#1218: When Did You Get Your First CD Player?

RECORD STORE TALES #1218:  When Did You Get Your First CD Player?

 

When I seriously got into music in 1984, cassette was the dominant format in my demographic.  I was 12.  Older kids and adults still bought a lot of records, but when we gathered in the streets, our music was played on portable tape decks:  “ghetto blasters”.  Whether tethered by electrical cords or running free with weak C and D cell batteries, cassette dominated.  Then, one morning, CBC radio was doing a special on a new format:  the compact disc.  Host Clyde Gilmour had the longest running show on Canadian radio, and was known for playing classical and jazz music.  Gilmour’s Albums was the first time I ever heard a CD, but over the radio, it could not be properly appreciated.

In 1987 my cousin and his family came to visit.  They brought with them a CD player and the soundtrack to Good Morning Vietnam.  My biggest takeaway after seeing the format in person myself was there were no side breaks on CDs.  It was a one-sided format.  I had never considered such a thing before.  I didn’t have the imagination to picture a live album without side breaks.  Such a thing had never existed.

It didn’t take me long to discover the temptation of compact disc:  the “bonus track”.  Van Halen’s OU812 was the first CD I spotted with a bonus track called “A Apolitical Blues”.  The Columbia House music catalogue, which we signed up for in 1989, always listed when a format had a bonus track.  Very few records did, but many cassettes and many more CDs did as well.  It was a way of taking advantage of a longer running time without breaks, and to tempt people to make the switch.

For that reason, I officially adapted CD as my newest musical format on Christmas Day, 1989.  My first CDs were Alice Cooper’s Trash, Motley Crue’s Dr. Feelgood, Whitesnake’s Snakebite, and Winger’s debut – with bonus track.  Bob and John Schipper came over to visit during the holidays.  I demonstrated the sound of a CD by putting in Dr. Feelgood, cuing up Time For Change, and letting them listen to the silence at the of the fade.  I cranked it to max.  “No hiss!” I explained.  They didn’t appreciate it the way I did.  Cuing up songs by demand was also a treat.  I remember using it to isolate the track “Ride Cowboy Ride” by Bon Jovi and recording it on its own for cassette.

My first was the Panasonic seen below, atop my parents’ old 8-track deck.  The first of countless many.

I asked some friends for their stories about their switch to CD.  They answered the call, some with pictures.

bicyclelegs:

1990 I think, but I don’t remember the make or model.  By 1990 it was getting harder to find new releases on vinyl in Australia, so my hand was forced to a certain extent. But it was also a financial thing: before 1990 I simply couldn’t afford a CD player.

Dan Chartrand:

Same here for the bonus tracks! Mind you, some cassettes had bonus tracks…and even vinyl had bonus tracks…wish the internet was around to investigate more… My first CD was Dio’s Lock Up the Wolves due to the bonus track that wasn’t on the cassette or vinyl.

Melissa Nee:

I am thinking 87. It was super early.  I started getting CDs from Columbia House before buying in stores. They were pricey.  I think Bon Jovi was $16.

Chris Preston:

1988 for me.  quite honestly it was mostly because a bunch of my friends had CDs and they raved about how great they were. Peer pressure! I had also stopped buying vinyl by that point and I was growing tired of the poor quality of cassettes. It was time to embrace the future with CDs!

Erik Woods:

It was this. Got it some time in the early 90s.

Henry Wright:

I got my first CD player in June 1992. It was a college graduation present from my parents, I think. I had only cassette for many years but already had about 5-10 CDs before I got the player as I had started buying them around 1990-91, I think. Some of them were things I couldn’t find on cassette (typically from the UK), others were just favourite releases I wanted to upgrade. Before I got the player I would make a tape copy for myself on a friend’s. I don’t know if I thought cassettes were an endangered species but I always disliked how often they wore out or were chewed up by the machines and so I was pretty excited about the new format. I never heard of a bonus track until later although I do recall that new CDs often had the same “extra” tracks that cassettes did unlike the LP or 8-track versions.

Matt Phillips:

Summer of 1993; got my first guitar the same month. And it was the Panasonic with the flip top and the jog dial and the ability to skip to the next song on cassettes. This model:

Larry Russwurm:

1988. Most people in residence in Toronto had them already. Someone in residence had one as early as 1986.

Frank Schenker:

The first CD I ever purchased was Surveillance by Triumph. I also bought the cassette tape at the same time in November 1987 and I didn’t even own a CD player. I the spring of 1988, I purchased a Sanyo boom box with a CD player and cassette tape deck.

Rex Smetzer:

1988.  I just have always loved music & was in college at the time, & got it for Christmas.

Todd Evans:

December, 1984. Technics SL-P1.  In early 1984 a local department store had a Magnavox FD1000 on display that you could demo. They had one CD – Rush Moving Pictures. I must have played with that thing for an hour! My parents bought me one for Christmas that year. I remember that a friend bought me two of my first CDs as a Christmas gift – Asia’s first album and Thompson Twins Side Kicks. My parents bought me one to go with the player, but I can’t remember what it was.

It is warming to see some folks embrace the bonus track as I have.  The CD certainly changed our lives when we made the change.  When and why did you make the switch to CD?  Leave your story in the comments below.

Kickstart My Heart! Today’s chuckle

I found this video in my 2023 Facebook memories. September 22: The story of the kids on their bikes, rocking to Motley Crue. Absolutely wild!

#1217: When the Fall Starts to Fall

RECORD STORE TALES #1217: When the Fall Starts to Fall

 

The Equinox has passed us (Sept. 22).   All that remains is the clock change (Nov. 2).  The Seasonal Affective Disorder remains at bay for the moment.  Green still rules the outdoors, for now holding the bleak grey back.  Soon, however, this shall change.  What challenges will the fall bring?

I think, for the time being at least, I am done doing the live Contrarians on Wednesday nights.  It was a key part of my mental health strategy last winter, but like many things it became monotonous.  If the Contrarians do return on Wednesday nights this fall and winter, I am not sure if I will participate.  It was a healthy form of expression, but I confess that I prefer doing my own thing.  It enabled me to meet and work with new friends, which was valuable.  It is possible that I may replace it with something of my own in the same time slot, if it is not being used by the Contrarians.  We shall see.

My biggest challenge at the moment is what I call the “Monday Crash”.  I seem to struggle with waking up on a Monday morning these days.  Sometimes I just can’t see to get out of bed, and I end up working from home.  The option to work from home does help, but working from the office is infinitely more efficient.  My Mondays seem to be an uneasy truce between depression and dedication.  This happened through the summer too, but I worry about how fall will effect the battle.  Will it sway one side or another?

Back in 2022, my strategy for coping with fall and winter involved sending pictures and videos of Canadian weather to my new friend in California, MarriedandHeels.  While it did help for a while, it was not a good long-term strategy.  The novelty of taking winter pictures for a far-away friend, for her reactions, was a good idea but it could not last the whole season.  I needed strategy that focused on me, and not someone else.  I am pleased to say that MarriedandHeels and I are friends again, on normal social media, and have been for longer than we were originally the first time.  Unfortunately, she is dealing with her own things today and I can’t base any strategies on her in 2025.  I find myself trying to support her, which is not a bad thing.

For the winter of 2025, I am going to try and do some things that we never got around to last year.  These ideas included a winter trip to the cottage.  That is still in the cards, if the weather happens to line up with a free weekend.  Record shopping in the winter is also a must.

Things seem to be going OK.  I just got a new PC (though the CD drive is not quite working yet), and 50 Years of Iron Maiden is keeping me busy.  It has been an enriching experience.  Before we’re done, we’ll have three more guests who have never been on Grab A Stack of Rock before.  These things are healthy and keep me from becoming a recluse.

Here we go, lads.  Let’s have a triumphant winter like last year.  Repeat performance.  Let’s go!

VHS Archives #158: Antix Promo Bumper on the Pepsi Power Hour + “Kingdom Clone”?

From the official Antix Facebook page!

Oh, 1988! A new band starring Lenny Wolf from Stone Fury had started his new band Kingdom Come, and the “Led Clones” accusations were rampant! MuchMusic VJ Laurie Brown refers to them as “Kingdom Clone” here.

Antix were an independent hard rock band out of Ottawa, Ontario. They released several records and are possibly best known for “Kick It Up” from the Raw M.E.A.T CD compilation.  Check out their Pepsi Power Hour bumper!

Whitesnake: Ranking the Top 15 Songs of… on Rock Show Critique

It was my honour to be asked on the Rock Show Critique with Joey Suto, to talk Top 15 Whitesnake songs!

Joey and I spoke extensively before the show, about how difficult this exercise was going to be!  We agreed to a few ground rules.  Regardless of where the songs appeared (such as the Snakebite EP), we agreed to stick purely to Whitesnake songs.  No David Coverdale solo.  This definitely excluded some songs I would have liked to include (which we discuss at the end).

This list show turned out pretty interesting.  Of course, I included some B-sides, but Joey and I both had groupings from some albums we think deserve more attention and love.  We clearly had a preference for the classic era of Whitesnake, including the Geffen years.

Check out the show and take a bite of some ‘Snake!

 

VHS Archives #157: The 1991 Phone Interview with Lars Ulrich of Metallica

August 1991: MuchMusic rarely did phone interviews, but when Lars Ulrich is on a big promotional binge, you take what you can get!  Michael Williams, proudly sporting his Fishbone shirt, got to quiz Lars with questions on the new album, and new video “Enter Sandman”, for roughly 10 minutes.

We all knew the next Metallica album was going to be huge.  The hype had been building for a year.   It was just a matter of the release date.

It’s “the record people say Metallica were always trying to make,” said Lars.  Too much of a big deal was being made about Bob Rock, he claims.

“We had Canadian flags all over the studio,” says Lars of the studio vibe with Bob Rock, in answer to Lars’ Danish flag and James’ Star Spangled Banners.

Lars characterizes Rock as someone to bounce ideas off of.  He doesn’t really know what a producer does, but had an idea of what he wanted Bob Rock to capture in the studio.  The last two months was spent overdubbing and layering; stuff that Lars was not familiar with.

Lars also discusses a massive album release party with 18,000 people at Madison Square Gardens.

Is Metallica finally becoming more “video-friendly”?  Watch this legendary interview with Ulrich to find out.

#1216: A Chuckle with Blaze Bayley

RECORD STORE TALES #1216: A Chuckle with Blaze Bayley

“I know it’s not ideal, but how about 7:30 AM on Monday morning?” asked Blaze Bayley’s manager Mark Appleton.  It was Saturday and we had less than two days’ notice, but I had planned ahead for this possibility.  I brought my laptop home from work on the Friday, just in case I somehow had to balance the Blaze interview with work.  I am fortunate that I have the option to work from home occasionally.  7:30 AM would be perfect.  I start work at 8:30 AM, so that gave me plenty of time to do the interview with Blaze (30 to 45 minutes is what we were promised), and log into work with time to make a coffee.

I woke up early on the Monday morning and logged into my work laptop.  I answered a couple emails and did some work, and then hit the shower preparing for Blaze.

I was nervous, but felt that I had a good plan.  I didn’t have to miss any work, or even be late, to do the Blaze interview.  I had already gotten work started.  It would be no problem to finish up with Blaze and then right to work, even if I’d be running an adrenaline high.

The Blaze interview went smashingly well.  At the 45 minute point, Harrison asked him how he was doing for time?  He had lots of time, so we kept going.  The clock ticked closer and closer to 8:30, but I was still OK.  Blaze was inspired and inspiring.  We had to keep going as long as he was willing.

Blaze finished answering a question from Harrison at 8:35.  Harrison asked how he was doing for time again, and Blaze responded “a couple more.” Harrison threw it back to me.  As we went well overtime, I asked Blaze my final question which was about hooking up with the Absolva band, and the Appleton brothers.

“In music,” he said, “people don’t talk about being on time.  Be on time!  And actually show up.  Be on time!”  As he praised the punctuality of the Appletons, I was already ten minutes late for work myself.  Anxiety building!

We wrapped up at 8:45, and I logged back into work, only 15 minutes late.  In order to hear Blaze’s words about being on time for work, I was making myself late for work.  I think that’s just really funny.

Thanks for the advice Blaze!  I’m always really early, except for this one time, I swear!

Interview with Blaze Bayley

VHS Archives #156: Death Angel interviewed on the Pepsi Power Hour (1988)

From fall 1988, right before Gene Simmons was set to do his big interview promoting the new Simmons Records label, Pepsi Power Hour host Laurie Brown had Rob Cavestany and Dennis Pepa of the young thrash band Death Angel come in for a quick chat!

  • Why is there so much thrash coming out of the San Francisco Bay area?
  • How did KISS influence Death Angel?
  • How old were you when you started?

Check it out!

BLAZE BAYLEY interview: 50 Years of IRON MAIDEN bonus episode!

For all things Blaze Bayley, go to BlazeBayley.net.

50 Years of IRON MAIDEN bonus episode:  BLAZE BAYLEY interview

GRAB A STACK OF ROCK #117

We cannot imagine a better way to wrap up the Blaze years on 50 Years of Iron Maiden, than chatting with the man himself.  Metal fans worldwide, we present to you Blaze Bayley!

This isn’t just any Blaze interview.  With Harrison and Mike involved, you know we’re going to go deep.  We’re going to respect the man and his entire career, from Wolsbane to Iron Maiden to solo.  A lot of the information we covered won’t be found in mainstream interviews.

In this interview, we cover:

  • Punctuality!
  • Re-recording Wolfsbane as “Live Faster…” and what that means.
  • AI, science fiction, Blade Runner, and technology.
  • “Do, or Do!”
  • A secret, unwritten conceptual storyline to King of Metal, that Blaze reveals here.
  • The Silicon Messiah and the dangers of AI.
  • How “Virus” came be
  • The waist-high snowbanks of Canada.
  • Who the King of Metal really is.
  • The stigma of mental health.
  • Meeting Absolva, and joining forces with the Appletons.
  • And so, so much more.

For us and this series, asking Blaze our favourite questions was the realization of many dreams.  Instead of saying “Do or Die”, Blaze likes to say “Do, or Do”.  This interview was the culmination of us just doing it, for the love of music and the love of Iron Maiden.

Folks, you are in for a treat.  Please welcome Blaze Bayley to Grab A Stack of Rock.

Past episodes:

Handy YouTube Playlist:

VHS Archives #155: Sven Gali live “Under the Influence” and winning Best Metal Video at 1993 MMVAs

Spoiler Alert!  Sven Gali and director Phil Kates won the Best Metal Video at the 1993 MuchMusic Video Awards.

The classic lineup of Dave Wanless, Dee Cernille, Shawn “TT” Minden, Andy Frank and Gregg Gerson were on hand to receive the award and perform the awesome single “Under the Influence” live.  With energy and heads-a-bangin’, Sven Gali rocked the studio and the street with ruthless aplomb.  Yet the band were humble as they received their honours.  Is that Kim Mitchell in the audience?

Teresa Roncon presents the band in this classic MuchMusic video, while Erica Ehm is also present for the proceedings.  Check out the other nominees!