OFF: Most Played Titles

[Keith Henderson]

Hi Folks...

Here's something a bit different.  I was taking a break from work and was
thinking about how tastes change, and how music has changed (or not) over
the years.  And so I thought about the albums that were (for at least the
short-time) very prominent on my turntable/disc player for individual years.
So I managed to 'reconstruct' the following time series of albums that I
figure were the ones that I played the most on that particular year.  I'm
sure that it's only partially accurate (in some cases, I'm probably a year
off from when I really did play that album all the time), but I'm confident
that it's fairly truthful.  I've started in 1972, when I was eight, since
that was about the time I remember running home from elementary school to
spend a half hour in my older brother's room listening to his Steppenwolf
albums while he was still up at the high school.

I've also listed the length of time between the album's release and the year
noted, as I've been wondering how much of a music archeologist (Soren
Bengtsson's term) I've become.  Surprisingly, not nearly as much as I
thought, although there is a lot of German stuff (Neu!, Faust, Agitation
Free, Eloy, etc.) that I've only gotten into over the last 5 years or so
(like so many others, I think) that doesn't show up here. Strangely, it
doesn't tell me too much about how the tides of music have changed, since
there are times where I discovered bands (like HW and ADII for instance) at
the point of highest obscurity.  But then, a touch of 80's metal and late
80's/early 90's alternative show up, so there is a bit of correlation with
real trends.  So I am a little bit trendy, I guess.  :(

Luckily, there's nothing here that's *too* embarassing to have to admit to!
Beginning from the time I first purchased a CD player, I've listed those
albums for which I've replaced with a CD copy.  There are only two albums
that I really have lost most interest in - Maynard Ferguson, cheezy
disco-jazz master, but 'hero' to pre-pubescent trumpet players like myself
in the mid-70's, and REO Speedwagon, a decent, midwest, working-class
classic rock band that went terribly wrong somewhere around 1978.  Despite
the awful second half of their career, early REO had some pretty decent
tracks...'Golden Country' is nothing to be ashamed of.  And one weird thing
-- I was listening to Roky Erickson's "The Evil One" the other day, and was
eerily struck at how much it sounded like REO in places.  If only REO had
kept onto Terry Luttrell (who went on to cheezy Yes-clone Starcastle) and
not been bogged down with Kevin Cronin's horrible televangelist inflections!

Well, here it is FWIW...

Keith H. (FAA)

P.S.  Nektar's JttCotE is an anomaly since I would have bought it about 5
years earlier if it were available anywhere.  Thank God the CD *finally*
came out - what a great album.....now only if it were remastered like the
early HW's!!!!!  It needs it more than any other CD I've heard, except maybe
Remember the Future!! :)

                                                        Year of   Time
Year        Artist                              Album   Release   Diff. CD??
1998    Sky Cries Mary A Return to the Inner Experience 1993        5
<---so far...
1997           darXtar                            Sju   1996        1
1996             Magma                       Udu Wudu   1978       18
1995      Dead Flowers           Altered State Circus   1994        1
1994   Peter Himmelman      From Strength to Strength   1991        3
1993         Bob Mould                       Workbook   1989        4
1992  The Love Cowboys                          Broth   1992        0
1991     The Buck Pets                  The Buck Pets   1989        2
1990  Jane's Addiction             Nothing's Shocking   1988        2
1989    10,000 Maniacs         Secrets of the I Ching   1983        6
1988            Nektar Journey to the Centre of the Eye 1971       17
1987         Marillion            Clutching at Straws   1981        6   Y
1986       Moody Blues    In Search of the Lost Chord   1968       18   Y
1985       Queensryche                    The Warning   1984        1   Y
1984      Amon Duul II                Made in Germany   1975        9   Y twice
1983      Diamond Head                     Canterbury   1983        0   Y
1982          Hawkwind                   Space Ritual   1973        9   Y twice
1981          Hawkwind                     Levitation   1980        1   Y twice
1980     Ozzy Osbourne                 Blizzard of Oz   1980        0   Y
1979    REO Speedwagon Live/You Get What You Play For   1977        2   N
1978       Jethro Tull            Songs From the Wood   1978        0   Y
1977    Lynyrd Skynyrd         One More From the Road   1976        1   N*
1976  Maynard Ferguson                      Chameleon   1974        2   N
1975      Led Zeppelin                Led Zeppelin II** 1969        6   Y
1974       Deep Purple         Who Do We Think We Are   1973        1   Y
1973        Uriah Heep            Magician's Birthday   1972        1   N*
1972       Steppenwolf                          Seven   1970        2   Y

* some of these tracks appear on CD compilation in my collection
** first album purchased