Here we go again. Here's a list of the 1st roughly 150 albums I can REMEMBER buying from Fall 1971 thru Spring 1979, from the time I was 12 years old & begging 4 $$$ from my folks 2 buy music, 2 the period when I was 1st out on my own & bought music & books B4 I bought food....
My intent here is not so much 2 show off as 2 give you some idea of the musical wacko you're dealing with. This list is more-or-less in chronological order, near as I can remember. I've probly forgotten a few items along the way, but I still have most of these. See how many of these you know, or have never heard of, or can laff at me 4 being willing 2 admit I purchased....
Lobo: INTRODUCING.
The Osmonds: (1st). Ah well, at least it wasn't my FIRST purchase. & there was actually some pretty good stuff on it....
Three Dog Night: HARMONY.
Bread: THE BEST OF.
Neil Diamond: GREATEST HITS (on Bang Records).
Carpenters: SINGLES 1969-1973.
Mike Oldfield: TUBULAR BELLS.
Neil Diamond: JONATHON LIVINGSTON SEAGULL soundtrack, DOUBLE GOLD best-of (on Bang).
Beatles: 1962-66, 1967-70, WHITE ALBUM, ABBEY ROAD.
Yes: YESSONGS.
The Who: WHO'S NEXT.
Tommy James & the Shondells: GREATEST HITS.
Beach Boys: GOOD VIBRATIONS best-of.
Moody Blues: DAYS OF FUTURE PASSED, IN SEARCH OF THE LOST CHORD, ON THE THRESHOLD OF A DREAM, TO OUR CHILDREN'S CHILDREN'S CHILDREN, A QUESTION OF BALANCE, EVERY GOOD BOY DESERVES FAVOUR, SEVENTH SOJOURN, THIS IS best-of.
Justin Hayward & John Lodge: BLUE JAYS.
Rare Earth: ONE WORLD.
Hollies: ROMANY.
Paul McCartney & Wings: VENUS AND MARS, BAND ON THE RUN.
Kansas: LEFTOVERTURE.
Queen: A NIGHT AT THE OPERA.
Al Stewart: YEAR OF THE CAT, TIME PASSAGES, PAST PRESENT AND FUTURE.
Blue Oyster Cult: AGENTS OF FORTUNE.
Janis Ian: BETWEEN THE LINES, AFTERTONES.
Boston: (1st), DON'T LOOK BACK.
Heart: DREAMBOAT ANNIE.
Jackson Browne: THE PRETENDER.
Manfred Mann's Earth Band: THE ROARING SILENCE.
Genesis: A TRICK OF THE TAIL, WIND AND WUTHERING.
Yes: GOING FOR THE ONE.
Gryphon: RED QUEEN TO GRYPHON THREE.
Hawkwind: HALL OF THE MOUNTAIN GRILL.
Fleetwood Mac: RUMOURS.
Providence: EVER SENSE THE DAWN.
Camel: THE SNOW GOOSE.
Renaissance: LIVE AT CARNEGIE HALL.
Beach Boys: PET SOUNDS, SURF'S UP, SUNFLOWER, FRIENDS/SMILEY SMILE, WILD HONEY/20-20, SUMMER DAYS AND SUMMER NIGHTS. (I was fascinated with the SMILE story & investigated these guys in-depth 2 C what all the fuss was about; they were pretty great.)
Incredible String Band: THE HANGMAN'S BEAUTIFUL DAUGHTER. (The best musical-comedy album ever.)
Pink Floyd: DARK SIDE OF THE MOON, UMMAGUMMA, A NICE PAIR.
Todd Rundgren: SOMETHING/ANYTHING?, INITIATION.
Kraftwerk: AUTOBAHN.
Gong: SHAMAL.
Emerson, Lake & Palmer: WORKS I.
Tangerine Dream: ENCORE/LIVE, ALPHA CENTAURI/ATEM.
Pat Metheny Group: (1st).
Mike Oldfield: OMMADAWN, INCANTATIONS.
Barclay James Harvest: GONE TO EARTH.
Steeleye Span: ORIGINAL MASTERS. (It took me YEARS to get around to Fairport Convention....)
Lindisfarne: NICELY OUT OF TUNE.
Caravan: BEST OF 1970-1974, FOR GIRLS WHO GROW PLUMP IN THE NIGHT, CANTERBURY TALES best-of, BLIND DOG AT ST. DUNSTAN'S, IF I COULD DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN, WATERLOO LILY....
Gentle Giant: FREE HAND, GIANT STEPS sorta-best-of, PRETENSIOUS best-of, THE POWER AND THE GLORY.
King Crimson: YOUNG PERSON'S GUIDE best-of, LARKS' TONGUES IN ASPIC, STARLESS AND BIBLE BLACK, RED.
U.K.: (1st), DANGER MONEY, NIGHT AFTER NIGHT/LIVE.
Wigwam: NUCLEAR NIGHTCLUB.
Sally Oldfield: WATER BEARER.
Happy the Man: CRAFTY HANDS.
David Sancious and Tone: TRANSFORMATION (THE SPEED OF LOVE).
National Health: (1st), OF QUEUES AND CURES.
Soft Machine: THIRD.
Hatfield and the North: AFTERS best-of, (1st), THE ROTTERS CLUB.
Camel: RAIN DANCES, A LIVE RECORD, BREATHLESS, I CAN SEE YOUR HOUSE FROM HERE.
Journey: INFINITY, EVOLUTION.
Chicago: GREATEST HITS.
Dan Fogelberg: SOUVENIRS, TWIN SONS OF DIFFERENT MOTHERS.
Synergy: SEQUENCER.
The Roches: (1st). (Produced by & featuring the rockin' guitar work of Bob Fripp!)
Kevin Ayers: ODD DITTIES, THE CONFESSIONS OF DR. DREAM. (DITTIES is former-Soft-Machine-guy Ayers' best album, a collection of singles & outtakes that's pretty charming. I don't remember a note of DR. DREAM....)
Genesis: AND THEN THERE WERE THREE, SECONDS OUT.
Barclay James Harvest: BEST OF's I & II, OCTOBERON.
BUCKINGHAM/NICKS.
Gryphon: TREASON, RAINDANCE, MIDNIGHT MUSHRUMPS, (1st).
Grobschnitt: ROCKPOMMEL'S LAND. (Don't remember much of this Krautrock classic Xcept 4 "Anywhere," a pretty 4-minute single that really stood out when the resta the trax were between 10 & 20 mins long....)
Yes: YESTERDAYS, FRAGILE, THE YES ALBUM.
Roxy Music: GREATEST HITS.
Be-Bop Deluxe: SUNBURST FINISH.
Bob Welch: FRENCH KISS.
Procol Harum: LIVE WITH THE EDMONTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA.
Buffalo Springfield: RETROSPECTIVE.
Renaissance: A SONG FOR ALL SEASONS.
Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young: SO FAR best-of.
Byrds: GREATEST HITS.
Steely Dan: AJA, GREATEST HITS.
Nektar: THRU THE EARS.
Gentle Giant: GIANT FOR A DAY. (At the time I thot this was in the running 4 Worst Album Ever....)
Led Zeppelin: IV.
Jethro Tull: SONGS FROM THE WOOD.
Thot of a few more overnite:
America: HISTORY best-of.
Gordon Lightfoot: GORD'S GOLD best-of, ENDLESS WIRE, SUNDOWN.
Camel: MIRAGE.
The Nice: ARS LONGA VITA BREVIS.
Todd Rundgren: A WIZARD/A TRUE STAR, TODD.
Supertramp: EVEN IN THE QUIETEST MOMENTS, CRIME OF THE CENTURY.
Bob Seger: STRANGER IN TOWN.
Gong: EXPRESSO.
Electric Light Orchestra: OUT OF THE BLUE.
The Move: SPLIT ENDS.
CHARISMA FESTIVAL various artists sampler.
"V" Virgin Records' artists sampler.
BEST OF GENESIS import.
THE STORY OF THE WHO best-of import.
HARVEST 20 GOLDEN GREATS various artists sampler....
...by then I was working at my favorite record store, & buying halfadozen albums & singles a week, before I even bought food, & veering towards New Wave sounds because that's what everybody else in the shop was listening to.
...Tho I still have most of the above, some of them were traded off over the years because I got bored with them or didn't listen 2 them much or never really gave them much of a chance -- I can get bored really easily sometimes. Those I let go R the 1's I'd most like 2 have back, of course -- Kevin Ayers, Grobschnitt, GIANT FOR A DAY, the Barclay James Harvest best-of's, etc. I might track them down again someday after I win the lottery....
Looking back.... Jeez, I spent way 2 much money. Enuf 2 support a small 3rd-world nation, I'm sure. But if I could do it all over again, I'd probly SPEND MORE! & the 1 thing I'd do 4 sure is HOLD ONTO everything....
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3 comments:
Wow, that's an exhaustive list. I couldn't create anything like it, if only because the memory fails.
I do remember the first album I ever got was Elton John's Greatest Hits, received from my parents for my 11th birthday or so. Next album after that was the same artist's Captain Fantastic, acquired when I exchanged a second copy of the Greatest Hits record that I had received on the same birthday from a friend of the family's.
Clearly I had gotten the message out that year about just what it was I wanted for my b-day!
While I'm not so sure about the Greatest Hits these days, I still think highly of Captain Fantastic. It's a truly twisted disc produced by an artist secure in the knowledge that just about any weirdness he might put out that year--including the accompanied opium dream-visions he eventually went with--would shift major fucking units.
Third album was Wings' Venus and Mars, also the first album worth having I got through my old man's trips to the local radio stations. Still on the V & M tip, too: said recently on this very site that it's better than certain Beatles' records.
After that, who knows?
I do remember that my first CD was Revolver, bought at K-Mart. About a week later, I took the bus down to Spec's and went truly nuts, picking up six more, but the only one I remember from that bunch is Slayer's Reign in Blood.
Before I started buying albums on a regular basis I pretty much bought 45's instead but the first LP I begged my folks to get 24 Groovy Hits that was a mail order only. Contains a worthless 40 second clip of Expressway To Your Heart.
When I did buy LPs, they were usually very scratchy copies. Somebody donated a scratch up Best Of Eric Burdon and The Animals Vol 2. Other included Doors Strange Days, Rolling Stones Flowers. I bought a dollar copy of Cat, which made one album for RCA (minor hit Light Of Love), plus Chuck Berry Fresh Berries and 18 King Sized Rhythm & Blues Hits for 2 bucks.
Down at Woolworth's I picked up the first Blue Oyster Cult record for 4 bucks. One day in 75, I found a 20 dollar bill and went and spent it on Aerosmith's Toys In The Attic, 10cc The Original Soundtrack and about 2 hours worth of pinball playing money. Good memories.
I think the first album I ever bought was KISS Double Platinum. Among the first albums into my collection were KISS Love Gun, Kansas Leftoverture, Foghat Live, Steve Miller Band Fly Like an Eagle, Yes Close the Edge, Led Zeppelin IV, Bachman Turner Overdrive II, the Sgt. Pepper's soundtrack (with the Bee Gees-oh Gawd, what was I thinking?) and others that I can't remember.
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