Gentle reader,
I was reading July's "The Word" and I came across an article about the rite of passage that is buying your first record, cassette,cd or whatever. This being the download generation part of the ritual of being a teenager is now fading fast. That day when you parents relaxed the "you will listen to..." rules and let you take your saved up pocket money or record token down to the local record shop and choose a record by yourself.
That first choice was a very important choice, do I buy what "I like" or do I buy what "I want to like" the peer pressure to like Pink Floyd or those Scouser haircuts The Beatles when really all I wanted to do was get down with Black Sabbath or Hawkwind. This choice was doubly hard given the steely gaze of the lady behind the record counter who would (or so it felt) measure your choice against a secret scale of acceptability that only she was privy to.
I remember my first record well. It was 1972 it was sometime in the 2 weeks around the 12th July and it was"Silver Machine" by Hawkwind. It was somewhere in the top 10 and it was a perfect song for a teen whose main claim to fame was "epic hair" and a silver Raleigh Chopper.
It was bought in Woolies (Woolworth's), I cycled like my arse was in fire both there and back, and with much pomp took the 7 inch platter from it's sleeve, placed it on my father's Bush turntable and played it ... my first non-adult assisted purchase.
Somehow iTunes doesn't have the same thrill.
