Even MORE of Your FIRST 45's!!!

It's the series that just won't quit!!! 

The popularity of this topic just keeps growing ... we've now had to add a THIRD Page of FIRST 45's Memories!!!  (Special thanks to SCOTT SHANNON of THE TRUE OLDIES CHANNEL, RON SMITH of oldiesmusic.com and Rich Appel of HzSoGood for helping us to cross-promote this feature ... and get more of your FIRST 45's Memories up on the web page!!!)

We're STILL receiving FIRST 45's Stories ... so we've added yet another page to our website!

We've been sharing your First 45's Memories since 2007 ... and emails are STILL coming in!!!

 

If you haven't shared YOUR memory yet, don't miss out!

 

Send an email NOW to kk@forgottenhits.com ...

 

And then just keep watching this website to see if it appears!  (kk)

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My gory 45 story? I operated on Frankenstein and KILLED the monster!

Yup, being a big fan of classic monster movies and a budding "survey guy" from the ripe old age of 5, I was thrilled to be given a copy of Buchanan and Goodman's "Frankenstein of '59" somewhere between 1959 and 1962. So I played this rare find combining two of my passions over and over and over again, my friend. To the point that the 45 had a slight crack on the very edge. Trying to "fix" it by aligning the vinyl crack resulted in my breaking off ALL of the vinyl of one of my favorite, and one of the rarest, 45 rpms of all time - leaving me with just the inner label and a big hole. 47 years later and I STILL haven't replaced it. And to add insult to injury, I can't even find that vinyl-less label ... or the hole!  Thank the Lord for YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4pjjaz1a-g

Mike Riccio

After somehow teaching myself to read at age three, I started receiving lots of Little Golden Books, a children's book series that began in 1948 and continues to this day. I had copies of  "The Little Red Hen", "The Poky Little Puppy", several Disney movie stories, including "Bambi" and "Cinderella", and many others. Then Golden Records started issuing 6-inch yellow plastic 78-rpm records. Many of the records were adaptations of the books. I could listen to the music and dialogue and follow along in the book.

When KFWB switched to a top-40 format in January 1958, I started hearing songs by Elvis Presley, Sam Cooke, Pat Boone, Chuck Berry, Bill Haley, the Everly Brothers, and Danny & the Juniors. I decided that I had to have a "real" record player, so that Christmas I got a phonograph that played 45-rpm records. The first records I had were "The End" by Earl Grant, "Non Dimenticar" by Nat "King" Cole, "Catch A Falling Star" by Perry Como, and that ubiquitous Christmas hit, "The Chipmunk Song."

I didn't keep the Golden Books and Golden Records and I wish I still had them. At least I still have those 45s.

Steve Thompson in Boss Angeles

It’s October 1966. WLS and WCFL, two great Chicago stations, have begun playing “Nineteen Days” by the Dave Clark Five (oh, how I prefer the moniker DC5). I liked the DC5 better than the Beatles. Mike Smith, charmer, rest in peace. Your butch vocals are making Heaven livable. 

“Nineteen Days” didn’t make the national Top 40. Oh, sick national Top 40! Yet how healthy you were despite such a grandiose error. I rode my bike (I was in seventh grade, a briefcase-carrying nerd) to the Villa Park (Illinois) Record Store. There it was. “Nineteen Days” — had it been out even 19 days at that point? I paid for it, not with my grandpa’s money — he so generously gave me the cash to build a singles (and later albums) collection. I put it in my bike’s basket and pedaled home.

Our stereo was part of our living room TV. Was this what adults meant by console? What a groovy word, console. Soul. But no con. And there it was — Mike Smith celebrating the joy that comes knowing being separated from someone you’re nuts about will indeed come to an end. It wasn’t The Beatles. Or The Stones. Or Gordy. It was Tottenham Dave and being mucho cool.

I flipped it over on our notcon / soul.  “Sittin’ Here Baby.” The DC5 sipping a cup of Spoonful. Epic. Yellow label. Yellow dreams breaking off of each note — and there weren’t many notes. Dave, you sly dawg, knowing the virtue of life in under two minutes. 

Charge art at the door. A lot. Just be fun. And yellow. And let your thumpdrum be the blood that makes breath possible.

Ken Pobo

It is fall 1965 and I just couldn't get enough of the song "A Taste of Honey" by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass. I must have played it at the local Pizzeria at least a half a dozen times before someone said to me, for all the money you've spent you could have bought the record. I went to R&D Records on White Plains Road in the Bronx.  It was the first of over 5000 45s that I purchased or borrowed from radio stations I worked at.      

Steve Nadel

I'll turn 62 this summer.  The first 45 I bought was Marty Robbins' Ballad of the Alamo, using my paperboy money, in late 1960.  A month or two later, I bought Shop Around by the Miracles.  But really, not too many 45s after that until the British invasion conquered my wallet.

My first album, in the summer of 1965, was Eve of Destruction by Barry McGuire. And his Dylan covers in that album turned me on to Bob, big-time.

Now the strange thing is, I still love all of these records. As much now as I did then.

Dan Hughes

http://danhughes.net

As I approached my 9th birthday in the spring of 1959, I decided I wanted to start owning some music.  I was just a little too late to get my faves "Witch Doctor" and "Purple People Eater," but was lucky enough to find a song called "Purple People Eater Meets the Witch Doctor" on a rack of 45s at the Loblaw's food store, and got my mom to buy it for me.  I played it as soon as I got home, and liked it okay.

Nearly a year and a half later, WKBW in Buffalo was celebrating two years of being what, radiosonic or something??? - two years of being top 40 style radio - by playing "OLDIES."

My older friend was explaining the death of the Big Bopper, etc. as "Chantilly Lace" was playing.  "Hey, I've got a record by the Big Bopper!"  I went in the other room and found it, and there on the "flip side" was the as-yet-never-played "Chantilly Lace"! 

Tom Taber

Ya got me again ... a radio industry wannabe (who loves the business but is glad he is not in it), I am once again intrigued by one of your questions. So here are some of my happy memories of my 45s (all of which I still have, by the way, in my psychedelic colored cardboard boxes purchased at Discount Records, or worse, CALDOR!!!)

I got my first 45s in the fall of 1974 at the ripe old age of 12.  I had only started listening to the radio that summer while a bored camper at Briarton Day Camp in Hawthorne, NY, and took my radio with me to listen to baseball games in the afternoons, but found that there was music playing on other stations that I actually enjoyed.

I got my first 45s at Discount Records in Eastchester, NY.  They were: "The Entertainer" by Marvin Hamlisch, 'The Night Chicago Died" by Paper Lace, and what has turned out to be my favorite song of all time, "You're The First, The Last, My Everything" by Barry White.  All three of these were purchased on that first of what would turn out to be many visits to Discount Records.

As I played these and the other early 45s on my record player at home, I began to wonder if Harry Harrison, then the morning host on Musicradio 77, WABC, or any of the other disck jockeys at the station were staring at those same record labels spinning on the turntable like I was.  (I had no idea that  by that time they used cartridge tapes, which was then the industry standard).  Thus started a love affair with the radio industry, as it seemed so cool to sit around listening to music for four hours a day and get paid for it, though I am ever so thankful that I did not pursue radio as a career.

One of my most maddening experiences with 45s involved another favorite song, "Longfellow Serenade" by Neil Diamond. There was a "skip" in the record I got so I brought it back and got a replacement. This one "skipped" in the exact same location also so I brought it back and got yet another replacement which also skipped.  I brought that third one back and thinking I was scamming them, they played it on their record player, on which it naturally did not skip. (something to do with the weighting of the tone arm, they said).  Unfortunately, I could not modify the weight of the tone arm on my machine at home, so when I got copy #3 home and got to the offending location on the record, I placed a little bit of finger pressure on the tone arm to get it to go through the "skip."  I amazingly was successful, but by doing this, I created a gash in the vinyl which was audible when the record was played.  But at least it did not skip!

I wrote to Columbia Records to complain about their poor quality and got a lovely letter back telling me about how they manufacture records to exacting standards and how the problem could not possibly have been their fault, blah blah blah. For Chanukkah that year, my parents got me the LP on which "Longfellow Serenade" appeared, and it did not skip when played on my record player.  However, years later when I played that LP on my new expensive component stereo system, it did skip, and in approximately the same location as it did on that little 45.  Bizarre, huh?

Overall, I always loved listening to my 45s and still periodically do.  I know it sounds crazy, but I think that the music just sounds better on vinyl (though others tell me I'm crazy).

Scott Ornstein

[My copy of Neil Diamond's "Holly Holy" skipped ... in an absolutely infuriating way!!!  It became SO entrenched in my memory that to this day whenever this song comes on the radio I wait for it to skip in that exact same spot ... because it was the ONLY way I heard it growing up!!!]

I have about 10,000 records and roughly 5,000 CDs, but as a collector, I get most excited about 45s! It started when I was age two; my mother brought home a General Electric Show & Tell record player. It looked like a television with a kiddie turntable on top.   It wasn’t really a TV, GE sold story records that came with a film slide that could be inserted and the picture would change every few seconds in sync with the record. 

Around that time, the first few current pop records I remember owning were: Billy Paul “Me & Mrs. Jones,” Roberta Flack “Killing Me Softly” and Stevie Wonder “Superstition.” 

Yes, I’m still buying 45s today! New singles are still being pressed, mostly in the Alternative Rock genre. In some cases, the disc labels have retro logos.

In England, new 45 Pop singles are still commonly found in all major record outlets such as HMV. I picked up a Lady Gaga picture discs while I was there. I also stopped in every used shop I could find and scored lots of vintage gems from the 1960s at 50 pence each!

Scott Lowe

WHTG-FM,

Asbury Park

I grew up in a strongly musical environment, but one in which rock and roll was a wayward by-product, completely undeserving of notice. Dad was a theatre major, Mom was a voice major, and the house was full of classical and Broadway LP's, but no 45's. But one day when I was about 9, a friend of mine lent me a bunch of singles his dad had cleaned out from a jukebox at the hotel bar he worked at, and among them was the one tune that totally caught my fancy --- I commandeered the family "record player" (nowhere close to a hi-fi, much less a stereo) and played it over, and over, and over, and over. Beatles? Stones? Elvis? 
Naw, it was "I'm Henry The 8th (I Am)." And in retrospect, I can only imagine how that must have driven my folks right up the wall. But it was rhythmic, catchy, bouncy, cute ... I was hooked. Unfortunately, right around that time, my folks split up -- I guess my pop really DID hate Peter Noone -- and money became extremely tight for a couple of years. I started collecting the WLS weekly music surveys in '69, and even though I could come up with 49 cents for singles out of the Woolworth's bin -- and it really was a bin, a big circular fixture with hundreds of 45's just rolling around loose in their sleeves -- I didn't have anything to play them on, 'cuz Dad took the record player. 
So I begged and whined, and finally got a small player for Christmas '69 -- a little above a close-and-play, but not much, with a squarish black adapter that slid right onto the spindle and USUALLY let down a stack of vinyl one disc at a time -- and started my collection. My first 45 rpm purchase? "No Time" by the Guess Who. (That was SO heavy for an 11 year-old, but then, I was now from a "broken home," and thereby older than my years.) My two little sisters each got to pick one out, too -- the Cuff Links' "Tracy" and, of course, the omnipresent "Sugar Sugar," two tunes that I loved, but would never admit to. 
Around that same time, my mom bought me a little 45 carrying case, with a groovy psychedelic orange swirl on the side and a little lid that buckled. Came complete with little number decals that you could attach to the labels, so you'd remember where in the box to stash them. I still have them all, too, and those little numbers, in most cases, are still stuck right on there. 
Now I was saving my spare change for more important things than Hostess cupcakes and Whiz bars. I'd make weekly trips to the mall with my buds, and more weeks than not, come home with another 45 to add to the collection. The four of us would crowd into the listening booth at Recordland and make requests until the clerk got tired of us and sent us away (usually after two plays, or five minutes.)
Coolest thing about this whole chapter in my life was when we realized there was a jukebox in the back of the mall's shoe store. We'd go back there and hang out, and talk music, and the store manager, a rather tolerant sort, actually started asking us what tunes he should add to the jukebox. So at the tender age of 11, I got my first gig as a retail music consultant. 
Fast forward ten years, and I finally got my dream job working in the retail record biz. And at every store I worked, I became the "singles buyer," a job no one really wanted, due to the low profit margin and the abysmal "hipness" quotient. But everywhere I went, singles sales went through the roof. You just had to care about those little seven-inchers, and keep your fingers on the pulse of the radio-listening nation. 
And now, fast-forward again, about thirty years, and America is once again buying (or stealing) individual songs ... "singles," as it were.  And the rationale's the same -- why bother with a whole album when there's just one good song? 
All that's missing is that clunky 45 adapter ... which I don't miss too much ...

RC Price

Next month marks the 40th anniversary of buying my first record player and my first four 45s.

My dad bought me a Philco / Ford record changer for $19.95 at Macy's in Garden City. That's right, when you think record players, think Ford Motor Company (didn't some company actually put record players in cars in the 50s or 60s?).

Anyways. it was mostly plastic, four speed, mono and could stack five records comfortably, seven if you wanted to live dangerously. A piece of crap machine that I loved and used for five years. I still have it somewhere in the attic and the damned thing still works.

I guess Macy's didn't sell 45s then, cuz I bought my first records at Dee-Jay Records in my hometown of Rockville Centre: 

* Atlantis – Donovan

* Bad Moon Rising - Creedence Clearwater Revival

* One - Three Dog Night

* In the Ghetto - Elvis Presley

Although I love my collection, I don't miss the format. The sound mostly sucked and the record companies released inferior / shorter versions of the songs to try and get me to buy the LP.

I wasn't the first on the block to have a CD player, but I was probably second or third in 1985. I embraced that now-doomed format. And yes, I have now replicated about 70% of my 45 collection on CDs, so the record companies (and record clubs) finally got their pound of flesh out of me.

I bought my 480th and last 45 on 12/31/1989 (an oldie, Sinatra's "My Way," seemed a good way to close it out.)  Not that many records over twenty years, but I insist to this day that, pound for pound, I have the greatest singles collection in the world. Don't you?

Roy Currlin

In 1971 I was 9 years old. I had my dad's old record player and some of his old 45's (Kookie Lend Me Your Comb, Cindy Lou My Cinderella, Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny ...) but I didn't have any of my own. I had some birthday money and literally begged my mom into letting me buy my first 45. It was Don't Pull Your Love by Hamilton, Joe Frank and Reynolds, and I treasured it more than anything else I owned.  I still have it, and it's still my favorite song. 
Val

My first 45 was actually a 78 as 45's hadn't yet hit the market. I saved up the 79 cents (yep 79 cents) from my allowance and raced to the record store to buy Elvis' "Too Much" and ran home to play it. I bounded halfway up the stairs to get to my room and tripped and fell on top of the record breaking it into two pieces. I screamed a profanity at the top of my lungs which immediately caused my mother to run in -- basically not to see if I was OK but to chastise me for saying "damn" which was a very very bad word in the 1950's. But since I was on the verge of tears holding the two halves of my broken treasure, she just waggled her finger at me and took the broken record from me to throw away. But the next morning when I woke up, there on my desk was a brand new 78 record of "Too Much" with a note from mom telling me "try not to break this one!"  It's now 50 years later and I still have it.
Steve Davidson
PS - I'm embarrassed to say that my first 45 was "Green Door" by Jim Lowe. So don't tell anyone. (And I didn't keep that one for 50 years either.)

I lived in Aurora, Illinois in 1962, about 45 miles southwest of Chicago, Illinois.  I turned 13 on 8-4-62 so then I was officially a teenager!  My first 45 record was He's A Rebel by The Crystals, bought around October of 1962. I played it to death I think!!  The cost was $1.00 and the cost of 45's stayed at that price until sometime in the early / mid 1970"s. But there is even more to this story. When I was about 6 years old, a friend of the family bought me a RCA Victor record player for my birthday. It was one of those small ones that looked like a tiny suitcase. It played 45's, 33's and 78 rpm records. They also included my first record -- Love Me Tender by Elvis Presley!!!  I never played records much until I got He's A Rebel, then I played and played and played. In June, 1965 (I remember this well), I was at a friend's house. We spent about half the day playing records. I brought over my collection and we played my records and his. I had about 50 records by then. Then I did a very stupid thing! I gave him my Love Me Tender Elvis record!!!!!!! I was STUPID!!!!!!  Fast forward to 2009. I'll be 60 years old in two days. Old rock music from the 50's thru 80's is my main hobby after all these years. I have about 10,000 45's and about 1000 albums. I have a 1961 Seeburg jukebox filled with 45 records.I still play rock music just as if it was still 1965. And, last but not least, I have several copies of Love Me Tender by Elvis.

1971 Was the year i bought my first single. I had to decide between the right ear and the left ear which to pick. It was at the Sears down there at Hawthorne / Sepulveda (you LA people must know this well ... it turned into the biggest mall this way of Mars a few years later ... Mars has a bigger mall ... trust me, hehe)

Kidding aside, i had to choose between 'I Just Want To Celebrate' and 'Signs' ... I only had a buck, so it was one or the other. I chose 'Signs.'  Loved that tune as a kid. Had a record player that used to actually go down to 16 rpm (you guys remember those) ... I'd mess around with the record at different speeds ... when it got to the part where dude goes 'sign says you gotta have a membership card to get inside ... uhhhh!' If you want a good laugh, play that at 16 rpm. Just a word to the wise, hehe (still love that tune.)

Great job you're doing here, Kent, keep it up.

Todd

My first 45 back when I was around six years old was a song called “Pink Shoelaces” by Dodie Stevens.  I loved that song so much.  I played it over and over.  I looked up Dodie Stevens on the internet and was happy to see she still performs.   She was actually in a movie with Fabian called “Hound Dog Man.”  I also remember her in a cartoon with Frankie Avalon called “Alakazam the Great.”       Gloria

I don't remember having to purchase my own 45's but I had two older sisters still at home who did. I remember listening to their songs Don't Go Over Woverton Mountain (if your looking for a wife), seriously, Smoke Gets In Your Eyes and In The Jungle, The Mighty Jungle (The Lion Sleeps Tonight) and Skitter Davis songs. Those are just a few that I can remember at my age ... lol  

Now I have some old cassette tapes of Dr Hook from 1975-1980, Righteous Brothers Reunion, Best of Ricky Nelson, The Johnny Horton Legend, Conway Twitty, Johnny Cash, Jim Reeves, Sammi Smith, Donna Fargo, Roy Clark and Ferlin Husky.  To some of you, these names of great musicians may not be known to you but as a kid growing up in the 50's, I remember listening to them on my Mother's radio.       

Donna

I got my first 45 in 1966 when I was twelve. I was  babysitting for a couple when I lived in Italy. They had two 45s by Ricky Nelson: I Need You and That’s All She Wrote.  I played them so much the couple gave them to me.
Jenny
Lula, Ga

My brother Rick was ten years older than me and he gave me my first record.  A 45 of Love Me Tender.  He also gave me many albums when he got married and left the house.  If you've seen the movie Almost Famous, it was like the scene when his Sister told him to "look under the bed, it will change your life".  He pulls out that bag, and all these albums appear.  It gave me the chills the first time I saw that, and every time I've watched it since. (about 101 times)

Love in the Fellowship of Rock N Roll,

Mark Zimmerman Class of 1973 Prosser HS Chicago

Hayward, CA ( East Bay SF Area )

When Sheryl Crow recorded the old Jackson Five Hit "I Want You Back" for her new "100 Miles From Memphis" CD, she told reporters that this was the very first 45 she ever bought.  How cool is it that she first rose to fame as one of Michael Jackson's background singers!!!

The first record Bobby Abrams ever bought was a 45 of "Hey Baby They're Playin' Our Song" by The Buckinghams.  His mother thought they were "nice clean cut young men," not wild like those other bands.  Many years later, Bob Abrams would join The Buckinghams ... and play lead guitar for the band for 24 years!

 

The first 45 I bought was in 1966, called "Talk Talk" by The Music Machine. Talk about an early garage band! I still remember the price being $.50 for that record. Of course "Double Shot" by The Swinging Medallions was another priceless purchase!

I didn't graduate to albums until James Taylor released "Sweet Baby James."  Oh geez, I was so in love with that man!

Billie Dupree

Moody, Alabama

 

Goldfinger by Shirley Bassey ......... loved the movie

Boards 2001

I was still hearing my parent’s middle of the road station, when I bought my first 45:  “Lady Bird” by Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood.  It just had ‘something’ and I can still hear it today, one of those songs, obscure as it may be, that holds up more than 40 years later.  The B side “Sand” was pretty good, too.

John Crawford

My Dad, a co-worker of Dick Clark at the time at a Utica, New York radio station, bought me my own record player and a disc by Vaughn Monroe, "Paper Moon" when I was about two. They tell me I used to sit over in a corner and spin it so much and sing along with it every day that even though they always knew where I was, it drove them crazy listening to that one song over and over so they had to get me another record / toy. (I'll have to ask my mother why they didn't show me how to flip it over and play the other side ... lol.)
Anyway, I found a pretty good track of that song and perform it for my gigs in Retirement homes and and Alzheimer Facilities ... a LOT of the folks remember Paper Moon, and Nat King Cole covered it too, or maybe it was Vaughn Monroe who "covered" Nat's release. Whatever, there are so many memories that all of us have of this song or that song, and what I love about your newsletter and your work is the way you dig into the past for us, and find the truth about how things really were back in our earliest musical years.

Veeder Van Dorn

I was born on June 13, 1949, in Chicago, Illinois, the oldest of eight children.  My first recollection of 50's music was at the age of 7 when I received a Christmas present from my parents of a small suitcase style record player along with my first record "Blueberry Hill" by Fats Domino.

Liz Harris / Keep Rockin' Magazine

Well, hows this one ...

I recall when Elvis was first getting popular.  I went to the Woolworths 5 & 10  on Madison St. on the west side of Chicago to get Hound Dog and was surprised to discover that the record came in both 78 & 45 RPM ... at the time, I wasn't quite sure what a "45" was.

Of course now I have it on a CD, what da' heck.

Ken Fligelman

 

Wow.  Just stumbled onto your site, and I am thrilled!  I loved Top 40 music so much I got into radio.  But, back in the late 50's, I remember my grandmother taking me to a jewelry store in lovely downtown Stuttgart, Arkansas.  It was the only store in my hometown that sold records.  I bought "Alvin's Harmonica" by David Seville & the Chipmunks on Liberty records.   The flip side was called "Mediocre."
It wasn't long after that my family got our first record player, a Symphonic "suitcase" style portable.  It was clear that I wanted to be a disc jockey, because my Mom & Grandmother took me to the local radio station, KWAK, when I was about four years old.  I began working in radio when I was 15, and continue today after 40-years.  It was a great sadness when we stopped playing vinyl records on the air.  There's something magical about those discs turning on the platter!
On a related topic, I have an odd memory about 'sound alike' records on labels such as "Tops."  They were sold at 'dollar stores', and were a cheap alternative to spending retail on the real thing.
Art Morris
Aurora, MO

 

My first five 45's were purchased with my grass cutting money at a neigborhood record store in the summer of 1965. 

The Tracks of my Tears, The Miracles

Papa's Got a Brand New Bag, James Brown

Shotgun / Hot Cha, Junior Walker and the All Stars

I Got You Babe, Sonny & Cher

Unchained Melody, Righteous Brothers

M.L. Barham

 

My first 45 was a gift from my sister when I was about seven years old (1962).  It was a song called "Mama Look A Boo-Boo" and the artist was Calypso Jack & his Calypso Cavaliers.  This must have been a cover version by a children's record label,  as I remember it being a bright colored label.  But the song was also done by Harry Belafonte.  I remember as a kid being fascinated for some reason by the first line - " I wonder why nobody don't like me, or is it the fact that I'm ugly?"  The brunt of the song is a man being teased by his children.  They think he's so ugly they are calling him a Boo-Boo. 

Needless to say, as I got older my taste in music improved considerably.  But, as I built my collection of over 1400 45 RPM records, I still was a sucker for many of the novelty songs that were played on the radio.  

Bob Earnest

Clearwater, FL (grew up in Pittsburgh, PA) 

 

I got my first record in 1957 and it was "Jailhouse Rock" by Elvis Presley ... with the great B-Side "Treat Me Right" ... and it all took off from there.

Benny Andersson - ABBA

 

My first two 45's were bought in 1957 at Woolworth's. "Young Love" by Tab Hunter and "Searching" by The Coasters.

One of my favorites is "Barbara Ann" (my name) by the Beach Boys.  For the faster, rock and roll, jitterbug version I really love the original "Barbara Ann" by The Reagents (1961). I met my husband at a dance in 1970, he was looking for romance and thought he'd take a chance on "me."  He is still rockin and a-rolling, rockin and a-reeling 37 years later. 
Barbara Ann

Pittsburgh, PA

 

Looking at your site about First 45 record buying experience. I went to a Kings department store with a friend about the early '70's.  He bought some stuff and I was right behind him in line waiting to pay for my Led Zeppelin "Whole Lotta Love" 45. As soon as he finished paying, the cashier started ringing up the person behind me! She didn't see I had a 45 to pay for! I didn't know what to do, I guess I was scared! I was still in high school. I quickly told my friend and he said to hide in under my coat until we got outside!! I did not mean to steal it, honestly! :-)
Best,
John

 

OH GOSH ... way back ... margie rayburn's freight train, the flip side being dreamy eyes. the green liberty label.

brian hyland's it ain't that way at all, flip side being  "i may not live to see tomorrow" ... i believe it was on abc records.

wanna  hear really old and rare?

i also had the Three D's "little billy boy," flip side, "let me know."  (paris records)

'twas in the latter 50's and early 60's, of course.  i was 5 when i received margie rayburn and the three d's; a little older when i got brian hyland ... i've had hundreds of 45 rpm's in my life, most rare (patty duke's please don't just stand there for example, on united artists records.)  over the course of  time, almost all my 45's have been lost, many broken.  i have very few left.

DJTEEL

 

The first 45 I ever purchased was "Monster Mash" by Bobby Boris Pickett, followed fairly quickly by "Locomotion" by Little Eva and "Don't Hang Up" by the Orlons, all in 1962.  The reason I remember this so well is that back then I would put little numbered stickers on the records and I kept all the records in this small record box that had a handle and numbered sleeves for each record.  I still have the Locomotion and Don't Hang Up discs with their original numbered stickers, but I don't know what happened to the Monster Mash.  The first LP I ever bought was Telstar by the Tornadoes, followed a few months later by the Shirelles Greatest Hits.  I still have the Telstar album and still consider it way ahead of its time.  I don't play it any more because I have all the tracks on mp3, but it is still in excellent condition.  For some reason, the Shirelles LP got pretty scratched up from years and years of constant playing and re-playing.  One thing I still remember from those days was that there were phonographs and record players that would "only" play mono records, and I was always warned to be careful not to play a stereo record with a mono needle.  The early 45s I bought were all in mono, as was the Telstar album.  But the Shirelles LP was my first stereo record, and I wonder if at some point I played it on a mono player by mistake.   Good times ... Rick Marshall

 

my first 45's memory was "i will always think about you" by the new colony six ... i still have the same 45 as well. mark eskin will never be forgotten and will always live in our hearts ... god bless you, mark.

sincerly,

darlene bobczyk

 

The Monster Mash by Boris Pickett was my 1st 45 record.  1962.

I bought it at the Woolworth store on 53rd street and Blackstone

in Hyde Park Chicago.

I wore it out.

Larry Baran

guitarist with Jamestown Massacre

www.jamestown-band.com

 

Hi, Kent,

I grew up in beautiful Skokie, Illinois.  

My first 45 that I begged my mother to buy me at "Amptone Electronics" in Morton Grove, IL was "Cindy's Birthday" by Johnny Crawford (I had no idea he played "Mark" on The Rifleman at the time.)  I was 5.  The first 45 I bought with my allowance money was in January, 1968 - I was 11.  It was "Bend Me, Shape Me" by the American Breed, followed closely by "I Wonder What She's Doin' Tonight" by Boyce & Hart.  69 cents at Turn-Style department store in Skokie.  They had the WCFL Top 30 and a few from the WLS Top 40 on the other side of the display case.  But after checking out that groooovy WOKY survey from March '68, something tells me if I'd grown up in the Milwaukee area my first two 45s would have probably been "I Recommend Her" by the Skunks on Teen Town and "Little By Little" -- by Tony's Tygers!!!  (Or possibly "Strawberry Tuesday / Cynthia at the Garden" by the Sidewalk Skipper Band)  Special thanks to Mr. Gary Myers of California for opening up the world of Wisconsin pop with his two books "Do You Hear That Beat?" and "On That Wisconsin Beat!" 

Best,

Bob Rashkow

 

Just discovered your web site last night while looking up to see if I could find anything on the Swingin' Conner Family. 

I will never forget the first three records I bought as a kid with my own money at the same time.  The year was 1957. 

The records were:  

BLACK SLACKS -- JOE BENNETT AND THE SPARKLETONES (ABC/PARAMOUNT RECORDS),

WHITE SILVER SANDS -- DON RONDO (JUBILEE RECORDS) and

MOONLIGHT GAMBLER -- FRANKIE LAINE (COLUMBIA RECORDS)
I still have these records at home as well as others.
Occasionally during the day I will see something or someone will say something to me which reminds me of a record I haven't heard on the radio in years.  Yesterday I was reminded of the Swingin' Conners 1963 song WALKIN' THE CHALK.  So when I got home from work, I got it out that night and played it. Big record here in OKC back in 1963.  Flip was Milk Cow Blues.
It is a shame nowadays that songs from the fifties and early to mid-sixties are not being heard anymore on oldies radio station.  Now it is music from the late sixties and seventies.  I really don't care anymore since I have the records.
Yours truly,
Larry N. Boyington, aka Larry Neal,

former curator of the Wax Museum on the big 1520 KOMA

 

I started listening to WORC 1310 in WORCester, Mass. in 1969. 

Two of the first 45's I bought were "Those Were The Days" by Mary Hopkin and "I'm Living In Shame" by the Supremes.  
I have been going to a huge Sunday flea market for many years, and as late as just yesterday,  I picked up a big load of 10 cent 45s.  I am mostly looking for late 60s to about 1980,  but a there was a 45 by Bill Justis - College Man & Johnny Burnett - Little Boy Sad.  Those are really obscure. I like to rip 45's into the computer and I have about 10,000 label scans.
I love the early 70's Supremes after Diana left the group.  They had some great forgotten hits like "Floy Joy"
Martin Nathan - Worcester, Mass.

 

In the new book "Little Girl Blue: The Life Of Karen Carpenter", author Randy L. Schmidt reveals that at the age of three, Richard Carpenter asked his parents for his own copy of "Mule Train" ... and that his First 45 was "Music, Music, Music" by Teresa Brewer ... "shortly after that, he asked for 'How Much Is That Doggy In the Window' by Patti Page."

 

The first 45 I bought was Tequila, by the Champs. Also the first record of any size or speed. (the 2nd was At The Hop by Danny and the Juniors). I was 12 at the time.
Richard Robinson,
living now, as then, in southern California.

 

My very first 45 was "Summer In The City" by the Lovin' Spoonful. I remember buying it at Montgomery Wards Dept store in Daytona Beach where I am from. It was 1966. I remember walking home carrying my prized 45 rpm treasure and then playing it on my little record player in my bedroom. I was 13. I still remember the bright orange / yellow label with the harsh black wording. My 10 year old sister and I sat on my bed and listened to that song over and over and over until we had memorized every word. We especially were proud of ourselves when we figured out the lyrics "hotter than a match head"!!! 

We both played the autoharp and loved the fact that John Sebastian played an autoharp riff at the end of the song. I cried when my little 45 became cracked some years later during a move to Georgia.

Summer in the City remains my all time favorite song of summer. How cool is it that it is also now the all-time favorite summer song as voted on by the Forgotten Hits readers ... and that I got to count down the top 40 favorites on my radio program!

Thanks for sharing the memories!

Scarlett Hayze

Hi there, 

The first 45 I ever bought was the UK pressing on Gold London of Little Richard's Long Tall Sally. The first album I ever bought was Their Off and Rolling by the Everly Brothers. The first extended play I ever bought was by Ronnie Ronalde, In a Monastery Garden and the first 78 was A Dime and a Dollar by Guy Mitchell. I still have them all along with around thirty thousand other records.

Rockin’ Lord Geoff in England

I think the first record I bought was Little Richard's "Long Tall Sally."  Fantastic record, even to this day.  Good records just get better with age.  But the one that really turned me on, like an explosion one night, listening to Radio Luxembourg on my little radio when I was supposed to be in bed and asleep, was "Heartbreak Hotel."  That was the stunner.  I'd never heard it before, or anything like it.  I'd never heard of Elvis before.  It was almost as if I'd been waiting for it to happen.  When I woke up the next day, I was a different guy.

The signal was perfect for the ads ... and shit, then it would fade.  Then "Since my baby left me" ... it was just the sound.  It was the last trigger.  That was the first rock and roll I heard.  It was a totally different way of delivering a song, a totally different sound, stripped down, burnt, no bullshit, no violins and ladies' choruses and schmaltz, totally different.  It was bare, right to the roots that you had a feeling were there but hadn't yet heard.  I've got to take my hat off to Elvis for that.  The silence is your canvas ... that's your frame, that's what you work on.  That's what "Heartbreak Hotel" did to me.  It was the first time I'd heard something so stark.  Luckily, I caught his name when the Radio Luxembourg signal came back on ... "That was Elvis Presley with "Heartbreak Hotel."  Shit!

-- Keith Richards

The first 45 I bought was  Pleasant Valley Sunday by The Monkees!!!  I still have the picture cover, and of course the record is mostly white now from playing it many, many  times. I grew up on a farm and got 25 cents a week for an allowance. So, I had to save for awhile. Thanks for doing this article, it's been fun.

Susan Cox

 

Do you remember your first vinyl music? Of course I had a few Beatles' 45's and LPs in the 60's that I would love to own now.  Some of the first records I purchased go back to the late 50's including Laurie London's "He's Got The Whole World In His Hands," Johnny Horton's "Battle of New Orleans" and "Sink the Bismark" and Connie Francis' "Lipstick On Your Collar."

Just thought this list would be interested.

Chris Jones

 

It was 1956, I was listening to pop and rock 'n' roll music AMAP and I was determined to get that record "Singing The Blues" by Guy Mitchell (Columbia.)  I was so proud that my selection topped the charts for so many weeks. I played it many times, but was concerned about wearing it out.  After that, there were many more records I wanted, but alas, I had no money, so my record collecting had to wait for years until I had a job and had bought my first car.

In 1964 my serious record collecting began, still constrained by available funds, but launching years of research and hunting for old treasures. But even though I found out that Marty Robbins had recorded "Singing The Blues" first, I still always favored Guy Mitchell's recording much more.
In recent years the records have given way to CDs and mp3s, and XM Radio has uncovered hundreds more to add to my lists.
Thanks, everyone who has contributed to the preservation of the oldies!

Tom VK

 

I was living in Crailsheim, Germany. It was Christmas, 1965, when I got my first record player and my first 45s. They were "It Ain't Me Babe" by the Turtles on the original blue White Whale label. I remembered the original "B'" side was the fine rocker "Almost There."  Also "Sunshine, Lollipops & Rainbows" by Lesley Gore, short and sweet at 1:37. I remembered the flip was a dramatic ballad "You've Come Back," written by Van McCoy. Another one was "A Taste Of Honey" by Herb Alpert. I remembered the record would skip at certain points. I remembered the flip side was a sprightly version of Anton Karas' "The Third Man Theme."  I liked the Tijuana Brass so much that I bought the follow-up, "Zorba The Greek," which was edited to 2:48 from a 4:26 version. In addition to the edits, there was some extra crowd noise, an overdubbed trombone towards the end, and addtional reverb.

MMarvin

"You've Come Back" by Lesley Gore is one of my favorite recordings of all time.  I think it would have succeeded as an A-Side single all on its own.  Naturally, it was one of the very first records I nominated for our Favorite, Forgotten B-Sides series.

https://fhfavoriteb-sides.blogspot.com/

When I bought my copy of "Sunshine, Lollipop and Rainbows, it was at the mom and pop record store in downtown Brookfield, IL (eight corners) My brother and I would ride our bikes up there every Saturday and I would buy one or two new comics (usually Batman or Superman or Justice League), a cherry cola at the counter of the same drug store and one new 45 from the brand new WLS Silver Dollar Survey.

I remember perusing the list for quite some time before making my decision.  As clear as day, I remember show the list to my younger brother and asking him, "Which of these songs do you think will make it to #1?" to which he replied, "Well, all of them will."  Nope ... he just didn't get it!!!

I picked the Lesley Gore record and was pleased to see that it came with a picture sleeve ... but once I got it home and played it, was disappointed that it was only 1:37 long.  Man, I could have gotten much more bang for my buck if I had selected something else!!!  (Yep, even then I knew a good deal when I saw it!)  I consoled myself the minute I turned the record over and heard "You've Come Back" ... like I said, it became one of my favorite songs of all time.  (kk) 

 

I remember the day of my first record buying experience very well.  As a child, I lived on Staten Island, NY. Every Friday, my sister and I would take the ferry to NYC where we would go to my mother's office and my father would join us there. We'd then go to a greasy spoon for a Friday night dinner of grilled cheese sandwiches, heavy on the butter, and then travel to see my grandmother in Queens. One day, dad told us to come up early and he brought my sister and me to a Sam Goody store in lower Manhattan as a treat.  I was 11 and I was allowed to choose a 45 to play on our new phonograph. What a decision! I loved Rock and Roll and 1958 was a great year for it! I finally chose “All I Have To Do Is Dream” by The Everly Brothers. They became one of my favorites and I eventually owned all of their 45s ... until I came home from work one day and found my niece had destroyed many of them by using them as frisbees while her indulgent grandfather looked on. Now that I have grandchildren of my own, I understand ... but I sure didn't then!

Liz Nilsen

As a young man of 11 years old, my very first 45 rpm purchased was The Marcels, "BLUE MOON."  I loved the record.  The booming bass voice of Freddy Johnson.  Having that record was the bug that bit me.  I had to have more.  And more.  When the Beatles arrived, the album bug bit me as well.  I was on my way to cluttering my house with vinyl.  What a sweet virus that is.  And 18 years ago, the biggest bug bit me.  CAMEO PARKWAY records.  I boast of my collection of 45s and LPs.  www.vinylphilly.squarepins.org
I did get to see the Marcels perform in East Rutherford but with no originals.  But in 2001, at the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in Sharon, PA, outside of Pittsburgh, I met Freddy Johnson, the Marcels bass singer.  Oh man, I was in heaven.  Blue Moon, my first 45.
Vinyl Philly Dave

Hi Kent !

This is a strange story, but true!

I was reading stuff from My First 45's on your website and was thinking of mine at the time, Hey Little Cobra, and for the life of me, I couldn't remember the group.

Then all of a sudden, I saw at the end of the letter, that I'm reading a letter by Mitch Schecter. From the Rip Chords. I was blown away ! Thought you might like to know. Keep up the good work.

Mark

The first 45 I received was the Elvis - Too Much, but the first one I bought was at Hested's (like Woolworth) in Aurora, Colorado. It was Little Girl by Ritchie Valens. It was on the Del-Fi label, but it was an all gold label with Valens Memorial Series scrolled across the top. I still have it, but it doesn't play too well. I've since got it on mp3 ... a great copy, too!

joe

kent ...

i was seven, maybe eight years old when my mom took me to about seven record stores before we finally got "bo diddley" by the man himself, elias mcdaniel ... i had no idea - i'm not sure any white people did - what bo meant when he sang "mother asked mojo where you been ... up to your house and i'm goin' again ... i must have played that wax 10,000 times ... i still get chills every time i hear the track ... 

by the way, i suggest that all your disciples log on to youtube and type in chuck berry and bo diddley ... it shows the two titans together on stage at an oldies show in madison square garden back in 1972 ... bo appears far more comfortable than chuck.
chet coppock
wls radio
chetcoppock.com

 

Kent,

The first 45 I bought was "My True Story" by the Jive Five, in 1961. It's still one of my favorite records. My dad made a deal with me - "You don't play that record again tonight and I won't fashion your teeth into flying Chicklets!" I must've played it a hundred times in a row. The sound of those voices mesmerized me. Now, my sister was two years older so I was proficient at wearing out HER Elvis, Buddy Holly and Doo Wop 45's, but that was the first one I forked over MY spondulicks for! Still a bargain at any price! 

To the best of my recollection, the second and third singles were "Barbara Ann" and "Runaround" by the Regents on Gee Records. After that, the floodgates opened and every penny I got in allowance went for new 45's and scratched up ones from garage sales. I still have most if not all of them! Though it was an LP, the record I remember playing more than any other in my youth was "Elvis' Greatest Hits, Volume One." It's still my favorite, although "The Sun Sessions" pulls ahead from time to time!  

Henry Gross

 

Used to be a place (ah, how many people have used that phrase) in Portland, Oregon called Al's records.  The entire center of the relatively small store contained the 45's racks - what he didn't have, he'd order for you, but he usually had the top hits; this was before a formal Top Forty.  I toddled in at the tender age of seven, laid down my quarter and bought Robert Mitchum's Ballad of Thunder Road.  Shortly thereafter, I did the same thing and bought Elvis Presley's Rock-A-Hula Baby.  I still have them, some 51 years later.
Cheers,
Iain McLennon
Portland, OR

 

I have several 45's myself. My very first 45's were bought for me by my boyfriend (who later became my husband) when we were going out:  The Diary by Neil Sedaka and You Are My Destiny by Paul Anka.  We were living in Chicago at the time and the music was jumping! 

Claire Rivas of Janesville, Wi

 

I remember when I was 11 or 12 years old and received ten cents a week  for allowance and tried saving every penny I could to buy a 45.  My first 45 was a Beatles record, Twist And Shout, which I played over and over till it could not play anymore.  My girlfriends would come over to our house and we would make guitars from cardboard with a ruler and play these 45's.  It was awesome.  We would then make a little theater with chairs and have parents and family come and watch us perform as the Beatles.

Then Herman's Hermits came out and at that time I was finding odd jobs to try and make more money to buy more 45's.  My family did not have a lot of money but trying to find odd jobs and making ten cents a week for allowance made me appreciate more what I had bought.  After the Beatles, I started to buy Herman's Hermits 45's records ... Mrs. Brown You've Got A Lovely Daughter, I'm Henry the Eighth, I Am and I'm Leaning on the Lampost, which was my favorite at the time.  I still have those 45's hanging on the wall with all my other Herman's Hermits things and things I have collected from the 60's on my walls, which is so cool . When I go into the room it sure brings back good memories.

Thanks for letting us share the good days.

Terry Williams

 

My first 45 was Green Onions by Booker T. and the MG's.  I did not buy it.  It was a test record used by a local radio and tv repair shop.  My father began working at the repair shop back in 1963.  Every time they would repair a record player they would use the Booker T 45 to test and make sure everything sounded right.  One day I was at the shop and Mr Pinkney, the owner, got sick of hearing it and tossed it in the trash can.  I told him I liked it and wanted that 45.  He replied, "You can have it, but keep it out of this  %$##@  shop."  I brought it home and it hangs on the wall of my record room to this day.  The first 45 I bought was Surf City by Jan and Dean.  It was from the local soda fountain.  They sold 45s they pulled off the jukebox for 25 cents.  I was hooked.  Every week or so I would check the box and something good would be there.  Early 45s  I bought from "the box" were Suspicion by Terry Stafford, Do You Love Me by Dave Clark Five, Please Please Me by the Beatles  It's All Over Now by the Rolling Stones and She's the One by the Chartbusters.  That's been well over 40 years now, and 70,000 records later, I still collect 45s. 

Phil Shoemaker

 

Hello,

My very first 45 record purchase was 16 Candles by the Crests. (Lead singer Johnny Maestro passed away this year, 2010).  It was 1959 and my girlfriend in Chattanooga was turning 16, and for her birthday I bought her the record 16 Candles by the Crests.  I remember how mature I felt going into a record store for the first time to make that purchase.  Shortly after her birthday, I moved from Chattanooga to Indianapolis and we lost touch. But in 2003 we found each other online. Realizing that we will be life long friends, we continue to correspond, and my wife and I have visited with her and her husband. And of course, for her 61st birthday, I bought her a 45 record of 16 Candles by the Crests. As a side note, I'm a big fan of music harmony that is often referred to as doo wop, and suppose that even as a 16 year old kid back in 1959, I enjoyed R & B / doo wop harmony.

James Lewis

 

My first love lived out of state. He mailed me a dollar bill with a note asking me to go to the "record store" and purchase "Baby I Love You" by Andy Kim. I had never heard it, but he wanted it to be "our song."  I begged my sister to drive me since I wasn't old enough! When we got home I played it for hours! To this day when I hear it on the radio all those wonderful feelings come rushing back!
PATTI PAVIS

 

My very first 45 was Come Softly by the Fleetwoods ... I actually bought it for my sister's birthday. My next 45 was Alley Oop by the Hollywood Argyles.  Then I bought a 45 for the song Nutcracker it was most all piano but can not remember the group ... I think it was Paul Revere and the Raiders. Then Palisades Park by Freddy "BOOM BOOM" Cannon.
Frank De Priest 

 

Long before anyone ever heard of Gurnee, Illinois, outside Lake County ... long before anyone thought of Great America or Gurnee Mills ... my sister worked for the "famous" Big Gurnee Discount Store. One day my mom was picking sis up from work and she told me I could buy a record with my hard earned lawn mowing money.  I pored through the records and found "The Letter."
I got it home and put it on ... and I was really shocked to hear Joe Cocker!

I was probably 9 - how did I know I anyone other than The Box Tops did that song? But, in the end, I got to love Cocker's cover version. I still smile when I hear it and think of how dumb I was.

Keith Johnson

 

The first record that I ever bought was Maybelline by Chuck Berry on 78 rpm. I probably heard it on Porky Chedwick's show on WAMO, as few other disc jockeys were playing Black music in Pittsburgh in 1955. My parents only had a 78 player and rock and roll and rhythm and blues became increasingly hard to find on 78s. Whenever I said that we needed a 45 player, my Dad would say "buy it on a 78."  Finally, I had to take my Dad with me to a record store so that he could see that they were no longer releasing many songs on 78, so that he would agree to buy our family a 45/33 rpm player. However, as a result of his procrastination, today I have an extensive collection of early rock and roll on 78 rpm.

Ed Salamon

My first 45 that I purchased with my own money was "Hurts So Good" by John Cougar.  I bought it at Target in New Albany, IN, for 99 cents and still have the picture sleeve with the price tag on it.  That's recent for some people but sure makes me feel old.  I was 11 at the time.  Since then I've amassed over 3,000 45's from 1951 through 2003. 
I continued to buy new music that I liked on 45 whenever I could, but it is nigh on impossible now to find much on 45, although some of the new "underground" artists still release 45's which I think is cool since my jukebox holds 100 45's and I like to rotate them every month or so.
Nothing sounds as good as vinyl and nothing ever will for me.
Chad from New Albany, IN.

My first record was Tom Dooley by the Kingston Trio. I was only about 7 at the time and originally had the 78.  I remember it clearly though because I put it on the chair one day and my dad sat on it and broke it.  I cried so much that to shut me up, my mum made him go out to buy another copy and he came home with the 45.
The B side was Ruby Red, another great song which I finally found on CD about two years ago. The first record I actually bought myself was Let's Jump The Broomstick by Brenda Lee. I was lucky enough to meet Brenda on my first visit to the States in 2006 and was surprised to learn that although the song was a big hit in England, it did nothing in the U.S. Most of the 45s I bought later are long gone, but I still have these two and whenever I hear them they remind me of the days when music actually meant something
Cheers
Nick Gordon

Kent;
June, 1963, grade 8 graduation dance.  I'd never been at any dance prior to this night, but always wanted to. 
On a dance floor, two gals could fast dance together, but NOT TWO GUYS.  There was roller skating at the area, but I didn't know that yet. I had to be content with ice skating to the pop stuff, Oct through April or May.
HARD to ice skate and "DANCE" at same time.  WAITED for Elvis and RETURN TO SENDER.
Grade 8 graduation,  turns out the chaperone, well, I think everyone knew her, but I knew her a tad better because I'd hang out with her younger brother occasionally.  She brought a stack of 45s.
The SOUND(???) SYSTEM ... Put a small record player at edge of the  stage and a mic in front of it.
Went through her 45s and said "You don't have any ELVIS stuff. "
Our house was a five minute walk from the high school so I went over and got the ONLY 45 I had ...
Good Luck Charm.  For graduating grade 8, I was given $4 or $5.  First LP???  Elvis Golden Records. Wasn't listed as Vol 1 because RCA had noooo idea as to where he'd go after 1959.
Soooo anyway, after a few songs, the gal put on Good Luck Charm.
CanNOT recall how the situation took place, but she came down on the floor level and the FIRST gal I ever danced with (we did the twist) was the chaperone!
Robert Black  of Willowdale CANADA

I was in fourth grade - there was a school carnival - and I think I won a prize by throwing a basketball into a hoop or something like that.  Anyway, the prize was a promotional copy (mono on one side and stereo on the other) of "Lay Lady Lay." Being the oldest and in fourth grade, I really wasn't sure about what the song was about, but I played it anyway.

kip wahlers

I’m only 43 now, born in ’68, but have been an oldies music buff since I was about 15.  However, the first 45 I bought was in 1981 and was a BIG pop #1 song.

I still have it and it’s in pristine condition: CENTERFOLD by J. Giles Band b/w RAGE IN THE CAGE.  I bought it at Speedy’s Record Shop on 6^th and Hamilton Streets in downtown Allentown, PA.  What a great place to get music (they moved about 20 years ago, but closed about 5 years ago.)  I was given $5 bucks a week allowance then and I would go into town every Saturday and buy one 45, see a movie and get a Frosty from Wendy’s and still have a little change.  Life was good then.  The Centerfold 45 was interesting to me because it was on a pink and black label with a handprint logo at top, disturbed by EMI America.  Being new to record collecting I was eager to see what other labels did.  The following week I bought PRIVATE EYES by Hall and Oates, which has Nipper on the front.  My dad told me about “His Master’s Voice” tagging which by then had been stopped.  From then on I was hooked.  I would have listening parties at my house because no one else would spend their money on records. 

I collected for about 25 years and stopped a couple of years ago at about 6K 45’s.  Now I’ve switched to collecting a more expensive hobby: game worn baseball jerseys.  Let me tell you, you can’t get a game worn jersey for a buck-forty-nine!

It’s ok to look back to the past … but don’t try to live in it!

Dave Z

Alburtis, PA  

In 1957 I was 12 years old and starting to pay attention to the songs on the radio. My favorite was Black Slacks by Joe Bennett & The Sparkletones. One Saturday I went with my grandmother to the A&P to help her grocery shop. I saw a display of 45s in one corner and had to look at them. I found Black Slacks and bought it.
Kris

In 1959, I bought my first 45, Guitar Boogie Shuffle, by the Virtues, on the Hunt label. Curiously, it was my grandmother who turned me on to the song. We used to sit in her kitchen in the early morning and listen to the radio. Grandma always listened to KQV, AM 1410, in Pittsburgh. When they played that record, she always said she liked it. So I returned every empty soda bottle I could find for the deposit -- I scoured the neighborhood -- scraped together the money and bought the record from the record department of the Pittsburgh Merchantile department store. I think I paid 49 cents for it -- approximately 25 returned bottles! That very record is still in my collection. It also was the start of a long relationship with the 45, which continues to this day. As a followup, in later years I had the good fortune to meet and become friends with jazz guitarist, Jimmy Bruno, who's father, Jimmy, was the lead guitarist for the Virtues and played the lead on that record.

-- Joe Nez, Pittsburgh, PA

My first record was Paul McCartney and Wings' "Live And Let Die."  I bought the 45 with my babysitting money for 99-cents. 

I remember that Paul and Linda were both rocking these really cool shag haircuts on the cover.  I finally had long hair myself in college, but then I quickly grew this bald spot and it ruined my dream!

Ryan Murphy ("Glee")

 

My first 45 was Robot Man by Jamie Horton, in about 1958 or ‘59.  She had another record, “My Little Marine,” after that.

My second 45 is one that I’ve been trying to figure out for years now.  I can remember a light-blue label, and the song had something to do with a soldier sitting under a tree reading a letter.  Or maybe it was a girl sitting under a tree reading a letter from her soldier boyfriend.  Not sure, but I’d love to know what it was.

Like many others on your site, I got a 25-cent allowance back then ... and 45s were 50 cents ... so I had to save up for two weeks and then buy a record I just “had to have”.  Never a week went buy that I didn’t have a favorite song that played on WCFL or WLS.  “Itsy Bitsy ...” was one of those, as was Del Shannon’s “Runaway.”  I still have most of those 45s, although I can’t vouch for what shape they’re in.

Kathy Reilly

Rediscover Music

 

I lived in the suburbs of Philly from the early 50s through the present.

Since Bill Haley was then going from country and western to sort of a rockabilly - rock ‘n roll sound and lived in Chester, PA, I had some early recordings of him on the Essex label such as ‘Dim Dim The Lights” and ‘The Saints Rock and Roll.”  By the time he signed with Decca, a “B” side of a single received play in the movie “Blackboard Jungle” and it all broke loose with that tune, “Rock Around The Clock.”

Later that year (‘55) I bought “The Great Pretender” by the Platters and away I went. My first summer job was at a small town swimming pool and amusement park / roller skating / bowling alley combination facility.  The first week’s pay bought me a “45” record player and every check thereafter sent me to the local record store for some more of that good time rnr.  I played a little drums and guitar for a local rock and roll band in the late 50s / early 60s.  For a while I taught a course, “Rock and Roll Up To The Beatles” at a local high school evening course.

I now have 14,000 songs in my iTunes collection and love to make CDs for friends / acquaintances, high school reunions, etc. — for free.  Every year or so, I try to find a Philly area musician who recorded back in the day  and I take him / her out to lunch and I take notes of our conversation.

Tom Moore

 

My first record when I was five yrs old was He's So Fine by the Chiffons. My parents bought me a record player and I used to watch the red and white 45 go round and round and then play it again.
Although the song isn't really ever forgotten I just haven't heard it in many years. Appreciate you playing it again.

Daniel Viscarde

 

 

Hi -

First 45 I bought was "Space Race" by Billy Preston ... purchased it at an Alco Store in Concordia, Kansas, for 75 cents back in 1973.

The second and third 45's were purchased for the same price at the same location later in the year 1973, on the same day: 

Just You 'N' Me by Chicago and Helen Wheels by Paul McCartney.  It was a blast to look through the new 45's, and there were usually a few of each ... and you would make sure you picked out the prime ones.

Douglas Rhine - 2011

The first 45 I bought was Stevie Wonder’s "Hey Love.”  (Wonder later would write “Tell Me Something Good,” our first hit for the band Rufus.)  Then the first album I ever bought was Led Zeppelin’s first album in high school. I’m a big rock ’n’ roller. If you look at early Rufus, that’s what we were doing.

Chaka Khan

I started buying all the records by Alvin and the Chipmunks in the early 1960's, along with "Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah" by Allan Sherman. Then the Beatles hit when I was 14, and I had to buy all their singles (starting with "She Loves You"), then all the Dave Clark 5 singles.
Finally, I had to stop buying baseball cards and comic books so I could buy more records. Starting in January, 1965, I would go downtown every Saturday and buy three or four 45's, starting with This Diamond Ring, You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin', Keep Searchin' and Tell Her No.  I didn't stop until I had over 7,000 45's and they stopped making them.
Fred

The very first record I ever bought was a 78rpm of Freddy Cannon's "Way Down Yonder In New Orleans" in early 1960.  I told Freddy that when I interviewed him years ago, and he was amazed.  He didn't know it had been released on 78.  Canada was a few years behind the U.S. then.  It was on the Quality label here in Canada and unfortunately, it's been lost over time.  I had an Aunt and Uncle living in Easton, Pennsylvania, at the time and that summer, my family traveled down to visit them.  My dad took me to a local record store (possibly it was in Philadelphia) where I bought my 2nd record ever - a Cameo Records 45 of Bobby Rydell's "Volare" in a red picture sleeve with a head shot of Bobby on the cover (that one I still have.)

Doug Thompson

Canada

First 45 was Good Luck Charm and First LP Elvis Gold Records. (1958)

Robert Black

 

In 6th grade, in 1962, I had a crush on a girl name Donna.  For "share and tell day," she brought in a 45 of Dion's The Wanderer.  I loved the song, wanted that record.  Donna and the song were a potent combo.  But, I had to wait for the 45, since it was on back order at the only store selling 45s in our small town.  So, the first 45 I took home was "My Boomerang Won't Come Back" by Charlie Drake. (the chorus swings ala Louis Prima.)

In 1996, I bought a jukebox and ordered more 45s to add to my collection ... including a copy of "Boomerang."  (I had traded my copy away in '65.)  When I received the new copy,  I realized that there were two versions of Boomerang, as the original was deemed too controversial for radio.  The edited radio version was politically correct with certain word changes.
I've always loved Dion, he still sounds great!  Donna is long gone, and she was never a prima-donna!
Billy F.

 

Kent:

The first 45 rpm that I ever owned was Johnny Ray singing "The Little White Cloud That Cried."  Then my mom bought for herself (which I eventually got) Eddie Fisher ... and lots of them.

DJ Stu Weiss

 

The first 45 RPM record I ever owned was one I had stolen at Big Apple Supermarket in Atlanta, GA. It was called “I Ran All The Way Home” by the Impalas.  This was fall of 1959.  The first legit 45 I ever owned was given to me for a birthday gift “Blue Velvet” by Bobby Vinton.

Bob Jones

Guessing that you also ran all the way home after swiping your first 45!  (kk)

 

My first 45 was Dizzy by Tommy Roe. I remember seeing him on American Bandstand performing it (the lip sync version), and I used to play it non-stop.

I recall some others from that era. My cousin's first was a song
called Israelites by Desmond Dekker. A refugee from eastern Europe who was living with us bought Spill the Wine by Eric Burden and War and In the Year 2525 by Zager and Evans. I see Dennis Zager sells custom guitars these days. Nice stuff. He used to play them non-stop along with When I'm 64 by the Beatles.

Stephen Apple

 

My first record player was a 78 r.p.m. kiddie model with an old-fashioned diaphragm attached to the tone arm, which acted as a speaker.  The thing was virtually indestructible and could have easily doubled as a murder weapon.  It had steel needles that looked like carpenter's nails and always seemed to need replacing after every fifth spin. 

My record collection was an odd assortment of "Little Golden Records" for kids interspersed with the pop hits of the day I heard on the radio.  I had collected everything from Sammy Kaye to Yosemite Sam.  My poor folks were forced to listen to an endless loop of "Mona Lisa," "Mule Train" and "The Three Billy Goats Gruff."

-- Tommy James

 

Wow ... what a great website!

My first 45 was "Mack the Knife" by Bobby Darin, bought in early 1959. I was in 5th grade at Washington Elementary School in Whittier, Calif. My teacher (Mr. Bradford) was teaching the class the Swing step. WOW ... we (guys) actually danced with girls!!! I really enjoyed the class. He played the Bobby Darin record every time we had dance-class (twice weekly) so, I really got to like the song. When I brought home the record my dad said "Oh, that's a gory song."  I didn't understand what he meant then because I really didn't listen to the words ... just the beat.

Thanks, Kent, for the memories : )
Tom Creed

 

I remember buying that FIRST 45 with my own money like it was yesterday.

I got my very first job delivering papers on my bike every day after school. When it was time to get paid, I rode that bicycle down to the "Record Land" store on the main street of our city. The song I had heard a number of times on my transistor as I delivered those papers. It was "Sherry" by the Four Seasons. After that I was at the record store every week buying all the latest songs I heard on the radio. It was the beginning of a life-long love affair with 1960's rock & roll.
Rick McCaffrey - Poughkeepsie, NY

 

My first 45 was "Last Train to Clarksville" and I won it at a friend's birthday party.  I still have it!

Lynn Roberts Grice

 

The first 45 I ever had was not really "mine"-- it was my parents'. I was only five at the time, but I know my dad bought it for my sake because I loved the song -- "Poison Ivy" by the Coasters. It probably wasn't a record my suburban parents would have wanted. I remember bopping around in the back seat of the car and singing along whenever they played it, so I know it was purchased for that reason.

The first 45 I ever bought with my own money was "Wonderful World" -- not Sam Cooke but Herman's Hermits.  KRLA in Los Angeles was plugging the hell out of Herman's Hermits that summer. My mom, my little brother and I were in a TG&Y store in the San Fernando Valley and my mom bought something. We went back out to the car, but I yelled, "Just a minute!" as I made up my mind to spend the money to buy that record. I ran back and got it, making my mom and brother wait in a broiling hot car while I did so.

They've both been gone now for quite a while, but I still feel bad about that.

--Mike Devich

 

I started buying records in 1956. The first one I bought was Be-Bop-A-Lula by Gene Vincent; it was on a ‘78’ disk and I was heartbroken when I sat on it and broke it to pieces. I bought it from a record store on Regent Road in Salford near Manchester, where I lived.
Graham Nash

I bought my first record in 1960; I was 13. I had $1 of my own money and I bought “Red River Rock,” an album by Johnny and The Hurricanes, at the Woolworth's in the first mall opened in southern Michigan.

Iggy Pop

Dave Kapulsky (or, as we all know and love him) Dave The Rave tells us that his first 45 ... the 45 that started his massive collection ... was "A Wonderful Dream" by the Majors on the Imperial label. This first 45 was acquired by winning a dance contest at the YMHA in Highland Park, NJ.  Shortly after that, his father gave him his first Beatles record.  

"I was a big fan of the Beatles, and my father bought me Meet the Beatles, their first domestically released album," he said.

But neither record is the oldest in his collection. The oldest record is a 1953 release called "Gee" by the Crows. But that is not an original, he said. The oldest original recording is "Rock Around the Clock," by Bill Haley and the Comets, released in 1954.

"I call my oldies ‘Relics and Rarities’ because most of them are not big hits, but they sound like they should have been," he explained, adding that someone recently dubbed him the "king of obscure records that sound great."

-- Dave The Rave

My first single was "Martian Hop," by the Ran-Dells. 
I heard it on my transistor. Probably WABC. I needed to own it. I begged my mother to take me to the store to buy it. You didn't have access to shops in the suburbs, you were reliant on the transportation of your parents. But I do remember riding my bike miles to Topps' discount store to buy the Beach Boys' "Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!)" a few years later, I needed it just that bad, I had to walk my Raleigh up the steep hill of Kings Highway on the way back. 
But that was an album. After I realized singles were a raw deal. For the cost of a couple I could own LPs. Stuff like Gary Lewis & The Playboys' "She's Just My Style." I remember being infatuated with the title track, and the album included covers of "Lies" and "All I Have To Do Is Dream," which I first discovered on Jan & Dean's "Command Performance."
But I started with singles. "Martian Hop" had a pink label. And as much as I remember buying it, what I remember more is dropping the needle on it. That moment of anticipation, removing the disc from the paper sleeve, placing it on the heavy platter, and then lifting the tonearm with the ceramic needle and dropping it on the entry groove and hearing that static and then ... THE MUSIC! 
I loved the Four Seasons and, in 1964, I became a Beatle fanatic. Elvis Presley was for old farts, even when he came back.

Bob Lefsetz

I just heard about your site per a plug on Scott Shannon's True Oldies channel. 

Not counting kids records by acts like Captain Kangaroo or Burl Ives, the first 45 I ever heard and asked Mom to buy was from 1958 when I was a pre-schooler: The Purple People Eater by Sheb Wooley.  

For many years, though, I was more into my parents' music and school band music in the '60's until we began playing a lot of pop hits at football games in high school. I became acquainted with many songs the band played and "Classical Gas" by Mason Williams was the first one I bought. I also bought "The Horse" by Cliff Nobles, "Everyday People" by Sly & the Family Stone, "Hawaii Five-O" by the Ventures and "Scarborough Fair" by Simon & Garfunkel. 

It was really around March, 1970, when I began religiously following Top 40 radio and started buying heavily. Some of the early songs I bought follow: Celebrate by Three Dog Night, Travelin' Band / Who'll Stop the Rain by CCR, Love Grows by Edison Lighthouse, Easy Come, Easy Go by Bobby Sherman, Spirit In the Sky by Norman Greenbaum, Little Green bag by George Baker Selection, Love or Let Me Be Lonely by Friends of Distinction, Walking Through the Country by Grass Roots, Something's Burning by Kenny Rogers and First Edition ... well, you get the picture. I'll stop here.  

John Kier 

Atlanta, GA

1965, when aged 8, I got a hand me down battered up old record player that would play 45s or 78s.  Talked my Mam (Mother) into buying me 6 x 45s from the local Swap shop (second hand shop) Tommy Roe Sweet Little Sheila was one of them, and although I am an avid music lover, this is still the only song where I could sing a full verse Lol.  

Regards

David Kirton

The very first 45 I bought was California Dreamin' (1965) by The Mamas and The Papas. After that 1st 45 (which I still have), I never stopped until they became unavailable. The very best memories were made in the fantastic 60's. I still play them and play them. Better than anything out these days!

Harry

 

My first 45 purchase in 6th grade was Walt Disney Theme to Johnny Tremain. WOW!

My first rock and roll purchase was "Dance to the Guitar Man." This purchase led to a collection of thousands of 45's and albums, all from the 50's and 60's. Recently moved to Florida so sold them all. Kept about 50 rare 45's and picture sleeves.

What a fantastic site.

Michael Vecellio

 

My first singles? Good question.

As far as I can remember ... believe it or not, it was "The Exodus Song (This Land Is Mine)" by Pat Boone.

Yeah ... I wasn't much of a swinger at 11 years old ... keep in mind this was with my OWN money from doing errands around the house.

My first 45 that my folks got me was at age 8 and that was "The Chipmunk Song" ... do you at least see a bit of progress from 8 to 11?

No?

Well, by 1963 I was purchasing many more records ... (my allowance had increased) ... even though my folks had a hiss fit every time (especially my mom ... dad could have cared less) mom heard a new song being played from my closed bedroom.

It came to the point when I was smuggling records up under my shirt and down my pants (don't ask.)

I remember on her birthdays and Christmas gave me a really good reason to buy HER a record of HER choice ... so I ended up purchasing "Red Roses For A Blue Lady by Bert Kaempfert, "Dear Heart" by Henry Mancini ... yep, she loved plenty of elevator music ... however these songs WERE hits on the local / national charts.

The Beatles changed my entire way of thought about music ... I STILL loved The 4 Seasons, The Beach Boys and had a GREAT appreciation for Phil Spector and his "family" of singers ... I must have played "Be My Baby" and "Baby, I Love You" a million times.

My collection blossomed to 14,000 and probably many more throughout the sixties, seventies ... and some eighties (I was a mobile disc jockey for awhile during the 80's) and was forced to purchase a LOT of music that I did not like ... it mostly was garbage.

So, that is that ... the beginnings.

Gary Peters

P.S. I forgot to mention "Love Kitten" and the GREAT B side "Why Can't A Boy and Girl Just Stay in Love" by Noreen Corcoran (who starred in the old tv sitcom "Bachelor Father.")  This record is AMAZING ... produced by Nino Tempo and sax played like a crazy man, also by Nino. I thought for SURE this was another Phil Spector-produced recording, but when I bought it, it was on The 4 Seasons label "Vee Jay"

WOW!!

Of course many years down the pike I learned that Nino was one of many who played in the "Wall of Sound" grouping that Phil launched for his own company Philles.

IF you've never heard this record, seek it out ... it's one of the best ever recorded in my book ... IF you're a "Wall of Sound" fan.

Gary

 

 

Hi Kent!

Not sure if you're still accepting stories, but here's mine if you are:
Like others, I can't remember the first 45 I ever bought with real money, because I received a bunch free, then went on a buying frenzy. I had the bug!

My Dad had a friend in Western MD who owned a tavern with a jukebox. Well, when the jukebox was changed out, he would give me a boxful of 45's. I loved them -- some I'd never heard of, some real gems. After getting bit by the music bug, I was a big fan of local radio (Baltimore) in the 50's-60's, listening to my transistor underneath my pillow at night. I would win contests galore, go to visit the radio stations in order to pick up my prize then sweet talk my way into taking home more and more 45's, mostly promo copies. All of this while I was still in school.
I was in love with music. In 1960, I heard this new record by an unknown to me and had to have that record. Wow, I went to my local record stores after school the next day, searching until I found it! Yay! A brand new record that I played and played and played on my little portable player. I still have it and love the song: "Be My Girl"b/w "Lovesick" on PREP by Johnny Madara. Who would ever foresee that in the future I would be led to this website to share this little part of my collecting memories. I have over 2000 45's now, pared down quite a bit in order to fit in our little house. Just as an aside, I worked for that local radio station about 30 years later, loved it, loved it, loved it. And still came away with more 45's that I treasure.
I have to do an aside to Freddy BOOM BOOM, if he's reading here ... Freddy, you were the hit of our farewell concert at WITH back in the 90's. Thank you! I'll always remember your energy filled performance.
And Kent, Thank You for this Johnny Madara interview ... I never knew what became of him. Wonderful!!!!!
Janet J,

Florida
ps ... and yes, I was one to put address labels on all my 45's records at parties. That's where all those strange calls came from? LOL

You can read our interview with John Madara here: https://fhjohnmadara.blogspot.com/ ... and hear his "non-hit" record here:

 

The revelation of rock and roll hit me hard, and I've never recovered!  (Thankfully!)   I was 10 years old in 1959 when I bought my first 45.  It was "In the Mood" by Ernie Fields and his Orchestra.   Now, I really did love that song, but I knew even then it was a cover of the Glenn Miller song.  My parents were cool with my choice, probably because it had been a hit when THEY were younger.  Anyway,  I ended up wanting every great song ever recorded, and I am still trying achieve that goal.  Oldies Forever!   

Tom from Long Island

 

Here are the first records I ever bought ... four at once for my birthday: 

'Don't Make Me Over' by The Swinging Blue Jeans

'Stop' by The Moody Blues

'She Needs Company' by Manfred Mann

'Hold Tight' by Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich

I bought them at WT Grants in downtown Syracuse, April '66

Kevin Patrick

NY, NY 10013

 

Bought my first 45 in '57.  We'd just moved from Chicago to L.A., to an apartment on Imperial Hwy. near Western.  Walking distance to Crenshaw and a corner shopping center that was home to Lushan's Records.  That's where I bought "The Real Elvis," an EP (Extended Play) that had I Want You, I Need You, I Love You; My Baby Left Me; Don't Be Cruel; Hound Dog.  Played it over and over and over ...
David Kleinbart

 

In the early 60's a friend gave me a copy of Sidecar Cycle by Charlie Ryan.  It was a simple little song, nothing special -- nothing to write home about -- but because it was the first non-parental gift I'd ever received, I remembered every word for years and years!  (Later, I would bike over to his house and hear Last Time by the Stones as the 45 player was put on the windowsill.)

Silly, but one of those times you don't forget.

P.S.  The original Hot Rod Lincoln was also by Charlie Ryan - and IMO better!

Rich F.

 

In 1956 I was coming to the end of my service in the Royal Air Force.  When I went in on Oct. 11 1952, I had quite a collection of records (78s), going back to the first one I bought with my own money (which was ‘Buttons and Bows’ by Dinah Shore on my 15th birthday in 1948.)  Through the early fifties I was buying Guy Mitchell, Frankie Laine, etc., and any that caught my fancy, such as Les Paul and Mary Fords’ 'Mocking Bird Hill,’ Earl Bostic’s ‘Flamingo,’ Bell Sisters' ’Bermuda,’ Sonny Terry Trio ’Hooting Blues,’ Rusty Draper’s ‘Wabash Cannonball’ and a lot more of the same, not just the popular records of the day. Up till then, 45’s were hardly issued over here in the UK, but around ‘56 I managed to get my first ones.  They were ‘Gone’ by Ferlin Husky, and ‘Since I Met You Baby’ by Ivory Joe Hunter, which I still have to this day.

Mike Prescott

Minehead

Somerset England

In 1963 I was 10 years old and had three older sisters. They always had the radio or phonograph on and they bought all the popular hits. However they refused to buy an instrumental I heard and liked ... Washington Square by the Village Stompers.

"It's too hillbilly (banjos) ... too Dixieland ... and an instrumental ... whew! ... no way!"  Since my sisters had dozens of 45's and I didn't have a one, I pleaded my case to my Mom and she gave my oldest sister 89 cents with orders to "buy your brother's record".  

A day or two later, my sister came home from being downtown, handed it to me and said, "Here's your stupid record ... just don't play it while I'm around."  My Mom and I liked it and I think even one or two of my sisters might have also ... but would never admit it. I think it may have made it into the "Top 10."  Not bad for a Dixieland instrumental.  

Duke

I think it's a GREAT record ... and, believe it or not, it made it all the way up to #2!!!  (kk)

 

The first 45 I purchased was “Rockin’ Robin” by Bobby Day.
We had a 20 record Seeburg Jukebox in the basement of our home, and stacks of 78’s.  Wish I still had them!

George Buetow

Founding member - The Missing Links

 

A school friend, Harvey Miller, persuaded me to get into shoplifting with him.  I am not proud of this; I am merely reporting the facts.  The first 45-rpm single that found its way into my pudgy little paws was "Tossin' And Turnin'" by Bobby Lewis.  It only cost eight-cents ... I started small.  The first album was Ray Charles' "Genius + Soul = Jazz."  Thanks to KDAY, I had heard this remarkable man's two latest hits, the novelty "Hit The Road Jack" and the cool instrumental "One Mint Julep."  I couldn't wrap my mind around the fact that they were by the same guy.  I thought you either played or sang.  I didn't know you could do both.  In any case, I had to have his album.  I loved that album.  Still love that album.  I walked into Westchester Music like a forty-year old.  I had a folded newspaper in my hand.  I put the album inside when Fern's son Dave Jarris wasn't looking.  I strolled out.  Clean.  I can't speak for Internet pirates, but I can tell you this:  Nothing sounds as sweet as your first stolen song.

-- Howard Kaylan / The Turtles

 

I had a few 45s that I had gotten for birthday presents. They were Ragtime Cowboy Joe by David Seville, Straighten Up and Fly Right by the De John Sisters and The Rat Race by Richard Maltby. I think there were a couple others, but I don't remember what they were. The first records I bought with my own money when I was 12 were Pop Pop Pop Pie by the Sherrys and Tel-Star by the Tornados.  

Bob

 

The Summer of 1959, my Mother took me to New York City and blew my mind halfway to smithereens. I was eleven.

One of the first singles I ever bought in a real "record store" was Tallahassee Lassie by Freddy Cannon. Loved the "scream" sound of it, loved the huge beat and the bending guitar ... pretty progressive rockin' for 1959. Always remembered that single because in Winnipeg we didn't have "record stores" ... we just had "record departments" inside bigger stores. New York City had big stores stuffed with nothing but records. My eleven year old musical head could barely handle it.

Fast Forward about forty years or maybe a few more. I'm sitting in Winnipeg with Freddy Cannon and he's telling me right at our table about how he "almost" went out for dinner with Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran (they were all touring Europe together) the night of the accident that took Eddie and basically crippled Gene. Remarkable. Freddy Cannon ... one of the most humble, real, rock and roll legends I've ever met. 

-- Burton Cummings

I was born in Chicago.  My rock 'n' roll world opened when I was 10 and a half. My family was not an Ed Sullivan family, we watched Steve Allen, and I'm a better person for it. Allen was sidesplitting, spontaneously, intelligently funny (and from Chicago!)  But this night, January 7th, 1957, we had Sullivan on for some reason, and there was Elvis Presley. It was the turning point of my life. When people say he is a deity, you don't hear any laughter from me. The sudden appearance of this creature was like what other people get from LSD: it opened another universe. 

My habits changed immediately. I had been buying stamps, a dollar a week's worth, from a hobby shop which, ironically, had begun carrying records (78s) to supplement the meager stamp business. The second Friday in January, I pointed back to records instead of staring down at stamps. "I'll take that," I said, meaning Elvis' "Too Much," which he'd sung on Sullivan. I detected disapproval from the philatelist: I was joining the enemy. When he first started stocking records, my dad asked him what kind of people bought them and he rolled his eyes. Of course, I liked that too: it was my first step on becoming a juvenile delinquent. I say first step, but I never got any further, though I carried a knife. 

"Too Much" was a disappointment; I liked it better when he sang it on TV. But I persevered. The next record that caught my attention was one I heard riding north on Lake Shore Drive in my parents' car. I was hooked by the guitar, then mesmerized by the drum and cowbell. It was James Burton's lead on Dale Hawkins' "Suzie Q." 

My first album was a disappointment - Ricky on Imperial. It was softened rockabilly, not sharp-edged like Dale Hawkins. The version of "Be-Bop Baby," which I already had on a single, was even lame - they had used an alternative, weak take! My parents, who had paid $4 for it, were upset by my reaction, saying I should be careful what I asked for … as if I could know what the hell was on an album! But we were lower middle-class: dad worked at a printing place, mom in an office, so there were few dollars to throw around.  By June, 1957, I was ready to go to a rock 'n' roll show. My mom took me. It was the Howard Miller extravaganza at the Chicago Opera House. For my first live music, I saw Chuck Berry, Little Brenda Lee, Tab Hunter, Charlie Grace, the Everly Brothers and several more, including the ultra-square Dan Belloc Orchestra, and the always-trying Nick Noble, a balladeer (he was one of the preceding generation.)  Chuck duck-walked, the girls screamed for Tab (mistakenly, as time would tell), the Everlys did two songs, and I had a ball.

Art Fein

 

My first purchased 45’s was in Coffeyville, Kansas, over Christmas vacation of 1960.  I had two bucks to my name and walked downtown to “The Music Box” to buy two records for my new Christmas gift record player. After listening to several “Top-40” records in the record booth (remember the record listening booths?), I bought “Fools Rush In” by Brook Benton and “Rubber Ball” by Bobby Vee. That began my life long record collection that has grown to over 3000 today.

There’s something magic about listening to records, that you just don’t get with cassettes, dvd’s or I-tunes. It’s a nostalgia I can’t explain.

Thanx      

Larry Tesh

 

I have to tell you that your website brought tears to my eyes last week.  I came across your First 45's feature for the very first time ... and memories came rushing back to me about my Mom ... who used to tell us whenever "Happy Together" by The Turtles came on the radio that this was the very first record she ever bought.  She would make all of us kids listen to it and sing along ... and a look of absolute joy would show on her face.  Mom's been gone for a while now ... and I haven't revisited that memory in a long, long time ... but last week you brought it all back.  (I couldn't have been more than 6 or 7 at the time.)  And then when I saw that you were going to see The Turtles in concert over the weekend it made me smile and wish that my mom could have seen it, too.  Thank you for making me remember something that otherwise may have stayed long forgotten.  It's what we would call "a good cry."

Maureen

 

My first memory of a 45 was the Crystals Then He Kissed Me.  I was walking through one of the department stores in Victoria as a young girl and they were playing this live TV show American Bandstand and the Crystals were performing.  I fell in love with the song and went and bought the 45 the same day.  Had to borrow the money from my Mom to do it, too! 

I still have a number of old 45’s and 33’s and just gave away a bunch at a garage sale.  Shame but at least the guy really wanted them.

Lennie McDonald

 

I'd received several as gifts, but the first I bought was "Shapes of Things" by the Yardbirds, featuring Jeff Beck. Each Christmas, in the mid-60s, I received the newest Beatles' LP ... BEATLES '65, RUBBER SOUL. After that, my biggest expansion into record collecting occurred in the Fall of '67 when I joined the Columbia Record Club; the come-on was GREAT; 13 LPS for a penny, then purchase 12 for $3.99 per album (to the best of my recollection.)  I was beside myself ... some of my favorite 60s records came from that CRC selection. Thank you for the memories!!!!

Frank Carmack

 

I just discovered your site.

My first two 45's were A SUMMER PLACE and EBB TIDE.

Barbara Mandel



The first 45 I bought was an instrumental called "Scratchy" by Travis Wammack.  I first heard it on a jukebox in a little hamburger place in Charlotte around 1964.  I wore that record out!  The first LP I bought was Telstar by the Ventures in 1965.  I earned the money to buy that album by painting the outside of our house.  Since those days, I now have more than 10,000 albums, more than 2000 45's, and I don't know how many collectable 8-tracks (many sealed), cassettes, and even CDs.  I have many 78's and also some Edison 1/4" thick discs.  Just for kicks and giggles, I just had to have an Edison cylinder (with cardboard tube) and a 16" V disc.  I think I have all formats and I have came to the conclusion that ( to me ), the BEST sound comes from a 45 that is in good condition! 

Hooked on vinyl! 

Doug Venters 

North Carolina

Being an Oldie myself (67), I have amassed an original 45 collection of over 600 from between 1955 and 1962. Unfortunately, I can’t remember the 1st one I bought as a kid.

I do remember the first LP albums that I bought, though. The Everly Brothers' Best, and Have Twangy Guitar, Will Travel, by Duane Eddy. Proud to say I still have them both.

Our generation is fading and it is up to us to preserve this truly unique period of American musical history. Long may it live!! 

-Larry, aka Oldies Nut

Growing up during the late 50's and 60's as I did, all of my memories are encapsulated within the music of the time. The best music ever! Our family never sat down to dinner without the console stereo playing music in the background. All kinds of music ... folk, instrumental, rock and roll, big band, and male and female singers of the day. There was never a holiday or birthday on which we did not give or were given music in some glorious form. I can remember receiving "Meet The Beatles" and the joy that I felt holding that album in my hands.  

My first 45 was Eydie Gorme singing "Blame It On The Bossa Nova."  I had gotten a particularly good report card and the gift of the 45 was slipped under my bedroom door by our older sister. I will never forget that day! 

August Moon

My first 45 was "Stand" by Sly & The Family Stone.  I bought it at K-Mart with my mother and six of my brothers and sisters when we went school clothes shopping.  I still remember that it cost 79 cents.  I bought it to play on my new Close 'n' Play (remember those?) that I had gotten for my 7th birthday.  My little brother and sister and I would stand every time they sang "Stand!"  LOL   That was my great choreography.  We were so dorky. 
Danny Seib
Syracuse, NY

I am reminded of the first four records I ever bought as a kid. Really can't remember which was first, second, third, or fourth, but Joe Bennett and the Sparkletones' BLACK SLACKS was one of them. I drove my parents crazy playing that record over and over on my record player in my bedroom. The other three were MOONLIGHT GAMBLER by Frankie Laine, WHITE SILVER SANDS by Don Rondo AND I DREAMED by Betty Johnson.  One of Joe Bennett's followups was a song called COTTEN PICKIN' ROCKER (FROM WAY BACK.)  As a kid, I always referred to that song as the "hiccup song."  For those of your readers who might be familiar with it, they will know what I'm talking about.  

Larry Neal

It was “The Real Elvis,” an RCA Victor EP (extended play) with four songs … “Don’t Be Cruel,” “Hound Dog,” “I Want You I Need You I Love You” and “My Baby Left Me.”   It was 1957 and I bought it in Inglewood, CA.  Played it over and over. 

David Kleinbart

Northridge, CA

I can't remember the first 45s I bought. I was still in grade school in the early 60s, and thanks to the influence of my older sister, I loved to listen to the radio. Back then, off the charts hit records could be bought for next to nothing. They were sold 3/$1 at many stores, and I amassed a huge collection of records which I recently donated. I wanted to be a DJ like the ones I heard on the radio. Music always has been a very important element in my life. Now in my 60s, I still listen to oldies on the radio or streaming on Pandora.

Thanks for the memories!

Andy the wannabe DJ who never came to he.
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(='.'=)

(")_(")

The first 45 I remember buying as a kid was The Unicorn by the Irish Rovers. I 'lost' the 45 years ago but have the song thanks to itunes.

Sincerely,

Joe Cantello

Roswell, Ga

 

The first 45s I ever owned were "Reet Petite" by Jackie Wilson and "At The Hop" by Danny and the Juniors.

-- Elton John

Hi, Kent.
With all my thousands of 45's in my basement, I admit it was hard to pick the first one.  But then I noted 'With my own money' and it came to me.
I discovered that the ACME Market, two blocks from my house, sold 45's for 69 cents!
My early love of John Sebastian and the Lovin' Spoonful resulted in my first purchase, "Do You Believe in Magic," and the paint splashed label only helped in my adoration.  (Hey, just like the spinning paint pictures I used to love making on the boardwalk in Ocean City, NJ.)

As years passed, I bought every single and every cover and every album the Spoonful produced.  This included all of John Sebastian's solo records, also.
I started a fan club and used all the letters in the words 'Lovin' Spoonful' to make a heartfelt saying to go along with the club mailings.
I finally got to see Sebastian at Bucknell University in the '70's from about 10 feet away.  Oh, Lord, was that thrilling!
Still love their music!
Just ask my cd player.
Owen Mahon
Lewisburg, PA

In April, 1955, I bought my first record ... a single by Perez Prado called "Cherry Pink And Apple Blossom White."  When I played it, I was transported for a few minutes to glamorous movie sets inhabited by femmes fatales and white dinner-jacketed could- be-villains.

Andrew Loog Oldham

The first record I ever bought was Gene Vincent’s ‘Be-Bop-A-Lula’ on the Capitol label.

Paul McCartney

Tequila by The Champs

Cher

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