RCA / BMG Music Club - Year Joined & First Purchase

I thought it would be interesting to post about your first order with the RCA MUSIC CLUB / BMG MUSIC SERVICE.

I remember getting my 6 cassettes for a penny back in early 1987. I was home sick from school, and I was so excited when the package arrived.

Here were my contents:

CHICAGO 18
PETER CETERA - Solitude/Solitaire
STEVE WINWOOD - Life In The High Life
BENJAMIN ORR - The Lace
HUEY LEWIS AND THE NEWS - Fore
HUEY LEWIS AND THE NEWS - Sports

Some of the cassettes had a different look than ones you would purchase
in a store. There would be a picture of the album cover above a black background. Also some cassettes were missing inside pictures & liner notes. I was just so excited to hear the music back then!

I would be interested in hearing about other members first purchases.

 

How can you remember that? I'm impressed.

When I joined, I think CDs were all that was available, and I think it was sometime after 1989, which I only recall because I know where I was living when I joined. I think I joined CH before BMG. I belonged to both for years.

I have no idea what my first selections were in either club.

 

1981

Doobie Brothers Minute By Minute
Doobie Brothers-One Step Closer
Barry Manilow-Greatest Hits (counted as two)
Police-Zenyetta Mondatta
Stevie Wonder-Hotter Than July


I loved the Doobie Brothers "Minute by Minute" RCA edition so much that it took years to replace it, it was a black cart, got it again last month.

The one purchase I did make was the Temptations-Greatest Hits. It was pressed with a Gordy label, it's still one of my favorite albums.

 

I first joined when it was a record club . . . and I have no idea when (1970-something?).

 

Wow, does this exercise take one back! For me, it was late 1970 or early 1971, and it was four cassettes:

Neil Diamond: Gold (Live at the Troubador)
Harry Nilsson: The Point
Midnight Cowboy (Soundtrack)

and I think the fourth was CSNY's Deja Vu. Not as sure on that one; it was a long time ago, and many of those brain cells have since died!

Anyway, all four of those recordings are STILL among my favorites. So often, we love most what we loved first...

 

I think I remember first joining Columbia House around 1989 or so. It was for cds, but I could not for the life of me recall the selections. I joined BMG a year later.

 

Early '90's = "The Wanderer" - Dion & The Belmonts - still my favorite.

 

Early eighties, I joined the 8track club and got:

Styx "Paradise Theater"
Styx "Cornerstone"
Styx "Pieces of 8"
Styx "Grand Illusion"

there were a couple others, but I can't remember the titles. I have been a member ever since. I went from 8tracks to LPs to cds.

I will miss them

 

1991

Buddy Holly - From the Original Master Tapes
KISS - Destroyer
Primus - Pork Soda

I forget what the others were. I've been so spoiled by the online club I forgot what it was like to fill out a card, send it in, and wait for what seemed like forever!

 

I joined Columbia House in 1977 because they did reel to reel. Once I got my eight reels from them, I joined RCA Music Club and got nine 8-Tracks, it was a 8 for a penny and the last one for $2.99 (or something like that). I still have some of them.

 

Early 1988 to get CD's:

The ones I remember ordering were Donald Fagen-The Nightfly and Def Leppard's Pyromania...

 

I joined RCA in 1984 when I was still heavily into the Top 40, but also branching out and trying some of the names I'd see in my aunts' and uncles' record collections. I only remember two of the first six, but that explains how I ended up with The Thompson Twins' Into the Gap along with The Best of the Band.

 

I am not certain what year I first joined but I do remember a few details. It was The Columbia House Record club and I think it was buy 1 LP and get 11 Free. It was early 70's I know . I also can remember a couple of the albums in that batch which was "Jesus Christ Superstar" 2 LP Set & Neil Young's "Harvest" that had the fuzzy cover. I don't remember what else was in there though.
I joined the RCA Record club not long after that . I still have a couple of the old Columbia House & RCA club catalogs packed away.

 

1979
Get the Knack
The Cars S/T
Supertramp-Breakfast in America

 

I got a CD player for my 16th Birthday, July 15, 1987. Later that year I was talking to my buddy Nathan about joining the Columbia House club, and he suggested I join the RCA club instead, because you only had to buy one CD at full price. It was either late 1987 or early 1988 - and they changed their name to BMG around that same time.

 

When I was in middle/high school, I got some CDs from BMG. Later, we joined Columbia House, and I distinctly remember getting a box with about 16 awesome CDs in it, mostly metal. I remember some Halford, Judas Priest and some others that I can't really remember. We canceled after fulfilling our agreement.

In July of last year, I went ahead and joined BMG again for the 15 for 1 with nothing to buy ever deal. I signed up for a second account a few months later to exploit the deal again, but I did not get a third account in time. I also used the free CD codes across both accounts. Here's everything I got:

Alison Krauss & Union Station-Every Time You Say Goodbye
Alison Krauss & Union Station-Live
Alison Krauss & Union Station-New Favorite
Alison Krauss & Union Station-So Long So Wrong
Alison Krauss & Union Station-Two Highways
Alison Krauss-A Hundred Miles Or More: A Collection
Alison Krauss-Forget About It
Alison Krauss-I've Got That Old Feeling
Alison Krauss-Lonely Runs Both Ways
Alison Krauss-Too Late To Cry
Allman Brothers Band-Eat a Peach (Deluxe Edition)
Andres Segoiva-Dedication
Andrés Segovia -The Segovia Collection
Andrés Segovia-Icon: Andrés Segovia- Classical Guitar
Andres Segovia-The Art of Segovia
Andres Segovia-The Great Master
Andrew Litton-Ives: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 4
Andrew Litton-Ives: Symphonies Nos. 2 & 3
Angela Hewitt-Couperin, Keyboard Music -1
B.B. King-Live At The Regal (Remastered)
Benjamin Britten-Britten - War Requiem (Remastered)
Bill Evans - Conversations with Myself
Bill Haley & the Comets-From the Original Master Tapes
Black Star-Black Star
Bohuslav Matousek-Martinu: Complete Music For Violin And Orchestra
Carlos Kleiber-Beethoven, Symphonies Nos. 5 & 7
Carlos Kleiber-Schubert, Symphonies No. 3 & 8 "Unfinished"
Cat Stevens-Tea for the Tillerman [Deluxe Edition]
Cat Stevens-Teaser and the Firecat [Deluxe Edition]
Chuck Berry-Anthology
Claudio Abbado-Mendelssohn: Symphonies Nos. 3 & 4 "Italian" (Remastered)
Clifford Brown and Max Roach - At Basin Street
Common-Like Water For Chocolate
Daft Punk-Homework
Daniel Hope-Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto
Dizzy Gillespie - Sittin' In
Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Rollins, Sonny Stitt - Sonny Side Up
Duffy-Rockferry
Elliott Smith-XO
Elvis Costello-This Year's Model (Deluxe Edition)
Emil Gilels-Brahms, The Piano Concertos
Eric Clapton-461 Ocean Boulevard (SACD Hybrid)
Eric Clapton-Eric Clapton (Deluxe Edition)
Eric Clapton-Slowhand (SACD Hybrid)
Eroica Trio-Brahms, Trios Nos. 1 & 2
Giuliano Carmignola-Vivaldi
GZA/Genius-Liquid Swords
Helene Grimaud-Credo
Herbert von Karajan-Puccini, La Bohème
Herbert von Karajan-Schoenberg, Verklärte Nacht; Pelleas & Melisande
Hilary Hahn-Bach, Violen Concertos
Hilary Hahn-Elgar, Violin Concerto; Vaughan Williams, The Lark Ascending
Hilary Hahn-Paganini: Violin Concerto No. 1
Hilary Hahn-Schoenberg, Sibelius - Violin Concertos
Hitsville USA: The Motown Singles Collection
Howard Shelley-Clementi- The Complete Piano Sonatas Vol. 1
Howard Shelley-Clementi- The Complete Piano Sonatas Vol. 2
Istvan Kertész-Dvorák, The 9 Symphonies
James Brown-Apollo II (Deluxe)
Jay-Z- American Gangster
Jean Martinon-Debussy & Ravel, Orchestra Works
Jimmy Cliff/Soundtrack-The Harder They Come (Deluxe Edition)
Karl Böhm-Mozart, Symphonies Nos. 35-41
Kirill Kondrashin-Rimsky - Korsakov: Scheherazade (Remastered)
Kiss-Alive! (Remastered)
LCD Soundsystem-s/t
Leonard Bernstein-Mahler - Symphony No. 5
Loreena McKennitt-Nights From The Alhambra (2 CD /1 DVD)
Loretta Lynn-Van Lear Rose
Lynyrd Skynyrd-One from the Road (Deluxe Edition)
M.I.A.-Kala
Marc-André Hamelin-Haydn: Piano Sonatas
Mars Volta-Bedlam in Goliath
Maurizio Pollini-Beethoven, The Late Piano Sonatas (Nos. 28-32)
Mitsuko Uchida-Mozart: The Piano Sonatas
Mos Def-Black On Both Sides
Mstislav Rostropovich-Bach, Cello Suites Nos. 1-6
Nash Ensemble-Saint-Saëns: Chamber Music
Nash Ensemble-Vaughan Williams, Chamber Music
Nelson Freire-Chopin: Sonata No. 2, Études Op. 10, Barcarolle
Nikolai Demidenko-Schumann - Piano Sonatas
Opeth-Watershed
Oscar Peterson Trio - Night Train
Paul O'Dette-Vivaldi, Lute And Mandolin Concertos
Queens Of The Stone Age-Era Vulgaris
Rafael Kubelík-Smetana, Má Vlast
Riccardo Chailly-Schumann Symphonies Nos. 2, 4
Richard Bonynge-Verdi, Rigoletto
Richard Lester/Van Brugh Quartet-Boccherini, Cello Quartets
Rush-Hemispheres
Rush-Moving Pictures
Rush-Permanent Waves
Simon Rattle-Mahler, Symphony No. 10
Steven Osborne-Debussy: The Complete Preludes
Steven Osborne-Liszt, Harmonies Poetiques Et Religieuses
Steven Osborne-Messiaen: Vingt Regards Sur L'Enfant - Jésus
Styx-The Complete Wooden Nickel Recordings
Sviatoslav Richter-Richter The Master, Vol. 3: Prokofiev, Scriabin, Shostakovich
Sviatoslav Richter-Richter The Master, Vol. 5: Schubert Sonatas
Sviatoslav Richter-The Sofia Recital 1958
Talib Kweli & Hi Tek-Reflection Eternal
Tears For Fears-Songs From The Big Chair (Deluxe Edition)
The Brandenburg Consort-Avison: 12 Concerti Grossi
The London Symphony Orchestra-Gounod, Faust
The Temptations-Emperors Of Soul
Theo Adam-Wagner, Der Fliegende Holländer
Type O Negative-Bloody Kisses
Valery Gergiev-Prokofiev, Love For Three Oranges
Weezer-Weezer
Wes Montgomery-Smokin' At The Half Note (Remastered)
Whiskeytown-Strangers Almanac (Remastered) (Deluxe Edition)

I got rid of the Cat Stevens and Rush CDs because of the sound. I actually made money on the Stevens sets because I paid less than $5 a piece for them.

 

I think it was 1973 or 1974, if I remember correctly...let's see if I can name my selections...(going from memory here) --

CAT STEVENS - Catch Bull At Four, Foreigner
ROD STEWART - Sing It Again Rod
MOTT THE HOOPLE - Mott
PROCOL HARUM - Grand Hotel
YES - Fragile
CSN&Y - Deja Vu
LED ZEPPELIN IV
WHO - Who's Next

That's all I can remember right now, I remembered it was quite a haul of good LP's for the time...

 

February 1983 - Columbia House Record Club

Pete Townshend - All Cowboys Have Chineese Eyes
Billy Joel - 52nd St.
Elvis Costello - Imperial Bedroom
Go Gos - Beauty & The Beat
Joe Jackson - Night & Day
Fleetwood Mac - Mirage
Clash - Combat Rock
Elton John - Jump Up!
* I don't remember the 9th album

 

Columbia House Early 80's (high school). Started with Cassettes and then switched over to LPs after reading an audio magazine saying LPs were better. Our mail came during my school lunch hour so I went home to intercept it.

Wish I hadn't given away most my LPs before moving west (sigh). I had Hendrix - Electric Ladyland, The Doors, Morrison Hotel, Song Remains The Same, ZOSO, Houses Of The Holy... others I can't recall... and probably don't want to.

 

about 1977. I don't remember much about that year, let alone what LPs I got from the club!

 

Me too. I was 12 or something. Man, my parents were pissed.

I think my first order included:

• Steely Dan - Aja
• Styx - A Grand Illusion
• Peter Frampton - Comes Alive
• Cat Stevens - Greatest Hits
• Led Zeppelin IV (I'm pretty sure)

Maybe a Baby's album, too

 

Probably early 80s....don't remember what titles I purchased exactly. I think Little River Band's "Greatest Hits" on cassette was one.