The Police: Reggatta de Blanc (1979)

This was the first Police record I bought. When it came out, there were no record stores in my home town. Occasionally, I would hitch a ride with my sister to a larger urban center to pick up records while she shopped for shoes and clothes. But, sometimes, I just asked her to stop at the record store to get me what I wanted. That's how I got this one, probably for $6 or $7.

Unbelievably, after I opened the record, I was disappointed to see that parts of the record were covered in some sort of while gluey material. An audible noise was present on each revolution on the platter. Who knew when she would be going back? Who knew where the receipt ended up? I tried to clean it, but nothing worked. I stuck with that copy for years, and I finally replaced it with a much better copy. 

Allmusic, a site I read frequently, awarded 4.5 stars to the first record by the Police. The same reviewer gave this record only three stars. That's pure insanity and the review offers no explanation about what is so wrong with the record. The subsequent record is probably my favourite record by the band, but this would be a close second. 

By the way, I once read this article some time ago: There’s A Scientific Reason You Love The First Album You Heard From A Band The Most. Since I read that article, I have often thought about this and I find that this does not hold true for me. I'll just give a few of examples.

First Police record I heard: Reggatta de Blanc
Fav Police record: Zenyatta Mondatta

First Bob Dylan record I heard: Highway 61
Fav Dylan record: Blonde on Blonde

First Leonard Cohen record I heard: The Best of Leonard Cohen
Fav Cohen record: The Songs of Leonard Cohen

First Robert Palmer record I heard: Secrets
Fav Robert Palmer record: Riptide

First Genesis record I heard: Duke
Fav Genesis record: Selling England by the Pound

First Led Zeppelin record I heard: IV
Fav Zeppelin record: III

First XTC record I heard: Drums and Wires
Fav XTC record: Skylarking

First Black Sabbath record I heard: self-titled debut
Fav Black Sabbath record: Paranoid

First Smiths record I heard: self-titled debut
Fav Smiths record: The Queen is Dead

First Supertramp record I heard: Breakfast in America
Fav Supertamp record: Crime of the Century

First Tom Petty record I heard: Damn the Torpedoes
Fav Tom Petty record: Full Moon Fever

I could go on and on. In some cases, the two match up. I'm thinking about The Clash and Kate Bush here, but that's because my favs from those two are also their best.

By the way, I once had an argument about Stewart Copeland in which I argued that he should be listed on any definite list of top ten drummers. The other person disagreed, but this is the truth. He is an excellent drummer.