My First Album. My First Concert.

Growing up, music was constantly playing in the apartment where my parents and I lived, and I became a huge music fan from the time I was a toddler.

I bought my first album at eight and went to my first concert at nine (almost ten). That might be a little earlier than most kids, but I had young parents and an early start.

How old were you when you bought your first album and went to your first concert? And what were they?

I'm sharing mine below and I'd love to hear yours! Email them to me at nick@nickdigilio.com or leave a voicemail at 773-417-6948. Thanks!

And now......

My First Album

The first music act that I remember being completely obsessed with was Tommy James and the Shondells when I was about four or five. I LOVED Tommy James and would constantly listen to his hits, like "I Think We're Alone Now," "Mony Mony," and "Crimson and Clover." He was truly the first artist I went nuts over.

But Led Zeppelin's second album opened my eyes and mind to my favorite kind of music: Rock. Specifically Hard Rock. 

I remember being at my Aunt Judy's place and seeing "Led Zeppelin II" leaning against her stereo. I was first mesmerized by the album cover (which opened into a weirdly hypnotic gate fold) and then by the incredible music on that record.

I loved hard rock and never looked back.

So, it should come as no surprise that the first album I purchased with my own money was a hard rock record.

My First Album: "Paranoid" by Black Sabbath

The front cover of my first album.

I had heard Sabbath at my friend Danny Long's house when his pothead older brother would blast them in the basement while drinking heavily and not looking for a job.

I really loved the sound, tone, and absolute heaviness of their music, found it amazing, and knew that one of their albums would be the first I ever purchased.

My dad took me to "The Record Roost," a grimy little record store located on Lincoln Ave. near Ashland and Belmont in Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood to buy it. We walked in, and I bee-lined directly to the 'B' section and flipped right to Black Sabbath. 

I remember bringing the record to the register where the guy behind the counter (who smelled like pot, looked like a serial killer, and was wearing a Zeppelin t-shirt) looked at my father and said (with a straight face): "Are you sure you want your kid to listen to this stuff??" 

My dad said yes, the high serial killer rang it up, and I didn't take it off of the turntable at home for at least a week.

I still listen to Sabbath constantly, although "Vol. 4" is now my favorite album, not "Paranoid."

The back cover of my first album.

My First Concert

I saw a ton of classic rock acts in the 1970s.

Starting at a very young age, my father (and sometimes my older cousins) would take me to shows. I saw Led Zeppelin, Jethro Tull, Rush, KISS, Pink Floyd, The Who, Aerosmith, Black Sabbath, and many more in their heyday.

My first concert took place in early 1975. It wasn't nearly as cool as those other shows (at least the headliners weren't).

My First Concert: Black Oak Arkansas at the Auditorium Theater

Black Oak Arkansas doing their Southern Rock thing, including lead singer Jim Dandy being, well, dandy.

If you don't remember Black Oak Arkansas or never heard of them, you're not alone. They were a Southern Rock band with one hit called "Jim Dandy" (the name of the band’s skinny, lanky, ugly, hard-drinking lead singer) and not much more.

For some reason, I became obsessed with this band and would constantly listen to their live album, "Raunch n' Roll." 

I loved the rough sound, guitar work, and Dandy's weird vocals. They were not a good band, but my young ears thought they were just GREAT. I even joined their fan club and hung pictures of them all over my wall.

When it was announced that Black Oak Arkansas would play in Chicago, I begged my parents to get tickets, and they reluctantly agreed and took me to see a reasonably shitty band neither of them liked.

We went, had great seats (fifth-row center), and Black Oak Arkansas did its thing: loud, dumb, sloppy, hillbilly rock, and I was thrilled. My parents, however, were not.... except for the opening act.

The opening act was a band no one had ever heard of called Bad Company.

Bad Company was the opening act for Black Oak Arkansas...and yeah, they were better than the headliners.

Yeah, that Bad Company and they were unbelievably great. I remember my dad getting incredibly excited at the sight of lead singer Paul Rodgers because he recognized him from one of his favorite bands, Free.

They played the entire first Bad Company album, which is one of the best debut albums of all time and would go on to sell millions of copies. We had no idea who they were and had never heard those songs before, and it was incredible.

Bad Company would go on to record many more records and sell millions of albums, and Black Oak Arkansas had a song on the "Dazed and Confused" soundtrack, so yeah.

So, those are my First Album and First Concert stories. What are yours? Let me know at nick@nickdigilio.com or by voicemail at 773-417-6948. Thanks!

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