IANPEEL’S
Perhaps the most pioneering record of 1980 was Ultravox’s Vienna. And I’d love to say that was the first record I ever bought, but, in the spring of 1980, I set off to Woolworths to buy the single that Ultravox – and all their fans – despise. Shaddap You Face by Joe Dolce. This was the novelty song that kept Vienna off the No. 1 spot.
That’s something which has taken me many years to admit! But it shouldn’t be that shameful. Shaddap You Face went to No. 1 in 11 other countries. And it’s definitely the only song to have since been covered by KRS-One, EMF and Samuel L. Jackson.
Anyway, when I arrived at Woolworths to buy my firstever single, Joe Dolce had sold out. The rack of 7"s for the No. 1 spot was completely empty! I had 99p burning a hole in my pocket, so a Plan B had to be hatched and I went for a single that looked interesting and was hovering around the No. 7 spot: Antmusic by Adam & The Ants.
That’s the story of the first record I bought. But what about everyone else? I asked a few friends recently and the answers that came back couldn’t have been more different. Hot Love by T. Rex, I Don’t Like Mondays by The Boomtown Rats, and “something by Bugs Bunny!”