Striel, I'm glad you chimed in. I was reading post after post from these young whippersnappers about the first CD they ever bought being from one or two years ago. The first RECORD ALBUM I bought was in around 1983/84.
It was "In 3-D" by "Weird Al" Yankovic. And, just to redeem myself, the second album was "1984" by Van Halen. One of the hits from that album, "Hot for Teacher", was just played on the radio today. I was rocking out to it for awhile, then I broke my hip and had to take my Geritol.
I can remember receiving "Thriller" around the same time. It was a big deal, because that record was sold out everywhere. Now, for those of you too young to remember, cassettes were the big thing immediately before CD's, and I still remember the first one of THOSE I had...it was the soundtrack to "Ghostbusters" (1984), and I got it for Christmas from my aunt.
The first CD I bought was around 1991, and it was "Dress Casual" by Mandy Patinkin. Hey, I was all about the showtunes in the early 90's. That was when it was still safe to like them.