My first vinyl record

It was 1973. The country was in her first year of Martial Law. I was in grade 3 at the Ateneo de Manila.

Back then, life revolved around three things: basketball, football (soccer) and Filipino playground games such as turumpo, teks, shato and gagamba. 1973 was also the year I bought my very first record - a 45

rpm with The Carpenter's "Top of the World" on side A and Bread's "Aubrey" on side B. "Top of the

World" became the first song I fell in love with. It's uplifting lyrics and melody was so catchy that

everyone knew the song. It's popularity instantly made the song the number one song on the Billboard

Hot 100 songs. By default, "Aubrey" also became a favorite.

I remember playing the tune on the record player we had in the living room - playing it over and over

until I had memorized the lyrics to the song. We had a fancy record player, with a red brush in front of 

the arm cartridge to swipe away any debris from interfering with the needle. The player also had the

ability to stack records and cue each vinyl after each song. Life was good!

Richard and Karen Carpenter's "Top of the World" LP also included classic Carpenters song such as "A song for you," "It's going to take some time," "Goodbye to love," and "I won't last a day without you."

To this day, the sound of Karen's soothing voice would instantly bring me back to those early days of

the seventies. Despite the military rule and the chaotic political climate, The Carpenters somehow made

all the worries go away... even on a rainy days and Mondays.