The primary way I build my digital music collection is by maintaining a playlist called, “The Rotation.” On this list, I load albums of artists I’m interested in hearing, mostly new-to-me artists or albums. Because I need some organizational principle to conduct this survey I go by the alphabetical listing of the artist. I typically move from earlier records to later records, although there are exceptions. If I’m excited to hear a new album by a favorite artist I’ll add it in an apparent random placement to hear it sooner than later. From this list I’ll select tracks to add to my collection. It’s rare that I DNF a record, and uncommon for me to not select a single track from it. I’ve been doing this for a while and am currently on my 9th trip around the alphabet. Below are the albums heard in a given session and what thoughts, if any, I have about them. These are mostly first impressions, so don’t expect in-depth analysis.
Asterisks (*) after the album title indicate that it is a new-to-me record.
Percy Sledge: TAKE TIME TO KNOW HER (1968)*
We all know “When a Man Loves a Woman.” I don’t know about you, but I wasn’t familiar with any other work by Percy Sledge. I’m a few records into his catalog, now, and generally, I’m liking it and collecting a few gems as they come up, but most of the work I find to be rather middling 60s soul. I think there’s a reason we only remember that one track from him. And this album contains probably my least favorite version of “Spooky,” a song I love.
Collected Tracks:
- Take Time to Know Her
- Baby Help Me
- I Love Everything About You
The Persuaders: THIN LINE BETWEEN LOVE AND HATE (1971)*
I always thought that when Annie Lennox covered “Thin Line Between Love and Hate” on MEDUSA that she was covering that song from The Pretenders. Only recently did I learn that it was a cover for The Pretenders, too. This is my second Persuaders record. There are some heavy hitting gems in this catalog. It’s a pity that their reputation hasn’t survived the years. What’s good here, is really freaking good.
Collected Tracks:
- Thin Line Between Love and Hate
- Let’s Get Down Together
- Blood Brothers
- You Musta Put Something In Your Love
- Mr. Sunshine
- Thigh Spy
Pet Shop Boys: PLEASE: FURTHER LISTENING 1984-1986 (DELUXE) (1986)*
Truthfully, I’ve never been a big fan of either Pet Shop Boys or electronic music, generally, but I always enjoyed “West End Girls” and “Opportunities (Let’s Make Lots of Money).” I thought it was time to give them a fair shake. Since this version of PLEASE will eventually devolve in to boring dance remixes and other extraneous tracks, I don’t expect to actually listen to the whole thing, but will likely limit myself to the original album, unless something really remarkable happens.
Nothing remarkable happened. In fact, I was bored. Pet Shop Boys are coming off the rotation.
Collected Tracks:
- West End Girls
- Opportunities (Let’s Make Lots of Money)
Pete Seeger: PETE SEEGER, ARCHIVE OF FOLK MUSIC (1963)*
Pete Seeger is a hero of mine. Not only do I have a genuine appreciation for his brand of folk music, but I also sympathize with his politics. More than that, though, I am in awe of his anthropological work in preserving and teaching all manner of folk music from around the world. He single-handedly saved dozens, if not hundreds, of songs that would have been lost to us, otherwise. Plus, he wrote “If I Had a Hammer,” “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” and “Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season).” We are all better off for Pete and his work, whether we recognize it or not.
Collected Tracks:
- The Greenland Fisheries
- Bayeza
- Kisses Sweeter Than Wine
Peter Gabriel: SECRET WORLD LIVE (1994)*
I’ve been a Peter Gabriel fan since “Sledgehammer” in 1986, and in earnest, since 1997. So there’s little of his work that I haven’t heard before. But this live record is new to me, so I’m forgoing my normal aversion to live records for the sake of having new PG to hear.
Collected Tracks:
- n/a
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