I've always felt that Al Stewart was badly underrated, including even while he was putting out big hit records. I still do. I only had those big hit records (Year of the Cat, Time Passages), but they were superb pop albums, and I find I miss them very often, even if there's no one on my mind like a song on the radio.
Benny Goodman's 1938 Carnegie Hall concert was a total delight, with probably the definitive version of Sing Sing Sing (With A Swing). The version on my greatest hits CD doesn't measure up, and the versions on my MP3 old-time radio CDs nearly do, but not quite. Miss the vinyl.
Talking Heads '77 and The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads are badly missed, especially Happy Day and Building On Fire. The Was (Not Was) record Born To Laugh At Tornadoes is pretty nearly universally reviled, except by me, especially Smile as sung by the late, great Doug Fieger of The Knack. I'm actually less knocked out by the much better selling What Up, Dog?, though Somewhere In America There's A Street Named After My Dad is among my favorites. I even found the video on YouTube once (but only briefly, unfortunately).
Katy Lied is probably my most missed Steely Dan disc (especially Dr. Wu and Any World That I'm Welcome To), but I miss them all. Goodness knows why I haven't bought it and Aja on CD by now. At least there's a version of Aja (the song) on Alive In America.
Other than that, there are the Swimming Pool Qs records, which I should definitely pick up since they've put so much effort into the CD re-releases. Or at least World War Two Point Five for I'd Rather Feel This Pain Than Be Nowhere. And other than THAT, there's a gazillion one-hit wonders, or at least one-song wonder albums, the kind of things that'll make me buy a turntable that will record straight to CD or MP3 some time sooner or later. Leading the pack there is Girl Of My Dreams by Bram Tchaikovsky. At least it's on YouTube.
On the other hand, there's Thick As A Brick, which I would most emphatically miss if I didn't have, but which I have on LP, MP3 and CD. Probably the only record in my collection to hit the trifecta.
Upon edit, I find that I should have made clearer that these are records that I still have; I miss them because I don't have a working turntable. One of these days I'll learn to read and write.
Among the vinyl that I miss, records that I discarded and wish I'd kept, that is, Dingly Dell is high on the list. Also, my copy of Heaven 17's Penthouse and Pavement. Also also, my copy of Deep Purple's The Book of Taliesyn. There's lots more, too, my Alarm, my Aztec Camera, my Comsat Angels (you see where I'm going with this), but somehow I miss those three the most.
ReplyDeleteMemory draws a merciful curtain across most of the ones I had but let get away, though the brilliant idea of taping the good songs off the B52s Cosmic Thing and then selling it back to Tim didn't truly work out. Wait, that wasn't vinyl anyway. I think I may have Dingly Dell still, but am unsure.
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