What's The First Song You Can Remember Hearing On The Radio?

[CO Liberal]

For me, it's "Standing on the Corner Watching All The Girls Go By", which was a big hit in 1956 or 1957. My mother used to listen to a "middle-of-the-road" station, and I remember hearing it all the time.

[Patsy Stone]

1. The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia - Vicki Lawrence n/t

[CO Liberal]

2. 1972

I remember playing that on the school radio station when I went to DeVry Tech.

[Patsy Stone]

16. We had a little transistor radio

I used to listen before school. My mother was amazed that I knew all the words to this song. Wow, that was cheesy! :)

For music, I prefer 1974. Let's go rollerskating!

[Gloria]

3. Heartbreak Hotel--Elvis, but it wasn't on the radio. My uncle

brought the 78 over and I remember playing it over and over on the old turntable that sat on top of the Philco TV...hooked in to use the Philco speaker!!

God, am I old!!!

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

4. Sweet Deam Baby - Roy Orbison

[Kathy in Cambridge]

5. "Somebody to Love" Jefferson Airplane

I was a toddler, and my mother used to listen to "Surrealistic Pillow" a lot when I was little.

[maveric]

6. Alley Oop

Dante and the Evergreens, 1960.

[Floogeldy]

7. Do you mean "earliest memory" of hearing a song?

It was one of Stevie Wonder's first song in the car leaving my Grandma's house.

[CO Liberal]

10. Yeah

I changed the title of this thread to make it clearer.

[Floogeldy]

19. Kewl

I sometimes question my comprehension.

[WritersBlock]

The Three Bells

Or something like that. Ringing for Little Jimmy Brown, I think it was.

[mac56]

62. I love that song.

That one and "The Old Lamplighter", both by The Browns, never fail to bring a tear to my eye.

[WritersBlock]

81. Yeah. It was running through my head all evening after posting that.

Whenever I hear it, I always associate it with being in a car, in a certain area in the mountains. So we must have been on a road trip and it was playing on the radio.

[last_texas_dem]

8. "Say You, Say Me" by Lionel Richie

I'm almost certain I remember hearing this one from the time it came out, but it could have been a little after it had already peaked. I would have only been two and a half years old when it hit #1. I remember sitting on the couch at my grandparents' house, supposed to be taking a nap (I've always been an insomniac), and hearing this one playing quietly 'cause my grandpa always had (still has) the radio playing in the background.

[jdots]

9. How much is that doggy in the window ?

Terrisa Brewer in 1492.... a very old radio.

[CO Liberal]

12. I Believe That Was The Singing Rage, Miss Patti Page

:-)

[Lydia Leftcoast]

101. "How Much Is That Doggy in the Window" is my first song memory

as well. I also remember "Thumbelina."

[MindPilot]

11. Chuck Berry -- No Particular Place to Go

I think that's right. We lived near the community pool; there was a juke box and PA speakers. That was the most frequent tune played.

It wasn't really the radio, but as I recall my family didn't have one.

[CO Liberal]

15. That Was in 1964

In fact, I believe it was a hit just about 40 years ago today.

[Ekirh]

13. First Song I remember

Is either.... Everybody wants to rule the world... or Money is for Nothing.... not sure though.. I remember them both from my youth.. and I remember them both as being the first songs I've heard on the radio.

[tuvor]

14. What's with all the questions forcing me to face my mortality?????????

Either Java by Al Hirt or the Candyman by Sammy Davis Jr.

Are ya happy that you've made an old man grumpier, now?!

[Patsy Stone]

21. Java -- ROCKS!

It's our answering machine music. We had loads of Al Hirt records, and Herb Alpert. I guess Mom loved those trumpet players.

[RandomKoolzip]

17. "It Was a Accident" by NRBQ.

Still one of my favorite songs. And it instilled in me a love of songs and artists no one else has heard of.

[bobthedrummer]

18. Some dreck by Patti Page "How Much Is That Doggy In The Window"

but we had Johnny Cash too.

[Zomby Woof]

20. The Lion Sleeps Tonight

That yodeling sound really stuck to my 3 year old brain. :D

[budkin]

22. Pink Floyd - Another Brick in the Wall

I remember sitting in the dark in my parents bed listening to it on their dinky alarm radio and thinking the kids voices were really creepy. Hehe, I love that song now.

[slutticus]

23. Mr. Bojangles

And I like John Denver.


Flame away...

[WritersBlock]

34. No flames here

Got a couple of John Denver CDs in my car, as a matter of fact! :)

[mac56]

55. Did John Denver cover "Mr. Bojangles"?

Jerry Jeff Walker wrote and recorded it first, and then the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band had the Top 40 hit.

[WritersBlock]

82. According to www.oldielyrics.com, yes.

It was on "Whose Garden Was This." I had that album, but I don't remember the cover.

[slutticus]

90. Interesting. Maybe that's the version I heard first...

...hmmm...It was so long ago.

When did Jerry Jeff Walker release that?

[Kenneth ken]

24. ?

I dunno -

The first song that caught my ear, and that I remember liking was Puff The Magic Dragon. Peter, Paul & Mary

[libnnc]

25. When AM still played top 40...

Those were the days.

I think it was "Sundown" by Gordon Lightfoot.

I remember that and Jim Croce's "Leroy Brown"

[catzies]

26. Beatles. "She Loves You." Parents joke that was my first word: "Yeah"

As in, "Yeah yeah yeah."

[The Great Escape]

27. Creeque Alley...Mama's and Papas...I was four or five

[pig.]

28. City by the Bay - journey n/t

[Rowdyboy]

29. 1957 Everly Brothers..."Wake Up Little Susie"

http://www.oracleband.net/Lyrics/wake_up_little_susie.htm

[CO Liberal]

31. I Always Had a Problem With That Song...

You see, my parents had a problem witht he word "vagina", so they substituted the word "suzie". The first time I heard the Everly Brothers sing "Wake Up Little Susie", it was very confusing...

:-)

[Rowdyboy]

32. I can see where that could present a problem!

LOL.....My parents were weird and I doubt either ever used the word "vagina" in a simple sentence!

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

71. Wake up little Soon Yi! Wake up!

[mac56]

61. "What are we gonna tell our friends when they say oooh-la-la?"

Hmm.. I dunno. Is this a recurring problem?

Are your friends all French? I bet they won't care if you were "asleep" at a drive-in movie.

[Itchinjim]

30. "She Loves You"

Yeah Yeah Yeah. By the Beatles. 1963 or 1964 I was 3 or 4 years old and it blew my little mind. Been Rockin' and a Rollin' ever since. Thanks for starting me on this long strange trip, John, Paul, George and Ringo.

[Greengirl]

33. Early to mid 60's

Sugar Shack. Mom bought the 45 because I liked it, I guess...I just remember playing it over & over on a little record player. Now when I hear it, it brings a smile.

[bobthedrummer]

69. Hi Greengirl, welcome to DU!

:hi:

[Greengirl]

93. Hi...

bobthedrummer!....Good to be here!:hi:

Hi DenverDem!:hi:

I'm glad I'm not the only one who remembers that song. Having been born in '61, I was pretty young when it was a hit. I also remember, it seemed like the Beatles had a new song every week. lol!

[enigmatic]

35. "Darling Be Home Soon" by Lovin' Spoonful

In Xmas of 1966, I think. Still one of my favorite songs...

[DenverDem]

36. "Sugar Shack" by Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs

I still have the 45 that I collected decades later.

I just loved that tune as a pre teen radio head.

[Turn CO Blue]

37. Well, not the first, but one of the first was "Seasons in the Sun"

It played like every other hour.

[Guaranteed]

38. WHAM!'s "Wake Me Up" on the bus on the way to school

when I was in kindergarten. 1984.

Seriously, I remember it. I was five years old. They played it every damned morning on the radio.

On edit: Oddly, a very, very vivid memory. One of the most vivid of my early childhood.

[Contrary1]

39. Geez...I'm old

Papa loves Mambo by Perry Como...probably 1954 or 55.

[Baja Margie]

40. Tennessee Ernie Ford

You load 16 tons and
whata ya get?
Another day older and
deeper in debt.
St. Peter don't ya call me
cuz I can't go
I owe my soul to the Company Store.....

[CO Liberal]

67. That's One of My Karaoke Stand-By Songs

That, "Mack the Knife", and "Everybody Loves Somebody".

[lpbk2713]

41. Shake, Rattle & Roll -- Bill Haley and the Comets.

About fifty years ago.

[StrongbadTehAwesome]

42. you all make me feel so young :)

(don't feel that way most of the time since I work around high schoolers & college freshmen)

The first song I remember hearing was Michael Jackson's "Thriller." I wasn't very old at all, only about 18 months or so, but I remember seeing the video for it. My parents say the video scared me so much that from then on, I'd run screaming out of the room if that song came on the radio. :)

[CO Liberal]

45. "I'd run screaming out of the room..."

Pretty much my reaction when I see Michael Jackson today...

:-)

[fortyfeetunder]

43. Mack the Knife...195?

I remember the melody not the tunes...

[Rabrrrrrr]

44. "I Walk The Line"

Though surely there were others, as I attempt to recreate my early childhood radio experiences, I think that's the one that comes out first, especially in terms of the first song in which I was aware that I was listening to a song and recognized the music.

Johnny Cash looms very large in my toddler experience - my dad used to listen to a country station all the time, and they seemed to play a lot of Johnny Cash.

[corksean]

46. "Seasons in the Sun" by Terry Jacks

Lying in bed sick when I was 8 or 9

[Donkeyboy75]

47. "Young Blood"

by The Beatles

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

48. Young Girl

By Gary Puckett & The Union Gap

[Z_I_Peevey]

49. Tennessee Waltz

by the aforementioned Patti Page, I think.

[Beware the Beast Man]

50. "Christine Sixteen" by Kiss

[RUDUing2]

51. Saturday in the Park by the Chicago...late 60's...

[Jose McGillicutty]

52. Sexy and Seventeen

By the Stray Cats.

Built for Speed was the first record I ever bought!

[terrya]

53. Young Love.

By Ferlin Husky.

I was at my grandfather's. He was a country music fan. He LIKED that twangy bluegrass shit. I HATE that fucking song.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

56. Yeah - that stuffs the pits. With me - I was at my uncle's and he loved

bands like Gary Puckett & the Union Gap, the Grass Roots, Herman's Hermits - that kind of shiite.

I wasn't into it but I remember Young Girl as the first song I remember hearing , as I said above

[terrya]

58. Well, I grew up listening to songs like "Young Girl"

I vividly remember Gary Puckett and Union Gap. Herman's Hermits. The Buckinghams. The Grass Roots. Stuff like that.

I could listen to that stuff. Actually, I liked it.

But that bluegrass crap. Yech.

T

[Atlas Mugged]

54. 'Runaway' - Del Shannon

That was really an easy question, actually. I very distincly remember 'Runaway' from my infancy. It shaped my destiny, so to speak. I left home at 15 and never looked back. Put myself through college (with grants, of course) and "made something of myself". It all worked out well and my father and I are very close. If anyone's interested, I HAD to leave home. My (ex)step-mother was/is evil personified and I kept getting the shit beat out of me at school for being a fag - and no one cared. Damn - their gaydar was good for being a bunch of worthless rednecks! There was nothing I could do to "butch it up" that worked. I was one of those extremely "pretty" boys. It worked to my advantage when I started wearing my hair long and wore nothing but leather.

[AusTexDem]

57. Rain drops keep falling on my head. I was 4

by BJ Thomas.1969.

[Debbi801]

59. It was one of these 3...

Billy Don't Be a Hero
Little Willy
American Pie

I don't remember which one I heard first because I have very early memories of listening to all 3.

[arwalden]

60. Downtown

[arwalden]

63. Walk Right In... Sit Right Down

[mondo joe]

64. Billy Don't be a Hero or something of that era

Oh actually, Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond. Forgot that.

[loudestchick]

80. I remember that one! LOL!

[XNASA]

65. "Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport" by Rolf Harris

1963?

[Z_I_Peevey]

66. That's about right. Man, this thread is prompting waves

of nostalgia.

Also remember from that era: Everybody Loves Somebody Sometime and
Sukiyaka (sp?). And my dad singing 'Ring of Fire' along with Johnny Cash.

Then, boom! The Beatles. I was transfixed the first time I heard them. It was so different from anything I'd ever heard before. I was standing at a window, looking out at the driveway of our second story garage apartment. I can still smell the paint from that windowsill.

[XNASA]

68. I remember hearing TMKDS while sitting in the backseat......

of my Dad's parked car on a warm summer night, waiting to leave for home. I was maybe 6 or 7. The car lights were on and aimed at a shed in a backyard. When I heard the lyrics about "tanned his hide when he died, Clyde, and that's it hangin' on the shed", I feared that they were talking about the shed that the car lights were illuminating.

That's how I remember.

But you're right, next came the Beatles.....

[yellowdogintexas]

70. can't remember the first one, because "El Paso" by Marty Robbins

is forever branded in my mind...it was always what was playing on the radio about the time my mom got me up for school every morning.

some early morning radio show on WSM FM in Nashville, a zillion years ago.

[redqueen]

72. On the radio it's gotta be Takin Care of Business

Fortunately my mom was a music lover and would play her albums rather than listen to the radio while I was growing up.

[kariatari]

73. "I Stil Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"-thought it was Tears for Fear

for the longest time too.

pathetic.

[Tikki]

74. Prob something by Frankie Lane or Johnnie Ray...

parents bought new furniture so I inherited their big bed and big wood cased radio...the kind with the big green illuminated dial. Mom would come into my room and turn on radio and turn the volume up to hear it throughout the house. This is when I was a pre-schooler, mid 50's. She always had it tuned to the 'Pop' station so I'd say some song on the 'Hit Parade'.


Tikki

[Dzimbowicz]

75. The first song I remember from the radio

was Moon River as performed by Louis Armstrong.

[Throckmorton]

76. Downtown

Petula Clark, 1965ish, I was 2 or 3 at the time and at the Bradlees in Westbrook Maine, sitting on the stairs to the resturant that was in the middle of the store. It was playing on the Jukebox, funny how this memory is burned into my brain.

[Wat_Tyler]

77. Don't Stand So Close To Me by The Police.

That or 'Boys Keep Swinging' by Bowie.

[sadinred]

78. Bad Bad Leroy Brown. Baddest man in the whole damn town!!

I must have been about 5, I think.
After that I remember Sky Rockets At Night Afternoon Delight.

[loudestchick]

79. "Afternoon Delight"...so sad...I'll go flog myself now!

[WritersBlock]

83. Starland Vocal Band!

Loved their version of "Boulder to Birmingham."

Geezo, I feel OLD now.

[TrogL]

84. Pink Floyd - money

Everything before that wasn't worth listening to.

[WMliberal]

85. footloose

I was born in 1982. What else can i say?

[CO Liberal]

87. Reminds Me Of the First Funny Thing I Ever Heard Howard Stern Say

This was when he was still on WNBC in New York, and was still playing music. One afternoon, he played "Footloose" and when it was over, he said it had been recorded live at a leper colony.

:-)

[bmbmd]

86. Norman-oo ooo oo oo oooo

Norman my love!

(Sue Thompson, 1961)

[BurtWorm]

88. Earth Angel

which was already a few years old when I hear it. Honest! I used to associate it with Space Angel, a tacky extremely limited cartoon show that ran at that time in the early sixties.

[the Princess]

89. I don't know honey

The radio was always on in our house. It was probably a Beatles song. I was born in 1960. :shrug:

[RevolutionaryActs]

91. I remember my mom playing "L.A. Woman" all the time when I was little

:7

[Left Is Write]

92. I don't remember a specific song. I remember hearing

The Statler Brothers and Don Williams at a very young age.

[njdemocrat106]

94. Steppin' Out by Joe Jackson

I was 2 or 3 (born in 1980), and remembered hearing it on a ride back from Seaside Heights, NJ. Funny thing was, I expected the guy singing it to be a black guy, and of course Joe Jackson is quite white.

[guitar man]

95. Spinnin' Wheel

Blood Sweat and Tears. I was 4 or 5 at the time and can remember riding with my Mom in a huge '68 Catilina with it on the radio. AM radio actually had music back then!

[CatBoreal]

96. Delta Dawn - Helen Reddy

[shawmut]

97. Rock the Boat and Band on the Run

The year was 1974.

[SmokingJacket]

98. 50 Ways to Leave your Lover

Get on the bus, Russ.
Get a new plan, Stan.

My memories of it are vague. Riding in a volkswagen bus, early seventies.

Also, Rhinestone Cowboy, summer of 1975.

[Jean Louise Finch]

99. "I Just Called to Say I Love You"

And then I was singing it around the house, and my dad definitely didn't believe me that it was a real song. Ha! He couldn't believe I would make up such weird lyrics when I was 4.

[Kire]

100. I have no idea

I can't think of just one.

[DS1]

102. Unfortunatly, it's "She loves you YEAH, YEAH, YEAH" by the Beatles

Dad always hated it, I liked it, I grew, now I hate it :D