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When you were growing up..

Richard Nichola

Richard Nichola

pfm Member
..what was your favourite record that belonged to your parents? Mine is easy. Motown Chartbusters Vol.3.

Any record that starts off with "Heard it Through the Grapevine" and doesn't get much worse can't be bad.

1. I heard it through the grapevine - Gaye, Marvin
2. I'm gonna make you love me - Ross, Diana & The Supremes/The Temptations
3. My cherie amour - Wonder, Stevie
4. This old heart of mine - Isley Brothers
5. I'll pick a rose for my rose - Johnson, Marv (1)
6. No matter what sign you are - Ross, Diana & The Supremes
7. I'm in a different world - Four Tops
8. Dancing in the street - Reeves, Martha & The Vandellas
9. For once in my life - Wonder, Stevie
10. You're all I need to get by - Gaye, Marvin & Tammi Terrell
11. Get ready - Temptations (1)
12. Stop her on sight (SOS) - Starr, Edwin
13. Love child - Ross, Diana & The Supremes
14. Behind a painted smile - Isley Brothers
15. Roadrunner - Walker, Junior & The All Stars
16. Tracks of my tears - Robinson, Smokey & The Miracles

I bought this on CD when I lost access to the original and recently found a vinyl copy in a charity shop. Still gets regular turntable time after 30 years..
 
Believe it or not,

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Concert For Bangladesh

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Sometime in New York City


Only later did I discover the good albums in my dad's collection.
 
I bought the Bangladesh album at a car boot a while ago. A bit musty smelling, but great music.
In fact I think George Harrison's was the best solo music out of the ex-beatles.
 
My Dad had made a tape of various Beatles tracks* which I discovered and effectively played on continuous repeat during all opportunities without a break from the age of 7 until around 9 years old, whereupon some kind soul loaned me Sgt. Pepper, Beatles For Sale and my parents bought me (cough) Wings Greatest on tape. To this day I can recall every note off the tape, as I must have listened to it 1000 times. I think I wore it out, literally, but it did instil a lifelong love of the 'four...

Other than that, my old man was into country music (I am reminded of Stu Hamm's "Country Music - A night in hell" at this point) but amongst the dross there were some albums that I've since grown to enjoy, such as some of the Cash stuff. My mum was a Stones fan, but had only ever bought 78s and 45s. I think there's a lot of great 78s up the attic - Reet Petite, Rock around the Clock, that kind of thing. Now I have a working gramophone in the record storage room I must get them. My in-laws enjoyed the works of Jimmy Shand** ("don't sit on my Jimmy Shand!") and I believe there's basically 70-odd 78s awaiting collection up their attic too.


jtc

* actually, though I didn't realise it at the time, it was a copy of the Red Album. It was only when I finally bought my own copy, I suddenly recognised the track order...

** from AllMusic.com:
Sir Jimmy Shand was Scotland's answer to America's "king of the polka," Lawrence Welk. One of the most successful entertainers in the United Kingdom during the post-World War II era, Shand was awarded a MBE (Medal of the British Empire) in 1962 and knighted in 1999. Although his peak came in 1955 when his recording "The Bluebell Polka" sold more than a million copies and became a Top 20 hit, Shand received the love of the British public for the rest of his life. A regular guest on BBC TV shows, he had his final success, in 1994, when his video "Dancing With the Shands" was listed in the U.K. Music Video Charts' Top Ten for five weeks. The son of a miner who played melodeon in his spare time, Shand was destined for a career in the mines until a general strike, in 1926, prevented him from working. Turning to music, he worked at Forbes' Music Shop and began performing. Recording traditional Scottish jigs for Regal Zonophone in 1933, he made his debut appearance on BBC Radio the following year. Following World War II, he recorded at a prolific rate for EMI/Parlophone. Richard Thompson paid homage to Shand in his song, "Don't Step on My Jimmy Shands.
 
I can clearly remember my mother being a big fan of Unit Four Plus Two's "Concrete and the Clay". My dad's a Shirley Bassey fan, nuff said.

-- Ian
 
My parents have about 100 LPs, and they NEVER EVER played them when I was at home - if you saw the record eating machine they had, you'd see why - it was this shockingly bad HMV stereogram thing where the speakers clamped into the lid.

My brother and sister are a minimum of 12 years older than me (I'm adopted), so I got to listen to their stuff instead.

I'm ashamed to admit it, but my favourite record THEY used to play was Cliff's Small Corners! I still love "Why should the devil have all the good music" now - and it still sounds OK on the vinyl copy I acquired for 25p recently. I'm ducking now!!!!

I don't remember the MUSIC of his, but I can clearly remember my sister just purchasing The best of Don McLean - the reason I remember is I kept pronouncing it "Don Mc Clean"! Oh - and I also remember this one drum drop in Jesus Christ Superstar really clearly as well - I used to love that bit, but I'd probably hate it now - though the title track is pure class...
 
Judging by the posts here I am old enough to be your parent!

Although my mother had an extensive collection of stuff taped off the radio (a Grundig reel-to-reel), my Dad only had three records - Tennessee Waltz c/w Nola by Les Paul and Mary Ford , True Love c/w What a swell party Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby. The other I forget. I played them over and over until one day I accidentally sat on them. They were fragile 78s so that was the end of them. A couple of years later my parents bought me a record player (a dansette type thing), I spent my entire savings (13 shillings) on 'A Hard Days Night', and 'It's All over Now' singles and never looked back.
 
Hi

I have to say my favourite sounds at a early stage were the sounds of Ska, Rocksteady & early reggae. My parents had loads of these records. I remember many a happy time, when these records were being played on an Alba radiogram. What a device! :D

It was great to watch the record being stacked up on the autochanger & then each record dropping down when it was about to be played.

These are a some of the records that stood out from my parents collection at the time (late 60s to early 70s):

Bonanza Ska by Carlos Malcom & his Afro Craibs.

Pied piper by Rita Marley

King of kings by Jimmy Cliff

Last flight to reggae city by Stranger Cole.

Phoneix City by Roland Alphonso

Rudie got Soul by Desmond Dekker

Rub up, Push up by Justin hinds

Monkey Spanner by Dave & Ansell Collins

Fire corner by King Stit

The Cooler by the Charmers

Money in my pocket by Dennis Brown

All the above I still have to this day. They are still playable & are still played.


Dean
 
My father only had 78's from his youth - the one I recall was "He Played the Ukelele as the Ship Went Down".
 
From a pretty early age, my mother let me loose on her old portable Philips record player with all her old Beatles singles. Had much fun with them, and there are still one or two at their place I imagine. Later on, having inherited their old Pioneer system, I discovered all their LPs - very wide range from classics, to Jazz and Blues through to rock. Some of the highlights for me were:
* Jimi Hendrix - Are You Experienced
* Rolling Stones - Some Girls
* BB King - all of them!
* Liszt & Brahms - Hungarian Rhapsodies and Dances
* Kate Ceberano & Wendy Matthews - You've always got the blues
 
My parents were never heavily into music, but I can remember breaking the stylus on my Dad's ferguson trying to play Peter and the Wolf whn I was about 4.

:cool:
 
Probably my father's Ian and Sylvia collection was my childhood favorite. No album was a particular fave; I think he had all their sixties releases and I liked them all.

My mother, a classical pianist, was certainly the larger musical influence on me though. She has a preference for Romantics and late Romantics. So I heard lots of Brahms, Lizst, Chopin, Schumann, Mahler -- stuff I don't particularly like today. She, for instance, finds Mahler's "Kindertotenlieder" deeply moving. I find it contrived and overwrought.

I admit to taking a certain pervese pleasure in the fact that Mom's assertion, made after she destroyed my Black Sabbath collection, that I would one day "grow out" of listening to rock has proven utterly false.
 
That was another of my favourites at a very early age. I actually still have the record, and pulled it out for a listen the other day for the first time in a long while - enjoyed it very much. Can't remember the details off hand other than it was narrated by Betrice Lille, and the B side was Carnival of the Animals.

To take this in a really silly direction, the other album I listened to a lot way back when was 'Dr Who and the Pescatons' with Tom Baker as the Dr and Elizabeth Sladen (?) as Sarah. Still got that one as well - must dig it out for a listen!
 
Originally posted by SCIDB
Hi

I have to say my favourite sounds at a early stage were the sounds of Ska, Rocksteady & early reggae. My parents had loads of these records. I remember many a happy time, when these records were being played on an Alba radiogram. What a device! :D

Dean
Click to expand...

Damn, I always knew I'd drawn the short straw.

The best I got from my old dear was some Neil Young, Dylan, and Cat Stevens. Sadly, her collection is soiled with Phil Collins, Air Supply, and Dr Hook.
 
I used to get a selection from the Gilbert & Sullivan operatas every Sunday morning.

Rudigore, Pirates of Penzance, Mikado - Shudder
 
I always thought my parents record collection was awful,

Johnny Cash,
Tom Paxton,
Simon & Garfunkel,
Dean Martin,
Frank Sinatra,

and my Mum,

Barry White,
Stevie Wonder,

You Live and Learn, I suppose.
 
Never liked my parent choice...even then !

Dad...

Brass band music (Lots of it)
Joe Loss
James Last
Shirlie Bassey
Also some 78's that were recorded by my Granddad when he used to have a "dance band" in the 30's & 40's ( "The Jimmy Brandon Dance Band")

Mum...

Boney M ( She blew at least 2 sets of speakers with this)
The Seakers/New Seakers
Marty Robberts/Robbinson ? C & W called "Little Green Apples"
Mama's & Papa's
...Erm...more Boney M.

Still don't like much of the above

Chris
(Musically scarred for life)
 
South Pacific and Oklahoma - I used to love these when I was 3. In fact, I think these were the only two lps my parents had.
 
As children, we were told not to waste our money on pop music; it would never last and we'd get bored with it eventually. Ha!

Prokofieff - Lieutenant Kijé Suite, especially Troïka. My mum still has the album.

Stan Freburg Presents The United States of America; hilarious and she still has that one too.

Mick
 
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