First Anniversary

.....In the first post to this blog I explained why I began the series of mix tapes I called "So, What Kind Of Music Do You Listen To?". I worked in an environment frequented by teens and young adults and I filled the day (and my commute) with a variety of CD's and custom compiled cassettes, trying to not repeat much during those 8-10 hour days. When one young man noticed that he always heard something different when he wandered in he asked me point blank what my music collection was like. It was too big and varied to describe without sounding either like I was bragging or else avoiding the question. It prompted me to create the cassettes in unmarked boxes so that the recipients could listen without preconceptions and discover something new one song at a time. He became the first recipient of Volumes 1 and 2 and responded enthusiastically. Of course, it led to a second question that I really should have seen coming. "How did you find all this stuff? How does a collection with all these odds and ends start?" That's much easier to answer, actually. It starts far more conventionally by comparison before it veers off on wild tangents. When he asked me what I thought would make a good recommended listening list for someone starting a collection I promised him I'd write one on the way home after work and hand it to him the next time he came in. I did. Then I kept writing. Then I said to myself, "I'd better photocopy this, because I never want to do this again and somebody's bound to ask." I did wind up using it a few more times but making a blog entry out of it would make it even easier to find the next time the question arises.

.....Bear in mind that this list was created in the mid-1990's, so if your favorite album from the past decade isn't on there it's because it didn't exist. Also, it was a stream of consciousness exercise, so they're not in order of importance. I think rankings reveal more about the writer than the albums anyway. These are pieces of art and entertainment that will have different values to different people in different contexts. It's like the weather: the farmer needs the rain that ruins your picnic, the skier needs the snow I hate to shovel. This music isn't for everybody, it's for anybody. I tried not to repeat artists but after a while it becomes almost a disservice not to. Most of these are (or were) on CD on major labels so they're generally more accessible than much of what's on the rest of the blog. Oh, and all the dates on these are off the top of my head, unlike those used in the blog, which are carefully researched. List corrections in the comments if you notice something, but I've only got one day to type all this.

1. Pink Floyd- DARK SIDE OF THE MOON (1973)
2. Dead Kennedys- FRESH FRUIT FOR ROTTING VEGETABLES (1980)
3. King Crimson- LIZARD (1970)
4. Kraftwerk- RADIOACTIVITY (1975)
5. The Ramones- ROCKET TO RUSSIA (1978)
6. Simon and Garfunkel- BOOKENDS (1968)
7. Talking Heads- REMAIN IN LIGHT (1980)
8. Brian Eno- BEFORE AND AFTER SCIENCE (1977)
9. David Bowie- THE RISE AND FALL OF ZIGGY STARDUST AND THE SPIDERS FROM MARS (1972)
10. Mott The Hoople- THE HOOPLE (1974)
11. Elton John- 17-11-70 (1971) [NOTE: In the US the title is 11-17-70]
12. Marvin Gaye- WHAT'S GOING ON (1971)
13. The Wh♂- WHO'S NEXT (1971)
14. NoMeansNo- (LP) THE DAY EVERYTHING BECAME NOTHING (1985) and (EP) SMALL PARTS ISOLATED AND DESTROYED (1986)-- these original Canadian vinyl releases were reissued in the US by Alternative Tentacles, who also combined them on the following CD: THE DAY EVERYTHING BECAME ISOLATED AND DESTROYED (1988?)
15. The Residents- THIRD REICH AND ROLL (1975)
16. Patti Smith- GONE AGAIN (1996)
17. Lou Reed- BERLIN (1973)
18. The Cramps- A DATE WITH ELVIS (1985)
19. Frank Zappa- HOT RATS (1969)
20. Television- MARQUEE MOON (1977)
21. Sonic Youth- GOO (1989)
22. Iggy Pop and James Williamson- KILL CITY (rec. 1976)
23. Devo- DUTY NOW-- FOR THE FUTURE! (1979)
24. Camper Van Beethoven- TELEPHONE FREE LANDSLIDE VICTORY (1984)
25. Elvis Costello- MY AIM IS TRUE (1977)
26. Blue Öyster Cult- AGENTS OF FORTUNE (1975)
27. The Beatles- REVOLVER (1966)
28. Nico- DESERT SHORE (1971)
29. John Cale- PARIS 1919 (1973)
30. Rich Kids- GHOSTS OF PRINCES IN TOWERS (1978)
31. Jonathan Richman- JONATHAN RICHMAN (Rounder, 1990)
32. Aretha Franklin- (2LP) AMAZING GRACE (1974)
33. U2- THE JOSHUA TREE (1987)
34. R.E.M.- DOCUMENT (1987)
35. T. Rex- ELECTRIC WARRIOR (1971)
36. Roxy Music- MANIFESTO (1978)
37. Wire- PINK FLAG (1977)
38. Stiff Little Fingers- INFLAMMABLE MATERIAL (1978)
39. Social Distortion- MOMMY'S LITTLE MONSTER (1982)
40. Tears For Fears- SONGS FROM THE BIG CHAIR (1984)
41. Kate Bush- LIONHEART (1979)
42. Captain Beefheart- CLEAR SPOT (1972)
43. The Byrds- YOUNGER THAN YESTERDAY (1967)
44. Led Zeppelin- HOUSES OF THE HOLY (1973)
45. They Might Be Giants- LINCOLN (1986)
46. Mojo Nixon & Skid Roper- BO-DAY-SHUS! (1987)
47. The Go-Go's- VACATION (1982)
48. Big Dipper- CRAPS (1986)
49. The Tom Tom Club- THE TOM TOM CLUB (1981)
50. Wizzard- EDDIE AND THE FALCONS (1974) .....and now time out for ten compilations.....
51. Chuck Berry- (2LP) THE GREAT TWENTY-EIGHT
52. The Dickies- GREAT DICTATIONS
53. Pansy Division- PILE-UP
54. Tones On Tail- NIGHT MUSIC (UK version)
55. D.O.A.- BLOODIED BUT UNBOWED (Civil Defense CD version)
56. Neil Young- (3LP or 2CD) DECADE
57. Argent- ARGENT ANTHOLOGY
58. Various Artists (Dischord)- (LP) 4 OLD 7''S ON A 12"; reissued on CD with two more 7"s and a new title: (CD) DISCHORD 1981: THE YEAR IN SEVEN INCHES
59. Rolling Stones- (3CD) THE SINGLES COLLECTION
60. The Jam- (2LP) SNAP! .....and now back to original albums.....
61. XTC- SKYLARKING (1986)
62. The Pogues- RUM, SODOMY AND THE LASH (1983)
63. Bauhaus- MASK (1981)
64. Laurie Anderson- MISTER HEARTBREAK (1984)
65. Peter Gabriel- PETER GABRIEL (3rd album; Gabriel's first four solo albums were all called "Peter Gabriel" until his label threatened legal action and had the fourth album retitled before release. The 3rd album has "BIKO".)
66. Genesis- SELLING ENGLAND BY THE POUND (1973)
67. The Velvet Underground- (w/Cale) WHITE LIGHT/WHITE HEAT (1967) or (wo/Cale) VELVET UNDERGROUND (1969)
68. The Jimi Hendrix Experience- AXIS BOLD AS LOVE (1968)
69. Fugazi- IN ON THE KILL TAKER (1996)
70. The Clash- (3LP or 2CD) SANDINISTA (1981)
71. Joni Mitchell- COURT AND SPARK (1975)
72. The Au Pairs- PLAYING WITH A DIFFERENT SEX (1982)
73. Steppenwolf- MONSTER (1969)
74. Alice Donut- BUCKETFULS OF SICKNESS IN AN OTHERWISE MEANINGLESS SOCIETY (1990)
75. Alice Cooper- BILLION DOLLAR BABIES (1973)
76. The Soft Boys- UNDERWATER MOONLIGHT (1980)
77. Robyn Hitchcock- I OFTEN DREAM OF TRAINS (1984)
78. Ian Hunter- SHORT, BACK AND SIDES (1981)
79. Tom Verlaine- TOM VERLAINE (1979)
80. Blind Faith- BLIND FAITH (1969) .....and now ten various artists albums of original material.....
81. VA- WHERE THE PYRAMID MEETS THE EYE (1990) a tribute to Roky Erickson
82. VA- REPO MAN (1984) Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
83. VA- THE BRIDGE SCHOOL CONCERT (1997)
84. VA- ALVIN LIVES IN LEEDS (1990)
85. VA- NOBODY'S CHILD: THE ROMANIAN ANGEL APPEAL (1990)
86. VA- (2CD) RUBAIYAT (1990) Elektra's 40th Anniversary
87. VA- (3LP) WILL THE CIRCLE BE UNBROKEN (1972) featuring Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
88. VA- (2CD) THE LAST TEMPTATION OF ELVIS (1990)
89. VA- (4CD) THE STIFF RECORDS' BOXED SET (1992)
90. VA- TIME BETWEEN: A TRIBUTE TO THE BYRDS (1989) .....and another ten without repeating an artist.....
91. Paul Simon- GRACELAND (1986)
92. X-Ray Spex- GERM FREE ADOLESCENTS (1978)
93. Redd Kross- BORN INNOCENT (1983)
94. Bob Dylan- BRINGING IT ALL BACK HOME (1965)
95. Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds- KICKING AGAINST THE PRICKS (1985)
96. Bryan Ferry- THE BRIDE STRIPPED BARE (1977)
97. Firesign Theatre- HOW CAN YOU BE IN TWO PLACES AT ONCE WHEN YOU'RE REALLY NOWHERE AT ALL? (1969) (actually, any F.T. album is recommended as long as you listen to it really closely)
98. New York Dolls- NEW YORK DOLLS (1973)
99. Shinehead- UNITY (1988)
100. The Tubes- THE TUBES (1975)
101. The Monkees- HEADQUARTERS (1967)
102. Butthole Surfers- LOCUST ABORTION TECHNICIAN (1987)
103. Hüsker Dü- FLIP YOUR WIG (1985)
104. The Meatmen- WE'RE THE MEATMEN...AND YOU SUCK!! (1984)
105. The Del Fuegos- BOSTON, MASS. (1986)
106. Scruffy the Cat- MOONS OF JUPITER (1988)
107. Tracey Chapman- TRACEY CHAPMAN (1987)
108. Mission O f Burma- SIGNALS, CALLS AND MARCHES (CD contains original EP plus singles)
109. Love And Rockets- EXPRESS (1985) [modern CD contains all UK and Canadian tracks]
110. The Flying Burrito Brothers- (2LP) CLOSE UP THE HONKY TONKS (1972) (one LP greatest hits, one LP unreleased; the nearest CD equivalent is a Rhino compilation, THE BEST OF...)
111. Minor Threat- COMPLETE DISCOGRAPHY (1989) (this CD is actually a compilation of all prior vinyl releases)
112. Jethro Tull- THICK AS A BRICK (1975)
113. Nick Drake- FIVE LEAVES LEFT (1969)
114. The Moody Blues- TO OUR CHILDREN'S CHILDREN'S CHILDREN (1969)
115. Beck- ODELAY! (1996) (the only one so far that I don't actually own-- I think...)
116. Joy Division- UNKNOWN PLEASURES (1980)
117. Traffic- THE LOW SPARK OF HIGH HEEL BOYS (1971)
118. Jane's Addiction- RITUAL DE LO HABITUAL (1989)
119. Jim Carroll- CATHOLIC BOY (1980)
120. Richard Hell and The Voidoids- BLANK GENERATION (1978) .....having covered over 100 artists without repeating any (I don't count solo members from bands or bands with common members as 'repeating'), I feel it's safe to go back and give second albums for bands/artists already mentioned.....
121. Pink Floyd- (2LP) THE WALL (1979)
122. Dead Kennedys- FRANKENCHRIST (1985)
123. King Crimson- LARK'S TONGUES IN ASPIC (1973)
124. The Ramones- END OF THE CENTURY (1980)
125. Talking Heads- SPEAKING IN TONGUES (1983)
126. Brian Eno- ANOTHER GREEN WORLD (1975)
127. David Bowie- SCARY MONSTERS (AND SUPER CREEPS) (1980)
128. Mott The Hoople- WILDLIFE (1971)
129. Elton John- CAPTAIN FANTASTIC AND THE BROWN DIRT COWBOY (1975)
130. The Wh♂- THE WHO SELL OUT (1967)
131. Patti Smith- HORSES (1976)
132. Lou Reed- GROWING UP IN PUBLIC (1979)
133. The Cramps- OFF THE BONE (UK compilation)
134. Frank Zappa- APOSTROPHE (1974)
135. Sonic Youth- (2LP) DAYDREAM NATION (1987)
136. Iggy Pop- AMERICAN CAESAR (1995)
137. Devo- Q:ARE WE NOT MEN? A:WE ARE DEVO! (1977)
138. Elvis Costello- ARMED FORCES (1979)
139. The Beatles- (2LP) THE BEATLES (1968) (aka "The White Album")
140. John Cale/Terry Riley- THE CHURCH OF ANTHRAX (1971)
141. Jonathan Richman- ROCK 'N' ROLL WITH THE MODERN LOVERS (1976)
142. R.E.M.- GREEN (1989)
143. T. Rex- any of a zillion hastily thrown together compilations that all feature the same A-sides repackaged over and over and over again-- he's been dead for twenty fuckin' years and they're still making them to this day!-- new ones every year as though no one's ever seen them before! Even the unification of the EEC couldn't stop them. Who the hell is buying these same songs over and over? He's already been licensed all over the world. Is he the only musician on the planet whose demand hasn't been undercut by Chinese piracy?!?.....Anyway, try to find one with "RIDE A WHITE SWAN" and "CELEBRATE SUMMER".
144. Roxy Music- SIREN: THE FIFTH ROXY MUSIC ALBUM (1975)
145. Wire- THE IDEAL COPY (1986)
146. Captain Beefheart- SAFE AS MILK (1967)
147. The Byrds- SWEETHEART OF THE RODEO (1968)
148. They Might Be Giants- FLOOD (1990)
149. Bauhaus- PRESS THE EJECT AND GIVE ME THE TAPE (1982) live
150. Laurie Anderson- STRANGE ANGELS (1989) .....and as long as I'm allowing myself to repeat artists, here's ten essential concert films.....
151. Talking Heads- STOP MAKING SENSE
152. The Band- The Last Waltz
153. Laurie Anderson- Home Of The Brave
154. Frank Zappa- 200 MOTELS
155. Pink Floyd- LIVE AT POMPEII
156. Various Artists- ANOTHER STATE OF MIND
157. Various Artists- THE DECLINE OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION (NOTE: It's important to get the original movie; ...PART 2:THE METAL YEARS is too polished)
158. Sex Pistols- THE GREAT ROCK AND ROLL SWINDLE
159. Nico- NICO-ICON
160. The Wh♂- THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT .....and ten excellent soundtrack albums (see #52).....
161. OMPS- EASY RIDER
162. OMPS- JUBILEE
163. OMPS- SHAFT
164. OMPS- THIS IS SPINAL TAP
165. OMPS- ABSOLUTE BEGINNERS (2LP UK-only version)
166. OMPS- TANK GIRL
167. OMPS- ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW
168. OMPS- THE BLUES BROTHERS
169. OMPS- TRAINSPOTTING
170. OMPS- VELVET GOLDMINE .....and finally, thirty random albums to complete the 200....
171. The Cure- (LP) STANDING ON THE BEACH or (CD) STARING AT THE SEA (compilation)
172. Motorhead- NO SLEEP 'TIL HAMMERSMITH
173. Various Artists- LIVE AT THE ROXY (1977)
174. T.S.O.L. (True Sounds Of Liberty) (EP) WEATHERED STATUES (1983)
175. Mike Nesmith- NEVADA FIGHTER (1970)
176. Them (2LP) THE STORY OF THEM (compilation)
177. Suzi Quatro- any cheap compilation that includes "DEVIL GATE DRIVE"
178. Yardbirds- (recently released collection of BBC broadcasts on Warner Archives whose name escapes me; I already had the two disc import version before the US one came out)
179. The Velvet Underground- THE VELVET UNDERGROUND AND NICO (1967)
180. Black Flag- DAMAGED (1980) or any of a number of compilations that include the EP SIX PACK (1978)
181. Eric Clapton- ERIC CLAPTON (1970)
182. George Harrison- (3LP) ALL THINGS MUST PASS (1970)
183. The Undertones- THE VERY BEST OF THE UNDERTONES (compilation)
184. The Buzzcocks- SINGLES GOING STEADY (compilation)
185. UB40- RAT IN THE KITCHEN (1984?)
186. Dead Boys- YOUNG LOUD AND SNOTTY (1978) (or, even better, the same album was released with the long lost proper mix under the title YOUNGER, LOUDER AND SNOTTIER-- same recordings, very different sound)
187. John Cale- FEAR (1974)
188. Jefferson Airplane- SURREALISTIC PILLOW (1967)
189. Stevie Wonder- INNERVISIONS (1972)
190. The Clash- LONDON CALLING (1979)

.....and I seem to have lost the last page. Leave ten albums I missed (before 1997, please) in the comments section and maybe other readers won't know the difference. Take your time; my next post is at least a week away.

Bob Dylan's 70th Birthday

.....Tomorrow is the first anniversary of this blog. I have something special planned to tide folks over until I post my revised suggested program for a Cramps compilation. That should take another week. Today I wanted to make note of the fact that it's Bob Dylan's 70th Birthday. I'm guessing that he's keeping it low key because next year marks his fiftieth year recording for Columbia (now part of Sony). I'm not sure what they could do to celebrate, since the last decade has been speckled with some very good examinations of his career, notably the Martin Scorcese documentary "No Direction Home" and the excellent 'official bootleg' series. There was also the first volume of his memoirs. That's just the cream of it. There was also the mono box for the early albums, the Traveling Wilbury's Twentieth Anniversary box, releases tied to his digital radio show, etc. A quick skim through an index of my first ten volumes reveals that I didn't use any Dylan recordings. That could be because in the mid-90's I also compiled a 90-minute cassette of Dylan covers called "Plowmen Dig My Earth". (Boy, now that I think about it, researching that one would have been a lot easier with the internet. Ouch.) Tell you what, if there aren't any plans announced by the end of the year for a Golden Anniversary at Sony, I'll dig it out and post the playlist.

V04-T16b "...and I hope we passed the audition."

.....Finally, the end of cassette two.

Volume 4: "THE LITTLE BROWN ONES ARE THORAZINE, GEORGE", track 16b

• 00:13 [excerpt from "GET BACK", ad lib by John Lennon]
• performed by The Beatles [nominally]
• original source: LP LET IT BE Apple PCS7096 (UK) May 8th, 1970
• and my source: CD LET IT BE Parlophone CDP7 46447 2 (US) 1987

.....The full text of the quote at the end of the song "GET BACK" is, "I'd like to say thank you on behalf of the group and ourselves and I hope we passed the audition". Actually, the working title of the album was also GET BACK, until the tapes were eventually selected and packaged as LET IT BE. Maybe a little timeline is in order.

1. In 1968 the Beatles take five months to record the double album nicknamed "The White Album" (THE BEATLES). Much of the time was spent writing and recording separately.
2. Jan. 1969 the YELLOW SUBMARINE album is released. One side contains songs used in the movie, some of them old outtakes, the other side has George Martin's soundtrack instrumentals from the movie.
3. Jan. to May 1969: In order to work more collaboratively as a band, the Beatles began recording jam sessions of oldies: rockers, R&B and blues like "BLUE SUEDE SHOES", "BYE BYE LOVE", "LAWDY MISS CLAWDY", etc. Eventually they were inspired to write original songs together again. Sessions were filmed for possible use in a documentary and the music was produced by George Martin and their engineer, Glyn Johns. The project was called GET BACK, as in "Get back to your roots".
4. The album version of "GET BACK" was recorded January 27th. The single version and its B-side were recorded on the 28th. Then, on the 30th, the famous rooftop concert was filmed. It would turn out to be their last public performance and ended with the song "GET BACK" followed by Maureen Starr (Ringo's wife) applauding, Paul McCartney thanking her ("Thanks, Mo!") and John Lennon goofing around with the theme of returning to their early days by giving the quote I repeated at the top of this list. That snippet was later grafted on to the end of the studio version for the album.
5. Apr. 1969 the 7" version of "GET BACK" b?w "DON'T LET ME DOWN" is released in UK. (May in US.)
6. May 1969 the GET BACK album is completed. For a cover photo, the band recreates their pose from the photo sessions that yielded the cover to LP PLEASE PLEASE ME in 1963. Unfortunately, returning to an earlier, simpler approach to playing and recording created an album that sounded much rougher and more raw than the band felt comfortable with and they cancelled its release.
7. Jun. 1969 the 7" version of "THE BALLAD OF JOHN AND YOKO" b/w "OLD BROWN SHOE" is released in UK and US.
8. Jul. to Aug. 1969 the LP ABBEY ROAD is recorded with George Martin "really producing" (his words). He apparently didn't care for the GET BACK experiment.
9. Sep. 1969 Lennon, Ono and Clapton go to Toronto for the live debut of Plastic Ono Band at the end of an otherwise 1950's nostalgia concert with Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry and many others. Two weeks later LP ABBEY ROAD is released.
10. Oct. 1969 the 7" version of "SOMETHING" b/w "COME TOGETHER" is released in UK and US.
11. Jan. 1970 the song "I ME MINE" is recorded and a second version of LP GET BACK is proposed and rejected.
12. Feb. 1970 the LP HEY JUDE, a collection of non-LP singles and two songs from A HARD DAY'S NIGHT is released in the US only.
13. Mar. 1970 the 7" version of "LET IT BE" b/w "YOU KNOW MY NAME" is released in UK and US.
14. Mar. to Apr. 1970 Phil Spector is hired to remix existing unreleased tapes to salvage the GET BACK project. He radically remixes a 1968 recording of "ACROSS THE UNIVERSE", leading many fans to believe the band had recorded a new version. He also uses the 1970 song "I ME MINE", but the majority of the material comes from the year-old GET BACK sessions.
15. May 1970 the film and album, both named LET IT BE, are released. There's also a derivative US-only 7" of album tracks "LONG AND WINDING ROAD" b/w "FOR YOU BLUE".

.....And that's the over-simplified account of the events. I left out the ugly legal tangles and television appearances. The excessive studio behavior (during the "White Album" sessions there were 70 takes of "HAPPINESS IS A WARM GUN") inevitably led to the band's desire to simplify. The problem was that they weren't the same persons, the same musicians or the same band they were in 1962. It was as though the accelerated lives their fame brought them provoked a mid-life crisis at age thirty. Having got that out of their systems they went back home to their wife (Martin) and created one of their best albums. McCartney cited the release of the LET IT BE album in court documents regarding the dissolution of the Beatles as evidence that the band's direction and business decisions were being harmful to his career. It's not that bad, even if Martin was a better judge of the band's strengths than Spector had been.

.....My reasons for closing with this clip? Like most of these selections it was mostly instinct at the time. In retrospect, I knew that one mix tape is an impulse and two is a proposal. The second implies a series not implied by the first. Of course, when I made the first one I had no delusions that I could distill the character of my music collection to 90 minutes. By continuing the format I had insinuated that the was no time limit being imposed. Therefore, distilling the character of my collection becomes, theoretically anyway, a legitimate objective to pursue. And it would be an objective that would take more than four cassette sides to seriously address. This blog reaches its first anniversary this week and the past year, if you've been reading it, has been the audition. And if you come back, I guess that means "we passed".