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One of the most embarrassing things I've ever done

By lm (Wed Dec 05, 2007 at 03:52:34 AM EST) (all tags)

Twenty-five years ago today, the first rock and roll album I ever purchased with my own money was released.

On the one hand, I'd still argue that Michael Jackson was and still is a brilliant song writer. Billie Jean holds up well two decades and a half later. But on the other, what the fudge was I thinking? The closest thing I have to an excuse is being eleven years old. Eleven year olds are seldom known for their aesthetic judgment.

< Wikipedia will destroy itself | BBC White season: 'Rivers of Blood' >

One of the most embarrassing things I've ever done | 63 comments (63 topical, 0 hidden)

For me, it was Meatloaf, Bat Out of Hell by georgeha (2.00 / 0) #1 Wed Dec 05, 2007 at 04:11:43 AM EST

or Queen, News of the World.

Let's just say that by ObviousTroll (4.00 / 1) #32 Wed Dec 05, 2007 at 09:12:40 AM EST

Paradise by the Dashboard Light

has deep personal significance for me.

--
Has anybody seen my clue? I know I had it when I came in here.

[ Parent ]

: Not for me, though by georgeha (4.00 / 2) #37 Wed Dec 05, 2007 at 09:20:41 AM EST

except somedays that praying for the end of time bit.

[ Parent ]
: Flashback to high school. by wiredog (4.00 / 1) #40 Wed Dec 05, 2007 at 09:26:05 AM EST

Earth First!
_{(We can strip mine the rest later.)}
[ Parent ]

Not exactly rock and roll by theboz (4.00 / 2) #2 Wed Dec 05, 2007 at 04:29:51 AM EST

Michael Jackson is called the "King of Pop".
- - - - -
That's what I always say about you, boz, you have a good memory for random facts about pussy. -- joh3n

: Dude, EVH played on the record! by lm (2.00 / 0) #4 Wed Dec 05, 2007 at 04:33:58 AM EST

Sure, some of the songs were 100% pure pop. But I have doubts as to whether any song that includes a guitar solo by Eddie Van Halen (Beat It) can count strictly as pop. And give Wanna Be Startin' Somethin a spin. That ain't no pop song. It's rock.
But I'll easily grant that the rather saccharine duet with Paul McCartney that I can't recall the name of and some of the other songs would be a stretch to call rock and roll.
Kindness is an act of rebellion.
[ Parent ]

The first single I bought was by anonimouse (2.00 / 0) #3 Wed Dec 05, 2007 at 04:32:02 AM EST

cough Rolf Harris cough and after that I graduated to Top of the Pops albums₂
I am still receiving counselling.

_{1. I was only 6....

2. The "Now That's What I Call Music \d{1,3}" of their time}

Girls come and go but a mortgage is for 25 years -- JtL

The first I ever bought by ad hoc (2.00 / 0) #5 Wed Dec 05, 2007 at 05:01:36 AM EST

was James Gang Rides Again.

I still have it. And it's still good¹.

¹ Good music, that is. The LP has seen better days.
--
The three things that make a diamond also make a waffle.

You're a bad person. by ObviousTroll (2.00 / 0) #22 Wed Dec 05, 2007 at 08:40:14 AM EST

You just made me scurry over to Amazon to buy some James Gang and Joe Walsh tracks.

Everybody say I'm coool....

--
Has anybody seen my clue? I know I had it when I came in here.

[ Parent ]

: Life's been good to me so far. by wiredog (4.00 / 2) #25 Wed Dec 05, 2007 at 08:50:29 AM EST

Earth First!
_{(We can strip mine the rest later.)}
[ Parent ]
: Well by ad hoc (4.00 / 1) #29 Wed Dec 05, 2007 at 08:57:37 AM EST

womma lilly wah wah bippy bop a loodle ah
oh yeah
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah
Aaaaaaaaah
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah

--
The three things that make a diamond also make a waffle.
[ Parent ]

Please by jayhawk88 (2.00 / 0) #6 Wed Dec 05, 2007 at 06:09:12 AM EST

I think my first one was probably Huey Lewis and the News/Sports or some Billy Joel double-album.

Huey Lewis & the News were a great band. by ObviousTroll (4.00 / 1) #21 Wed Dec 05, 2007 at 08:26:35 AM EST

Saw them live, back in the day.

--
Has anybody seen my clue? I know I had it when I came in here.

[ Parent ]

: Me too, at Merriweather Post by wiredog (4.00 / 1) #26 Wed Dec 05, 2007 at 08:51:47 AM EST

Sometime in the early to mid 80s.

Earth First!
_{(We can strip mine the rest later.)}
[ Parent ]

It's easy to taint a record by what's come after by TPD (4.00 / 1) #7 Wed Dec 05, 2007 at 06:09:27 AM EST

but in it's own way Thriller is a classic album.

why sit, when you can sit and swivel with The Ab-Swiveller^TM

: Tied with Born in the USA for most #1 hits. by wiredog (2.00 / 0) #9 Wed Dec 05, 2007 at 06:49:14 AM EST

IIRC.

Earth First!
_{(We can strip mine the rest later.)}
[ Parent ]

No idea what my first album buy was. by wiredog (4.00 / 1) #8 Wed Dec 05, 2007 at 06:23:02 AM EST

Would've been when I was 12 or 13 in 1977 or 78. Certainly rock of some sort, as I was listening to DC101 and WAVA then.

I know I bought Born To Run early on, but also some Queen, Moody Blues, Beatles (of course). I know that by the time I was 14 and in high school in 79/80 I had a record crate (remember those?) of LPs. (Remember those. I miss album art.)

Hotel California. Led Zep 4. No Beach Boys. Some Springsteen, but The River didn't come out until 81, IIRC, and I didn't really appreciate Darkness until later. The Wall, obviously.

Yeah, sounds like a Classic Rock playlist because, well, that's what it is...

Earth First!
_{(We can strip mine the rest later.)}

Album Art by ad hoc (2.00 / 0) #41 Wed Dec 05, 2007 at 09:28:18 AM EST

and inserts!

No one could match Jethro Tull for that.
Thick as a Brick
Passion Play (although the one I have is a very heavy, bound cover with the libretto on the inside
Stand Up (can't find a picture, but it was a pop-up)

Other cool ones were Traffic (angle cut)
Low Spark of High Heeled Boys
Shootout at the Fantasy Factory

Rick Wakeman had one that had a silvered insert that you rolled up into a tube, put it in the center of the cover and a picture would appear.
No Earthly Connection

Gentle Giant
Octopus had a weird shape as well.

Don't forget Rolling Stones
Sticky Fingers Is there any other album that ruined anything it was stacked against?

Grand Funk Railroad
E Pluribus Funk was a coin shape
And certain We're An American Band were gold vinyl, but that isn't a cover.

Pink Floyd
Wish You Were Here came wrapped in black plastic so you couldn't see the album cover in the store.

I wish I could remember some of the others, but I just put my entire LP collection into storage a couple of weeks ago.
--
The three things that make a diamond also make a waffle.

[ Parent ]

: Dark Side of the Moon by wiredog (2.00 / 0) #43 Wed Dec 05, 2007 at 09:44:39 AM EST

Posters and stickers for inserts (still have those), and a simple, powerful, cover.

Earth First!
_{(We can strip mine the rest later.)}
[ Parent ]

I still remember by ucblockhead (2.00 / 0) #10 Wed Dec 05, 2007 at 07:07:45 AM EST

I did one of those Columbia house "five albums for a penny and then we force you to buy hideous crap for $15.99" deals. As far as I can remember, mine were:

Breakfast in America.
Boston.
Out of the Blue.
Cat Scratch Fever.
The Star Wars Soundtrack.

These were the first I ever bought with my own money. To truly be embarrassed, I have to admit that as a tween, I ask for, and was given, a couple of Barry Manilow albums. The one I remember most was the one where he sang commercial jingles.

Three of those five I still enjoy enough to consider owning. (All the records went to a friend's brother in a sad fit of stupidity after I bought one of those new fangled CD players.)
---
[ucblockhead is] useless and subhuman

Breakfast in America. by wiredog (2.00 / 0) #15 Wed Dec 05, 2007 at 07:49:17 AM EST

Great album art. The only thing I miss about the LP is the album art. Sure, most album covers were boring, but some were pretty good.

Any Grateful Dead album cover was worthy of being tacked to a wall.

Earth First!
_{(We can strip mine the rest later.)}

[ Parent ]

It was nice art by Bob Abooey (2.00 / 0) #16 Wed Dec 05, 2007 at 07:52:25 AM EST

Considering they did it back in the 20's before we had computers and all that stuff.

Warmest regards,
--Your best pal Bob

How's my blogging: Call me at 209.867.5309 to complain.

[ Parent ]

: Don't forget by ad hoc (2.00 / 0) #42 Wed Dec 05, 2007 at 09:33:08 AM EST

the incredible Roger Dean! And Hipgnosis!
--
The three things that make a diamond also make a waffle.
[ Parent ]

album art by ucblockhead (2.00 / 0) #17 Wed Dec 05, 2007 at 07:58:33 AM EST

When I worked for the music dotcom, we had old LPs on the walls for decoration.
---
[ucblockhead is] useless and subhuman

[ Parent ]

music dotcom by ObviousTroll (2.00 / 0) #24 Wed Dec 05, 2007 at 08:47:27 AM EST

You didn't work for a company founded by twins, did you?

--
Has anybody seen my clue? I know I had it when I came in here.

[ Parent ]

Nope by ucblockhead (2.00 / 0) #28 Wed Dec 05, 2007 at 08:57:24 AM EST

Small company...didn't succeed...we were close, though.
---
[ucblockhead is] useless and subhuman

[ Parent ]

Ah. okay. by ObviousTroll (2.00 / 0) #30 Wed Dec 05, 2007 at 09:00:21 AM EST

One of my life long failures was to not see that the kid right out of college who I mentored was right when he said that CDs were the perfect things to sell on the intarweb. I even might have said something like "you're nuts" when he told me to quit my job, take a big pay cut and come work for him in his parents' basement building an online store front.

When they merged with Columbia Records, he cashed out for $300 million.

--
Has anybody seen my clue? I know I had it when I came in here.

[ Parent ]

s/Columbia/Columbia House/ by ObviousTroll (2.00 / 0) #31 Wed Dec 05, 2007 at 09:08:11 AM EST

The mail order record company that was later eaten by Bertelsmann.

--
Has anybody seen my clue? I know I had it when I came in here.

[ Parent ]

That's one of those things by wiredog (4.00 / 1) #33 Wed Dec 05, 2007 at 09:12:43 AM EST

you can't allow yourself to think about. It'll drive you nuts.

Earth First!
_{(We can strip mine the rest later.)}

[ Parent ]

: Yeah. I don't worry about it too much. by ObviousTroll (2.00 / 0) #55 Wed Dec 05, 2007 at 03:45:20 PM EST

Mostly I was pissed when Amazon bought the name because I lost my permanent 10% discount fand the occasional accidental shipment of free music from being (not kidding) the very first customer in his database.

--
Has anybody seen my clue? I know I had it when I came in here.
[ Parent ]

Nope by ucblockhead (2.00 / 0) #44 Wed Dec 05, 2007 at 09:50:09 AM EST

Our company sold out to $BigJapaneseCorp for pennies on the dollar. Saved our jobs but not much else.
---
[ucblockhead is] useless and subhuman

[ Parent ]

Plus, with a double album by georgeha (4.00 / 1) #18 Wed Dec 05, 2007 at 08:01:44 AM EST

you have a nice flat creased surface to clean your stash with.

Or so I've heard.

[ Parent ]

Breakfast in America by ObviousTroll (2.00 / 0) #23 Wed Dec 05, 2007 at 08:44:33 AM EST

was definitely one of my early purchases and I still listen to it on occasion. That and the Boomtown Rats. "The Fine Art of Surfacing" is one of my all time favorites.

--
Has anybody seen my clue? I know I had it when I came in here.

[ Parent ]

If buying an album is one of the most embarrassing by johnny (4.00 / 1) #11 Wed Dec 05, 2007 at 07:19:29 AM EST

things you've ever done, then you have indeed led a charmed, or perhaps overly cautious, life.
Buy my books, dammit!

My apologies ... by lm (4.00 / 1) #12 Wed Dec 05, 2007 at 07:22:44 AM EST

I assumed that most people would mentally append ... that he's willing to admit to in a semi-permanent public form available from all four corners of the the world.

Kindness is an act of rebellion.

[ Parent ]

: OK then by johnny (2.00 / 0) #13 Wed Dec 05, 2007 at 07:28:57 AM EST

So you are a human. Which I had always thought, but it's nice to have it confirmed.
Buy my books, dammit!
[ Parent ]

Um, what if it was.. by crux (2.00 / 0) #48 Wed Dec 05, 2007 at 11:07:19 AM EST

.. this ?

Just sayin' is all.

Thankfully, that was like the 8th thing I bought, when my clueless self was more-or-less picking stamps at random from the Columbia House mailer, so I feel no shame.

[ Parent ]

: A superb choice! by johnny (2.00 / 0) #49 Wed Dec 05, 2007 at 12:02:06 PM EST

Now hold that pose!
Buy my books, dammit!
[ Parent ]

My first record by Bob Abooey (2.00 / 0) #14 Wed Dec 05, 2007 at 07:38:29 AM EST

They Call it Stormy Monday by T-Bone Walker in 1947.

In fact that was the only record I ever bought, where do you go from there?

Warmest regards,
--Your best pal Bob

How's my blogging: Call me at 209.867.5309 to complain.

Google ad: by Bob Abooey (2.00 / 0) #19 Wed Dec 05, 2007 at 08:17:54 AM EST

The Jackson 5 may reunite next year.

God help us.

Warmest regards,
--Your best pal Bob

How's my blogging: Call me at 209.867.5309 to complain.

Excuse me?!? by ObviousTroll (4.00 / 1) #20 Wed Dec 05, 2007 at 08:24:38 AM EST

Rock and Roll?!?

Feh.

My first album was Steve Miller Band. Book of Dreams.

--
Has anybody seen my clue? I know I had it when I came in here.

If Eddie Van Halen was on it. by wiredog (2.00 / 0) #27 Wed Dec 05, 2007 at 08:53:50 AM EST

It probably rocked.

Earth First!
_{(We can strip mine the rest later.)}

[ Parent ]

Yeah, well. by ObviousTroll (2.00 / 0) #34 Wed Dec 05, 2007 at 09:14:17 AM EST

Eddie also played guitar for Eat It so what does that tell you?

(No, I'm not kidding. Eddie reprised that guitar part for the Weird Al parody...)

--
Has anybody seen my clue? I know I had it when I came in here.

[ Parent ]

: Weird Al often rocked! by wiredog (4.00 / 1) #35 Wed Dec 05, 2007 at 09:17:39 AM EST

Well, OK, sometimes. Maybe just once. But Eat It shows up on the classic rock channel on XM once in a while.

Earth First!
_{(We can strip mine the rest later.)}
[ Parent ]

You're late to the part with this one by lm (2.00 / 0) #36 Wed Dec 05, 2007 at 09:19:59 AM EST

I've already bitten

Kindness is an act of rebellion.

[ Parent ]

probably poison or motley crue for me by MillMan

(2.00 / 0) #38 Wed Dec 05, 2007 at 09:21:05 AM EST

can't remember. I've definitely got some embarrassing ones mixed in there, though, that I will take to the grave.

When I'm imprisoned as an enemy combatant, will you blog about it?

Aha by moonvine (4.00 / 1) #39 Wed Dec 05, 2007 at 09:24:23 AM EST

for me. And I loved Michael Jackson!

: taaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaake... by clock (4.00 / 2) #46 Wed Dec 05, 2007 at 10:26:53 AM EST

...oooooooooooooooooooonn... meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee....
dammit...off to itunes...

_{I agree with clock entirely --Kellnerin}

[ Parent ]

could do a lot worse than micheal jackson by alprazolam (4.00 / 1) #45 Wed Dec 05, 2007 at 10:19:04 AM EST

you could even do a lot worse than the fat boys, or the california raisins. because there are some people out there who's first album was nkotb.

The perils of my generation by riceowlguy (2.00 / 0) #47 Wed Dec 05, 2007 at 10:58:12 AM EST

For me, the age of being able to buy music with my own money came in the MC Hammmer/Vanilla Ice/Milli Vanilli days.

I had to get into ABBA in high school just to restore some semblance of music cred.

: Mamma Mia! by ad hoc (2.00 / 0) #50 Wed Dec 05, 2007 at 12:06:19 PM EST

--
The three things that make a diamond also make a waffle.
[ Parent ]

Not embarassing. by ambrosen (2.00 / 0) #51 Wed Dec 05, 2007 at 01:03:54 PM EST

Mine's It's a Shame About Ray by The Lemonheads. First single, which I was given, was Born in the USA/I'm on Fire. Which I love.

So I'm quite happy with those, because I still put them on compilations/memory cards and listen to them.

Licensed To Ill by the Beastie Boys... by atreides

(2.00 / 0) #52 Wed Dec 05, 2007 at 01:14:21 PM EST

And you know what my first concert was? The Beastie Boys touring for Licensed to Ill opened up for by Fishbone. What a show when you're 12...

_{He sails from world to world in a flying tomb, serving gods who eat hope.}

I'm not certain what to count as my first concert by lm (2.00 / 0) #53 Wed Dec 05, 2007 at 01:20:49 PM EST

My parents took me to see John Denver when I was five. After that I don't think I went to se any live music until I started going to see local punk rock shows. But I couldn't say for sure. My actual teen years were kind of a haze.

Kindness is an act of rebellion.

[ Parent ]

: First rock concert by wiredog (2.00 / 0) #59 Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 03:17:28 AM EST

The Who in 81 (82?) touring their last album. What a great introduction to live rock 'n' roll.

Earth First!
_{(We can strip mine the rest later.)}
[ Parent ]

I have never owned a vinyl record... by chuckles (2.00 / 0) #54 Wed Dec 05, 2007 at 01:59:53 PM EST

but my first cassette was, IIRC, a double album of the B-52's eponymous release on one side and Wild Planet on the other.

"The one absolutely certain way of bringing this nation to ruin [...] would be to permit it to become a tangle of squabbling nationalities"

i didn't own any vinyl by LilFlightTest (2.00 / 0) #58 Wed Dec 05, 2007 at 05:22:15 PM EST

'til i was in college....after i already had an extensive CD collection. my favorite is a Green Day album on clear green vinyl.
---------
if de-virgination results in me being able to birth hammerhead sharks, SIGN ME UP!!! --misslake

[ Parent ]

Beatles Red, White, and Blue Albums by wiredog (2.00 / 0) #60 Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 03:18:25 AM EST

On (respectively) Red, White, and Blue vinyl.

Earth First!
_{(We can strip mine the rest later.)}

[ Parent ]

: i haven't been that lucky by LilFlightTest (2.00 / 0) #62 Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 02:48:58 PM EST

everyone seems to want to hang on to theirs, so i haven't yet found one at any garage sales or anything.
---------
if de-virgination results in me being able to birth hammerhead sharks, SIGN ME UP!!! --misslake
[ Parent ]

My first bought albums by BadDoggie (2.00 / 0) #56 Wed Dec 05, 2007 at 03:45:27 PM EST

Beatles: While Album (on white vinyl, no less)
Elvis Costello: My Aim is True
Boston: Don't Look Back

Honest.

woof.

OMG WE'RE FUCKED! -- duxup ?

I uh, this is, um by R343L (2.00 / 0) #57 Wed Dec 05, 2007 at 05:03:25 PM EST

I can't remember what the first album I bought was. Seriously. I remember a friend and I being totally obsessed with one of the boy bands of the late 80s, but I think that had less to do with their music and more to do with their appearance and "image".

But my Dad had all kinds of "his" music at home, which I listened to plenty (e.g. the Stones). I may not have actually bought an album until I was in high school (in which case it would be the original cast recording of Phantom of the Opera).

"There will be time, there will be time / To prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet." -- Eliot

Least embarassing first albums EVAR! by LinDze (2.00 / 0) #61 Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 11:26:04 AM EST

It was near abouts the end of sixth grade and my first tape was either the Minor Threat LP or Sepultura Arise. Im pretty sure that Minor Threat came first, and Sepultura was ~6 months later around the start of seventh grade.

I definitely remember snagging a totally boss walkman from somewhere around the house. Minor Threat on the schoolbus, Minor Threat walking home, Minor Threat during homework, Minor Threat all day long.

PS: I too was suckered into one of those Columbia House deals. As I recall I piked up Nirvana Incesticide^*, Red Hot Chili Peppers Blood Sugar Sex Magik, Aerosmith Pump, Pantera, and something from Run DMC.

^*Which had the Parental Advisory warning, causing my parents to make me trade it away. Thanks Tipper!

-Lin Dze
Arbeit Macht Frei

That was my first album too by duxup (2.00 / 0) #63 Fri Dec 07, 2007 at 09:53:13 PM EST

n/t
____

One of the most embarrassing things I've ever done | 63 comments (63 topical, 0 hidden)


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