15 albums

I was tagged by a friend to list 15 albums I have heard which will “always stick with me”. I was supposed to list the first 15 I could think of in only 15 minutes, but I kept changing my mind and it took me a while to recall some of the ones I wanted to remember. In some cases it is not the albums themselves that I value but the fact that they are associated with memorable events.

It is a rather eclectic collection, I think!

ELO – A New World Record. This was my first real “pop” album as a kid, but I actually won it in a competition (tracing a maze on a Kraft cheese pack, if I remember correctly!). Given that it was a totally random prize, I think I scored quite well: it suited my tastes and wasn’t going to annoy my parents. Notable songs: Telephone Line, and Livin’ Thing.

Neil Young – Harvest. If ever I hear anything from this album (or anything else of Neil Young or, in stark contrast, anything from Monty Python’s Contractual Obligation album) I am taken back to Year 12 bushwalking trips, where these were played on the college bus.

Jon and Vangelis – Friends of Mr Cairo. I suspect this one is really obscure. Jon had this high falsetto voice, and of course Vangelis was the synthesiser guru of the early 1980s. I will always associate this album with playing Elite on my Amstrad 64K computer (which makes for a weird combination, because Elite was also famous for using bits of Strauss from the movie 2001, namely Also Sprach Zarathustra and The Blue Danube Waltz).

Mark Knopfler – Local Hero (soundtrack). A whimsical movie and a great soundtrack. I want Going Home played at my funeral … full bore (it is not particularly reverent, though!).

Chris de Burgh – Into the Light. I went through a bit of a Chris de Burgh phase, and even bought the piano albums so I could play the music myself (and sing along). This album had the famous Lady in Red, but I liked For Rosanna.

Sky – Sky 2. I was a real fan of Sky: I enjoyed the blend of classical and rock music, and the fact that I didn’t have to worry about dodgy lyrics. I don’t know what Bach would have thought about Toccata, but one of my favourite things was to put Scipio on the stereo, turn it up loud, and then play along on the piano (the volume of the speakers would hide my occasional bung notes!). 12 minutes of bliss.

Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. I couldn’t find the album cover for the actual album that first introduced me to this series in the 1980s (you know what? I think it actually looked like the substitute I found anyway!), but this album, and the Restaurant at the End of the Universe, defined my undergraduate years. They were oft quoted among my maths and physics fellow students, and it only takes the slightest cue to get me quoting them again. These albums were made after the original radio series and followed the plot of the books (the first two of the five book trilogy (!)), and are different from the later television series and movie and then the later-still release on CD of the original radio series. What can I say, but “42” and “Here I am, brain the size of a planet … “.

Moody Blues – Long Distance Voyager. This is one of several albums that bring back memories of my years in Burnie. I haven’t thought about this album in a while but a few of the tunes are still there in my head, such as 22000 Days, and the trio Painted Smile, Reflected Smile and Veteran Cosmic Rocker.

Crowded House – Temple of Low Men. Another Burnie album. Being rather conservative I was late to discover Crowded House, but I bought this album on the strength of the famous Better Be Home Soon. It is rather dark in places, but striking. In recent years I bought Tim and Neil Finn’s Everyone is Here, which I enjoyed, and the compilation She Will Have Her Way which are female vocal covers of some of the Split Enz/Finn/Crowded House repertoire.

Simon and Garfunkel – Greatest Hits. These guys were before my time even if I had discovered them early, but they’re classic. Everybody knows some Simon and Garfunkel, even if it might not be their most favourite thing. I like them, especially the fact that they are eminently sing-a-longable and harmonizable (even on top of the harmonies that are already there). For my Burnie flatmate Lynda, Homeward Bound was our signature tune when we used to head back down to Hobart for the school holidays. This is another album that I also have as piano sheet music.

Dire Straits – Brothers in Arms. I was late to this album too, but particularly like Why Worry and Brothers in Arms (and the video clip of the latter, with its shaded-pencil animations, was stunning). I bought the sheet music of this one too, so I could play along and sing (and was really glad to have a transposing piano, so I could change the pitch to suit my vocal range … since it doesn’t coincide with Mark Knopfler’s).

Mormon Tabernacle Choir – Live in Jerusalem. Although I knew that the Mormon Tabernacle Choir had a good reputation, I had only heard them doing conference broadcasts, which mostly meant familiar hymns in standard four-part harmony albeit with the occasional richer but still very worshipful arrangement. My parents bought this album for me and I was sceptical before listening to it, but ended up impressed. It showed a greater variety of genres than I’d expected (including spirituals, Rachmaninov and Handel) and highlighted their talent.

Great Big Sea – Up. I’m kicking myself for only discovering Great Big Sea just as I was leaving Newfoundland, so I didn’t get to see them live. They have a mix of folk and rock that I enjoy, and provide up-beat travelling music that I love having on in the car. I’ve educated my Scouts to like them too, so that they don’t mind having to share the car with a geriatric old fogey, especially if we drive into a campsite singing Run Runaway at the tops of our voices. I like the Chemical Process Worker’s Song and the ballad Fast as I Can … and, in fact, all the other Great Big Sea albums as well.

Cary Lewincamp – The Sky in Your Eyes. Cary Lewincamp plays a mean acoustic guitar and writes his own very relaxing stuff. This is one of four albums of his that I possess, and they are great for marking by or having on as background music when you are trying to concentrate on something. If you happen to be in Salamanca Market in Hobart on a Saturday morning, there’s a good chance that you can hear him live.

The Idea of North – Live at the Powerhouse. I love a capella singing, and The Idea of North are brilliant … and Australian to boot. This was the album that introduced me to them, and it’s a wonderful mix of jazz, gospel, and pop with some humour thrown in for good measure (including the one about the toupee that blew by you, to the tune of … Blue Bayou). They’re great live too (I’ve seen them three times and I’ll keep going to see them as often as I can). My favourite song on this album is a little known Abba piece called When All is Said and Done.

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Well, that’s 15. I’ve left out a whole bunch of other possibilities, including Abba – Arrival, Billy Joel – Greatest Hits, Eva Cassidy – Songbird, and the Simon Gallaher and Jon English version of The Pirates of Penzance. I suppose I should be a little bothered by the fact that there are so few recent releases … but then I did confess to being a geriatric old fogey, and that’s my excuse.