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🥂 50th Tell Us About Your First A&M Records!
- Thread starter Rudy
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I guess this could be a separate thread, but to keep thing going, how about your recollections of your first A&M CD?
Mine was Carpenters SINGLES 1969-1973 (CD 3601), sometime in 1984, I think. CDs had been a slow-starting reality in what, 83? I remember seeing the new format demonstrated in record stores with a few CDs available from the classical world and a few pop titles like Billy Joel, Springsteen, and ABBA. Largely uninterested at that point, I held out until the next year, I believe, when Santa-wife asked me if I wanted one of these new toys for Christmas as we wandered the aisles of Wall To Wall Sound And Video.
They had a Sony player that we picked up, and I naturally would need something to play on it, so the natural thing was to pick out something that I DIDN'T own on LP/record, which was the SOMEWHERE IN TIME soundtrack. I had to have the 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY soundtrack since it fit neatly into the "classical needs CD format" category, and I had to have a pop title, which I picked as Carpenters SINGLES 1969-1973.
This would have been the fall of that year, which I think was 1984. I remember proudly taking this newfangled CD into work to show around. Our production guy immediately took it into the production room where they'd just installed a professional model CD player, and we listened to some of the Carpenters tracks as a preview. He decided then and there to put "For All We Know" onto tape cartridge, sourced from the CD, for use on-air. At the time, it was one of the few Carpenters tracks we were still playing once in awhile.
I believe the second A&M CD I owned was the TJB's CHRISTMAS ALBUM, which I picked up later that fall, just waiting for Christmas to play these new discs with "perfect sound forever."
Harry
Mine was Carpenters SINGLES 1969-1973 (CD 3601), sometime in 1984, I think. CDs had been a slow-starting reality in what, 83? I remember seeing the new format demonstrated in record stores with a few CDs available from the classical world and a few pop titles like Billy Joel, Springsteen, and ABBA. Largely uninterested at that point, I held out until the next year, I believe, when Santa-wife asked me if I wanted one of these new toys for Christmas as we wandered the aisles of Wall To Wall Sound And Video.
They had a Sony player that we picked up, and I naturally would need something to play on it, so the natural thing was to pick out something that I DIDN'T own on LP/record, which was the SOMEWHERE IN TIME soundtrack. I had to have the 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY soundtrack since it fit neatly into the "classical needs CD format" category, and I had to have a pop title, which I picked as Carpenters SINGLES 1969-1973.
This would have been the fall of that year, which I think was 1984. I remember proudly taking this newfangled CD into work to show around. Our production guy immediately took it into the production room where they'd just installed a professional model CD player, and we listened to some of the Carpenters tracks as a preview. He decided then and there to put "For All We Know" onto tape cartridge, sourced from the CD, for use on-air. At the time, it was one of the few Carpenters tracks we were still playing once in awhile.
I believe the second A&M CD I owned was the TJB's CHRISTMAS ALBUM, which I picked up later that fall, just waiting for Christmas to play these new discs with "perfect sound forever."
Harry
When CDs came out I was in the middle of my early mid-life crisis period when I had pretty much stopped listening to the classic A&M stuff, except on rare occasions I would pull out a compilation tape I'd made. I was always disgusted that my very favorite albums (like Sergio's STILLNESS or PRIMAL ROOTS, or Herb's WARM) weren't available on CD, as the record companies were going thru their catalogs and picking the best sellers for release. So I'm not sure what my first A&M CD was -- it was actually probably something like THE GRAND ILLUSION by Styx, because I was playing some of their music at dances I was DJing and I bought most of my first CDs for use in the DJ business.
It wasn't until I discovered the A&M Corner that I had my interest in classic A&M re-invigorated, mostly by finding out from the other members about all the fine details and tidbits about the artists and music that I hadn't known. I wound up revisiting all my A&M favorites and at that point, seriously started finding as many as I could on CD. I wound up missing several of the early CD releases on some of the albums, but I still have my originals of quite a few. One I don't have anymore is WHIPPED CREAM -- I wound up selling that one on Gemm.com for $149, about a year before the Shout!Factory releases were announced. Timed that one right!
I probably listen to classic A&M more now than I did back when I first became a fan, thanks to the iPod which I carry in my vehicle -- I have all the music with me all the time.
It wasn't until I discovered the A&M Corner that I had my interest in classic A&M re-invigorated, mostly by finding out from the other members about all the fine details and tidbits about the artists and music that I hadn't known. I wound up revisiting all my A&M favorites and at that point, seriously started finding as many as I could on CD. I wound up missing several of the early CD releases on some of the albums, but I still have my originals of quite a few. One I don't have anymore is WHIPPED CREAM -- I wound up selling that one on Gemm.com for $149, about a year before the Shout!Factory releases were announced. Timed that one right!
I probably listen to classic A&M more now than I did back when I first became a fan, thanks to the iPod which I carry in my vehicle -- I have all the music with me all the time.
Captain Bacardi
Well-Known Member
My first CDs period came in 1987 when I bought a new stereo system (Technics). I bought the Classics CDs of Herb & the TJB and Herb's solo work (which had just been released), as well as Gato Barbieri's Caliente! I had been with the USPS for a few months and saved up enough money to plunk down on these things. I quickly snatched up all of the TJB and solo Alpert titles that were available back then. It was a good thing, too, because they went out of print not long after that.
Capt. Bacardi
Capt. Bacardi
First three CDs I owned were: Earth Wind & Fire: Powerlight, Phil Collins: Hello, I Must Be Going and I think the third was either George Benson's Give Me The Night (which was a digital recording, but the crappy original CD was probably taken from a multi-generation LP master tape), or Jean-Luc Ponty's Individual Choice. Fourth CD was Donald Fagen's The Nightfly which I later (as in, just a couple of years ago) learned was actually the version that was recalled since it was made from a poor sounding analog master tape. I always wondered why it sounded so lifeless. (The new SACD from Japan is the definitive version BTW.) The fifth was Phil Collins Face Value, a UK import on Virgin with the blue handwritten (by Collins) label. Peter Gabriel's fourth album on Charisma, and the Genesis Three Sides Live on Vertigo, were both early import purchases as well.
The first A&M was probably Synchronicity by The Police, or Joe Jacksons Night & Day. Whichever one came out first. Supertramp's Crime Of The Century, and two German imports (TJB's Christmas Album and Brasil '66 Greatest Hits) were also some very early purchases in A&M land, years before the first TJB reissues and the purple Classics series.
I ended up owning a handful of CDs before I even had a player, and I think my first player came in late 1983 or early 1984, back when list price for CD players was usually around $1000.
I think I changed my initial CD player order two times before I finally got the Hitachi; it was the same unit that Denon sold under another model number:
It played OK when it was newer, but soon got quirky and would take awhile to search for tracks. I can't recall my first choice of player, but I think the second one was the Revox, which was the coolest looking player out there (classic Revox grey/silver styling...very sharp). Or the Denon equivalent of the Hitachi may have been second or third. When my patience ran thin, I found what I was looking for: Sony came out with the D-5 portable Discman player a year or two later, and I got one.
Finally when I got really tired of both (the Sony was good as a portable, but didn't quite have the refinement for an audiophile system), I got this beauty:
The Nakamichi OMS-7. Even via grey market, you don't want to know what I paid for it, as it listed for $1500.
But even though it was mid 80s vintage, it was the best sounding CD player I have ever owned, even to this day. Smooth, warm, very analog sounding. I got a few years of good use out of it before the laser quit, and I moved on from there. Still wish I had it; I ended up selling it to a Nakamichi collector a few years ago.
The first A&M was probably Synchronicity by The Police, or Joe Jacksons Night & Day. Whichever one came out first. Supertramp's Crime Of The Century, and two German imports (TJB's Christmas Album and Brasil '66 Greatest Hits) were also some very early purchases in A&M land, years before the first TJB reissues and the purple Classics series.
I ended up owning a handful of CDs before I even had a player, and I think my first player came in late 1983 or early 1984, back when list price for CD players was usually around $1000.
I think I changed my initial CD player order two times before I finally got the Hitachi; it was the same unit that Denon sold under another model number:
It played OK when it was newer, but soon got quirky and would take awhile to search for tracks. I can't recall my first choice of player, but I think the second one was the Revox, which was the coolest looking player out there (classic Revox grey/silver styling...very sharp). Or the Denon equivalent of the Hitachi may have been second or third. When my patience ran thin, I found what I was looking for: Sony came out with the D-5 portable Discman player a year or two later, and I got one.
Finally when I got really tired of both (the Sony was good as a portable, but didn't quite have the refinement for an audiophile system), I got this beauty:
The Nakamichi OMS-7. Even via grey market, you don't want to know what I paid for it, as it listed for $1500.
But even though it was mid 80s vintage, it was the best sounding CD player I have ever owned, even to this day. Smooth, warm, very analog sounding. I got a few years of good use out of it before the laser quit, and I moved on from there. Still wish I had it; I ended up selling it to a Nakamichi collector a few years ago.
I waited until sometime in 1985 to go to CD. The first ones I bought were all-digital (DDD) releases, including one on A&M: Joe Jackson's Body and Soul . The other two were Donald Fagen's The Nightfly and Dire Straits' Brothers In Arms.
Brothers In Arms brings back a lot of memories. I was well into buying CDs by then, and that album had some great reviews for the CD version. And it was the first big new-release seller on CD, and as I soon found out, impossible to find. I tried stores for a few weeks before I finally found one--they were being snapped up the minute they came in. I did get the SACD 25th anniversary reissue but it does not sound much different or better, but the surround portion is cool.
Joe Jackson's Body and Soul is a very nice sounding and well-recorded album. I grabbed it on vinyl last year, and it is every bit as good as the CD since A&M used the KC-600 vinyl for that pressing. They also cut a lot of dynamics into the vinyl--it is a good demo LP...and the original CD release is also a great demo disc. I of course bought the CD when it came out, and even on a cassette dub I made for the car (not long before I had the first car CD player), the soundstage was absolutely huge.
Joe Jackson's Body and Soul is a very nice sounding and well-recorded album. I grabbed it on vinyl last year, and it is every bit as good as the CD since A&M used the KC-600 vinyl for that pressing. They also cut a lot of dynamics into the vinyl--it is a good demo LP...and the original CD release is also a great demo disc. I of course bought the CD when it came out, and even on a cassette dub I made for the car (not long before I had the first car CD player), the soundstage was absolutely huge.
First A&M-produced record I bought was "Spanish Flea" but of course for several years A&M product was released in the UK on different labels - first $tateside and then Pye International. I'd racked up a lot of A&M stuff before the label appeared in its own right here and my first 'proper' A&M record was "Casino Royale" which was the first time I'd seen the classic ochre label.
That's the disc I'd use to show off the CD. I'd play the intro to "Money For Nothing" on vinyl...loud....and inevitably hit distortion. Then I'd switch to it on CD and my friends would be astonished.
Little did we know what that meant was that I needed a better analog rig.
That's very true.
A lot of the "problems" with vinyl were due to some of the mass-market systems out there that didn't do it justice. I always had a good vinyl rig, but would wince when going over to a friends house, where they'd spin something popular of the day (REO's Hi Infidelity, etc.), and there'd be a ton of distortion.
My first CDs in general were, I think, Anita Baker "Giving You The Best That I Got" and Dexter Gordon "Go".....not sure about the first A&M CD. Perhaps it was "Arara" by Sergio, although I'd think there must have been something before then...
toeknee4bz
Well-Known Member
The first A&M record I remember hearing was GOING PLACES by Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass. I first heard this album when I was six years old in Rota, Spain in 1975. I had asked my mom if we had any Spanish music on record, and she said "No, but this is close." I remember hearing "Tijuana Taxi", and actually enjoying it more than the stuff I heard on Avenida Sevilla!Let's hear from everyone on this thread! After all, A&M is why we are all here.
What were the first A&M records you heard, played or owned?
Everyone has good memories of their A&M collection, even if it just a few albums. Any memory is welcome!
Now, that was Mom's album, along with WHIPPED CREAM & OTHER DELIGHTS, of course. I didn't start my own record collection until 1982, when I was 13, and back in the states. My first album purchase: MAIN EVENT LIVE by Herb Alpert & Hugh Masekela. It was in the cut-out bin upstairs at Sears in Daytona Beach, Florida for $2.99 before tax... a whopping $3.11 after. Talk about the good ole days!
toeknee4bz
Well-Known Member
SOLID BRASS ???
A very old picture from probably the late '60s, maybe early '70s. By then, I'd graduated from the plastic self-contained portable phonograph to a component setup. My first magnetic cartridge turntable was this BSR, which is pictured playing a some Tijuana Brass record. I can't identify it.
On first inspection, it looks liked the title is two words, followed by lines two and three saying "HERB ALPERT &" and "THE TIJUANA BRASS". It looks like a stereo disc based on the length of the word on the right. And looking at the grooves, my best guess is that there are six tracks on the side, with track five being a longish, quieter one.
I just inspected all of my GOING PLACES albums and none of them match that. I checked SOUNDS LIKE and couldn't find a match. Any guesses?
Harry
Steven J. Gross
Well-Known Member
I can answer this to a T- When I was 10 on Dec. 25 1967- I received "What Now My Love" and "Going Places" (by the TjB) from my aunt for Christmas!
The first A&M song that stuck in my mind in 1964 or '65 was Herb and the TjB's "America"...
I was hooked.
The first A&M song that stuck in my mind in 1964 or '65 was Herb and the TjB's "America"...
I was hooked.
W.B.
Member
Looking at the pressing, it would appear to have been made by Columbia Records' Pitman, NJ plant. The typesetting on the label seemed to be the giveaway, also the way the A&M logo looked on LP pressings by Columbia between 1968 and 1973.
Dave
Well-Known Member
So, nobody as of yet has owned up to the Ethel Merman Disco Album being their first A&M purchase??
Well, the closest I may have been along those lines would be Peter Frampton Comes Alive!!
(My first A&M DOUBLE LP!!!!)
-- Dave
Dave
Well-Known Member
Of which percussionist the late-Jim Maelen (he died from Leukemia in 1988) on the front & back covers of his 1980 album Beats Working, is in that very plant at the end of a conveyor belt pressing '45's there & on the back cover playfully throwing a few over the employees (I'm sure they are suspended on strings) playing his instruments...
OK, a phase where I was into studio musicians, but of which a host of my favorite aces were behind Peter Allen, John Mark & Johnny Almond, and Gato Barbieri ,and many others--all some of my "later firsts" on A&M...
-- Dave
The first 2 albums that I saw when I was a little baby (around 3 or 4 years old back in 1968 & 1969) was "Going Places!" & "S.R.O." by Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass. My first A&M 45 single was Sister Janet Mead "The Lord's Prayer" in April of 1974 (when I was 8 years old) when I bought it at the National Record Mart at the Greengate Mall in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. I bought my first A&M album back when I was 14 years old in August of 1979. It was Supertramp "Breakfast In America" which I got at the old Camelot Music store at the Fashion Square Mall in Saginaw, MI. Matt Clark Sanford, MI
gregory lamb
New Member
my first A&M record that I heard and recognized that it was a A&M record That I Remember, Was "Spanish Flea"!! I heard it on a small transistor radio I had gotten on my birthday And I remember snapping my fingers and asked my dad WHO IS THIS??? I was a little kid probably 5 years old!! That small transistor radio was my 1st introduction to radio,music and records that have been a love and hobby in my life ever since !!!! Latter the first record I begged my mom to get was 2 45 rpms ," So What's New" By Herb. it was currently on the radio at the time And a cut out copy of "Mickie's Monkey" (on TAMLA) which is non A&M related. That Was The beginning of my love and collecting of the 45 !!! I Think I Was 5 or 6 years old at that time!!!
KentTeffeteller
Well-Known Member
My first A&M LP discs were the first 4 Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass LP discs my niece gave me. She gave me the first 5 Baja Marimba Band LP Discs.
dostros
Member
My first A&M record was the Lonely Bull single. The haunting tune enthralled me and started a tradition where Mom would wake her 8-year-old son up for school by turning up the radio when a TJB song came on. Worked to get me out of bed everytime. My parents must have bought the single for me with no quibbles - they probably like it themselves, and the fact that there were no words meant it wouldn't corrupt me like other "secular" music!
The first album was "Whipped Cream and Other Delights", and I held my breath for until they bought it, in spite of the shocking cover. They tried to get a "brown paper bag" version, but they didn't make them
The first album was "Whipped Cream and Other Delights", and I held my breath for until they bought it, in spite of the shocking cover. They tried to get a "brown paper bag" version, but they didn't make them
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