What was your first favorite song?

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Or at least the first favorite you remember. I did a search and surprisingly couldn't find this.

Mine was either "Rhinestone Cowboy" or "Sugar, Sugar". The latter is still my all time favorite.

frankE (frankE), Monday, 9 August 2004 17:46 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm pretty sure it was "Beat It" by MJ.

Gear! (Gear!), Monday, 9 August 2004 17:47 (twenty-one years ago)

Probably either the Batman theme song, the Spiderman theme song or the Electric Company Number Song aka 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12.

sexyDancers, Monday, 9 August 2004 17:49 (twenty-one years ago)

dick van dyke's incredibly spooky version of "the cat came back"

fact checking cuz (fcc), Monday, 9 August 2004 17:51 (twenty-one years ago)

Three way tie:
"Suffragette City" by David Bowie; "Rescue Me" by Fontella Bass; "I'll Be Mellow When I'm Dead" Weird Al Yankovic.

Lord Custos Epsilon (Lord Custos Epsilon), Monday, 9 August 2004 17:51 (twenty-one years ago)

Before even "In the Year 2525" by Zager and Evans (which I actually BOUGHT a copy of): "The Witchdoctor" by David Seville, "Purple People Eater" by Sheb Wooley, "The Unicorn" by the Irish Rovers, "Talk to the Animals" from Dr. Doolitle ('60s version), "Hot Diggity Dog Diggity" by Perry Como (almost none of which I've ever mentioned in my writing until now, bizarrely enough), and maybe a few other ones.

chuck, Monday, 9 August 2004 17:55 (twenty-one years ago)

Rooftop Singers - Walk Right In. "Daddy let your mind roll on," "Everybody's talkin' 'bout a new way of walkin'," "come on you can lose your mind" -- this song was saying something very exciting that I couldn't quite understand.

briania (briania), Monday, 9 August 2004 17:56 (twenty-one years ago)

The first one I'm really aware of is "House at Pooh Corner" by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. That and "Dead Skunk In The Middle Of The Road" by LWIII, because my dad used to sing it all the time.

phil d., Monday, 9 August 2004 17:56 (twenty-one years ago)

Mull of Kintyre.

ailsa (ailsa), Monday, 9 August 2004 17:57 (twenty-one years ago)

The Witchdoctor" by David Seville

Ooooh. I forgot about this one. My grandparents had the single (probably one of my uncles left it with them) and I remember the cousins all getting together in the basement to dance our fannies off to it. Ooh Eee Ooh ah ah...

frankE (frankE), Monday, 9 August 2004 17:58 (twenty-one years ago)

Oh christ, it must be Steely Dan. I don't know which song, but they were easily my first favourite band. 'Any Major Dude', 'King Of The World', 'Doctor Wu', 'Haitian Divorce', 'Black Cow' were particular favourites, as I recall. oh, 'Kid Charlemagne' too; "Is there gas is the ca-a-ar?/Yes, there's gas in the ca-a-ar!"

Maybe Dire Straits?

I grew up listening to albums, as the CBC was the only radio station my parents would have on. It's tricky to pin down a song.

derrick (derrick), Monday, 9 August 2004 17:59 (twenty-one years ago)

i think mine was "red red wine" by UB40.

peter smith (plsmith), Monday, 9 August 2004 18:04 (twenty-one years ago)

rainbow connection - the muppets

can't listen to it anymore as it makes me cry INSTANTLY.

annie aboleth, Monday, 9 August 2004 18:10 (twenty-one years ago)

i'm pretty sure it was the same as gear!'s.

m. (mitchlnw), Monday, 9 August 2004 18:14 (twenty-one years ago)

blondie's "the tide is high"
it was the first 45 i ever bought (still have it too)

rentboy (rentboy), Monday, 9 August 2004 18:15 (twenty-one years ago)

"Disco Duck" by Rick Dees and His Cast of Idiots.

Pleasant Plains (Pleasant Plains), Monday, 9 August 2004 18:20 (twenty-one years ago)

"The Bear Neccesities." Not so much a song as a philosophy for living. Still love it.

Wooden (Wooden), Monday, 9 August 2004 18:22 (twenty-one years ago)

Beach Boys "Be True To Your School"

AaronHz (AaronHz), Monday, 9 August 2004 18:24 (twenty-one years ago)

elo, "turn to stone"

mookieproof (mookieproof), Monday, 9 August 2004 18:25 (twenty-one years ago)

The first one I can remember specifically is "Life in a Northern Town" by the Dream Academy.

roxymuzak (roxymuzak), Monday, 9 August 2004 18:26 (twenty-one years ago)

Axel F Theme

TOMBOT, Monday, 9 August 2004 18:29 (twenty-one years ago)

Bee Gees - "Gotta Get a Message to You" (not sure if that was the name, but if you know the song you'll recognize the line)
The Foundations - "Build Me Up, Buttercup"
The Lemon Pipers - "Green Tambourine"

This was me at age 10, and while I owned one LP (Dino, Desi, and Billy) and a few singles, I don't remember liking any of them as favorites.

nickn (nickn), Monday, 9 August 2004 18:30 (twenty-one years ago)

I remember "Steppin' Out" by Joe Jackson, but my mom insists I played a 45 of "Don't Go Breakin' My Heart" by Elton John and Kiki Dee.

"Glory of Love" by Peter Cetera, "Eat It" by Weird Al Yankovic, "Uptown Girl" by Billy Joel and "Michelle" by The Beatles were also favorites of mine when my brain was still soft.

Talent Explosion (Talent Explosion), Monday, 9 August 2004 18:35 (twenty-one years ago)

When I was a little kid, my older sister used to watch "Crime Story", and I became enamored with "Runaway"--first Todd Rundgren's version used as the shows title theme, and then with Del Shannon's original, which got revived on the radio.

I mention this because I recently picked up the first season of "Crime Story" on dvd, and I was shocked at how stiff and crappy Todd's cover sounds today.

Doobie Keebler (Charles McCain), Monday, 9 August 2004 18:41 (twenty-one years ago)

Ditto. My answer above is only there because I can't remember a specific Beatles song that was my favorite.

xpost

roxymuzak (roxymuzak), Monday, 9 August 2004 18:42 (twenty-one years ago)

"Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be cowboys" is tied with "Luchenbach, Texas (The Basics of Love)," although there is also a tape of me singing "Daydream Believer."

Beta Bandy, Monday, 9 August 2004 18:43 (twenty-one years ago)

"Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be cowboys" is tied with "Luckenbach, Texas (The Basics of Love)," although there is also a tape of me singing "Daydream Believer."

Beta Bandy, Monday, 9 August 2004 18:45 (twenty-one years ago)

Either "Shimmy Shimmy Ko-Ko Bop" or "Love Will Keep Us Together," both of which I was grooving to by age 4.

Joseph McCombs, Monday, 9 August 2004 18:46 (twenty-one years ago)

"Beat It"

sundar subramanian (sundar), Monday, 9 August 2004 18:49 (twenty-one years ago)

I was a 7 year old geek crossing the Causeway bridge in New Orleans after having picked up my grandmother from the airport, and Summer out of Vivaldi's 4 Seasons rocked my world. Thats my first memory of really enjoying music.

Other than that it would have probably been something off the old scratched early Beach Boys and Beatles LPs and I borrowed from my parents when I got my first stereo the next year.

Oh and the copy of Horowitz Plays Mozart that my grandmother got me for Christmas that same year. I had to listen to that on my dad's stereo because I didn't have a CD player (it was 1988), but I liked to lie on the couch and close my eyes while I listened to it.

Mike Salmo (salmo), Monday, 9 August 2004 18:49 (twenty-one years ago)

It wasn't my first, but one early favorite that sticks out is Eric Carmen's "Hungry Eyes".

lou (lou), Monday, 9 August 2004 18:50 (twenty-one years ago)

Naked Eyes - "Always Something There To Remind Me"

As far back as I can remember.

Sansai, Monday, 9 August 2004 18:53 (twenty-one years ago)

Probably "Death on Two Legs" by Queen or something by the Beatles.

Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 9 August 2004 18:58 (twenty-one years ago)

"Joy" (Apollo 100), Elvis' "Too Much", "Spirit in the Sky", "Papa's got a brand new bag" and, yes, "Witch Doctor" all sounded equally weird & thrilling (plus slightly scary, regarding the JB & Elvis trax) to the not-yet-4 year old me. Then from the age of 4 on, I basically liked most everything CKLW played.

Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), Monday, 9 August 2004 19:00 (twenty-one years ago)

"I Wanna Be Free" by the Monkees.

Chris Hill (Chris Hill), Monday, 9 August 2004 19:05 (twenty-one years ago)

"I Am A Rock" -Simon & Garfunkel

I just thought this was the greatest song in the world when I was a little kid. I considered this supreme rock and roll.

cramedog, Monday, 9 August 2004 20:25 (twenty-one years ago)

My dad taught me to dance round the room to "She Loves You", but I was still a bit too young to register... so I guess it would have been "Hold Tight" by Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich.

mike t-diva (mike t-diva), Monday, 9 August 2004 20:52 (twenty-one years ago)

Toto -- Africa was my fave at around the age of 8, but I don't really remember having a favourite song before that. How old were you at the time of these favourite songs?
I feel I should remember having a favourite before that, but nothing comes to mind now. Probably some disco song I heard from my parents.

Barry Bruner (Barry Bruner), Monday, 9 August 2004 20:59 (twenty-one years ago)

"Daydream Believer" by the Monkees

CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 9 August 2004 21:01 (twenty-one years ago)

Beat it

daavid (daavid), Monday, 9 August 2004 22:20 (twenty-one years ago)

"So Long Marianne" - Leonard Cohen

I had a babysitter by that name who used to let me light her cigarettes.

Thea (Thea), Monday, 9 August 2004 22:23 (twenty-one years ago)

i think it might have been queen's "you're my best friend" but i don't know. the first i can definitely remember is "heart of glass".

purple patch (electricsound), Monday, 9 August 2004 22:24 (twenty-one years ago)

at the ripe age of 7 i think

purple patch (electricsound), Monday, 9 August 2004 22:24 (twenty-one years ago)

Herb Alpert's "Rise" -- freakin' loved it when I was 4.

Chris O'Connor (Chris O'Connor), Monday, 9 August 2004 22:24 (twenty-one years ago)

""So Long Marianne" - Leonard Cohen
I had a babysitter by that name who used to let me light her cigarettes."

I should add that she was fired when my mother discovered this.

Thea (Thea), Monday, 9 August 2004 22:30 (twenty-one years ago)

Mine was also "The Cat Came Back," but it was Fred Penner's version

Curt1s St3ph3ns, Monday, 9 August 2004 22:36 (twenty-one years ago)

OR MAYBE: "The Corner Grocery Store" - Raffi

Curt1s St3ph3ns, Monday, 9 August 2004 22:38 (twenty-one years ago)

Actually, mine might've actually been "Moon Shadow" by Cat Mo'fuckin' Stevens, as my folks were big ol' fans of his at the time (the time: my small years).

Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 9 August 2004 23:16 (twenty-one years ago)

Peter Gabriel "Sledgehammer"

Al (sitcom), Monday, 9 August 2004 23:20 (twenty-one years ago)

I was going to say "Moon Shadow", I swear. Not sure if "So Long Marianne" or "Moonshadow" came first but "Marianne" had the story to go with it.

Thea (Thea), Monday, 9 August 2004 23:21 (twenty-one years ago)

possible contenders

'set the controls for the heart of the sun' (live)
'21st century schizoid man'
'the rainbow/eden/desire'
'one hundred years'

but the actual answer is probably nils lofgren - 'secrets in the street', i shit you not

Dave Plaintive rapper with classical training (imago), Thursday, 15 December 2016 14:46 (nine years ago)

shall we relive the magic together

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_guOyN2wmkM

Dave Plaintive rapper with classical training (imago), Thursday, 15 December 2016 14:48 (nine years ago)

"ball of confusion" by the temptations

increasingly bonkers (rushomancy), Thursday, 15 December 2016 14:52 (nine years ago)

Imago, how old were you when you heard those King Crimson and Talk Talk songs??

My Body's Made of Crushed Little Evening Stars (Sund4r), Thursday, 15 December 2016 14:54 (nine years ago)

about 7 or 8. my dad played me some cool shit in the car

Dave Plaintive rapper with classical training (imago), Thursday, 15 December 2016 14:54 (nine years ago)

still putting 'every little thing she does is magic' on pub jukeboxes to this day. eiyoooohh

r|t|c, Thursday, 15 December 2016 15:02 (nine years ago)

"Stand and Deliver". Went to a fancy dress dressed as Adam Ant, I was around 6. Mr T won :(

An Alan Bennett Joint (Michael B), Thursday, 15 December 2016 15:08 (nine years ago)

Lol

My Body's Made of Crushed Little Evening Stars (Sund4r), Thursday, 15 December 2016 15:08 (nine years ago)

still putting 'every little thing she does is magic' on pub jukeboxes to this day. eiyoooohh

― r|t|c, Thursday, December 15, 2016 3:02 PM (eight minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this was on the same compilation as 'secrets in the street'. though we have diverged, yet we began at the same point

imago, Thursday, 15 December 2016 15:11 (nine years ago)

foul taste from birth! i'd have hated 'secrets in the street' even then

r|t|c, Thursday, 15 December 2016 15:18 (nine years ago)

fuckin' children

imago, Thursday, 15 December 2016 15:21 (nine years ago)

lol

when I was about 5 or 6 I had a peculiar special dance cum ritual which I would perform to the ghostbusters theme before school, but thinking about it this is predated by my love of 'john kettley is a weatherman', in large part bc it was the first cultural reference I got aged ~3

ogmor, Thursday, 15 December 2016 15:21 (nine years ago)

What's a dance cum ritual? Self-correct error? I googled and it got me some weird drinking semen as part of male rites of passage articles and now I'm feeling disturbed.

Moka, Thursday, 15 December 2016 15:25 (nine years ago)

well if we're going back that far then my favourite audio recording was probably a certain alphabet-learning cassette tape with a weird squelchy bubblegum-pop synth melody, sometimes wonder if it's even been uploaded to the internet

x fuckin post

imago, Thursday, 15 December 2016 15:25 (nine years ago)

I'm not sure the rites of passage mentioned in the article involve the ghostbusters theme but it should.

Moka, Thursday, 15 December 2016 15:26 (nine years ago)

Probably one of these songs from mixtapes my mom occasionally made for holiday car trips
Elvis Presley - Return to Sender
Gary Brooker - No More Fear of Flying
David Bowie - Sound and Vision

willem, Thursday, 15 December 2016 15:26 (nine years ago)

xxp
as in a cross between the two. it revolved around putting a step I used for the toilet in the middle of the room and then doing a weird, I guess ghostly shimmy/wiggle over to it during the intro and then lots of hopping on and off it while spinning. semen wasn't a big part of my life at that age.

ogmor, Thursday, 15 December 2016 15:29 (nine years ago)

obv I enlisted my little brother to join in and make it more of an occasion

ogmor, Thursday, 15 December 2016 15:30 (nine years ago)

Hahaha sorry as you know english is not my first language... I knew that wasn't what you meant but it read like a disturbing cum funny 4chan post.

Did I use that one right?

Moka, Thursday, 15 December 2016 15:32 (nine years ago)

(I think it's usually used with two nouns. From Apple's Oxford dictionary:

combined with; also used as (used to describe things with a dual nature or function): a study-cum-bedroom.
)

My Body's Made of Crushed Little Evening Stars (Sund4r), Thursday, 15 December 2016 15:40 (nine years ago)

gloria estefan's cover of "turn the beat around"

who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Thursday, 15 December 2016 15:41 (nine years ago)

xxp I enjoyed it. there are also a smattering of uk place names with cum in them - e.g. chorlton cum hardy

ogmor, Thursday, 15 December 2016 15:41 (nine years ago)

I'm very inmature and I didn't sleep well because learning about the -cum- use in language is making me giggle and is my new favorite thing.

Moka, Thursday, 15 December 2016 15:44 (nine years ago)

lol

My Body's Made of Crushed Little Evening Stars (Sund4r), Thursday, 15 December 2016 15:45 (nine years ago)

ah, funny how many people have said "Beat It" !
Same for me, I think (I suppose there were other songs I liked earlier but I don't remember them while "Beat It" was the first 7" I bought).

AlXTC from Paris, Thursday, 15 December 2016 15:52 (nine years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0fuVoSa3dc

also my first vinyl

KitevsPill, Thursday, 15 December 2016 15:58 (nine years ago)

"Party Man" by Prince. when i was a kid i used to dance all over the room to this like a lunatic.

AdamVania (Adam Bruneau), Thursday, 15 December 2016 16:24 (nine years ago)

"50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" - which I thought at age six featured the lyric "You don't have to be corduroy."

who even are those other cats (Eazy), Thursday, 15 December 2016 18:27 (nine years ago)

I would very often request that my parents pop in the cassette of XTC's English Settlement (we're American, but the band got a lot of college radio airplay in the US during the 80s) and fastforward to "Senses Working Overtime" -- surely one of the greatest hooks ever written, in terms of its child-singalong-ability

bernard snowy, Thursday, 15 December 2016 20:27 (nine years ago)

"Seasons in the Sun" by Terry Jacks

Weird to think my first favorite was a Jacques Brel composition

Josefa, Thursday, 15 December 2016 21:14 (nine years ago)

"Weird Al" Yankovic - "Fat"

Mr. Snrub, Thursday, 15 December 2016 21:33 (nine years ago)

'frog chorus' (which i was also into) reminds me of my strong fondness for prefab sprout 'king of rock and roll'. the chorus will always be "i want cookie" and i'm afraid you cannot tell me otherwiseg

r|t|c, Thursday, 15 December 2016 22:29 (nine years ago)

hate to say it but that was also a childhood fave. prefab sprout's greatest hits on one side of the c90, garbage's debut on the other

imago, Thursday, 15 December 2016 22:32 (nine years ago)

hahahaha are u srs

r|t|c, Thursday, 15 December 2016 22:34 (nine years ago)

about the c90 i mean

r|t|c, Thursday, 15 December 2016 22:34 (nine years ago)

srs. now u see how i was built

imago, Thursday, 15 December 2016 22:37 (nine years ago)

You guys had way cooler childhoods than mine.

dance cum rituals (Moka), Thursday, 15 December 2016 22:39 (nine years ago)

Beach Boys - Kokomo

and

Billy Ray Cyrus - Achy Breaky Heart

memories of a cruller (unregistered), Thursday, 15 December 2016 22:47 (nine years ago)

weird that Van Dyke Parks played accordion on my first favorite song!

memories of a cruller (unregistered), Thursday, 15 December 2016 22:48 (nine years ago)

I had a keyboard that has pachebel's canon as a preset melody. That.

Treeship, Thursday, 15 December 2016 23:11 (nine years ago)

mine was either eurythmics' "sweet dreams are made of this" or madonna's "holiday"

josh, Thursday, 15 December 2016 23:17 (nine years ago)

Lovely Rita. While cutting out the mustache and ruining any possible resale value...

dlp9001, Friday, 16 December 2016 00:09 (nine years ago)

Spanish Flea, by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass

Dr X O'Skeleton, Friday, 16 December 2016 00:33 (nine years ago)

Steely Dan's "Rikki Don't Lose That Number" is the first song I can recall giving me frisson

beamish13, Friday, 16 December 2016 00:47 (nine years ago)

I was really into Buddy Holly at age 3-4. Probably "Think it Over" bc it's the one that still gives me vague nostalgic flashbacks to my toddler-era love of it when it comes on.

JoeStork, Friday, 16 December 2016 02:46 (nine years ago)

I'm sure I loved plenty of nursery rhymes and dimly recall a fondness for Frere Jacques and Row Your Boat but my first official favorite song on the radio has to have been Axel F.

a Warren Beatty film about Earth (El Tomboto), Friday, 16 December 2016 03:06 (nine years ago)

Talking Heads - Once in a Lifetime. Saw it on MTV in the late 80s when I was like 6 years old and I became obsessed with them, hopelessly tried to find their music on the radio and MTV and they became a kind-of a grail to me. Wasn't until college I was finally able to buy their music.

larry appleton, Friday, 16 December 2016 03:08 (nine years ago)

The "on the radio" part is important because it permits that particular instrumental song from a movie without letting The Black Hole, Star Wars or The Empire Strikes Back into the field

a Warren Beatty film about Earth (El Tomboto), Friday, 16 December 2016 03:09 (nine years ago)

My first favorite band ended up being INXS so I kind of took a detour from that auspicious start

a Warren Beatty film about Earth (El Tomboto), Friday, 16 December 2016 03:13 (nine years ago)

the chorus will always be "i want cookie" and i'm afraid you cannot tell me otherwise

Pffft, my little brother always sang it as "I'm a turkey" and even though at the time I was a much more worldly 8 years old to his 6 he grew up to be a fireman and I grew up to be a waster so I will defer to him.

That was on side 4 of the SMASH HITS PARTY 88 double cassette, but side 3 was where it was all at for me: "Beat Dis" I used to listen to on my headphones (cos I got my first walkman and that album for Christmas) in wonderment, my tiny mind adjusting to the concept of SAMPLING before anyone had explained it to me, or even given it a name. Also on side 3 was "Theme From S-Express" and I liked the way the train noise would pan from one headphone to the other, passing through MY BRAIN. Also on that side: "Push It", "Doctoring The House", "I Know You Got Soul", uh prolly a couple of others that escape me right now but are no doubt carved somewhere in my subconscious. Side 4 had Aztec Camera into Prefab Sprout, "Crash" by The Primitives somewhere on it then finished on "Letter From America". Never played the first tape much, I remember it started Bros then Kylie.

I'm sure I was definitely in about my parents records before then, but everything that comes to mind seems to be 88-89 when I actually look it up: Leonard Cohen, Roy Orbison, the Beautiful South, The Proclaimers, Fine Young Cannibals... I think I only started playing stuff over and over once I got my walkman and HEADPHONES, so (in terms of music I was myself actually choosing to listen to) any of that stuff, really.

Jonathan Hellion Mumble, Friday, 16 December 2016 03:31 (nine years ago)


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