I was a Quo fan before I was a Quo fan

I had the same experience, but for me it was POMM vs Down Down !!

Ditto. 

I heard Down The Dustpipe dozens of times on the radio as a kid and loved it. But I never bought records at that age because I was too young. However, a year later my mum bought me In My Chair because I liked that just as much. She actually bought me Down The Dustpipe later when we were on holiday in Spain - complete with pic sleeve  so I had both quite early on. 

I became a Quo 'fan', so to speak, at the time of Paper Plane and on seeing them live. 

Pictures of Matchstickmen and that whole pop period I was blissfully unaware of for quite some time. I remember a lot of music from the mid to late 60's because the radio was always on in the house but I don't remember that song at all.