever record was the Laughing Gnome... or was it Blue is the Colour by Chelsea? Next up was Metal Guru by T Rex and it was onwards and upwards from then.
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