The first album I bought was Bon Jovi in 1986. Slippery When Wet. I bought Def Leppard album a short time later. I still listen to both of those bands today.
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I remember those days well. Also trying to catch your favorite songs on the radio and record them on tape was my thing lol. Now we are spoiled with on demand music and the internet.
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@Guitarman63 @EdmundD
Actually many djs also took the centre out. Many record players were sold with a plastic circle to put on the centre so that they could be played. Mine had one. DJs did that because it was faster to change records on the turntable and in the dark without fiddling trying to get the record on using a tiny hole.
Jungle Book Soundtrack (from the Disney movie). I can still sing most of the tunes from memory.
I was about 4-5 years old. I remember the day I was in the Kitchen talking to mom holding the album. It rolled out of the sleeve and broke on the floor. No way to replace it, mom used to pick up lost coins on the ground just to save and take me swimming (10cents).
The next one I remember was another kidās album, The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow. I had that until I moved out and mom got rid of all my childhood stuff (she got in trouble for that). I was also given some John Phillip Sousa march 78s (these were not 12 inch vinyl!). Iād play those on my all-in-one phonograph (about 4-5 years old still)
One of my first memories of buying somethng on my own was Styx, Pieces of Eigtht. I also purchased fairly soon after that Supertramp, Paris and my favorite version of Vivaldi, The Four Seasons (good violin solo in Spring), however this was on cassette tape. There were certainly acouple others in between, but I donāt remember them. I sill have all the vinyl and a player, but why play them there with digitized music being so much cleaner!
EDIT: Guess mom missed this one. Still have it! 
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thatās it knew it was something like that
For me it was Complete Madness, by Madness. As a child of the 80ās I remember loving it because the songs were so unique and funny. Nearly everything else I was exposed to back then was āboring pansy love songsā which I didnāt like at all. I guess in a way that album kind of set the tone for me in terms of lyrical content, as I still donāt particularly like love songs 40 years later!
Nope, I donāt have it any more. By the time I was old enough to start building an actual collection of albums, Walkmans were where it was at so I went with tapes. Then some bright spark invented CDs so I started all over again with those. Part of me is glad things are in a format that is unlikely to significantly change again these days. That said, I do miss the fun of going to an actual music store and digging through the tapes/CDs to find whatās new.
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This is really interesting. I remember all 45 rpm singles having the big hole. Some record players had a large diameter spindle to accomodate these records. Otherwise, you had to stick these little plastic adapters in the big hole.
After a little research, I learned the big-hole version was prevalant in the US and the small-hole version in the UK (and elsewhere). And, yeah, you could remove a piece of the small-hole records to enlarge the hole.
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Actually we had Jungle Book too but I didnāt include that as itās one my parents bought when I was about 3, not one I bought myself. But I can still remember all the lyrics.
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That was what I was going to say. All 45s came with the large hole. We had dozens of those little snap-in adapters next to the record player. I was wondering if it was somehow different in the UK. You clarified that!
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What a lovely thread!
As kid I did not get to collect too many LPs, they were expensive, and by the time I had my own income, CDs were the norm (those I amassed a lot of).
Still, my very first LP I got as a Christmas present, Iron Maiden, The Number of the Beast. And the very first LP that I purchased with my own money, not long after, IIRC was Mike Oldfield, Tubular Bells.
An odd pairing, but I always had (and still have) a very varied musical taste.
Oh, and I still have all of my LPs, though I rarely listen to them these days. The CDs I ripped all of them and gave most away, kept only the ones which are more special.
And the cassette tapes I had (all mixtapes I recorded myself) I threw away long ago, and today I regret it, lots of memories on curated mixes, handwritten liners, covers made from pictures off music magazines, etc.
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My first single was All Right Now by Free, 1970
Long since gone!
Richard
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My first LP was Sticky Fingers by the Rolling Stones: the one with the zipper. I won it by being caller number 9 to a local radio station. I still have it but do not play it as I listen via YouTube music (streaming).
And my first 45 was Frosty the Snowman.
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My first vinyl was Jan & Dean ā The Jan & Dean Story - Their Greatest Hits
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My 1st 33 1/3 was probably a Beatlesā album, or The Monkees. 1st 45 was most likely a Beatles, although I had quite a collection back then. No clue what happened to the 45ās, but the album collection remained with me up to about 3 years ago or so. I sold them to a much younger vinyl collector. They were all played to death, and many were first pressings he said. I checked from time to time when I had them, and none were worth a fortune, small or big. I did have one Beatles album, Beatles VI I think it was. I played it when I got it home. Beatles were on one side. I flipped it over. Frank Sinatra was on the other side. Not as rare as youād think. Happened frequently I was told. Great memories though. I could play one and I knew instantly who I was with, where we were, and what we were doing. Great memory joggers they were. Many had scratches and skipped. I recalled putting pennies or dimes stacked one on on top of the other to keep the arm and needle from jumping or sticking. We made ashtrays and popcorn bowls out of some that were considered ancient back then, by putting them in the oven. Heat melted them into a bowl shape. I think we used a metal form, maybe a cake pan to help it get its shape. Fun times. Great memories. Thanks for posting this.
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Oh, this thread is much fun! A trip down memory lane 
Of course I remember my first records very well, and I still have most of them.
So much cool stuff here already 
My record journey began a little oldschool, I guess, but you have to start somewhere, donāt you?
So my very first record was sneaked from my parentsā collection. They had mostly classical music - and this one here ā¦
No year on the label, must be late 60s or early 70s. I loved it and played it all summer long 
My first self-bought one was a movie soundtrack
Being a thirteen year old girl you just had to have this one 
And I even had such a walkman. Yes, Iām really that old 
I was much into pop music at that time.
My first 7" even got signed after a concert
Not much later I discovered rock and finally guitars came into my teenage life 
Until today thereās no New Yearās Eve for me without āThe Final Countdownā 
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1st 12" LP I bought I think was No More Heros The Stranglers, memories a bit fuzzy but Iām sure I bought it before Ratus Norvegicus.
1st 12" Single was I feel Love Donna Summer
1st 7" Single was Wandrin Star Lee Marvin (well I was very young at the time)
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This topic has been stirring so many memories. I was born on my auntās (Momās sister) eighth birthday. She babysat us regularly, entertaining us with the music of the day. So of course the first LP my mom bought for us kids was a Beatles record. I donāt remember which one, but I do remember we had the stereo version, considered inferior, which my 6-year old mind could not understand! I canāt say which 7ā (we called them 45s) we got first, but we had many. Sadly, my aunt passed away far too young more than 25 years ago.
I also recall that the first LP I bought with my own money was Let It Be. I refused to believe the Beatles had broken up! The first 7ā I recall buying was Bowie and Bing singing Little Drummer Boy. Donāt recall now if it was 45rpm or 33rpm.
Holy cow, Iāve never known another person who could name that song! My parents had the Paint Your Wagon soundtrackā¦we listened over, and over, and overā¦
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Clint Eastwood sang I Talk To the Trees on the B side
And they didnāt listen to himā¦ 
Thatās so cool. A signed pet shop boys single could be worth a bit these days!
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