Forty years ago today, a magnificent revolution swept across the music industry, making albums more accessible and enhanced audio playback.
The Compact Disc became popular in the late 1980s and evolved into a hallmark of 90s and early-aughts culture. Better than cassette tapes and smaller than vinyls, CDs changed how and where we listened to music. Buying (or receiving) your first CD was no joke. It was a seminal moment for anyone who grew up during that era and one that can’t be replicated.
No one will be able to remember the first song they streamed or which album they first pirated on Napster or Limewire—conversely, we’re unable to forget the sheer annoyance of seeing a file download a bit too fast only to hear this when we clicked play.
So the FTW crew searched the depths of our childhoods memories to share the first CD we owned. It’s a moment that will probably never be recreated in culture again, but one that meant so much at the time.