Life-changing Records

[Pudders]

My first proper "album experience" - where you listen to the whole thing as a single artistic statement, an aural "journey" if you like - was Help! by The Beatles. I loved the pics on the back cover. My brother's copy didn't have the "Help Mini-Documentary (Insert into computer to view)" of course.

First LP I bought - from Boots of all places with a Christmas Gift Token. Probably about 1972 I'd guess when the Beatles films had been shown on TV... Still very much a favourite

[Slim]

This wasn't life-changing, but it was the first LP that I bought. I assume I do still have it, in the loft probably.




If you Google "totp albums" as an image search, some pleasing results turn up. I liked this one:

[The Picnic Wasp]

How spooky. The top thirty UK singles chart for October 1972 popped up in my Facebook feed today. I recognised just about every song on there and still remember many of the lyrics. Yes, I know, Mouldy Old Dough didn't have too many. I bought a few of these compilations back then after I got over the initial shock of them being covers. Some renditions were quite good but many were awful. I think a TOTP LP was 50p at the time so that was an attraction. I still have a couple somewhere. Definitely one with a red swimsuited young lady. They definitely played a big part in my very early day discovery of music.

[David L]

My sister and I were also used to hearing the current hits through these cover LPs. 'Hot Hits' was another similar series.
My first album of originals would have been K-Tel's 40 Super Greats from 1975. Not sure it was life-changing, that would probably have been ELO's A New World Record

[pxr5]

I recall my sister getting one of those TOTP records and my disappointment of both her and I when we realised the songs were not by the original artists. It's so easy these days to get whatever music you want at the tap on a button. In our time it was a matter of watching TOTP or recording the Sunday charts; and in my case a mate loaning me a couple of Rush albums that set me on my music life.

[Nickslikk2112]

First single I ever chose to buy was the Legend of Xanadu by Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky Mick and Tich, can't say my life changed too much, but perhaps there was a portent of things to come...

Was a while before I acquired a second single, but this did set me off on the way to HELL RAISING RAWK AND HEAVY METAL ROLL

The B Side was no slouch either, the Immigrant Song rip off Burning. Of course Slade were doing it for me back then too and my ROCK antennae were being turned on by seeing Alice Cooper and Hawkwind's Silver Machine on TOTP.

First album I bought to help me on the HEAVY METAL pathway was



Dude Queen were METAL back then, maybe not as METAL as they had been, but hey, I wasn't to know that back then. I enjoyed being a big QUEENIE, well until about 1979, I'd found Rush by then. Without the aforementioned I might not be where I am now though.

[The Picnic Wasp]

A similar path to me. I remember the B side of Blockbuster was particularly good. Just Googled it as my memory failed me. Need A Lot Of Lovin', a sort of early Def Leppard sounding track. Sheer Heart Attack is magnificent. Rock, pop, ukulele solo, you name it, it's in there. I'm so grateful I got to see them live before the arena and stadium days arrived. I even named my dog after one of the band.

[David L]

A similar path to me. I remember the B side of Blockbuster was particularly good. Just Googled it as my memory failed me. Need A Lot Of Lovin', a sort of early Def Leppard sounding track.

Sweet got themselves (or their manager did) into a strange situation where their single releases were bubble-gum, glam stompers written by Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman but the B-sides showcased the band's real leaning towards hard rock (Desolation Boulevard is a great rock album).

I recall now the thrill of listening to Little Willy over and over.....and over again (I think my sister bought the single). That may be the first song to have hit me like that, where the feeling of excitement of the first play could be repeated.

[The Picnic Wasp]

I just had a bit of a read online about Sweet's singer Brian Connolly. He had a lot of misfortune in his life. I'd completely forgotten however that he was the adopted (at birth) brother of Taggart (Mark McManus).

[pxr5]

The first single I bought was Take on the World by Judas Priest and the first album was Killing Machine on red vinyl, the second being Down to Earth by Rainbow. I had those 2 albums on constant rotation until I could afford to buy more stuff

[Matt2112]

Been thinking about this and have to say it was ESL.  I grew up with two older brothers who were into all the big classic rock and prog bands in the 70s, so that music was the soundtrack to my formative years.

But, for some reason, I dug out Rush and Yes albums from their collection far more than the others (AC/DC, Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Genesis etc) and I remember ESL was the first album I properly got into (I was eight years old at the time).

I listened to it endlessly, miming Geddy's bass and keyboard parts throughout, the latter on the "music centre" which played the records, its base and transparent plastic lid serving as a bank of two keyboards.

When the VHS video of ESL came out, I played the first track Limelight every morning before I went to school for months.

Simpler times...

[The Picnic Wasp]

The release of that video was huge in my life.

[Fishy]

Gentle Giant Playing the Fool
Return to Forever Where Have I Known You Before

[pxr5]

Gentle Giant Playing the Fool
Return to Forever Where Have I Known You Before

Wow, you went deep early there Fishy.