Vinyl Albums. If you were coming of age when the L.P. was still the main way to buy music

[Mike 03]

How much was an album?

What were you into?

Where did you shop?

Did you have to save up for your records? Did you get an allowance? Or have a job?

My best recollection is that I was really into soundtracks, KISS and Elton John when I started buying records, and they were somewhere between $4.98 and $6.00. I wish I could remember. We also had a store called the "Record Factory" (this was in Northern California).

I had chores that I did and an allowance, which allowed me to buy one album about every four weeks or so. I am almost sure I was eleven around that time.

It's so funny, but back then five or six bucks seemed like a fortune. I think my first few records were something like this:

Soundtrack to Logan's Run, The Omen, Live and Let Die (the latter which was "old" by then)
"Band on the Run" by Paul McCartney and Wings
A Stevie Wonder single "You Haven't Done Nothing", which I still have!
"Goodbye Yellow Brick Road", "Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy" by Elton John.
I think this must have been around 1975...1976 Some records my parents gave me for by birthday.

Everywhere I would go, there would be this mysterious album called "Dark Side of the Moon" with the fascinating rainbow through the prism cover, but I had no clue what it was until years later when I went to college.

ON EDIT:

Get this: My first record player was this phonograph with a disco ball in the center, so that a light would shine on it and cast moving diamonds around the ceiling, and it was globe-shaped.

[Forkboy]

1. Mid 70's, maybe 7 to 9 bucks an album.

Singles for a buck.

All my early purchases were Kiss or Cheap Trick. I still like Cheap Trick. :)

[Common Sense Party]

36. Let's hear it for Cheap Trick!

The boys from ROCKford.

[RagAss]

2. Early 70's....5.98 rings a bell for some reason....

I miss vinyl so much. An album was an event. My fist album ever was in 1970...I was 11. It was a gift from my parents for Easter. They went to a Caldor's in my hometown and asked the manager what kids were listening to...by "kids' he must have thought they meant a teen around 16 or 17...they came home with "Blind Faith" and my musical taste got started in an advanced state....thank God for that twist of fate...nothing like starting your LP collection with one of the greatest rock albums of all time !

[Vidar]

3. $6. Mainly classical then. Showtunes & swing these days.

[texanwitch]

4. I would think it would have been a Monkees LP.

I was 12 when their show was on TV.

What it would have cost I have no idea, maybe $5.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

17. Same here. A little later I started exploring other (edgier) groups.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

18. oops delete

[rug]

5. This is the first album I bought.

On the other hand, this is the second album I bought.



I don't remember what they cost.

[begin_within]

16. I'd love to have that Nancy Sinatra album!

"These Boots Were Made For Walkin'" was my favorite song when I was 4. I finally saw her in concert about 5 years ago when she was the opening act for the B-52s. She rocked!

[rug]

20. I wish I still had it.

Lee Hazlewood produced it. He later did an odd duet with her.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sb-SVPJM4L4

[begin_within]

21. Odd is right!

[abq e streeter]

33. auspicious start---I still don't there's ever been a better album than Highway 61

[SoxFan]

6. 1980s

An album would go for around $7-$9 most of the time. An EP would be a bit less. For the young 'uns, an EP was a vinyl album with 5 or 6 songs on it. They were often released by indy acts as their debut, but major artists got into the act as well (U2's "Under A Blood Red Sky", a live album from 1983).

[leeroysphitz]

7. My first album was Kiss Double Platinum... Fuck YEAH!!!!

It was an Xmas gift so I don't know what it cost but It fuckin' RAWKED wether I played it on my Dad's stereo or on the little single speaker phonograph in my bedroom.

IIRC subsequent albums cost 7 or 8 bucks at any one of the 3 or 4 record stores at my local mall.

[flvegan]

8. Heh, mine was Kiss Alive II.

[Pierre.Suave]

9. well, I still buy vinyl albums

and the price is quite variable.

[kwassa]

10. Albums were $3.27 for a long time in the late '60s.

No radio stations played Jimi Hendrix or Cream or much of Jefferson Airplane, it mostly sold by word-of-mouth.

Eventually FM rock radio started up, but it has been AM only on a 50,000 watt station from Canada.

this is a great, great album, and it was a birthday gift.



On my own, I bought this and played it to death.

first Stones greatest hits album.

[Ohio Joe]

11. The Flip-Side

In Closter, NJ, is where I purchased almost all of my albums back in the late 70's, early 80's. I guess they were anywhere from $6 to $15 depending on the album.

[likesmountains 52]

12. 1960s...around $3.50 or $3.95.You could get mono or stereo.I think stereo cost more.

[hellbound-liberal]

13. $7 to $9 sounds about right, Though I bought mostly 8-tracks. Much more portable

I bought my music at the mall, or Sam Goody. The first album that I bought was this one:



Here's one of my other early album purchases:

[MrSlayer]

14. I remember record stores had a letter system for pricing.

And the albums had different stickers on them denoting price. A's were the cheapest and K's were the most expensive. I believe a double album cost $11.99 and was the highest price.

[RagAss]

24. Yes Yes ...Great Memory...the letter system...!

[begin_within]

15. I remember when one record store was offering any album for $3.88,

as long as it was a single album and not a double album. I can't remember the name of the store but it was part of a chain and the store in Phoenix made that offer. I bought about 50 or 60 albums in one week at that price. This was in 1979. I think the usual price for a newly released LP was more like $5.99 or $6.99 for one that was in big demand, like Cheap Trick at Budokan. I'm glad I bought all those at $3.88 such as most of my Led Zeppelin albums, because now I think they're worth far more than $3.88.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

19. I remember getting into a record club around 1970/71(junior high)

We'd get monthly catalogs and have to pick something or they'd send us something stupid.

[quiet.american]

22. Used to buy primarily Earth, Wind & Fire at "The Wiz" in NY -- $6.99.

This was before the chain was officially called "Nobody Beats the Wiz" -- alas, they've now also gone the way of the LP -- long gone.

[Left Is Write]

23. I don't remember what they used to cost. My first LP was Boston's debut album...

which I bought two years after the fact in 1978.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

25. 1970: I bought "Layla" and the first three Neil Young albums for $25

My brother gave me $25 for my birthday. I went to the music store in the Peabody Shopping Center (Peabody, Massachusetts...don;t remember the name of the store). The first three Neil Young albums ("Neil Young," "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere," "After The Gold Rush") were on sale for $4.99 each. Layla, I'm not sure...I know that I had the $25 bucks and with tax spent most of it.

Years later, I've sold most of my vinyl collection, but I do have all of the original Neil Young albums (including "Time Fades Away" "Journey Through The Past," which have never been issued on CD, plus CSNY's "Deja Vu" and "Four Way Street"), every Frank Zappa album, every John Lennon album (including "Two Virgins"), The Who's Quadrophenia, The Japanese import of Santana's "Lotus," The Stones' "Sticky Fingers," "Layla" and a handful of others...a little bit of the best of the best to remind me of those days.

:toast:

[GoddessOfGuinness]

26. When I worked at Musicland

which later was swallowed by Sam Goody, most of the new non-classical, single record albums were released at $7.99.
That was in the early 1980s.

[donheld]

27. 6.98

[Tom Kitten]

28. My first album was a Christmas present ...2001 soundtrack

We had a phonograph(not a stereo) to play records we got at the library, mainly children's records and Bill Cosby! Then I remember seeing 2001 and liking the music so much I asked for it as a Christmas present...well a little later on I discovered the radio and all these songs they played so I bought 45s for 88 cents at the Oregon City Shopping Center (both at Penny's and the Singer Sewing Machine Store sold 45s!) The first 45 I ever bought was "Spill The Wine" by Eric Burdon and War...a few others followed but I got an AM/FM radio the next year at Christmas and discovered wonderful music! Especially at first the Moody Blues! Had to save money from chores but bought "Days Of Future Passed" from Olson's Drugs for $3.88 when I think I was 14...Then a month later it was "In Search Of The Lost Chord", and then "To Our Children's Children's Children"...not long after that I turned 15 and worked in my Dad's restaurant as a busboy in downtown Portland and three blocks away was this place I discovered called Longhair Music...the rest is history!

[OmahaBlueDog]

29. Records were $7, or $12-$15 for a double album

I'd shop at Harmony Hut or Peaches or a store in Baltimore called Record Theater. Peaches had a great $1 bin. I had a friend who, prior to John Lennon's death, bought just about every Lennon album for $1.

My first rock album was "Burning Love", but the first one I really got into was from a friend of my Dad's who didn't like it -- "Led Zeppelin II" I got it in 1973. It would be 4 more years before I got Led Zeppelin IV.

I was really into Paul McCartney & Wings. Then, I learned that he was a member of The Beatles -- a band I'd heard of, but knew nothing about. Then, I saw Yellow Submarine, and was blown away. Next thing I knew, I owned the Blue and Red Compilation albums.

My parents had a Golden Age of Comedy 3 record set. When my folks were out, my friends and I would listen to Richard Pryor doing the "Just Us" routine. Later, we'd memorized whole passages from the Monty Python & the Holy Grail Soundtrack.

[DBoon]

30. early '70s late '60s - about $3.50 to $5.00 or so

Cool thing was your local drugstore actually had a decent (or so it seemed at the time) selection of music. I remeber buying some of my first albums at the local Thrifty Drugstore

My early album purchases included "Best of Cream", Santana's first album, and some early Creedence Clearwater

[abq e streeter]

31. 3.98 $ I think; 1st album I ever bought -Golden Greats of the 4 Seasons

mostly bought 45's for my 1st rocknroll years... 1st 45's were It Will Stand by the Showmen ( featuring the voice of General Johnson, who reappeared a few years later as The Chairman of the Board--Give Me Just a Little More Time), and Dear Lady Twist by the great Gary U.S. Bonds...at Little Al's record shop on the Evanston side of the border with Chicago on Howard street...at 11, 12,13, years old, it was saved up allowance I imagine, along with chore money...so I guess you'd have to say I was into pop and soul. I still have about 500 vinyl albums and a similar number of 45's. I still play my albums regularly on a fine Pioneer turntable...At the moment there's a live Dead album on it, and earlier in the evening listened to the Electric Flag, The Temptations Wish It Would Rain, and a couple of Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes records.

[old mark]

32. There was a big uproar - mainly in the media - in the early '70's

because the LP prices weht up bu around $1 toaround $5 each...My first few were Dylan's first electric album, Stones 12x5 and Englands Newest Hitmakers, Hollies Bus Stop, and an old re-release of a Buddy Holly and the Crickets album with most of the hits on it.
I was taking bass guitar lessons in high school, and thought the Beatles were just copying the Everly Brothers and Buddy Holly and not doing well at it.
Wound up playing in bands for the next 15 years or so, still play for my own enjoyment...I don't know if I would have ever played an instrument if it were not for early rockers like Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, early Elvis and Bill Haley...

Some great guitar players around that time, and they created most of the sound for years to come.

mark

[Jamastiene]

34. When I bought Parallel Lines by Blondie, I paid $7.49

plus tax. I remember that because it was the first ever album I ever bought and I had to save up for it. I was only a little kid. It was a big deal when I finally got it.

I shopped at a local music store. I probably could have gotten it cheaper if we had any other music store, but I knew the owner and liked him ok. It was worth it for the KooKoo sign flasher he gave me for Christmas in 1981. It's still one of the single best presents I ever got. I miss ol' John. I still have the KooKoo sign flasher right here in my room with me. I want it cremated with me.

[6000eliot]

35. We must be close to the same age.

My first three albums were Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Band on the Run, and Ringo.

[LeftyMom]

37. I have no idea what they cost.

My Dad had a subscription through one of those mail order music clubs, and I'd just look through and pick out what I wanted. Usually he was already planning on ordering whatever it was anyhow. Whatever his other failings are, he's got pretty good taste in music.

Right after he bought our house our big family Christmas gift was a big Sony component stereo in a wood cabinet and the matching speakers. There were speakers in the ceiling of our house so I wired it into those too (I was always setting up stuff like that: it prepared me nicely for my first job, which was at an electronics store) and as a result our house was pretty much the neighborhood party spot for kids because I had all the good new albums and our stereo was loud enough that we could turn it up and still hear it well outside if we wanted.

[enigmatic]

38. Daystar Boutique in Lakewood, OH (1970's)

I, uh, bought of lot of merchandise there starting when I was 13 or so; they had a awesome selection of records too, especially promos that sold for 3.98 I think. I bought "Velvet Underground Live 1969" there used for 3 bucks and it changed my life.

Still there too, after 35 years:

http://www.shopdaystar.com/tunes.htm

[lutefisk]

39. My best LP purchases were at the University of Maryland record store in the early '80s

I still have the Japanese pressing of In Through The Out Door, the Russian (Soviet) John Lennon pressing of Imagine, and the Dark Side of the Moon on white vinyl from Holland. That was a great record store (in the basement of the University of Maryland Student Union, iirc.

[Duer 157099]

40. You and me both Mike. We must be cohorts

Elton John, Yellowbrick Road, Captain Fantastic
Stevie Wonder, Songs in the Key of Life, Talking Book
Beatles, of course

Thing is, I had two older siblings so I mostly let them buy the music heheheh

Elton John was my big one though.
Oh, and John Denver.
And The Eagles. And ELO. And Creedence Clearwater Revival. And Boston.

:sigh: ok there are too many now that I'm remembering

Have no idea where I got the $$ or how much they were.

And Supertramp! How could I forget them!! Breakfast in America!

[Burma Jones]

41. Ah, the old days.......

A folding LP cover was essential for cleaning the stems and seeds out of Weed......

Albums ran anywhere from $0.99 up to $9.00 or so.

I liked Jazz, Classical, The Beatles, Pink Floyd, The Who, The Grateful Dead, Punk in all its early glory, Richard Pryor, George Carlin, Cheech and Chong and Monty Python

As a High Schooler in the DC area, I shopped at, Waxie Maxies, Variety Records, The Bethesda Naval Medical Center and Walter Reed Post Exchanges, The glorious record section at EJ Korvettes, Peaches and Joe's Record Paradise

In College, in Galesburg, IL, I shopped at Co-op Records

After College, in those short few years before the advent of the CD, I bought my LPs at Olsson's Books and Records and Tower Records.

Now, I buy LPs off the Internet from Acoustic Sounds or at Joe's Record Paradise.

To get money for music, I had an allowance, collected deposit bottles, did odd jobs etc.

LPs were, by far, the most popular Christmas and Birthday presents given to me.

[LibertyLover]

42. The first album I bought in 1964

was Meet the Beatles. It was $2.99. By the end of the 60s I recall paying $3.99 for an album.

[Rosie1223]

43. My daughter has decorated her room with my old album covers

Here is a picture of part of her wall:

[ej510]

44. The World Famous Supreme Team. I was 6yrs old going on 7.

I learned how to cut wax at the age of 8yrs old.

[BarbaRosa]

45. I used to spend time at the bargain bin.

Those albums with the notch cut out. I found by checking out the backup/guest musicians I found some real interesting, and good albums.

[Initech]

46. Vinyl is making a comeback.

Not kidding either. There has been a bunch of studies done confirming this. Even Amoeba Music - a large record store in downtown Los Angeles has reported higher vinyl than CD sales.

[bif]

47. I was into European progressive rock

Like Gong, PFM, Perugia, Soft Machine, and very early Genesis. I shopped at a ton of different record stores including Peaches, Harmony House and E.J Korvettes. Albums were around $7.99 in the mid 70s. And I used my own money from various jobs I had.

[Taverner]

48. $7 usually, but I could get them for $5 at Tower

I remember my first album I bought was KISS Alive.

[cwydro]

49. I bought a lot of the same you have.

Also circa 1974, but I had Dark Side of the Moon as well.

I had Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, which I played to pieces. Eric Clapton with Cream. Every Elton album.

I also discovered Bonnie Raitt through my younger sis.

My very first album however, when I was about 9, was Diana Ross and the Supremes: Love Child.

My very first little 45 was Marvin Gaye: I Heard It Thru The Grapevine.

I had good taste as a lil whippersnapper.