I have distinct memories of dancing around to my parents' vinyl copy of West Side Story, which was a few years before I got my first CD player. Everything after that I think I listened to on CD.
Definitely Phantom, back in the 80's. We listened to those CDs over and over and over. Later in the 90's, A Chorus Line (after seeing a high school production) and My Fair Lady (after seeing the movie)
It was the late 70's and I was in junior high school. The local department store would run LP's on sale for $4.99 about once a month. Each month I saved up $10 to purchase two albums. They had a very small selection of Broadway cast albums, but I picked up A Chorus Line, Annie, Pippin, The Wiz, etc. I played A Chorus Line constantly! Good memories....who would have thought I would turn out gay. :)
Mine was the OLC of Les Miz- had it on 4 cassette tapes (remember those days???) and I was a goner!
That lead to Phantom, to Sunset Blvd. and so on and so on.
I kind of miss the days of discovering one Broadway artist or composer through CDs and chat boards on AOL- they all fostered a great love affair with the musical theater that burns brightly to this day!
Mine was the OLC of Les Miz- had it on 4 cassette tapes (remember those days???) and I was a goner!
That lead to Phantom, to Sunset Blvd. and so on and so on.
I kind of miss the days of discovering one Broadway artist or composer through CDs and chat boards on AOL- they all fostered a great love affair with the musical theater that burns brightly to this day!
Mine was either Hello Dolly or Funny Girl, which opened within months of each other. I am guessing HD, because I can remember turning up the volume for the title number and Sunday Clothes, and having my mother shout that it was too loud. My parents had albums of at least MFL, South Pacific, Camelot, and TKAI, which I occasionally heard, but made no effort to actually play them myself.
Now I would be more likely to listen to TKAI than any of them. When my mind rambles, one of the things I have been known to do is evaluate which score I think is the best ever, and I always seem to conclude on TKAI.
The first I heard was "My Fair Lady," because my parents owned it (as did most families), but I only ever put the needle down on "The Rain in Spain" because I found it funny.
The first I bought was "Oliver!" because my HS was doing it and I knew nothing about it. When I was cast as Sowerberry I was pissed because his song wasn't even on the record (I quit the show, being a sore loser then).
The first I was obsessed with was "They're Playing Our Song" as our HS swing choir did a medley from it; we saw the National Tour (Victor Garber/Marsha Skaggs) and later Broadway (Ted Wass/Diana Canova).
"What- and quit show business?" - the guy shoveling elephant shit at the circus.