The Beatles by The Beatles 1968

After my Mum came home with Abbey Road and left it as a surprise on my bed for when I got in from school I became an insatiable Beatles nut. I actually started with their later albums and moved backwards to their earlier stuff. So after Abbey Road I bought what is known as the White album.
I had to save up for a few weeks using money from my chemist round. Delivering prescription drugs to sick people. I wonder if they still let teenagers do that. When I got the album home it looked so beautiful. all white with raised lettering. Four photographs of the band plus a big poster with snapshots on one side and lyrics on the other. The poster was censored cutting off a picture of John in the bath.
The music was just wonderful and would keep me entertained for years to come as I would alternate my favourite songs and sides. "Happiness is A Warm Gun" was the first one to grab me. Our neighbour (3AK DJ Graeme Boyd's wife) came over while I was playing that song and was convinced it had swear words and wouldn't stop going on about it. Still can't think which bit gave her that idea. "Back in the USSR" which became massive down the Rubber Soul. "Julia" "Martha My Dear" it just goes on and on. I even listened to Revolution 9 a few times but late at night I would find that too scary.
At the same time I'd picked up the Hunter Davies Beatles biography so this was the soundtrack to those summer days in Blackburn South. And because I had quite a shitty record player I missed whole pieces of music, particularly in Yer Blues. Even now when I hear it properly it gives me a jolt.

(This happened a lot with those mid-period Beatles albums.. my stereo didn't pick up bits particularly the start of Sgt Pepper where some of the lead singing was way in the background)

Rattus Norvegicus by The Stranglers 1977

The first bunch of punk albums to come out of the UK just sounded so fresh compared to what we had been listening to before. It really did feel like year zero. The first I heard of The Stranglers was a very short snippet of the clip for Grip that they showed on the music news section of Countdown. It sounded great. It looked great and a few days later it was in the shops.
Tons of classics on this album. Peaches, Hanging Around, Grip, London Lady...it just sounded fantastic. A bit more retro than the other bands. well apart from The Jam. Big Doors influence. The lyrics of course were very sexist. But so was Under My Thumb 10 years earlier.
Six months later they came out with a second album. My sister sent it to me for my 21st birthday. She and my Mum were living in England. She wrote birthday greetings on the back though that kind of wrecked my punk credentials a touch.
Then the band came to Australia. I went to see them at Latrobe Uni. Supported by the Models. The Stranglers seemed a little pissed off. Then they got really pissed of and suddenly there were cans of beer flying all over the place. I was up the front dodging cans. Amazing stuff. They only played for 40 minutes.  Maybe even shorter. But it was totally action-packed.

Quadrophenia by The Who 1973

This one is all about the packaging. I loved the Who but it was the sixties I was really into. Quadrophenia music-wise was never a big deal for me. There were times I loved it but often I would ignore it. I bought it because I was interested in the whole Mod thing at the time. But unfortunately, this is not Mod music. Indeed I haven't listened to it for a long time. Well not properly because it's there when I play the film. In the background.
But that's not why this album is important to me. When I bought the album. When it was just vinyl it came inside a big 12 by 12 book of photos. I would pore over the photos of sixties Mod culture over and over. It was what I harked back to. Maybe it was because I left England in 1965 just when it was about to explode (though I was only 8) but I kept returning to the book. Totally fascinated. Something that not many kids will get to see nowadays.
And of course, there was the film. As Mods, it shaped our lives in 1979. And so we'd come back to the album to relive the film. Or play the soundtrack album. It all just went round and round. But it's always been there. A bit like a musical.
So I would play Quadrophenia and other Who albums as I turned the pages. There are some great songs here. The Real Me & 5:15 are standouts. I also by this stage I was preferring Pete Townshend's voice to Roger's.

In 2019 I was in San Francisco and spent a day by myself checking out the town. I went into this photo art gallery and began chatting to the daughter of the owner about the fantastic photos on the walls. Maybe it was a quiet day but she let me go back into the storeroom where they kept work not on display. Work after work blew my mind. Duffy Bowie negatives for Alladin Sane! Original artwork for many albums I loved. Oh, my God1 The original artwork for Quadrophenia was there too. Much bigger and more exciting. I was afraid to ask the price. 

They also brought out Eric Clapton's 'Blackie' Stratocaster guitar for me to look at. The original which they were commissioned to sell. ( the story of a lot of the things they were selling came from divorce settlements) Did I know anyone in Australia who might want to buy it? Even I didn't realise at the time that it was worth over a million dollars.  No big Clapton fan myself I was still pretty much in awe as I held the guitar. The first thing I noticed was the cigarette burns on the headstock. The lightness of the guitar when I picked it up. The balance was amazing.  

What a day that turned out!