#44 Your first record, tape, or CD

Neil Pasricha

Straight up now tell me: What was your first CD?

Mine was “Forever Your Girl” by Paula Abdul which was gift-wrapped together with Janet Jackson’s “Rhythm Nation” as part of a Christmas present with my new mini-system. Yes, I was ten years old when the boxy Magnasonic arrived under the tree… and I can still remember those CDs vividly. Of course, that’s probably because we went through the four steps of New Record, Tape, or CD Love together:

Step 1: Plenty of fish. Checking posters at the record store, flipping through Columbia House catalogues, flipping through hundreds of plastic-tombed tapes, you’re single and looking for love. Maybe they had a listening booth but most likely you plucked your album based on a song or two from the radio … and the rest was a complete surprise.

Stage 2: The First Time. This is the sweetest stage. All alone in your room you have a quiet moment with your new disc. When you get frustrated with the shrinkwrap you start biting it till it eventually peels off and static-clings to your hand. Next you push the case open, hear the little squeaky crunch as you pull it out of the case, and then gaze at that mirrory scratchless rainbow purity. Quickly peel out the booklet to see what kind of artwork they included and whether the put the lyrics in. Then you put it into the player, hear it spin round, and hold your breath and push play…

Stage 3: Dating Steady. You can’t live without each other. You pop the tape into your Walkman and listen to both sides, both ways, every day. You stick the CD in your car stereo and jam to it every night on your way home. You start memorizing the lyrics, your brain starts hearing the next song after the last one ends, and you start telling everyone about the album…. This is also the stage when you rearrange your life around your new tape or CD. This means taking every other CD out of your dusty tower by your TV and reorder them all alphabetically.

Stage 4: Lost love. It’s not that the love didn’t last. It’s just that your heart moved on and your record or tape didn’t change. You dyed your hair and went punk, fell in love with someone into hip-hop, or maybe got strung out on Top 40 during your blurry Clubland days. Now your first CD or tape sits lonely at the bottom of a shoebox, garage sale pile, or closet. You stumble upon it again and pop it in for a listen down memory lane… with your brain still hearing the next song after the last one ends, the lyrics shooting back to you, and all the memories from that distant time in your life flashing through your brain. You can see the bedspread you sat on listening… see the posters on your wall… and hear your mom calling your for dinner…

Your first album calls back a day when records, tapes, and CDs meant something more. They weren’t just plastic rectangles in paper boxes… they were little keys to your thoughts, doors to your heart, and friends when you were lonely. Lyrics colored in your own feelings, choruses sent you flying away, twisted jams twisted your head around, and every part of it made you today….

AWESOME!

Photos from: here, here, and here

126 thoughts to “#44 Your first record, tape, or CD”

  1. Hahaha!!! I think this is truly awesome!!! I don’t exactly remember what my first CD was…. But I do remember some of my favorites :)
    In case you usual readers/commenters are wondering who I am I’ve been reading 1000awesome things for a while trying to catch up to today and I finally did!! Thanks to all of you out there for making 1000awesome things awesome! Especially you Neil :)

  3. This is so very true. My first album (ahh the days of vinyl) was the Eurogliders and I played that thing to death, particularly when no one else was home.
    I still go through the steps above with new CDs that I purchase, but oddly I don’t have the same attachment when I download it from iTunes. That is particularly strange since the first thing I do now is load the CD into iTunes and put it on my ipod. Or is it more that if I really want something I will buy it as a CD rather than as a digital download, which are more opportunity acquisition for me???
    Something to ponder maybe…

  4. Very cool! I’ll always remember mine…
    The first C.D I was ever given was a Nickelodeon’s 90’s CD and the first one I ever bought with my own money was Avril Lavigne’s “Sk8ter Boi”. This really brings back the nostalgia which is always “awesome” :)

    2. avril lavigne’s “under my skin” was the first CD album i ever received.. she was one of my favourite artists back then and still is now :’) AWESOMEE.

  5. My dad brought The Beatles first album ever home for all of us!
    When I saw Rudolph, he bought me one of my very own though, which was Mother Goose songs by Burl Ives. When we weren’t rocking, I found Mr. Ives voice and smile was so comforting…..

    1. …and back when a single-45 could be bought for about 99cents, I’m sure my first was Neil Young, Horse with no name.

      1. Apologies, two awesome Neil’s, I meant *Heart of Gold<3
        The other was one I bought but is by America:)

        1. I still have most all of the first, they’re still in alphabetical order too! Now I’ve discovered I can replace Burl Ives, “Twinkle in your eye”, LP on Amazon…thanks Neil….this is awesome!!!
          I know the rainbow you’re talking about:) And when I worked in a music shop, Split Enz, True Colours-I got you, debut LP came in with rainbow colourful designs laser etched onto the Vinyl, that cast designs over the room when it played…and they flew off the shelf! Still have mine!
          I love music where both the instruments and lyrics can be heard…ballads with meaning. Artists like REO Speed-wagon, who creatively title like this~ “You can tune a piano but you can’t tuna fish…It’s time for me to fly”.

          *Did you all know as of May 2011, over 623,162,727 songs have been written/recorded…that are known of….and every 2 minutes another is produced…that is the most spectacularly AWESOMEST TRIVIA EVER!

  6. Most of this still applies to the digital age too; in fact, mixtape making is coming back in the form of youtube playlists, albeit without the satisfaction of having a physical cassette.

  7. Oh man. Oh MAN. Love this one. Mine was a greatest hits compilation of No Doubt, given to me by my dad when I was like 6, completely random because that’s his thing. He doesn’t even like them… classic Dad. Anyways, I opened the CD and for whatever reason just loved it. So much. And I still have it, even though it’s scratched beyond use. So I bought the recent re-release :) And what’s funny is now that I actually have developed my own musical tastes, No Doubt is still one of my favorite bands and it’s still one of my favorite CDs. Ahh, thanks for this post Neil!

    1. My first CD was No Doubt, too! But I can tell I’m older than you because I got my first CD in middle school and it was No Doubt’s Tragic Kingdom, when “Just a Girl” and “Don’t Speak” were first being played on the radio. I still have that CD, too!

  11. Mine was Spice Girls if I believe correctly or Backstreet Boys. Haha, I still listen to both. This is one of my favorite posts because I love music.

  13. I was just talking about this with a friend yesterday. Michael Jackson’s Thriller way my first cassette tape and Whitney Houston’s Whitney Houston was my first CD.

    I hope it’s not me…

    1. My first album was Thriller by Michael Jackson. I didn’t get Whitney album on cassette until much later, obviously.

  14. I remember when I got a portable tape player for my birthday! It was like magic, being able to carry music around in my pocket!

    I do remember my first CD clearly, though, ‘7; by S Club 7. Classic stuff right there :)

  15. Haha I will always remember the first CD I could call my very own- Barbie Slumber Party Mix!! Hahaha I heard it at a friend’s and LOVED it and Mum bought it for me :) I think I was about 6? It had all the greats like early Britney Spears and Atomic Kitten and Sophie Monk and that :D
    But when I first read the title of this post, my brain jumped to a different kind of ‘first CD’…. because Thursday 1 March our choir is launching our first CD!! I’m so excited!! We’ve recorded about 30 songs and put it as a double CD and worked with a graphics designer to produce the booklet and it looks heaps professional It’s called ‘Sweetest Feeling’ because that’s one of the songs. :D I’ve sold 42 already and all that was asked was 20 each haha. Well, anyway, yes so our highschool girls choir has produced our first CD and that is really
    AWESOME!

    1. “YOUR First Record”…this IS about you and your mates! How spectacularly awesome, Emmy! ***Congratulations to you all!!!

        1. Ha, maybe I will! When I get the CD :) Although I’m not sure if the copyright would allow it, but we’ll see :) And also, how would you upload it to this website?

          1. Up load to you tube, then link in from there! If you’re allowed to, that will be awesome to see:) Quickly though, time’s ticking….

              1. OH, Emmy~ that is absolutely beautiful! Astoundingly AWESOME!
                Hey everybody, we’ve fame and fabulous~ in the house!
                Made my day! Thank you so much for sharing=D

                1. <DDDD It makes me all warm and fuzzy when someone says I've made their day. Thank YOU!
                  AND WE GOT THE CD TODAY!!! It looks awesome!! Haha and I'm not just saying that for here. The booklet we designed is so cool and everything sounds so good! Today couldn't get ANY more awesome! <3

                2. Oh! Also, I figured out how to link a music file from my computer to show here, (I think!!) So yeah here is me singing Both Sides Now :)
                  file:///C:/Users/Zosia/Music/iTunes/iTunes%20Music/Unknown%20Artist/Unknown%20Album/Both%20Sides%20Now.m4a

                  1. I don’t think we can click on this link and would LOVE to see/hear as it’s one of the best songs ever written and likely phenomenally sung by you:) Is there another way?!*

                    1. :( ummm im not sure how else, because I was told not to upload the audio to youtube. But thank you! I must it’s not phenomenal at all, but thanks for the vote of confidence :)

                    2. I imagine it would be after hearing some of the other songs on you tube from what I believe is your choir…same name and all, right after Mr. Blue Sky”~ Truly AWEMAZING! (that’s awesome and amazing together:)
                      Again, Congratulations on taking a passion and making it happen…this is huge Awesome!

                    3. Oh right! I forgot there were those ones as well! You know the one called ‘bcc clip- choir at the lyric theatre- No. 2’? With the girl doing to solo out the front? Well that’s me there! Yay you can hear me sing now

                    4. Oh my goodness! I was drawn to the song title, “My cup runneth over”, and commented, yesterday! Your voice is angelic! Brought tears to my eyes and is added to my Awesome treasures. God as my witness, I’d a sense it was you, Emmy! I saw Zosia, (wisdom), in your eyes and of a young lady who’d write the heart-felt Awesome essay you wrote last February, to your mom and dad; that which Neil posted in June.
                      Thank’s again for sharing your awesomeness=D

                    5. Oh my god :’) That is like the nicest thing anyone’s said to me. Thank you so much Wendy xox I am really touched

                    6. Hey Wendy and Emmy – there is a site I use. All you have to do is go to ge.tt and upload a file and you can share it with the world! If you join it lets you keep it or delete it as you wish, if you don’t want to join then they only keep it up there for a short time.

                      Hope that helps? You can always sign up on soundcloud.com as well :)

                    9. Just as I suspected…PHENOMENAL, Emmy:)
                      Your song is in my collection of cherished Awesome treasures!
                      Again, Congratulations on production and release of your first CD.
                      And Thank you for sharing!

                    10. Can’t help but compliment a great singer :) Thanks again for sharing. Your message totally made my day today – I missed out on tickets to Radiohead here in Bris so I was really upset – “First World Problem” I know >_<. Lol thanks for that.

                    1. Thank you both so much- you’re just so lovely! I had a great time recording the CD, a challenging process, I was only just coming out the other end of a bad cold and lost voice when I recorded my solo, and I wasn’t too happy with the recording but it’s allllll gooood :))) I’ve just come back from the CD launch an hour ago and it was an amazing night, I got all dressed up very prettily :D Had a ball, said a very sad goodbye to the choir’s mother/sister Sam, she was the music assistant trainee last year and now she’s going to uni 2 hours away and this was her last performance with us, so yeah it was a good night and a sad night at the same time. But it all went very successfully and smoothly in the end :) Thank you for being such complimentary people that you are, you’re appreciation of me is greatly appreciated BY me :D xox

  16. The Backstreet Boys! My first CD, my first concert, and my first crush. Wasn’t Nick Carter dreamy?

    1. omg wait, Nick Carter was from the Backstreet Boys? I think he sung a solo on my Barbie CD! haha small world :)

  17. My first tape was Middle of Nowhere by Hanson. I still listen to Mmm Bop every now and then. Awesome!

  19. Mine were “Pop Goes the World” – Men Without Hats and “Pride” – White Lion. I ended up becoming a metalhead, so I guess the White Lion had a bigger influence but I remember the excitement of “MY VERY OWN MUSIC!!!” What a great way to start the week! :-)

  20. The first album I bought with my own money at age 8 or 9 was “Whipped Cream and other Delights” by Herb Albert and the Tijuana Brass. My parents had early rock, classical and show-tune albums, but I went in a different direction! I was a girl with eclectic tastes who did some awesome hairbrush singing and dancing. I even made up words to the instrumental tunes.

  21. My first cassette tape was Seven and the Ragged Tiger by Duran Duran. I bought it at the Acme supermarket (yes, they actually sold music) with MY OWN MONEY. I felt so cool.

  22. Ahhhh, my big bro got me my first real album for my 12th bday: Wings at the Speed of Sound. Went through all of the stages of love with that on my parents big cabinet hifi. First new 45 was a little earlier: Billy Don’t Be a Hero by Bo Donaldson. Feelin’ the nostaligia… Oh man, I miss album covers.

    1. You can buy them still you know and even stereo’s, new or old. The new for about $100, the old usually about $5.00 at thrift shops!! Or you can come over to my house and we’ll chill the thrill. I wish my wall compared to the one with the guy “in LOVE”, up above!!!! But it is a pretty good collection and I do believe we have similar taste…in Pink Floyd for sure=D

      1. Oh yes, PF for sure! Now THAT was a great high school purchase with wonderful artwork and extras! What’ll happen to artwork when even cds fade away to all downloads?! Hmmmmm, could be interesting given the way artwork has evolved in the digital age. Can’t wait to see what the future eventually brings! Which reminds me, how many times will I be replacing my collection: from records to 8-tracks/cassettes to cds???????

        1. Oh, The Moody Blues top the cake with LP cover art work…I think so:)
          Digital art is sort of like a synthesized band.

          For the record~ was it Tracy or Lori Partridge you wanted to be?!*

  23. first CD: Genesis Duke
    Second CD: Tom Petty Full Moon Fever
    First Record either Muppets Rainbow Connection or Beatles Help

  24. Mickey Mouse.
    I don’t remember the full name but I remember that it was pretty much songs by the Beach Boys, and other like bands.
    My four-year-old self loved it! :)

    1. I caught a guy singing that song “full blast” while driving one day. Saw him in my rear view mirror. No mistaking those lyrics!! Love it!

  26. Well, I can even remember my first 8 track, LOL. It was the soundtrack to Grease. My first very own cassette was Michael Jackson’s Thriller. I only had a few records, I usually went for cassettes. But my first record was actually a Winnie The Pooh recording.

    1. 8-tracks…LOL! Wow, that takes me back! Think my first 8-track was either Styx or REO Speedwagon (though I believe the REO was really my boyfriend’s tape with which I absconded!).

    2. Thriller, what a super 1st cassette! Did you, like the rest of us, sit glued to MTV to watch The Thriller video?

      1. Yes, I did sit glued and watched his video. I think I was about 8 years old at the time. And already I was one of the screaming fans every time I heard Michael come on…

  27. Oh, and I can’t for the life of me remember my first CD. Because I was a teen when they hit and I went nuts buying so many of them and played them on my Discman….

  28. My first CD was evergreen by Will Young, I was gutted when I found out he was gay, I thought we were going to fall madly in love and be together forever.

    1. LOLOLOLOL!!!!
      Thank God, my dream since first Springsteen LP, I bought when I was 12, Born To Run, written just for me…Ahhh, there’ still hope for me and Bruce Springsteen….(all due respect to his lovely wife, Patty and darling daughter’s…you know HIS family;)

    2. That’s so familiar! I was in love with Queen’s Freddie Mercury. My best friend at the time even dreamed that Freddie and I met and married! Needless to say, I was crushed when I grew up and found out just what Queen meant…LOL!

  29. Ah, the old songs, the old albums. What to do with them? :)
    My landlord once made a mobile out of old CDs to hang in our garden. When the wind came up they would crinkle pleasantly and catch little rays of sunshine. This kept the crows and rabbits in the vacant back alley . . . until they were sensible enough to come through the front gate like welcome and trusted friends that is!

    1. oops! My foot is REALLY in my mouth here. This is a lovely sentiment, but not what I was trying to say.

        1. Ah, Wendy. It was something along the lines of how much I’d like to see my favorite song writer face to face. :)

                    2. So glad you agree! This is so Abraham Maslow! LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!
                      We attended our 3rd. class today! So inspirational, motivational and spiritual! I hope other people will click on the link and join the movement!

  30. Apologizes if you have already listed this but an ‘awesome’ thing just happened to me…When you’re pulling a sticker off of something (price tag, UPC, etc) and it comes off clean on the first try! My day is complete…FYI, first tape I bought was OMD If You Leave single…

  32. FIrst album….erm (putting on bfave face) Barry Manilow Live.
    First CD – Hounds of Love, Kate Bush, which makes up for Barry, surely?

  33. first cd was a big deal too. my uncle has a band and my mom said that we could get our cd player whenever their cd came out. two for one…first cd and first cd player all at once! if you’re a springsteen fan, definitely look up 8th Street Rox from Pittsburgh.

  36. My first “45” was Barry Manilow’s, “Mandy.” I am sure I played it to death on my tiny RECORD player. Then we had these famous things called 8-tracks. Bee Gees, Staying Alive was to be found there. As for cassettes, I was driving by then and had a lot of cassettes by The Eagles. Good driving songs. And you know what, I do not remember my first CD, though I have lots of them now.

  37. I can’t quite remember my 1st CD but I think it was a Sharon Lois and Brahm one. I’m also pretty sure my very 1st casette tape was a Sharon Lois and Brahm (I loved them when I was a kid!)

  38. My first album came as a Christmas gift along with a new portable stereo record player. Shaun Cassidy “Born Late”.
    Later that day I got “Gold Rush ’79” by K-tel, remember them? :) This album had Heart of Glass and lots more.

    1. I’ll remember K-tel mixes and know I had a few:)
      The Beach Boys and a portable stereo too!
      But Nancy and the Beatles were my first loves…And My Boots Are Still Made For Walking….such great memories…………

  39. My first album was the Jungle Book sound track. “Look for the bear necessities…” and I played it over and over and over… First single was probably something from the Monkees or the Partridge Family. LOL – good times.

    I was luck to have an older brother with an amazing album collection (lots of Bruce, Wendy!) and enough sense to show me how to play his stereo so I wouldn’t break anything. Thanks George!!

    1. The Jungle Book was the first movie I ever saw “in” a theatre! (“In” because it was at a Drive-In.) Those songs were awesome!

  40. Bob Marley – Legend. I was in second grade and my teacher was Jamaican and played every day during reading hour. I loved it so much I saves my ‘allowance’ for my own copy of the CD (even though my folks had it on vinyl)! 20 years later and I still love every song on that album and even have ‘one love’ tattooed on my foot!

  42. Okay, don’t remember my first CD, but I do remember my first FOUR cassette tapes! The soundtrack to Flashdance, Paradise Theater (Styx), Foreigner 4, and the soundtrack to Fame! My first album? Love Will Keep Us Together (Captain & Tennille)!

  44. What’s also awesome is putting the needle on the album and hearing that first 2 seconds of vinyl… I miss that in the new music.

  46. My first tape was Whitney Houston.

    I LOVED “Wanna Dance with Somebody”. In fact I STILL love that song … I heard it just the other day and all the words came flooding back …

  47. My first record was on vinyl, a Christmas gift from my older brother. It was the audio recording of the TV show “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” It was a bit weird to just listen to, without the show to watch, but as a result of playing this album over and over as a child, I think I still have that show memorized, and have a HUGE soft-spot for the awesome jazzy music by the Vince Guaraldi Trio. I have since purchased the CD of just the music, but the vinyl record was the audio of the actual show.

    First album I purchased with my own money would have been a cassette tape. I don’t remember what album was my first, but I do remember listening to “Unforgettable Fire” by U2 over and over on my non-sony walkman-type knock-off.

  48. My first tape of my own was Forever Your Girl, too! I got it for my 10th birthday, and I still know all the words. I was one of the last people I knew to get a CD player (at 13), and my first was a Christmas CD that came with the new player.
    I’ll throw this in…my first DVD was Big Daddy starring Adam Sandler. I had to buy something to go with the new DVD player I purchased for myself my senior year of high school.

  49. Mine was Spice Girls Spice World. Now I make industrial electronic music and am dating a metal drummer. My how things change, but there’s nothing quite like the first CD!

    1. Hey man – gotta start somewhere! I mean as bad as some pop is – there are always some golden songs in there somewhere… Gotta look hard though! :P

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