1st Musical Memories

lyle_from_minneapolis · Wed Sep 12, 2007 8:55 am

I had to endure them both. But my earliest memories go back to the little wind-up Fisher-Price music thingy that played "In a Country Garden" and another tune that I can hum, but never knew the title. Then I remember a lot of Dean Martin, Dinah Washington... But the real grabbers were the Beatle's records...the 45 of "Eight Days a Week" and "I Don't Want to Spoil the Party" especially hypnotized me. But I also listened to "Wipe Out" and a lot of great SOMA tracks like "Olds-Mo-William" and "Surfin' Bird" and "Hey You, Boy, With the Bebop Glasses and the Suede Shoes, Come Here."

Every one of them more appealing than Guy and Ralna.

randyz · Post by **randyz** » Wed Sep 12, 2007 9:13 am

I remember being knocked-out by The Beatles 'And Your Bird Can Sing' when I was 6-years-old. I heard it on their cartoon series in 1967. I also recall thinking Donovan's 'Sunshine Superman' sounded cool over our AM car radio during a vacation to Florida in 1968. I got my first AM/FM radio in 1973 when 'Band On The Run' was the latest Beatles solo release. My first album purchase was 'Magical Mystery Tour' in 1974, followed by 'The White Album', 'Sgt Pepper' and 'Abbey Road'.

robbo63 · Post by **robbo63** » Wed Sep 12, 2007 9:53 am

Mine would be dancing in the family room to my oldest sister's Beatles 45's, like "Love Me Do", "Please Please Me", and "Help". Also on the record player in those days at my house were Frankie Vallee and the Four Seasons, the Beach Boys, Herb Alpert's "Whipped Cream" and (drumroll) "Classical Gas" and "Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines". They go uppity-up-up, they go down-di-down-down!

sowhat · Post by **sowhat** » Wed Sep 12, 2007 10:07 am

Well, not exactly the first one, i guess, but the first one related to "foreign" (to me) music that would be familiar to most of you... A friend of mine and myself were playing in his attic and found a record of four songs; all the info was in Russian, the first one was called "Love can't be bought", the second "Madonna", the third "Silver hammers", the fourth i cannot remember. At the time, there was a local hit called "Madonna" by a local singer named Alexander Serov, so we thought it was him, but when we played the record, it turned out it wasn't, it was some foreign band singing in some foreign language, and don't know why but i said "Ah, that must be the Beatles!" At the time, i had no idea how right i was...

kcole4001 · Post by **kcole4001** » Wed Sep 12, 2007 11:02 am

My first two favorite songs would have to be: "I Saw her Standing There" & "I Get Around".

There were lots of cool 45's around the house: "Green Onions", "Heartbreak Hotel", "She Loves You", "I Wanna Hold Your Hand", Duane Eddy, Dick Dale, Sandy Nelson, Elvis, Beach Boys, Beatles, all these rank very high in my early listening experience.

I have no idea what was on the radio at the time!

rictified · Post by **rictified** » Wed Sep 12, 2007 12:42 pm

Great stuff Kevin.
I forgot about David Seville and The Chipmunks. Alvin!!! I had to look this up but the one I remember best is The Chipmonk Song (Christmas Don't be late)
I think most of liked Herb Alpert's Whipped Cream and other delights even if we didn't play it. I liked it being a trumper player at the time.

http://tralfaz-archives.com/coverart/A/Alpert/herb_alpert.html

jimk · Post by **jimk** » Wed Sep 12, 2007 5:18 pm

I had to have been maybe 5 years old and I still remember hearing "Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" and "Flying Purple People Eater."

JimK

marc61 · Post by **marc61** » Thu Sep 13, 2007 1:25 am

My first musical memory goes back to early childhood. My parents were divorced when I was very young. My father moved to NY,and my mother stayed behind in LA. The first summer he sent me out there, my only friend was this portable record player, and the first Beatles album.

There wasn't much for me to do, because my mother was working so, I listened to that album over and over again.

gregga41 · Post by **gregga41** » Thu Sep 13, 2007 3:09 am

Seems to be a very common thread running through everyones story! What a massive influence the FABS had on the world!
.....And , of course, that flying purple people eater!!!
............ALVIN!!!!!!

bitzerguy · Post by **bitzerguy** » Thu Sep 13, 2007 5:19 am

My earliest memory was of my Dad playing The Ventures - Mashed Potatoes on one New Years Eve, and doing the lamp shade dance.

The other vivid early memory I have was being allowed to stay up and watch Ed Sullivan on Feb.9, 1964 to watch a certain British group blow away North America. I was almost 4, and I can still remember the set, and bugging Mom & Dad by running around the house, shaking my short hair and screaming "OOOOOOO" at the top of my lungs.

My Dad's Ventures collection and that TV appearance are the main influences leading up to my first acoustic guitar at Christmas 1964 and lessons starting on my 5th birthday in 1965.

Very cool thread.

...Dean

teb · Post by **teb** » Thu Sep 13, 2007 8:08 pm

We used to watch Ozzie and Harriet every week on TV and Ricky Nelson would usually do a song at the end of the show. Other than TV, I think the first song I remember was Joe Dowell's, half-English, half-German #1 hit "Wooden Heart" (Muss I Denn) in 1961 when I was nine. I guess it must feel pretty cool when Elvis later records a cover of your hit. Interestingly, about fifteen years later, I played on a studio session for Joe. He was recording some commercials. He had just become a really hard-core born-again Christian and kept telling us how he was preparing to go over to Africa where he would walk right up to the lions and that they would sense his deep faith and not rip him to shreds. We weren't convinced. However, I think he has a website (or at least what's left of him does) so either it worked or he didn't go - or it could be that Joe now has more than just a wooden heart.

wayang · Post by **wayang** » Sun Sep 16, 2007 12:19 am

My dad was transferred to a Signal Corps outpost in Asmara, Ethiopia (now Eritrea) in the fall of 1956...I was six months old. We lived there until moving to Fort Monmouth, N.J. just before the 1960 election. My earliest musical memories: listening to dad's jazz LP's on the little Magnavox (Getz, Bird, Diz, Ellington, Basie, and a lot of Woody Herman): my mom's organ playing at church services in the post chapel; the post band playing Sousa marches at parades; and a lot of Ethiopian drumming. I still have the wooden double-goatskin-headed drum my mom bought from the drum maker on the edge of town when I was three...

lionheart · Post by **lionheart** » Sun Sep 16, 2007 8:07 am

First musical memories....I have problems with questions like this, because I have so many memories attached to so many songs. I usually wind up getting emotional/romantic/nostalgic about it.

I think my first real musical memories was hearing "Let it Be" on the radio, and after that, the entire album of "Jesus Christ Superstar". To this day, I still have the entire album memorized, including the amount on time between the actual songs.

ric325v63 · Post by **ric325v63** » Mon Sep 17, 2007 2:14 am

I think it has to be in 1961 or so when my older brother was playing surf music. We lived in Manhattan Beach, CA and I remember Dick Dale and the Deltones as well as other surf bands and the Beach Boys and Jan & Dean. I really liked the surf music and the car music until the day I heard The Beatles in December 1963 on the radio and all changed!