Category: Music

Tina Turner: Private Dancer (1984)

Dead Or Alive: Youthquake  (1985)

As I rebuild my CD collection, I was looking for Ella's Best of the Love Songs disc, and while on Discogs I stumbled upon this 3-disk box set. It contained not only Best of the Love Songs, but also Best of the Songbooks and Best of the Ballads, both disks I'd also owned previously. Checking prices on the individual disks, it would've cost me around ten dollars a piece (including shipping) to replace them, but here was this collection for ten dollars for all three! In the interest of transparency, there were several copies offered by different sellers, all in the same price range, but this was the cheapest one listed as NM (near mint) condition.

This is a nice collection if you like a little Ella now and then, and as I said it can be picked up for just a few dollars. If you want a brand new copy, it's still available through Amazon for about $35.

On the other hand, If you want all the Ella The Complete Ella Fitzgerald Songbooks 16-disc set, expect to lay out anywhere from $120-$450. (The latter being for a mint, never-opened copy.)

I certainly don't remember the circumstances of where or when I originally bought a lot of my music, but for some reason Best of the Love Songs stands out. I was meeting friends at Scottsdale Fashion Square back in 1998 to see Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss, but I arrived way too early and popped into a record store to kill some time. The disc caught my eye, and at the time just starting to get into classic jazz, I decided to take it home.

In one of those kismet moments that's forever burned into my memory, when I moved back to San Francisco later that year, I Remember You was playing as I crossed the Bay Bridge back into the City.

[Source]

And this, friends, is the reason why I still buy physical media. No risk of it just "disappearing" because of internecine warfare between faceless corporate entities who don't give a fuck about anything other than their next shareholder orgasm.

why the late, great Sylvester remains the reigning Queen of Disco…

Donna Summer: I Remember Yesterday (1977)

I think mine was Alan Parsons Project Ammonia Avenue…

The CD is Dead! Long Live the CD!

It's no secret that I like physical media. After selling nearly all my records in a fit of madness in the late 1980s when I moved to San Francisco (because CDs were the thing), I've spent the last 30 years rebuilding and augmenting my original vinyl collection because records do sound good.  In my quest to do that, I viewed my amassed CD collection as more-or-less disposable. In fact, I sold most of it during a period of extended unemployment while in Denver and never looked back. What remained were discs that held emotional significance for one reason or another and would never be sold no matter how dire my financial state—even though I'd long since stopped playing them. Hell, I didn't even have anything to play them on save for a 90s-era AIWA boombox and a Sony Discman of the same vintage (pictured above). Neither players were what I'd classify as "Hi-Fi" but it didn't matter. Those remaining CDs were in a banker box at the back of my office closet, and all but forgotten.

That was, until some time after the fire, and I realized that box was nowhere to be found. Being forgotten at the time, I didn't think to look for it when we went through the house after the restoration company came through, and when I did realize it was missing, it was too late. It wasn't even listed on the restoration inventory.

Needless to say I was heartbroken—if only because of the sentimental value of those discs. As I wrote about in 2022, I finally decided to stop crying about it, buy a CD player, and start rebuilding my collection. After giving up dealing with that wonky vintage deck, I broke down last fall and bought a new player and since then I've been going a little crazy, taking advantage of the fact that used (and even some new) CDs cost a fraction of new or used vinyl.

And I have to say that I'd forgotten how good these old workhorses actually sound. (As I write this I'm listening to Sylvester's Greatest Hits on that Discman through my Grados at angelic volume and almost orgasming) And when you stop to consider the tech that goes into making them work, it seems close to black magic, even to this relatively tech-savvy guy.

Interestingly, it also seems that CDs are making a comeback. Sales are up for the first time in years. There's just something about physical media that appeals to people—even to the latest generation who grew up on iTunes and streaming.

Sade: Stronger Than Pride (1988)

Kraftwerk: Computer World (1981)

Annie Lennox: Diva (1992)

Donna Summer: Bad Girls (1979)

David Bowie: Let's Dance (1983)

Take me back to the 80s!

Interestingly, I wasn't familiar with most of the tracks on disks 4 and 5. I'm assuming that's because they were later 80s releases and by then I'd thrown myself fully into the New Age genre and wasn't going out much. I know, I know…living in SF and not going out much?!  (Another topic for another time.)

Inspired by this post on Instagram:

I realized I hadn't made my ears bleed with this album for quite some time. So I pulled out my copy (one of the few pieces of vinyl that survived the great purge of '88) and put it on for a spin. (Take care of your vinyl kids, it will last you a lifetime.)

And room shaking volume at only about 3/4 of a watt RMS peak! Can you say, "efficient loudspeakers"?

Midney's music takes me back to a much simpler time in my life when it seemed my only concerns were going out, dancing, getting laid, and having a good time doing it. No bills, no health concerns, no imminent collapse of western civilization…

New British Canon: Sweet Dreams & How Eurythmics Outraged America

Fascinating!

Pet Shop Boys: Please (1986)

The soundtrack of my life for the first few months I lived in San Francisco.

For many years afterward I would still jump out of my skin when the computer beeps play in Two Divided by Zero because they were so new and unexpected.

Madonna: Like a Prayer (1989)

This anniversary also marks for me 35 years of being Pepsi free.

When Pepsi dropped Madonna as a spokesperson, citing the "sacrilegious" imagery in the Like a Prayer (Jeez, they had no idea what was coming, did they?) video, I swore I would never drink Pepsi again. And I haven't.

T-Connection: Do What You Wanna Do (1977)

"You'll never find that on CD!"  🤣🤣🤣

This album—that you've probably never heard of—has particular memories for me. You can read about them here.

And BTW, I don't know who is doing these remasters, but the sound quality is absolutely second-to-none.

I stumbled across this group the other night on YouTube, and was immediately captivated. I don't know how to classify their music, other than to say it's definitely my speed.

Sade: Diamond Life (1985)