My First “Album”

The majority of the music I listened to as a kid I adopted from my parents: Bonnie Raitt and The Police while driving around in my dad's red truck, and Kenny Loggins on the record player at home with my mom. I listened to the oldies station when I went to sleep at night and became obsessed with Michael Jackson because all my dance teachers would use his music for our recital numbers. But there is something special and even romantic about the first album that you buy yourself, with your own money. And for me, that first album was What's the Story, Morning Glory? by Oasis. It was 1995; I was 12 years old and in the 6^th grade. A lot of the boys in my class, including a particular one I had a bit of a crush on, were talking about this song "Wonderwall" and how they were going to learn to play it on guitar. My incessant eavesdropping discerned the fact that the CD had just come out and it was by a band called Oasis.

The next time my mom and I were at the mall, I asked her if I could have some money to buy a CD. I had no idea how much they actually cost. $20? $40? She then asked me how much money I had in my allowance. It was in a secret spot in my room and I hadn't counted it in a while. I told her $10, but honestly, I think it was closer to $5 (sorry, Mom). She gave me a $20 bill - okay, so CDs cost $20, got it - and told me it was an advance for the next two weeks. I raced over to the Sam Goody that was on the 2^nd floor. The Rock/Pop section seemed to be the largest, so I started there. The CDs were laid out alphabetically, so my eyes darted back and forth looking for the "O" section. And then there it was, right between No Doubt and The Offspring. I bought the CD (turns out it was only $16.99, what a steal!) and listened to it immediately when I got home. I skipped straight to Track 3, "Wonderwall." The guitar comes in first, playing the chords that make up the heart of the song, and then Noel Gallagher starts wailing that "Today is gonna be the day..." and, well, you've all heard the song. This became the very beginning of my music collection that would expand dramatically as the years went on and would eventually take up a pretty decent sized-part of my room. Eventually I sold the CD in the great musical exodus that happened when everyone started using MP3 players. I have to say that, even if I had gotten rid of the rest, I wish we kept the one that started it all.

What will your baby's first "album" be? We have a few suggestions.

  

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