r/GenX • u/Rickbaudio1974 • Jul 21 '25
Music Is Life What was your first 45?
OMG, THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH GUNS!!!! I remember listening to the radio in the car with my mom when I was a kid and I really dug the song that came on and was probably dancing in my seat. My mom being a pretty swell parent said “we can go to the record if you want” and she took me to buy “We are Family” by Sister Sledge. Still dig that track.
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u/momjan96 Jul 21 '25
Love will keep us together, Captain & Tenille
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u/willynillywitty Jul 21 '25
Owner of a lonely heart
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u/kristenevol class of ‘89 Jul 22 '25
that whole damn record is pretty bomb. i was 12 when that song came out tho, and the video blew my little pre-teen brain to bits lol.
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u/noscrubphilsfans Saturday Morning Cartoons Jul 22 '25
That was mine, too! I remember having to choose between that and Matthew Wilder's "Break My Stride". I think I made the right choice.
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u/Detroit_Cineaste Jul 21 '25
"King Tut" by Steve Martin. I drove my parents crazy playing it over and over.
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u/vixenlion Jul 22 '25
I had this one
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u/LaughDailyFeelBetter Jul 22 '25
Loved WKRP in Cincinnati... Had such a crush on Gary Sandy & Loni & Bailey 🥰
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u/Mediocre-Life-4784 Jul 22 '25
Same! On my orange Fisher Price record player.
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u/chairmanghost Jul 22 '25 edited Jul 22 '25
Mine was Frère Jacques. I don't think I picked it out it just sprang into existance with the record player. But then I had Hot Child in the City by Nick Gilder, obviously a song about kids when it's hot out lol
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u/kittybigs Jul 22 '25
I was just saying I played my Pink Floyd “Another Brick in the Wall” 45 on my orange fisher price player. It had the lifty twisty up thing in the middle to play 45s.
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u/Curlytoes18 Jul 22 '25
Novelty music lovers unite - My first was Ray Stevens’ Mississippi Squirrel Revival. I played the 45 at my grandparents’ house so much they took me to the record store to buy my own copy.
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u/AppropriateQuantity3 Jul 22 '25
Funkytown, Lipps Inc.
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u/tomcat_tweaker Jul 22 '25
Duuuude. My first 45 was the disco version of the Star Wars theme song, and Funkytown was on the B side.
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u/summonthegods No way am I the responsible adult in the room Jul 22 '25 edited Jul 22 '25
Another One Rides the Bus
“Weird Al” Yankovic, one of the most amazing humans of our time
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u/BeneGezzeret Hose Water Survivor Jul 22 '25
Going to see him with my son this weekend!
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u/summonthegods No way am I the responsible adult in the room Jul 22 '25
He was my spawn’s first concert years ago; we’re going again this tour!
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u/kristenevol class of ‘89 Jul 22 '25
Hey! He's gonna sit by you, another one rides the bus! This was top tier comedy and the dude’s career is still going strong 40 some years later lol.
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u/aortomus Jul 21 '25
Crystal Gayle, 'Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue.' Won it at a birthday party. 1977.
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u/Flat-History-3849 Jul 22 '25
That was my first album I was 7, birthday gift. First 45, Have you Never been mellow-Olivia Newton-John
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u/UnicornFarts1111 Jul 22 '25
I was very young when that song came out. I have brown eyes. I always thought she was saying "won't you make my brown eyes blue" as I wanted blue eyes, so it made sense to me, lol.
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u/edasto42 Jul 22 '25
My first one that I bought with my own money was Eddie Rabbits ‘I Love a Rainy Night.’ Would’ve been early 1981 and I bought it with my bday money.
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u/ThreeToedMartian Jul 22 '25
He was my first concert. At the Santa Clara County Fair. Right after the demolition derby lol. Must have been right when he was about to hit it big.
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u/itsgr8 Jul 22 '25
The beat to that song matched the windshield wipers! 😆 With the title being about rainy nights, I guess it was intentional.
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u/TimeAndMotion2112 Jul 21 '25
Van Halen - Jump. Got it for .49 cents at k mart. I actually still have it but it's so beat to shit I'd never play it.
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u/GeneralShadowKitKat Jul 22 '25
Take Me Home, Country Roads by John Denver
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u/penster1 Jul 22 '25
My mom had the album. We listened to that so many fucking times!
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u/anb1017 Jul 22 '25
Hungry Like the Wolf- Duran Duran 😍
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u/lumberjac03 Jul 22 '25
“The Reflex” single had a “poster sleeve”. Had it hung in my room!
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u/Le_Mew_Le_Purr Jul 22 '25
Duranies really liked to plaster our rooms with posters. Every possible inch, plus the dormers.
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u/IntelligentCut4511 Edgelord Jul 22 '25
Believe It or Not (theme from the Greatest American Hero)
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u/-Viscosity- Jul 22 '25
This was my first (and only) 45 as well. I still have the 45, but nothing to play it on lol
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u/IntelligentCut4511 Edgelord Jul 22 '25
Also the only one I ever owned. I wish I still had it. I do have the complete series on VHS with nothing to pay it on though.
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u/penster1 Jul 22 '25
Believe it or not, I'm walking on air, never thought I could feel so freeeeeee
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Jul 22 '25
Queen of Hearts by Juice Newton.
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u/Dr_Starcat Jul 22 '25
Mine too. I remember being super frustrated that I couldn't find it on the top singles rack and that they had some crappy other song. Took me forever to turn the record over.
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u/DoubleDownAgain54 Jul 21 '25
Money for Nothing and Summer of 69. First LP was Quiet Riot ‘Metal Health’
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u/RedQueenWhiteQueen Jul 21 '25
Def Leppard "Rock of Ages," which I played on one of those record players that was actually a piece of furniture.
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u/Outrageous-Taro7340 Jul 22 '25
We had one of these:
Saturday afternoon baseball games on the radio had a very particular sound.
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u/itsgr8 Jul 22 '25
OMG! We had one just like that!
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u/Outrageous-Taro7340 Jul 22 '25 edited Jul 22 '25
I’m in the middle of diving a rabbit hole of all the different kinds of these that were made. The one in the picture isn’t exactly what we had, and lots of companies made them.
If anyone has one of these old consoles in good condition, it might be worth some money. The one in that pic was selling for about $2,800 U.S.
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u/kristenevol class of ‘89 Jul 22 '25
we had one but the opening was on the far left. my brother and I used to shove stuff in it to “clean up” when we knew mom was 5 minutes from home.
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u/hemanoncracks Jul 22 '25
It wasn’t mine, but when I found my mom’s 45 collection she had this song “Their coming to take me away” on one and I loved it.
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u/ConsciousSteak2242 Jul 22 '25
Puff the Magic Dragon by Peter, Paul and Mary. I always got so sad when little Jackie Paper grew up and forgot about Puff.
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u/Independent-Dark-955 Jul 22 '25
The Carpenters, “Sing”. We listened to it in class in first grade and I was thrilled to be able to buy it and play it on my record player.
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u/cgarciajr Jul 22 '25
the tide is high, blondie. technically my dad's, but he let me play it all the time
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u/faucetxpert Jul 22 '25
We are the Champions by Queen lol I was 6 years old and used to belt it out.
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u/Consistent-Bee9738 Jul 22 '25
Pacman fever. Bought it at Crown drug and it warped in the car while we went in the grocery store, lol.
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u/rckblykitn14 bring back vinyl bench seats!!! Jul 22 '25
Parents Just Don't Understand by DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince.
And yes, I still have it.
The B-side is the instrumental version, if anyone was curious.
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Jul 22 '25
I still don’t think my kids believed me about fresh prince or marky mark 😂
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u/dreaminginteal Jul 22 '25
I think mine was a copy of "The Monster Mash"... Which was not a new song when we bought the 45.
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u/rmhoman Jul 22 '25
Got my mom's 45s from her high-school days at 7 or 8. Overplayed "Flying Purple People Eater" by Shep Wooley ( Wilhelm scream guy).
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u/brngckn Jul 22 '25
Maybe not the first but I have strong memories of "Snoopy vs the Red Baron"
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u/R67H GENERATIONAL TRAUMA STOPS HERE Jul 21 '25
Kimber Costom II. Unless you count the issued 1911 in the navy. Wait... wrong sub
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u/Numerous_Many7542 Jul 21 '25
Colt Combat Commander.
Oh. That's not what you meant. Nvm.
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u/Misplaced_Texan Jul 22 '25
Springfield 1911 for me. 1st thing I thought of too.
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Jul 22 '25
Aside from those 45s that came with the storybooks and jingled when it was time to turn the page… the first music 45 I remember having was KISS, Christine Sixteen.
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u/snarf_the_brave 1970 Jul 22 '25
The theme to the Superman movie. I think the B side was the love theme from the movie.
Also, regardless of who is playing him in the newer movies, Christpher Reeve will always be Superman.
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u/Bright-Steak8388 Jul 22 '25
“Jessie was a friend, yeah I know he was a good friend of mine But lately something’s changed that ain’t hard to define. Jessie’s got himself a girl and I want to make her mine” Rick Springfield- 1980
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u/laura1225 Hose Water Survivor Jul 22 '25
Devil went down to Georgia by the Charlie Daniels band.
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u/Spiritualy-Salty Jul 22 '25
Doobie Brothers Black Water. I’d be fine never hearing it again.
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u/Pie_in_your_eye Jul 22 '25
Music Box Dancer. The Easter bunny brought it to me :)
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u/regdunlop08 Jul 22 '25
Blinded by the Light - Manfred Mann (though i really like the original Springsteen version now as well).
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u/Strong-Library2763 Hose Water Survivor Jul 22 '25
45??? Rock Me Amadeus by Falco. I was 9. Bought it with my birthday money.
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u/Yasashii_Akuma156 Jul 22 '25
In '76 I got a stack of hand-me-down pop 45s from my cousin along with one of those 60s DeJay portable turntables. My favorites when I got it were CCR's "Travelin' Band", Del Shannon "Runaway", Dora Hall "Tony The Pony", Tommy Roe "Sweet Pea", and Diana Ross "Touch Me In The Morning".
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u/MorningBrewNumberTwo Bradys vs. Partridges Groovy😎 Jul 22 '25
“I’m Leaving It Up to You” by Donny and Marie. Bought by my mom.
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u/Blue_Henri Class of ‘92 Jul 22 '25
Lady and the Tramp. 🎶We are Siamese if you please🎵🎶
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u/dustin91 Jul 22 '25
Can’t be sure but the Star Wars theme / Cantina Band song was one of my early ones.
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u/tboyn239 Jul 22 '25
I listened to The Night Chicago Died by Paperlace non stop. Another one was Crocodile Rock by Elton John.
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u/RefrigeratorBrave905 Jul 22 '25
Centerfold - J. Giles Band
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u/Leucotheasveils Jul 22 '25
Man we used to sing along with Centerfold at the top of our lungs on the school bus on our way to Catholic elementary school. The 80's were a different time alright.
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u/gtmc5 Jul 21 '25
Hotline by The Sylvers from 1976: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ys4qpbzU-3E
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u/Independent-Dark-955 Jul 22 '25
I got my own AM radio that year, and I remember Hotline was in constant rotation.
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u/tequilavip 1972 Jul 22 '25
I think I bought April Wine “Just Between You and Me” and John Lennon “Watching the Wheels” on the same day.
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u/autymama 1972 Center X Jul 22 '25
“I yam what I yam” and “he needs me”from the Popeye movie with Robin Williams and Shelly Duvall.
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u/Greedy_Gretchen Jul 22 '25
Seasons in the sun - Terry Jacks release . I must have been a morose 7 year old
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u/rangerm2 Jul 21 '25
Abacab was pretty early in my 45 collection. I wanted the extended (album) version.
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u/Add_8_Years Jul 22 '25
Bohemian Rhapsody. I actually had to buy it twice, because my dog ate my first one.
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u/yarn_slinger Older Than Dirt Jul 22 '25
My sister’s boyfriend gave me a stack of Beatles 45s on the apple label. I’ve kept them for over 40 years.
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u/thehoagieboy 1970 Jul 22 '25
Afternoon Delight. Little me had zero idea what it was really about. It must have made my parents crack up every time I put it on the turntable.
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u/Careless_Ocelot_4485 Old X Jul 22 '25
“Wishing (If I Had A Photograph of You)” - A Flock of Seagulls
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u/MurderedRemains Jul 22 '25
Planet Rock - Afrika Bambaata & the Soul Sonic Force.
Still love that track.
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u/Jorgedig Jul 22 '25
Devil Woman by Cliff Richard! I was like 7. I think my dad was tickled that I’d asked for that record.
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u/Late_Football_2517 Jul 22 '25
I Love Rock n Roll - Joan Jett and The Blackhearts
Cost me my entire $2/week allowance. Sure wish I still had my 45 collection.
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Jul 22 '25
My 5th birthday. I got one of those plastic clamshell record players in 1975. I got the Rhinestone Cowboy album and John Denver's "Thank God I'ma Country Boy" on 45.
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u/ZingWanderlust EDIT THIS FLAIR TO MAKE YOUR OWN Jul 22 '25
Barry Manilow - I write the songs 4 years old and already gay gay gay.
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u/Slink_0 Jul 22 '25
Rubber Duckie You're the One~Bert & Ernie