VIRGIN RECORDS: DJ MAG STAFF REVEAL THE FIRST MUSIC THEY BOUGHT

We all remember the first music we bought, right? Whether it was wax, cassette tape, CD or er... MP3, there's little doubt that your first music purchase says a lot about you as a person. With this in mind, we thought we'd open the question up to DJ Mag HQ to see what embarrassing bangers we could dredge up — check out the the results below. 

Euan McGraw, Digital Media Executive
Ricky Martin 'Livin' La Vida Loca', Columbia 2002 (CD)
Age: 7 | Hometown: Cheam
"I was around seven years old at a winter school fair and one of the classrooms was stacked full of secondhand CDs.  I went in there with a few friends (obviously crate diggin' from an early age), and it caught my eye. I think I'd heard it on the radio many times before so I bought it for £1 — bargain!"

Chris Blackhall, Sales Manager
Age: 8 | Hometown: Newcastle
PJ and Duncan, 'Psyche — The Album', 1994 (CD)
"Speaks for itself really. Eight-year-old Geordie is always going to go for the these guys when buying their first bit of music. I seem to remember thinking they were cool as I liked the trainers that they were wearing on the album cover. Purchased from Woolworths."

Iain McGoldrick, Advertising Manager
Age: 9 | Hometown: Bristol
Various Artists 'Perfect Day (BBC Children In Need Charity Version)', BBC 1997
"Age nine me was clearly a sucker for a ballad. Have grown to love the original Lou Reed version far more but as far as twee charity singles goes this one still absolutely bangs. Tip."

Rob McCallum, Deputy Digital Editor
The Stone Roses ‘The Stone Roses’, Silvertone Records, 1996 (CD)
Age: 12 | Hometown: Dronfield
"This might look like a claim to be cool, but the fact that I bought it at the same time as a copy of The Smurfs’ ‘I’ve Got A Little Puppy’ proves that I was clueless. My mate’s older brother introduced me to a lot of music that I still love today, including Primal Scream’s ‘Screamadelica’ and Blur, as well as some that I’m now less convinced by (which will remain nameless). I can only imagine I went for the Roses’ album as a mixtape I had at the time had ‘Fools Gold’ on it. I still own the album and mixtape to this day. It certainly wasn’t the first music that I owned, as I had a stack of Bonkers/Helter Skelter cassettes (that I also still own) by the time I bought The Smurfs’ top 10 smash, but I have no idea where I acquired most of them."

Adam Saville, Deputy Editor Spice
Spice Girls 'Wannabe', Virgin, 1996 (Cassette Tape)
Age: 11 | Hometown: Chelmsford
"The same year that Roy Davis Jr released 'Gabriel', I wandered into Our Price on Chelmsford High Street — a stupid-faced 11 year old — to buy my first-ever cassette tape with my only pocket money one Saturday afternoon. It wasn't 'Da Funk' by Daft Punk or that aforementioned garage crossover classic. It wasn't even Lisa Marie Experience 'Keep On Jumpin', although that would have been more forgiveable... Nope, it was from that loveable foursome, the Spice Girls. Obviously channeling my inner feminist even at that early age — “Girl Power!” — or just because I fancied Scary Spice, no doubt I kept it quiet in playground come Monday. Either that or it was beaten out of me... by the end of 1997, I owned Gala 'Freed From Desire' on vinyl and 'OK Computer' by Radiohead, so something changed for the better somehow!"

Martin Carvell, Managing Director
Iron Maiden 'Bring Your Daughter To The Slaughter', Jive Records,1989 (7-inch)
Age: 8 | Hometown: Tunbridge Wells
"I was just starting to get into music, I had been bought Queen 'Innuendo' on tape for my eighth birthday (pretty punchy for an eight-year-old) and had discovered that I could get music out from the library and then copy it on my dad's massive standing Sanyo System (my local library only had about eight albums one of which was Technotronic’s Greatest Hits). My sister used to make me mixtapes with different types of music everything from Beach Boys to S-Express to Sex Pistols and I had a massive book of Pop Music by Britania so I would hear a song I liked and then look the band up in the book and then it would have a list of similar bands which I would then listen to — that is how I discovered the Damned listed under punk, via the Sex Pistols. I had found Iron Maiden listed under The New Wave of British Heavy Metal and as I was eight — I liked the pictures.  And then I found it in Woolworths and the rest is history!"

Jon Dommett, Digital Media Assistant 
The Hoosiers 'The Trick To Life', RCA  2007 (CD) 
Age: 10 | Hometown: Orpington
"The first CD I ever bought was the debut studio album by English indie pop band, The Hoosiers. At the time I was mainly exposed to chart music through the radio, which is where is heard the song 'Goodbye Mr A' for the first time. I loved that song and kept seeing adverts for the album release of 'The Trick To Life'. I remember saving up my pocket money and taking a trip down to my local HMV where it sat on the shelves at the entrance. I bought my copy of the CD and didn't stop playing it for the next week."

Mick Wilson, Tech Editor
Adam and the Ants 'Prince Charming', CBS 1981 (7-inch)
Age: 11 | Hometown: Coventry
"Adam and the Ants were known to me, as a post punk band, I had an interest in punk (think I’ve always had a curiosity for rebellion) at an early age, some of the older kids who knocked around were punks and I remember thinking: 'Gosh!! (we didn’t swear in those days) those guys look cool.' I wanted to be a punk, imagine, black dude from Coventry dressed in punk attire at the age of 10. LOL. Anyway, Adam and the Ants rocked and I was happy to be part of the Ant People (that’s what Ant fans called themselves). Myself and my other Ant People used to memorise all the words and run around the school playground singing them out loud, we’d bring our fan merchandise into school to show we were real Ant fans! Kings of the Wild Frontier."

Chris Royle, Designer
South Park (VA) 'Chef Aid: The Album', Coumbia, 1989 (CD)
Age: 12 | Hometown: London
"As far back as I remember, the first release I actually went out and purchased myself was the South Park 'Chef Aid' album. If it's the actual details of the transaction you want to know, then I recall rushing to catch the 43 bus from Friern Barnet to Muswell Hill before Our Price on the high street. I also remember leaving my pocket money at home and having to literally run to catch the shutters before they closed. The album itself was is a celebration of the second series of South Park, which I was obviously a fan of. Most of the music is badly dubbed covers by the South Park cast, but contains some original songs which made it into the series too. I've still got this CD in my dads loft, might need to dig it out for a bit of nostalgia! PS: I still watch South Park!

Heath Holmes, Sales and Advertising Director
Age: 8 | Hometown: Malvern
The Stray Cats 'Stray Cat Strut', Arista, 1982 (7-inch)
"I think I bought it because I liked cats."

Simon Kelly, Head Of Digital
The Simpsons ‘Deep Deep Trouble’, Geffen 1991 (12-inch)
Age: 8 | Hometown: Harlow
"This is a rap song by Bart Simpson, with cameos from Homer Simpson and other yellow characters from the show. It’s on 12” vinyl and has a sick B-Side called ‘Cooking with Marge’ which features her reading recipes over a hip-hop beat. I have just discovered (while researching for this write up) that it was produced by Jazzy Jeff, which makes it sound marginally cooler than it actually was. I still have it and, very occasionally, I’ll play it out. This is probably why I don’t get many gigs..."

Ben Hindle, Clubs Editor
Various Artists ‘Drum & Bass Essentials mixed by DJ Hype’/’Gatecrasher Classics’ Warner Dance 1995 (CD)
Age: 14 | Hometown: Dover
“I never used to buy music myself, instead always ripping mates’ CDs or asking for compilations for my birthday or Christmas (everything from ‘Now 44’ to ‘Westwood: The Big Dawg’ across the years). But what a day it was when I finally decided to make a purchase — clearly off my mind on summer holiday hype and roaming HMV I made this outstanding and unbelievably disparate double buy, proceeding to rinse the hell out of them both for about a year before my mate scratched all three d&b CDs and I purposefully ditched the trance. Still have that MC scarred into my brain though... “DJ Hype sound to the DJ Hype, DJ Hype sound to the RAH RAH RAH RAH RAH RAH!” Innit.

Charlotte Lucy Cijffers, Digital/Ibiza Editor
Amber 'This Is Your Night', Tommy Boy Records 1996 (CD)
Age: 7 | Hometown: Brisbane, Australia
"This mid-'90s Eurodance pumper went down an absolute treat at the underage disco in my local gymnasium, as well as at my weekly jazz ballet lessons. The film clip was also pretty inspirational. I've always secretly wondered where my love of diamond headdresses, floral crop tops and dancing in the rain comes from — now I know. Banger."

Martin Brown, Art Ed
Flying Lizards 'Money (That’s What I Want)', Virgin records 1979 (7-inch)
Age: 9 | Hometown: Royston, Hertfordshire
"Bought from my Uncle Dennis’ record shop, played to death & subsequently hidden by one of my siblings."

Carl Loben, Editor
Boomtown Rats 'Rat Trap', Ensign 1978 (7-inch)
Age: 11 | Hometown: London
"I was too young for punk, and 2-Tone was my first independent musical love (notwithstanding my mum and dad’s various Beatles and Elvis albums), but before that I was an avid follower of the pop charts — I used to (ahem) tape things off the Top 40 rundown on the radio on Sunday nights. My younger brother and I acquired a record player, and one Saturday I decided to spend my pocket money on a new seven-inch single — which happened to be No.1 at the time. It was ‘Rat Trap’ by the Boomtown Rats. I think it cost 49p, or maybe 99p. I’d quite liked their previous single, and think I saw them on Top Of The Pops — the main chart TV show at the time. 

I hadn’t a clue what it was about, but it had some interesting dynamics in it. It knocked John Travolta & Olivia Newton John’s Grease ballad ’Summer Nights’ off the top spot, and was the first ‘new wave’ single to hit No.1 — apparently. It came before their really big hit ‘I Don’t Like Mondays’, which I didn’t like (except on a Monday). Singer Bob Geldof, of course, went on to do Live Aid etc. I discovered recently I still know all the words to ‘Rat Trap’."