Let me explain what this new series will be about. Since September 2014, shortly after I installed a new Mose/Hercules II power supply in my Linn LP12 turntable, I decided I needed to listen to each and every record in my collection at least one more time and to document them on my Facebook page. I pick them randomly, just whatever I want to listen to at the time. Then I photograph the cover and post it, along with a brief description or anecdote about the record. Nothing special and not a review or a detailed description of the record or music. Any comments will be meaningful to me. I don't post records more than once, so when I listen to any records that have already been posted, I do not mention them again. I do not post any digital files; only my LPs from my record collection get posted.
Recently Dr. David Robinson asked me to start posting these records here, too. So, from now on, every month, I will take five records from the list and post them here with either new or edited comments. I am doing that in the order I originally posted on Facebook, so the first records posted were listened to way back in 2014.
One thing you will notice, and if you've read my articles over the past twenty-five years you already know, I neither look for nor collect audiophile recordings or records whose sound quality are the main reason for owning them. Almost all the records I've bought (probably 99% of them) were because I hoped they would contain music I would actually want to listen to. The few true audiophile records I have rarely get played if I don't find them musically interesting first. Hope you all enjoy it!
If you find yourself interested in trying out any of the music I post about here, I'll post a link to Qobuz if they have it.
Various, Attack Of The Killer B's (Volume One)
Label: Warner Bros. Records - 9 23837-1
Series: The Killer B's
Format: Vinyl, LP, Compilation, Stereo, Allied Pressing
Country: US
Released: 1983
Genre: Rock, Funk / Soul, Pop
Style: New Wave, Pop Rock, Punk
Like a lot of us, I'm sure, I find that I have a lot of records I don't listen to very often. Hard to believe this was released over forty years ago, and this might be only the third time I've played it. I do have other albums by almost everyone on this record, including an original 45 RPM single of Laurie Anderson's "O Superman" on which the B side (appropriately) was "Walk the Dog" that closes this LP out. Maybe not an LP you want to take time hunting down, but if you find it in a used record shop it is worth buying.
Tracklist
A1 - Marshall Crenshaw And The Handsome, Ruthless And Stupid Band, You're My Favorite Waste Of Time 2:38
A2 - Pretenders, In The Sticks 2:38
A3 - The Blasters, What Will Lucy Do? 2:16
A4 - Ramones, Babysitter 2:45
A5 - John Hiatt 3:50
A6 - Roxy Music, Always Unknowing 5:21
B1 - Peter Gabriel, Shock Den Affen 5:44
B2 - The Time, Grace 2:38
B3 - Talking Heads, Love Goes To A Building On Fire 2:52
B4 - Gang Of Four, Producer 2:34
B5 - T-Bone Burnett, Amnesia And Jealousy (Oh Lana) 4:50
B6 - Laurie Anderson, Walk The Dog 5:48
King Crimson, Lizard
Label: Editions EG - EGKC 3
Series: Editions EG Collectors' Edition
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Remastered, Half-Speed Mastered
Country: US
Released: 1987
Genre: Rock
Style: Prog Rock
Gordon Haskell - Bass, Vocals
Mark Charig - Cornet
Andy McCulloch - Drums
Mel Collins - Flute, Saxophone
Robert Fripp - Guitar, Mellotron, Keyboards [Electric], Electronics [Devices]
Robin Miller - Oboe, English Horn
Keith Tippet - Piano, Electric Piano
Peter Sinfield - Lyrics
Nick Evans - Trombone
Producer - Robert Fripp and Peter Sinfield
One of my all-time favorite albums by one of my all-time favorite bands. I actually own three versions of this LP, with this one being the 1987 Editions EG Half-Speed Mastered reissue. I also have a 1970 US pressing on Atlantic and the 2020 Panegyric/DGM remixed by Fripp and Steve Wilson. But I'll discuss those some other time. This LP is cleaner and clearer than my original, but closer to that than to the 2020 Wilson remix. Different as they are, I love all three. And yes, I prefer all three to the 24/96 files I have on my music server, though I am not sure what the source was for that download. Not an easy album to listen to at times, and probably the most controversial of all their early albums. There's nothing like it and even if it takes a few listens, it is an album I recommend to anyone that hasn't heard it before.
Tracklist
A1 - Cirkus (Including Entry Of The Chameleons) 6:28
A2 - Indoor Games 5:38
A3 - Happy Family 4:15
A4 - Lady Of The Dancing Water 2:43
B - Lizard
B.a - Prince Rupert Awakes (Vocals – Jon Anderson) 4:34
B.b - Bolero - The Peacock's Tale 6:30
B.c - The Battle Of Glass Tears (Including Dawn Song, Last Skirmish, Prince Rupert's Lament) 10:55
B.d - Big Top 1:05
https://open.qobuz.com/album/boqfk86xc4w3a
Igor Stravinsky - L'Histoire Du Soldat; John Gielgud, Tom Courtenay, Ron Moody, Boston Symphony Chamber Players
Label: Deutsche Grammophon - 2530 609
Format: Vinyl, LP
Country: Germany
Released: 1975
Genre: Classical
Style: Modern
The bulk of my classical collection is on LP, and I have very few Classical CDs or downloads. Sticking with things I haven't listened to in a long time. This is a 1975 original I bought while in college, probably in 76 or 77. This is scored for clarinet, bassoon, cornet, trombone, percussion, violin and double bass so is rather sparse as compared to Stravinsky's larger orchestral works. Not sure why I don't listen to this more often. Excellent piece with pretty good sound in spite of cramming almost an hour of music onto a single record. Could have sounded much better if they had made it a two record set.
Tracklist
L'Histoire Du Soldat
A - Part I (The Soldier's March · Violin Music · Music To Scene I · Music To Scene II · Drum Roll · Music To Scene III) 29:16
B - Part II (The Soldier's · March · The Royal March · The Little Concert · Three Dances (Tango / Waltz / Ragtime) · The Devil's Dance · The Little Choral · The Devil's Song · Great Choral · Triumphal March Of The Devil) 30:40
https://open.qobuz.com/album/xhspmkpxnlega
Strawbs, Hero And Heroine
Label: A&M Records - SP-3607
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Terre Haute Pressing
Country: US
Released: 1974
Genre: Rock
Style: Folk Rock, Classic Rock, Prog Rock, Symphonic Rock
Chas Cronk - Bass, Synthesizer, Vocals
Rod Coombes - Drums, Percussion, Vocals
John Hawken - Piano, Electric Piano, Organ, Mellotron, Synthesizer
Dave Cousins - Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar
Dave Lambert - Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar
Producer - Dave Cousins, Tom Allom
One of the running themes that will show up constantly as I post these, will be the fact that back in the 1990s, while I was living on my sailboat and had a bunch of stuff, including my record collection and turntable, in storage, we had a break-in at the storage facility, and a bunch of stuff was stolen. That included about 700 records, mostly rock albums alphabetized middle M through beginning of Z. There were some classical, jazz, soundtracks, and "uncategorized" LPs stolen too, but mostly the boxes they grabbed were from the rock collection. So, many of the records posted here will be used copies purchased to replace those stolen records that I really miss. I used to have the first eleven Strawbs albums on LP, all bought while I was either in high school or college in the 1970s.
With that in mind, here is Strawbs' ninth album, Hereo and Heroine. This is one of my two favorites of theirs (Ghosts being the other). The opening track is one of the best and most beautiful pieces they ever did, and the title track on side 2 is simply one of their best songs in their long history. Not everyone will like David Cousins voice, some think he's overdoing the expressiveness of his voice, but to me he always sounds sincere. And when I saw this band in concert in the mid/late 1970s with Renaissance as the opening act, it was without question one of the very best concerts I ever attended. Both bands were at their best performing on stage.
Tracklist
All songs by David Cousins except as noted
A1 - Autumn (8:26)
A1a - Heroine's Theme. Written by Hawken
A1b - Deep Summer's Sleep
A1c - The Winter Long
A2 - Sad Young Man. Written by Coombes 4:07
A3 - Just Love. Written by Lambert 3:40
A4 - Shine On Silver Sun 2:46
B1 - Hero And Heroine 3:20
B2 - Midnight Sun. Written by Cronk 3:12
B3 - Out In The Cold 3:17
B4 - Round And Round 4:44
B5 - Lay A Little Light On Me 3:27
B6 - Hero's Theme. Written by Lambert 2:27
https://open.qobuz.com/album/0073145409352
Beethoven, Herbert von Karajan, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra - Symphonies And Overtures Part Two
Label: Deutsche Grammophon - STL-42, Deutsche Grammophon - 2721 017
Series: Beethoven Bicentennial Collection - Vol. II
Format: 5 x Vinyl, LP, Compilation, Stereo, Auto-coupled Box Set
Country: US
Released: 1971
Genre: Classical
Style: Classical, Romantic, Orchestra, Symphony, Overture
Credits for the 9th symphony:
Soprano Vocals - Gundula Janowitz
Alto Vocals - Hilde Rössel-Majdan
Tenor Vocals - Waldemar Kmentt
Baritone Vocals - Walter Berry
Chorus - Vienna Choral Society
Chorus Master - Reinhold Schmid
Composer - Ludwig Van Beethoven
Conductor - Herbert von Karajan
Engineer - Günter Hermanns
Orchestra - Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Producer - Elsa Schiller
Scouring a thrift shop for records some years ago, I found volumes 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, and 14 of DG's Beethoven Bicentennial Collection, with all but volume 1 still sealed. All six boxes for just $20. Unfortunately laid out for an automatic changer put side 1 and 10 and one record, 2 and 9 on the next, and so on. A real pain when a piece takes more than one side! I just broke the seal on volume 2 after taking this photo (back in September 2014). The is a reissue of Von Karajan's early 60s Beethoven symphony cycle, which I much preferred over his later 1970s cycle. Hard to imagine that in 1963, the original box set of all nine symphonies retailed for $47.98 (according to Wikipedia), which is about $512 in 2025 dollars! This box has symphonies 7, 8, and 9 and several overtures, with 1 through 6 in volume 1.
Tracklist
Symphony No. 7 In A Major, Op. 92
A1 - 1st Movement: Poco Sostenuto - Vivace
A2 - 2nd Movement: Allegretto
B1 - 3rd Movement: Presto - Assai Meno Presto
B2 - 4th Movement: Allegro Con Brio
Symphony No. 8 In F Major, Op. 93
C1 - 1st Movement: Allegro Vivace E Con Brio
C2 - 2nd Movement: Allegretto Scherzando
C3 - 3rd Movement: Temp Di Menuetto
C4 - 4th Movement: Allegro Vivace
Symphony No. 9 In D Minor, Op. 125
D1 - 1st Movement: Allegro, Ma Non Troppo, Un Poco Maestoso
E1 - 2nd Movement: Molto Vivace
E2 - 3rd Movement: Adagio Molto E Cantabile
F1 - 4th Movement: Presto (With Final Chorus From Schiller's Ode To Joy)
G1 - Leonore Overture No. 1, Op. 138
G2 - Leonore Overture No. 2, Op. 72
H1 - Coriolanus Overture, Op. 62
H2 - Overture "Name Day", Op. 115
H3 - Overture "The Consecration Of The House", Op. 124
I1 - Overture To The Ballet "The Creatures Of Prometheus", Op. 43
I2 - Overture To "King Stephen", Op. 117
I3 - Overture To "The Ruins Of Athens", Op. 113
Wellington's Victory Or The Battle Of Vittoria, Op. 91
J1 - 1st Part: The Battle
J2 - 2nd Part: The Victory Symphony
The box sets of this Bicentennial collection are not on Qobuz, but you can search for the individual performances if you are interested.
Okay, this is part one of this series. I'll post five more records at least once per month from now on.
