The very first original cast recording you bought? — Page 2

Probably Annie since it was the first B'way show I ever saw. The first cast album I remember getting into before that was my parents copy of the OBC Flower Drum Song. I played every part in our livingroom at least once. It's still my favorite Rodgers and Hamm....

My father bought me the recording of POTO on cassette when I was about...wow, I was really young.

The first one I ever bought myself was "Rent".

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RENT and POTO

The first cast recording I ever heard and listened to a lot when I was a child was my mom's copy of the Jesus Christ Superstar OBCR.

The first one I listened to was my Dad's: They're Playing Our Song with Lucy Arnaz. The first one I purchased myself was A Chorus Line.

CATS - Original London Cast Recording

When I was really young, like 6 or 7, I found a huge stash of old Broadway LPs at my grandma's house and I listened to them nonstop for nearly my whole life. Now they're at my house, framed. The first musical CD I ever bought myself was THE SOUND OF MUSIC film sountrack when I was in 1st grade.

Bought with my very own money: CAROUSEL.

That's the short answer. Longer version for those interested follows....

I saw the movie version on TV and became obsessed with the score.

My parents had the Lp of the movie soundtrack, and my Grandmother passed along a set of 78 PRM records of the original Broadway cast. Problem was that the record of "Soliloquy" was broken. (For those younger members, 78's were like Lps but rotated at 78 revolutions per minutre and could hold about 4 minutes of music per side. They were pressed in heavy shellac and tended to break very easily. Shows were recorded on multiple records, usually 5 or 6, and sold in an "album" which usually had pictures from the show on the inside cover and sometimes even a booklet containing the synopsis and lyrics. This is why older shows from the 1940s and early 50s tended to shorten songs to fit the time limit of the records. The format was retired in the mid 1950s but even into the 1980s many turntables still offered the 78 RPM speed.)

Anyhow I was 10, saved up my money and had my Dad order the CAROUSEL Lp from his record club. It arrived weeks later but had a totally diffrent cover than the old album of 78s. Across the top was a bright pink banner advising the recored was "enhanced for stereo." To my ears all they did was add a lot of echo to it. But the songs were all there. Although for many years I wondered where you had to flip the 78 to hear part two of "Soliloquy" (it was so long they divided it over 2 sides of the 78.)

To order the record, my Dad consulted a book in his desk, the Schwann Catalogue of LP records. There were 4 whole pages listing hundreds of movie and show records. Under CAROUSEL they listed 4 versions: "OC" (Original cast) on Decca; One listed as "Drake,Turner, etc" on Command (this I later discovered was a stuio cast LP starring Aldred Drake); Another that said "Lincoln Ctr" on RCA Victor (the 1965 Lincoln Center revival with John Raitt) and the ST (soundtrack, from the movie which we already had)

I poured over the listings. I learned that ST/Soundtrack albums were from movies and OC/Original Casts were from stage productions.

I checked the catalogue against my parents' Lp collection. We had the ST of PAJAMA GAME (but not the OC); We had the OC of CAMELOT but not the ST. We had both versions of SOUND OF MUSIC. We had the OC of MOST HAPPY FELLA but ours was the "abridged version" and below that was another recording that Schwann advised was the complete show heard on 3 Lps.

Now, this was around 1970 when FM radio was mostly Classical and easy listening stations. (Rock and Pop music was relegated to AM radio back then!) And, believe it or not, many FM stations devoted entire 1 and 2 hour programs to playing full original cast and soundtrack albums on the air! Often with announcers telling the story of the show or movie between the songs! In our listening area there were 4 such programs on various days of the week. And they would sometimes play the alternate versions or shows we did not have, which I would record on my cassette recorder so I could add that album to our collection. Through these broadcasts I finally did hear the Lincoln Center CAROUSEL, the complete MOST HAPPY FELLA, the OC's of DAMN YANKEES, GYPSY ...and on the first Sunday in 1972... a new musical called ... FOLLIES. I played that tape over and over and My Dad finally bought me the Lp! That was my introduction to Sondheim.

Our local public library also had a decent selection of OC and ST records, and the publsihed scripts! I would sit down read the entire script and play the songs from the cast albums of MAME, CABARET, YOU'RE A GOOD MAN CHARLIE BROWN and COMPANY. I also discovered two wonderful books: The World of Musical Comedy by Stanley Green and Broadway's Greatest Musicals by Abe Laufe. These provided a great overview of the first 70 years of Broadway,and the Green book had short discography on each show listing OC, ST and SC (Studio cast) Lps.

Two things grew out of all this: A serious collector of Broadway musicals was born, and a career was made: I decided I wanted to go into radio and do a weekly Broadway program (did that) and write theatre reviews (I still do this.)

So when I see some of the younger members here getting obsessed with WICKED, RENT and PHANTOM I just smile and wonder how many future collectors and theatre reviewers are being born.

And now you know why I always insist on the correct terms being used for ST and OC recordings. My tag line says it all.....

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Oliver.

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Wow, I really can't remember...usually I just borrowed my older sister's cast recordings to listen to so I wouldn't have to spend my own money on them, since I was quite young and didn't have a whole lot of money to spend. I guess the first one that I "stole" from her was either Annie, Joeseph, or Les Miserables.

Phantom of the Opera. I totally fell in love with the story and the music and I remember that's the first OBCR that I bought.

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Phantom of the Opera w/ Brightman and Crawford...

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When I was 5, my uncle got me OBC Les Mis. I think Carousel was my frist though.

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