As part of the celebration and promotion for Radio 2 “2Day” last Wednesday, when the radio station crammed all it’s shows and presenters into a cosy, twelve hour schedule, Radio Times interviewed each DJ. They were asked either which was their first vinyl record or which was their favourite vinyl record. As you might expect, he answers were as varied and eclectic as the personalities of the presenters and the diversity of the shows they present!!

Radio 2 Breakfast Show presenter, Chris Evans, was first out of the blocks admitting that the first record he bought was Chuck Berry’s 1972 novelty No1 “My Ding-a-Ling”.  Many of us are haunted by an embarrassing first record, and the ginger haired one is no different!! Jeremy Vine also falls into that Well of Embarrassment, with Billy Howard’s spoof hit “King of the Cops”.  Meanwhile the King of Kool, Dermot O’Leary announced that “I Can’t Wait” by Nu Shooz was the first record he bought from WH Smiths. At least Zoe Ball had an excuse as her first record was bought for her by her Mum – the Sesame Street album.

Ken Bruce and Bob Harris avoided the pitfall of a dubious first record by electing to opt for a favourite song that “brings a tear to the eye”. Ken Bruce selected the sublime “I Put a Spell on You” by Nina Simone whilst Bob Harris favoured Ben E King’s classic tune “Stand by Me”. Radio 2 legend and institution Terry Wogan volunteered that Elvis Presley’s “Heartbreak Hotel” was the record that awakened him musically, which would be very much in keeping with his generation. My Mum who is also 71 like Sir Terry, also says that that record revolutionised her life as it produced a seismic shift in the direction of music in the late 1950s. Meanwhile her son can relate to Jo Whiley’s first record, “Ballroom Blitz” by The Sweet. Although this technically wasn’t my first record, it was the one that launched my lifelong interest in music!!

Simon Mayo’s first album was the stylish and incomparable Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge over Troubled Water”, whilst ignominy will forever haunt Claudia Winkleman who’s first single was “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” by Tight Fit!! Trevor Nelson, who dual presented an hour long Soul Show on “2Day” with Soul fanatic Tony Blackburn, escaped embarrassment when he confessed to his first record being Earth Wind and Fire’s soul / disco hit “Fantasy”. Tony Blackburn countered by admitting that his favourite song of all time was “I’m Still Waiting” by Diana Ross, which apparently he persuaded Tamla Motown  to release as a single – a decision artist and record label would not have regretted as it became her first No1 in the UK!!

What is particularly gratifying is that so many of these legendary Radio 2 presenters and so called arbiters of taste, are eternally locked into an embarassing song as their first record. I say that as I am not alone when I confess that my first record was somewhat embarrassing – Rubettes’ “Sugar Baby Love”, although to this day it is still a guilty pleasure!! I still understand why I was moved by the incredible falsetto vocals of lead singer Paul Da Vinci ( not to be confused with Renaissance artist Leonardo Da Vinci!! ). The same can be said for my first album which was “The Best of the Stylistics”, a group also famed for their high pitched falsetto vocals. What that says about my attraction to eunuchs is another matter!!

What was your first record?

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