Redartz: For most of us, our love for music probably started pretty early in life. We heard songs on the radio, music performances on tv, possibly even had parents who took us to concerts. Many of us (myself included) even had a little record player as kids, generally stocked with some 45's and childrens' records. Our little player, with it's massive tonearm, often could be heard playing Disney and Flintstones music from our bedroom. My siblings and I loved it.
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| Not my Wards unit, but similar... |
However, by the time my teen years had rolled around, that little phonograph seemed lacking. Playing music was getting to be a serious pastime, and required some upgraded hi fi (high fidelity) equipment. For me, this came at Christmas, when my parents gave me my first real stereo. From Montgomery Wards,it had AM/FM stereo radio and a turntable, with separate large speakers. And, it also had a set of headphones (indispensible for listening at night, or to drown out my brother's music). I was ecstatic, and played that unit for hours on end.
Later on at college, I'd upgraded further with the likes of Pioneer, Sansui and Phillips components, but that first stereo holds a lot of good memories. My first exposure to Casey Kasem and American Top 40 was heard on that set, and my first lp's were spun upon it. Many a late night was spent, lying in the dark, tethered to that stereo,with the headphones. filling my ears with Wings, Alan Parsons, and Heart. That Wards stereo taught me the difference between hearing music and actively listening to music What was your first introduction to the wonderful world of audio?
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Wow, we were listening to the very same albums, I do believe. (Alan Parsons' PYRAMID was my personal go-to for almost any wind-down type of listening.)
And yes, my first "real" stereo, bought with my own $$ was the Realistic (Radio Shack's house brand at the time, I believe) Clarinette 398. . .or 298. . . or 598. . . one of the "98" series models. Turntable, AM/FM/FM+ (whatever that meant), and cassette-player. I know I ultimately blew the speakers somehow- or they just broke- but to my ears, that hopelessly low-end little system gave the best sound on Planet Earth. . . heh. . .
HB
My aunt's mono record player.. playing Beatles songs, probably around 1967ish, while staying overnight with my grandparents is my first experience with home music. (She was still an older teen, living at home.)
She eventually gave us the record player, along with a few pennies, to keep weight on the needle as necessary.
My dad would then go to the library to check out records (always Motown since we lived in Gary, IN) like Jackson 5 and Diana Ross and the Supremes.
Eventually around 1975, I took my paper-route earning and bought a Pioneer stereo system!
Still have a stereo system and turntable, and still play records. My son digs it and plays the Beatles on it now and then! Finds the fidelity superior to digital.
My family had one of those giant stereo systems from the '60s that looked as big as a couch, and when you turned it on it had green glowing tubes inside that looked like they were radioactive! Later they bought a smaller record player that allowed recording to cassette, so most of my experience musically was getting records from the library and building my cassette collection.
I never had a record player of my own, but in the early '80s got my first Walkman-- very exciting! I bought Don McLean's American Pie album to go with it and listened to it endlessly on a family trip.
We had one of those "cabinet" record players, that looks like a sideboard with the top that opens. My dad still has it, but doesn't play records anymore; it's piled with junk now.
I've been extremely busy today.., but I will say that, while I can't recall the brand of the 'first record player', I got to inherit my big brother's stereo in the 80s when I went to college. it was another belt-driven job, but with the receiver, it, a 2-tape tape-player I got for graduation, and later a rummage-sale 8-track player module.
Ahhh, man, that receiver had the coolest toggles..., very heavy action, ultra-cool. It simply oooozed coolness.
'Did I say it was cool....?'
For what it's worth, I have a friend who makes a good coin now and then scouring salvation army and such for old Amps. I guess there are some real high quality gems out there that audiophiles will pay for, still.
When I was a little kid, we had a little mono record player and I first listened to a bunch of the Disney story albums with the story built into the album jacket. My uncle also gave us a bunch of his old 45s from the Beatles, Stones, Beach Boys, plus some of my grandparents' jazz and easy listening 45s, so I got a pretty well-rounded exposure to music.
When I was 8 or 9, my parents bought me a cassette player/tape recorder. At the time ('72 or '73), there were a few cassette albums on sale, but it was still mostly LP's, 45's, and 8 Tracks. I slowly built a collection of cassettes and actually listened to cassettes until well into the 90's.
I actually didn't get a stereo until I got out of college. Until then, I had portable tape decks, a Walkman, and my car stereo to play my tunes. I got a really nice one and still used it until a few years ago. Now you can get such big sound from such small systems, but I still kind of miss that big stereo I had I just don't have anywhere to put it now. :)
Thanks for the 'audio feedback', everyone!
Charlie- yes, the library was a great resource for free music. And still is. Oh, and nice choice on that Pioneer system. I had Pioneer speakers, but had to settle for a Sansui receiver. Which, actually, worked just fine.
Garrett and Mike W.- it seemed like everyone's parents had a console stereo. With the radio, turntable, and usually a spot to store a few lp's. And of course they had that big furniture feel, and cloth-covered speakers. I sat in front of my Dad's console as a tad and listened to the speakers vibrate.
david_b- your receiver does indeed evoke coolness. That was the way to control your sound: big switches, big analog dials, lots of buttons and that finely glowing lighted radio dial.
Graham- it does sound like you had a nice selection of audio entertainment! Did you ever have any of the "Power Record" comic book/record sets?
Redartz, I never had any of the Power Records, but I do remember that my brother had one.....maybe the Hulk because he loved that show when he was three or four years old. If they had been an item when I was about his age, I would have snatched them up.
I would listen to my father's rock'n'roll records on a player that coped with the 78s, I don't remember the make or brand.
Perhaps my love and respect for American pop culture was born in the grooves of Little Richard and Gene Vincent...
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