Maybe this should've been two separate topics, but Eff it might-as-well squeeze it into one. First record (or cassette or CD or if you're Pat Francis, 8-track....) you bought (or were given). And what was your favorite record store growing up....
My first records, actually cassettes, I think I got all at same time. Christmas 1981. That same year I must've got a one speaker Boom Box type cassette player with the radio. Anyways, I remember getting cassettes of Queen/The Game, Aerosmith/Greatest Hits and Billy Joel/Glass Houses.
In our area there were two awesome record stores we'd frequent. Mom & Pop shops, not chain stores. One was Platter Puss in Matawan, NJ. They had a cool logo of a cat wearing speakers sitting on a record player, spinning around. They stocked bootlegs, had some video games to play, and posters for sale hanging on the walls. I specifically remember this poster around 1984 catching my eyes:
The other record store was Jack's in Red Bank, NJ. It used to be huge. I remember having to buy my brother a new cassette of Pick Floyd/The Wall there because my aforementioned cassette player ate his tape. In college me and a friend would go every Tuesday for the new releases. The store is sort of still there. They've downsized and moved across the street to a smaller storefront. It was used as a location in "Chasing Amy."
I wish I could tell you. It's weird, but I don't 100% recall what my first record was. There's a good chance it was a KISS album, though. Either "Dressed To Kill" or "Alive!"...not sure which one I got first.
Before that, my collection was limited to jams like the book/record version of the "Jungle Book" cartoon.
And I didn't grow up with any cool record stores. Just chains.
One thing that was weird about the small town that I grew up in was that even though all we had were chains like Wal-Mart & Gibsons to by records from, I really never had issues with being able to find anything. I guess that's the benefit of cool bands in the late 70's being on major labels, by & large. My first Ramones album ( "Rocket To Russia" ) has a Wal-Mart sticker on the inside cover.
Getting access to "better" chains like Musicland required a drive of 30-60 minutes, & skipping school for road trips. Which happened. A lot. Ha ha ha...
Ha ha. I remember one time when we skipped...on the road to Joplin, MO ( about 60-ish minutes from home, & the closest town with a "real" mall ). There was a big stretch of the drive where the highway ran parallel to some train tracks. Well, the buddy I was with had a Dad who was a train conductor.
You can see where this is going. Out of all the stretches of train track & highway...
