The Oldies Music Board » The Very First Record I Ever Bought Was:

aflem · September 5, 2019 4:24 pm

The very first 45 I ever purchased with my own money was, I’m almost embarrassed to say, Cancon before the word was even coined! It was Vancouver’s Terry Black’s 1964 debut “Unless You Care” on the ARC label. It cost me 69 cents at the Eaton’s store in downtown Toronto and I was all of about 7 years old. I can’t remember where I got the 69 cents!

YouTube's comment section says both Glen Campbell and Leon Russell played on the track, which, if true, is something I never heard before.

The very first record I ever actually owned was a birthday present a year before, when I was given “The Monster Mash” by Bobby “Boris” Pickett.

Somehow, despite numerous moves over the years, I still have both of them.

It’s a lot easier to get music these days, but without sounding like the old guy pining for years past, there’s something missing about getting a picture cover, pulling out that round disc and reading the label, including the writing and production credits. That’s sadly missing from the experience of owning tunes these days.

And exactly what was the official name of that thing you had to put in the centre of the 45 to play it? I've heard a zillion different titles, but I've never been sure which one is right. (Spider seems to be the most common, but centrepiece is also among those I've run into over the years.) Do they even still make them anymore?

memphis boy · September 5, 2019 4:36 pm

don't remember first bought but first owned was a birthday present from my 6th grade girlfriend. Go Jimmy Go by Jimmy Clayton, still have it.

Jim Southern · September 5, 2019 4:47 pm

The first 45 I bought on my own was a local L.A. hit, "Thinking Of You" by the Jaguars, It reached #13 on the KRLA chart in late 1959. While I was over seas in the USAF, my Mom must have tossed it out since I don't recall seeing it when I got back. I spent about 35 years trying to find it, it finally showed up on an Art Laboe CD around 1995. I still love the song. The first LP of my own happened in 1956 when my Dad brought home the Bill Haley "Rock Around The Clock" album. The first with my own money was the Linda Scott (the mandatory mention) LP "Starlight, Starbright" at the base exchange at Tachikawa AFB in Japan.

aflem · September 5, 2019 6:12 pm

Jim Southern wrote:
The first 45 I bought on my own was a local L.A. hit, "Thinking Of You" by the Jaguars, It reached #13 on the KRLA chart in late 1959. While I was over seas in the USAF, my Mom must have tossed it out since I don't recall seeing it when I got back. I spent about 35 years trying to find it, it finally showed up on an Art Laboe CD around 1995. I still love the song.

Flo · September 5, 2019 10:31 pm

I think the first one I ever bought was Jackie Wilson's double sided hit, Night/Doggin Around. But before that my grandmother got me the Battle of New Orleans, and as a joke, I think she got my mother Mother In Law.

Lorne · September 5, 2019 10:45 pm

Interesting. One of the first 45s that I bought was the double sided hit For You Blue/The Long And Winding Road ... and I'm deliberately reversing the order because I bought it for For You Blue and didn't really care that much about its flip side, which i didn't even play for years. Ironically, eventually I did take a liking to the song and finally started to play that side (although I still like For You Blue a lot more). My other first 45s were Let's Work Together by Canned Heat and Express Yourself by Charles Wright & The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band.

Cary · September 6, 2019 4:41 am

Surfin' U.S.A/Shut Down-Beach Boys 1963. These days I avoid listening to Surfin' USA.

It's me Karen · September 6, 2019 5:14 am

I bought a few at the same time. Had some money I must have earned or something:

Nothing But A Heartache - Flirtations
Let's Work Together - Wilbert Harrison
You Made Me So Very Happy - Blood Sweat & Tears
Grooviest Girl In The World - Fun and Games
House Of The Rising Sun - Frijid Pink

Cloud9 · September 6, 2019 10:37 am

The first I ever purchased with my own money was a 78 rpm ... I can't remember for certain, but I'm sure it would have been one of Elvis Presley's earliest records. What I DO remember though, it was a replacement for one of my older sister's recordings that I had somehow damaged, and I'm sure my sister would have had no hesitation in causing severe bodily damage to my 11-year-old butt.

aflem · September 6, 2019 10:42 am

It says something profound that so many people remember the very first record they ever bought with their own money. Clearly, the experience stayed with the purchasers for a lot of their lives. I find that kind of interesting.

aflem · September 6, 2019 4:08 pm

I may be one of the only people who always listened to the B-side of almost every 45 I ever bought. The flip of Hang On Sloopy is a terrific tune called "I Can't Explain It." If anything, it was better than the hit!

Lorne · September 6, 2019 11:34 pm

I would also give the B side of the 45s I bought at least one play ... I think I would have done it anyway, but the fact that For You Blue was a B side would certainly have made me feel that this was worth doing. And there were quite a few cases where I ended up liking it as much or more than the A side. That included the flip of Express Yourself, a song called (I'm Living On) Borrowed Time that eventually became the side I played the most.

aflem · September 7, 2019 7:56 pm

A long time ago, my brother bought a Freddie & The Dreamers' record called "Windmill In Old Amsterdam." It wasn't much of a song, but it was the A-side and got some play on some stations. It made the CHUM Chart, but never really went anywhere.

A few years later, after I got the de facto record collection from all my siblings because they didn't want them, I came across this long forgotten 45. I decided to play the other side. I was blown away by the tune that was hidden there. It was a song called "How's About Trying Your Luck With Me?" written by no less a pair than Carole King and Gerry Goffin.

How this was not the hit side I'll never know, but all 2:05 of it has since become one of my all time favourite oldies, even though almost no one else has ever heard it.

It's me Karen · September 8, 2019 7:09 am

aflem wrote:
A long time ago, my brother bought a Freddie & The Dreamers' record called "Windmill In Old Amsterdam." It wasn't much of a song, but it was the A-side and got some play on some stations. It made the CHUM Chart, but never really went anywhere.

A few years later, after I got the de facto record collection from all my siblings because they didn't want them, I came across this long forgotten 45. I decided to play the other side. I was blown away by the tune that was hidden there. It was a song called "How's About Trying Your Luck With Me?" written by no less a pair than Carole King and Gerry Goffin.

How this was not the hit side I'll never know, but all 2:05 of it has since become one of my all time favourite oldies, even though almost no one else has ever heard it.

I just listened to both of the Dreamers songs and agree with you. The windmill song seems silly, but I guess that's what Freddie & the Dreamers was all about. As for the "luck" song, IMO it resembles How Do You Do What You Do To Me by Gerry & the Pacemakers. Even so, it's still a really nice song.

Lorne · September 8, 2019 7:52 am

I agree as well. Windmill spent 8 weeks on the CHUM Chart and peaked at #16 in 1965. I was only 5 at the time so I don't remember it from when it came out, despite the fact that my mother regularly listened to CHUM. But what that indicates is that CHUM probably didn't play it after its chart run, and I can certainly understand it if that was the case; I'm surprised that it was any kind of a hit at all. But it was also their last song to make the CHUM Chart ... can't help but think that think that Freddie's silliness contributed to them not having lasting success.

Little Rich · September 8, 2019 3:24 pm

IMO, How About Trying Your Luck Me is far better than their only Top 10, I'm Telling You Now.

aflem · September 8, 2019 4:24 pm

I believe "Luck" had the potential to be a huge hit. But for some reason it was relegated to the B-side and never got played. I have no idea who made the call or what the record company was thinking.

But it's a real shame. It deserved a much wider audience. It is, simply, a great lost Top 40 tune.

gopher · September 10, 2019 10:37 pm

don't think i was old enough to have had an allowance yet, but the first record i remember picking out by myself to buy was "puff the magic dragon." first lp, which i'm pretty sure i did pay for with my own, was "12x5" by the stones,

jnterestingly (or not), i'll be meeting up with roman friday night in niagara falls, for their blues festival. the casino next to my hotel will be featuring a magician called piff rhe magic dragon that night.

Last edited by gopher (September 10, 2019 11:10 pm)

Beverly Cardinals · September 12, 2019 10:40 am

Runaway- Del Shannon 1961

Roman · September 15, 2019 9:13 am

gopher wrote:
don't think i was old enough to have had an allowance yet, but the first record i remember picking out by myself to buy was "puff the magic dragon." first lp, which i'm pretty sure i did pay for with my own, was "12x5" by the stones,

jnterestingly (or not), i'll be meeting up with roman friday night in niagara falls, for their blues festival. the casino next to my hotel will be featuring a magician called piff rhe magic dragon that night.

goph, sorry we missed Piff, but thanks for turning me on to so many great blues musicians who played with Muddy Waters, and were quite stellar on their own. You better believe I'll be checking out more of Bob Margolin, Jerry Portnoy and John Primer. That pic of you and Donny 'Mr. Downchild' Walsh afterward at T.G.I.F's was a good capper, but too bad there wasn't a Nighthawk to be found.

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