Hello peeps – another music related entry – sorry, but it might be interesting – well, a bit - possibly. These are the top ten albums (I think – they’re the ones that are on my amazon wish list anyway) that have found their way onto my Ipod but that I don’t yet have on CD.
When I first got my Ipod I purchased a number of my old vinyl/cassette favourites that I hadn’t yet upgraded onto CD but some remained unavailable or so rare that they were out of price range.
They used to all be at least £40 or not available but a lot of them now seem to have come down in price.
These vinyl/cassettes found their way onto my Ipod via recording onto mini disc then transferring on to CD via a programme my Dad had and then sticking back onto Itunes.
I may do a second blog entry of more vinyl/cassettes on my Ipod which includes stuff I had as a very small child (there’s no Muppets or Sesame Street on this list) and stuff that never made it on to my Ipod or stuff that I can’t find on Amazon but ten (well, eleven really) is a good number to stop at for now. Here they are in (roughly) the order I first purchased them.
1. Roman Holliday – Cookin’ On The Roof – available new for £17.58.
One of the earliest vinyl LPs, from when I first started buying pop, on my Ipod is this one, from 1983. Roman Holliday were one of many slightly cheesey rock’n’roll-ish bands from the early 80s. Their best known track is “Don’t Try to Stop It.” “Stand By” (first track on Side Two) is so scratched to buggery that only the 2nd verse onwards is on the Ipod.
2. The Untouchables – Wild Child – available new for £24.97
Late period ska from 1985. I particularly liked “Free Yourself” and then got the vinyl album which has a longer version of the 7” I already had. “City Gent” (final track on side two) is scratched to buggery and possibly jumps on my Ipod. There’s some good funky stuff on this as well. (Just spotted the CD has extra tracks – dang-nabbit!)
Update 01/09 : Writing this blog has prompted me to check Itunes - this album is available with the additional tracks for download for £7.99 - Yay!3. Age of Chance – One Thousand Years Of Trouble – available as MP3 or Itunes downloads for £7.49 or £7.99 or used CD for £35.01
We now (apart from Prince side projects) enter the era of the cassette (1987.) And one of my worst quality cassettes that is still on my Ipod is this one , which is overly bassy and wobbly. This isn't really on CD but is available as a cheap download with lots of extra tracks such as “Kiss” which is on vinyl and transferred onto my Ipod also. They were a sort of big beats, rappy, punky band, possibly a little ahead of their time.
4. Kevin Rowland – The Wanderer – available used for £20.99
Possibly the cassette I would like to have most on CD is this one, which is Kevin Rowlands debut album from 1988. It has a slightly dated tinny computer drum sound but still has some cracking tunes. Apart from being a little trebly my cassette version isn’t actually all that bad quality but it would still be nice to have it on CD one day.
5. The Family – The Family – available new for £36.43
Around 1988-ish I started collecting the Prince side projects which were mostly only available on vinyl, at the time, at least in Londons HMV where I bought them, so rather than having some on vinyl and some on cassette I decided to get them all on vinyl. This originally came out in 1985 (although it may not have come out in Britain at all) and was Prince’s attempt to create a new band after The Time imploded following Purple Rain. They only lasted for one album though. This is mostly famous for being the original home of “Nothing Compares 2 U” but I prefer the funkier songs that influenced Princes Parade album that followed it like “Mutiny.” My favourite Prince side project LP. When I recorded this onto Mini Disc I missed the final whoop on “Yes” (the last track on side one) so my Ipod version is minus one whoop.
6. Madhouse – 8 & 16 – available new for £33.95 and £31.95
These two albums came out in 1987 but I probably got them in 1988. This was an album that came out on his Paisley Park label but the true extent of it’s Prince-ness was only revealed recently as all the songs were written and mostly performed by him along with the horn section of Eric Leeds. I always liked this stuff, which is jazz funk really, but I’ve only started loving it recently. The first album 8 is particularly good, especially the final track, 8. Other Prince vinyl I got around this time were Vanity 6 and Jill Jones, neither of which made it onto my Ipod, and the first three Time albums which eventually came out on reasonably priced CD. There was quite a bit more that I missed.
7. Coldcut – What’s That Noise – available used for £2.89
We are now in 1989 and back on cassette and this is one of the first dance albums I had I guess. When I transferred this onto my Ipod I gave all the jingles that are spread throughout their own tracks which the CD version possibly wouldn’t have. Again the cassette is pretty good quality so you wouldn’t know it wasn’t on CD unless you were a sound-buff or I told you.
8. Terence Trent D’Arby – Neither Fish Nor Flesh – available for £10.04
TTD’s much ridiculed 2nd album from 1989 is actually my favourite album of his and is a great funky, soulful album and nowhere near as self-indulgent as is made out (probably just cos of it’s silly title.) His previous debut album (which includes the much more indulgent “As yet untitled”) I now have on CD via The Daily Mails free cover-mounted CDs offer. This is the only CD available direct from Amazon rather than via Amazon marketplace and quite cheap too! I already had his 3rd album on CD but never bothered to put that one on my Ipod (not enough space for my whole collection annoyingly!)
Edit 01/09 : Also on Itunes download for £7.999. Mavis Staples – Time Waits For No One – available used for £9.99
Back to Prince related stuff for the last two. This was from 1989 again, by which time even Prince related stuff was being bought on cassette. 6 of the 8 tracks were written and produced by Prince and this was a great soulful, funky album. She was actually the first act I saw live as she was Princes support act in 1990.
10. The Time – Pandemonium – available used for £14.95, new for £34.98
The Times final album which was half fake Prince and half actual band and released in 1990 to tie in with Princes flop “Graffitti Bridge” film is the final cassette in this top ten for now. When I transferred it to my Ipod I had to choose which linking bits to make extra tracks and which will just be part of the main track. Did a good job, I think. This is probably my favourite Time album and I would love to have it on CD. The cassette isn’t that great quality.
Edit 01/09 : Ooh! This is also available as Itunes download for £7.99So, that's it (for now!)
Although we had a family CD player, I only got a CD player in my bedroom in 1992, and after an experimental period in which I thought I’d only buy my favourites on CD and continue to buy cassettes, after buying Julian Copes and Was Not Was’s greatest hits on CD straight after buying them on cassette, cos I liked them so much, I decided to convert to CD only and stop wasting my money and apart from a few downloads and some vinyl only stuff that is what has remained the format of choice (and that sentence was far too long.)
My Opera
