Kate's theme for Listography this week is the First Five Albums you ever owned. In our household we were inundated with Top of the Pops albums. Cheesy cover versions of popular songs, sung by some unknown randoms with some page 3-esque bird on the front, was my introduction to vinyl. I don't know at what age I realised there was more to music than my dad's embarrassing LP collection!
Having two big sisters I eventually had my aural journey started listening to Pink Floyd, Yes, Led Zeppelin, and Bowie. By the '80's Japan and the Human League became by favourites by proxy, but I still didn't own any albums of my own. By the age of 12ish I started to make my own foray into musical choices and racking my brains, I think these are some of my earliest musical possessions.
1: My very first album that I owned was not awfully cool, but it was much loved. My Tommy Steele Family Album was made of awesome and with hits such as Flash Bang Wallop, it was a sing along sensation for my uncool pre-teen self. It was bought from Woolies along with a quarter of Pick 'n' Mix.
2: This was followed in about 1979 by "The Grease Monkeys sing the songs from Grease"...not even the John and Liv version from the film, but a shocking cover version that cost a fraction of the price of the OST. The Top of the Pops upbringing clearly raised its ugly head as I spent my saved up pocket money on this monstrosity. Needless to say, I can not find any evidence of this LP on the internet. Clearly I was the only person to have ever bought this hideous travesty. So I've used a picture of the original...the album I should have got in the first place.
3: I got cooler shortly after this. The Best of Blondie was my first dabble into the punkish stage that I was to adopt in my teens. I loved Atomic. I still went for a "best of" rather than a proper LP but I was learning!
4: Finally I found my musical niche when I fell in love with Bauhaus in 1981. I was massively in love with Pete Murphy and their obscure, macabre lyrics spoke to the emerging darkness in my psyche. They were the first band I ever saw too...amazing!
5: Bowie's Ziggy Stardust was another purchase that cemented my path towards black lipstick, nail varnish and eyeliner. I loved the Bowie albums and would sing along with my next door neighbour Julie in her bedroom, whilst jotting down the lyrics in our rough books. We thought we were pretty cool!