What was your first single?
Sixty years ago this week the very first 45 rpm single was released.
In fact, the vinyl single has been making something of a comeback in recent years, with some bands and record labels still choosing 45 rpm as well as the other options available.
What was the first single you bought? Tell us in the comments box below.
Paul Usher, manager of HMV in Shrewsbury's Pride Hill Shopping Centre, puts it succinctly: "As long as record companies still make them, we'll still sell them."
That said, far fewer singles are released these days, on CD or vinyl. Today's music market is about CD album sales or downloaded tracks.
Sixty years ago, it was a different story.
The first 45 rpm disc was Texerkana Baby, by Eddy Arnold.
It was released in the USA by RCA on March 31, 1949.
The single was made out of green vinyl, part of an early attempt to arrange music according to genre, with red vinyl for classical music and yellow for children's songs.
The seven-inch peaked thirty years ago. In that year 89 million singles were sold.
In 2001 sales amounted to less than 180,000.
But the collectors are still out there.
Colin Easton has been running Cobweb records in Shrewsbury for the past 23 years.
He had various stores in the town, but has since moved on to cyberspace.
Most of his business these days is in CDs.
"I still do sell singles but the days of vinyl are greatly reduced," he says. "There are still collectors out there."
He says the major labels still produce vinyl singles occasionally, but most vinyl singles are produced by small independent companies.
"You've got to keep the older fans happy," says Colin.
