RECORD STORE DAY AT TUNE DOCTOR

On Saturday 21st April it was Record Store Day, the day to find your nearest record shop, buy some CD/Vinyl and try not to feel intimidated when the staff member looks down at your purchase choice in a way not to dissimilar as Jack Black in High Fidelity!

Throughout the world there had been various exclusive releases taking place, all with the objective of getting music lovers into your nearest record shop to pick up some gems. However, with all this talk of records, Do you remember your first record? (Vinyl / CD/ Tape)

SFW:-
Band Aid - "Do they know it's Christmas"

I don't know whether it's old age or a combination of that and too much vino but my memory is getting bad.  When I read through interviews in music magazines, I'll often see the question "what was your first record?", and the band, artist, actor etc will usually say "Elvis", or "The Beatles", or someone perceived as "cool", but for me it's a struggle.  

But if push comes to shove, I believe mine was Band Aid's "Do They Know it's Christmas", and that seems pretty logical, because everyone seemed to have it in 1984! But then again was it an early "Now That's What I Call Music?" - bloody memory! 

With music now largely consisting of mp3s will anyone in ten years remember their first album?

Flycasual:-
Queen - Flash (1980)

Flash! Ah-ah! Gordon's Alive! Camp film, camp song.....I don't know what that says about me or my musical foundation but who cares....this is brilliant! I must have been six or seven at the time and I remember loving the film and I just had muster all my pocket money to get the song. It had snippets from the film that I could bounce around my room in my underpants to, re-enacting scenes of Flash Gordon's endeavours. Sadly my superhero days were short lived but I guess this must have been my first single. I never really got to appreciate vinyl for what it was as I guess I was more the CD generation but I do remember being mesmerised by Old Pa's LPs. Notably ELO's album 'A New World Record' with the intricate art work of the inside of a UFO and being freaked out by the skull on the Eagles's Greatest Hits album. Though there are many advantages to MP3's, storage and accessibility being the main reasons, you just can't beat holding, admiring the art work, reading the sleeve notes or even smelling an LP or CD.... there's just something about music being more tangible, more physical and you owned it!!!

Shell Hunter:-

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - 'Into The Great Wide Open' (1991)

Growing up with Old Pa and Flycasual as my music guru's it was difficult to find my own musical identity. Asides from The Simpson's Sing The Blues, a sixties megamix tape and Sesame Street's Greatest Hits, there was very little that I listened to, that was my own. After watching The Chartshow which had been recorded for me and sent back from the UK to Saudi, I was mesmerised by this video from Tom Petty dressed up as the Mad Hatter from the album of the same name. It was a great little story starring none other than...Johnny Depp! The lyrics of the song were nice and clear and easy to sing along to. I was so impressed that I asked Old Pa to go out an buy it for me being only 9 years old at the time. I listened to the album constantly and since then have always had a soft spot for Tom Petty's stuff.

Old Pa's Corner:-
Bob Dylan - 'Positively 4th Street' (1965)

"You've gotta lot of nerve!"

I had to have it, it was the best thing I have ever heard, I did not even have a record player but I just had to have it, hold it, look at it, place it under my pillow at night (if the Dylan tooth fairy came I would have a brand new copy of Highway 61 there in the morning). I rushed to my local record store and bought Positively 4th Street. It was 1965, it cost 6/5 pence.

The sad thing is, sorry I will say that again, the great thing is, I ordered a couple of weeks ago the Dylan Box set of his first 4 electric singles especially commissioned for Record Store Day. 'Positively 4th Street' is of course included there with original cover artwork. (The one I bought in 1965 did not have a picture cover)  I have also ordered special frame covers for them, they will have pride of place in my bed room wall (Mrs Mackenzie does not know it yet). My birthday treat. Why not! it will keep an old guy happy!