So, the other day, I finally finished cataloging my vast c.d. collection. Among the various minutia that I'd learned along way, was the fact that I slightly underestimated (not stratergized) the amount of c.d.'s in my collection. I believe I'd previously mentioned that I'd possessed about 600 c.d.'s. Well my friends, the actual amount of c.d.'s is not Levi 501 jeans, but 501 individual releases of single, double and in one particular instance, a Curtis Mayfield box set.
Impressive, eh?
You know what's more impressive? The amount of places that I patronized in order to purchase my c.d.'s. A total of at least 17 different places and two people were graced with my presence. These places include defunct music retailers like Circuit City & Borders, defunct local supermarkets like Food Mart, a concert venue and the ever popular B&N. But by far, the bulk of my purchases, topping at 57.8% {290+}, were made at my local public library.
Coincidentally, the public library is probably where I spent the least of amount of total dollars, with the bulk of the c.d.'s costing me but one-tenth of a Alexander Hamilton. The most expensive places on my shopping list were Amazon, Borders, B&N, FYE and the ever popular store. Yes, about 6% of my purchases were made at the unknown store. Why unknown? Because even someone like me, who has a very good memory for all kinds of pointless minutia, can't recall every place that was graced with my presence.
I think what makes this collection all the more impressive is that it's been roughly 20 years since my ears were opened to the beauty that is college/free-form radio (that would be 1996). From that point forward, I learned not only to listen to all kinds of genres but to appreciate those genres as well. There are still some genres that I will not listen to unless I either get the c.d.'s on the cheap (like country-pop) or just not listen to period (pop and most classic rock), but beyond that, I've listened to roughly two dozen genres/sub-genres of music.
From hard rock to heavy metal, bluegrass to Americana, classical to Cajun and everything else in between, I've sampled them all. I have some c.d.'s that I've enjoyed and some that would make you scratch your head and ask, "What in the world were you thinking?"
Well, my friends, I'm hoping to bring to you within the next week or two some examples of "What was I thinking when I decided to buy this?"
Until then, I leave you with a video of a favorite song that was covered, in my opinion, very badly by U2.
(c) 2016 BOOKS BY G.B. MILLER. All Rights Reserved.
The first CD I ever bought 25 years ago was a sampler of baroque music and I still listen to it. Such an excellent compilation -- everything I enjoy.
ReplyDeleteI remember getting sticker shock 25 years ago when I'd first saw the prices they were asking for (about $25+). I believe my first c.d purchased was a Vernon Reid (he of Living Colour) solo effort called "Masque". Still listen to it every once in a great while.
DeleteGlad you got them organized.
ReplyDeleteWe used to get ours from FYE, then Target when the former became too expensive. Now most come from Amazon. (CDs - most albums come from iTunes.)
Whenever I would buy c.d.';s from FYE they were always used (much cheaper). I soured on FYE when they wanted to give me about $5 for about $50 worth of c.d.'s that I wanted to sell to them, including one that bought from them about a month previously (new), played once and didn't like it.
DeleteSo when I want to buy new, I'll either do Amazon or B&N.
I miss my music alot- packed up somewhere... poor vinyl is in climate controlled storage!
ReplyDeleteBummer, but at least its being taken care of.
DeleteI have a ton, too, but not as many as you! I got those zippered albums to put them in and threw out the plastic cases. The drawback to that is not having them exactly at a glance. :)
ReplyDeleteI could never do that because I always like to see what it is exactly that I have. I usually play my c.d.'s either in my car or at work, and because I play so few (no more than four at work in the car) and go for long periods without playing them, it just makes more sense to me to keep them in their cases.
DeleteAmazon and Itunes are great websites for catching all the latest sounds but Youtube is cool too and worth checking out for all the best vibes in town.
ReplyDeleteYouTube is fantastic for tracking down a song that you only know a snippet of lyrics to. I bought quite a few c.d.'s that way.
DeleteImpressive that you've cataloged your CD collection. Can you come and do mine now? Your collection seems similar to mine as I acquired CDs from many random sources. I missed out on the library though. I've seen books for sale and for free when they apparently couldn't sell them, but I've never seen any music. Then again, I rarely go to the library so I don't really know what they have.
ReplyDeleteThe "What was I thinking..." idea sounds fun. I may have to consider that one myself. I actually love that idea.
Arlee Bird
Tossing It Out
Thanks. I basically did mine because it was really getting out of control/out of hand.
DeleteOurs has a little bit of everything for sale: music, dvd's, books of all genres, old VHS tapes. They do two monster sales each year and raise quite a bit money in the process.
I usually end up having 2nd and 3rd thoughts after I purchase some of the more stranger music.