The Music Collection

[bulbasaur]

No Doubt - Tragic Kingdom

As a kid, going to summer camps was a big deal.  I was able to explore academic topics that I didn't normally get access to.  Outside of the academics, one of the biggest things about summer camps was the music.  Kids came from all sorts of backgrounds, and the music reflected it.  This was my first exposure to ska.  Well, it's not really true ska, but American ska punk.  Tragic Kingdom was such a great album.  Most of the songs on there were actually hits.  If you don't like this album, then leave a message and I'll call you back. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZktNItwexo

[zena]

OMG, Missing had a ton of remixes.  Every DJ or wanna-be-DJ had their own remix.  My first experience with Fruity Loops was watching a friend use it.  Which song was he sampling?  Missing.  It's been a while, but I am sure some out there miss this song like the deserts miss the rain. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4sPkS8b62Q

Yes it did.  And I am one of those who miss it like the deserts miss the rain. 

I think this is the version they played on the radio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lcCKs3q5Fc

[zena]

No Doubt - Tragic Kingdom

As a kid, going to summer camps was a big deal.  I was able to explore academic topics that I didn't normally get access to.  Outside of the academics, one of the biggest things about summer camps was the music.  Kids came from all sorts of backgrounds, and the music reflected it.  This was my first exposure to ska.  Well, it's not really true ska, but American ska punk.  Tragic Kingdom was such a great album.  Most of the songs on there were actually hits.  If you don't like this album, then leave a message and I'll call you back. 

My husband has that album.  I liked it too but at that time Napster was king so I pretty much stopped buying CDs. 

[bulbasaur]

Good ol' Napster.  I loved Napster.  It was a great way to sample new music.  There is YouTube now, but it's not the same.  Napster was better because it was actually people's music collection.  It had music people actually listened to.  With YouTube, I have to shuffle through Boyce Avenue....no offense to all you Boyce Avenue fans.   

I still bought CDs during the Napster era because the quality of CDs were still much better.  So for my favorite music, I went for the CD.  Napster was sharing at 128, 256, or 320, which is good enough to listen but not really to show off in hi-def.   Also, I enjoyed collecting music at the time.  Today,we have lossless for the good stuff. 

Do you still remember Filequest?  Winamp?  Sonique?  Bearshare? Kazaa? 

You know, I invented Napster, but my roommate stole it from me.  He called it Napster because he stole it from me while I was napping!

My husband has that album.  I liked it too but at that time Napster was king so I pretty much stopped buying CDs. 

[bulbasaur]

Noir Desir - 666667 Club
Les Innocents - Fous à lier

People are sometimes surprised to see French albums in my collection, especially since my French is quite bad.  I first got into French rock bands in high school.  My high school roommate spent a few years in France before attending school.  He had quite a unique music collection which included some French rock bands.  As with all school roommates you have, your collection becomes theirs, and their collection becomes yours.  The two CDs I really enjoyed were Noir Desir and Les Innocents.  If you have  never listened to them before, then you are missing out.  Un jour en France has one of the best guitar rifts. 

Noir Desir - Un jour en France
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuB-YSltTgU

Les Innocents - Un Homme Extraordinaire
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgUorDsBRWI

[zena]

Good ol' Napster.  I loved Napster.  It was a great way to sample new music.  There is YouTube now, but it's not the same.  Napster was better because it was actually people's music collection.  It had music people actually listened to.  With YouTube, I have to shuffle through Boyce Avenue....no offense to all you Boyce Avenue fans.   

I still bought CDs during the Napster era because the quality of CDs were still much better.  So for my favorite music, I went for the CD.  Napster was sharing at 128, 256, or 320, which is good enough to listen but not really to show off in hi-def.   Also, I enjoyed collecting music at the time.  Today,we have lossless for the good stuff. 

Do you still remember Filequest?  Winamp?  Sonique?  Bearshare? Kazaa? 

You know, I invented Napster, but my roommate stole it from me.  He called it Napster because he stole it from me while I was napping!

I used Napster because I was a poor college student.  I only bought CDs when it came to artists like Natalie Merchant, Tori Amos, Sarah McLaughling etc., because they helped me through the tough times of my college life (which is so far far away now it's like another life).  I remember listening to their CDs on repeat.  Other than that, it was just one song here and there from other artists and it wasn't worth getting the full CD....except for maybe songs like "Kiss the Rain" by Billy Myers.  ITunes is my friend now and has been for a long time...althoug h a lot of the songs I dl are not good quality so sometimes I feel ripped off.  I noticed that the not-so-good-quality ones are from big artists like Mariah Carey.  I dl-ed "Beautiful" and it was horrible...sta tic-y and fuzzy.  Thus, I don't dl famous or main stream artists very often.

I remember some of those download sights but I never used them.  I was very loyal to Napster and having watched the documentary about it a couple months ago (I know, I'm late to the documentary stuff), it still hurts me how it was destroyed.

As for French music, I have a couple of CDs somewhere.  I used to listen to French music and would search the CD stores for them.  I was also into French movies and French cuisine one time.  It was a phase. 

[bulbasaur]

The Offspring - Smash

I was on the school bus with the marching band when I was handed a Walkman.  In it, there was a CD of a band that I have never listened to, The Offspring.  They were loud and out of tune, but they sounded great.  If you have never heard The Offspring, then stop being a trendy a$$hole and give it a listen.  And one more thing, when you go driving, stay in your lane because getting cut off drives me insane. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wMa_t5cBgY

[bulbasaur]

Natalie Merchant, Tori Amos, Sarah McLaughling... I hope you went to Lilith Fair.

I used Napster because I was a poor college student.  I only bought CDs when it came to artists like Natalie Merchant, Tori Amos, Sarah McLaughling etc., because they helped me through the tough times of my college life (which is so far far away now it's like another life).  I remember listening to their CDs on repeat.  Other than that, it was just one song here and there from other artists and it wasn't worth getting the full CD....except for maybe songs like "Kiss the Rain" by Billy Myers.  ITunes is my friend now and has been for a long time...althoug h a lot of the songs I dl are not good quality so sometimes I feel ripped off.  I noticed that the not-so-good-quality ones are from big artists like Mariah Carey.  I dl-ed "Beautiful" and it was horrible...sta tic-y and fuzzy.  Thus, I don't dl famous or main stream artists very often.

I remember some of those download sights but I never used them.  I was very loyal to Napster and having watched the documentary about it a couple months ago (I know, I'm late to the documentary stuff), it still hurts me how it was destroyed.

As for French music, I have a couple of CDs somewhere.  I used to listen to French music and would search the CD stores for them.  I was also into French movies and French cuisine one time.  It was a phase. 

[zena]

Natalie Merchant, Tori Amos, Sarah McLaughling... I hope you went to Lilith Fair.

How funny you should bring that up.  I used to work in a building that was right next to the stadium where Lilith Fair came to play.  I'd hear the music from that concert, of course, it was fuzzy from inside and the building windows were facing the back of the stadium but there was a balcony on our floor where you could go and hear it loud and clear.  I would have gone to it but I was working for GE Medical in their IT department at the time and was worked like a machine (they were getting ready to lay us off but we didn't know it yet).  I saw Sarah McLachlan in concert when she first became popular though.

[bulbasaur]

Queen - Greatest Hits

I know the band's name was Queen, but I didn't make the link until I was much older.  Anyways, Queen is an awesome band, and Freddie Mercury really knew how to be a front man.  I am not the only person to like their work, so does Vanilla Ice. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a01QQZyl-_I

Adam Lambert currently sings with Queen.  He's no Freddie, but it is nice to see that the band is still going. 

[bulbasaur]

Weezer - Blue Album

Summer camp wouldn't have been the same without this album.  The entire CD was blasted every night for 2 weeks before lights out.  For some strange reason, the roommate brought a stereo with him.  We blasted this the first night, and it just became the nightly routine.  We all congregated in and out the room doing what kids do.  To this day, I have the lyrics to the entire album memorized. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5agtqh4IO8

[bulbasaur]

You should have gone.  I love live music.  Every summer I always think of concerts.  I don't go anymore.  These days, I settle for park bands, festivals, coffee houses, street performers, etc.  Maybe I'll start a thread about my personal concert series.   

How funny you should bring that up.  I used to work in a building that was right next to the stadium where Lilith Fair came to play.  I'd hear the music from that concert, of course, it was fuzzy from inside and the building windows were facing the back of the stadium but there was a balcony on our floor where you could go and hear it loud and clear.  I would have gone to it but I was working for GE Medical in their IT department at the time and was worked like a machine (they were getting ready to lay us off but we didn't know it yet).  I saw Sarah McLachlan in concert when she first became popular though.

[bulbasaur]

REM - Automatic for the People

REM had been a band for quite a while before this album, but this was probably their most popular, and it was my introduction to REM.  There were a lot of really good songs on there.  REM was popular during this time, but very few people still seem to talk about them anymore.  Every now and then an REM song would come on my playlist, and someone would ask me about them.  They deserve more than just a quiet night. 

One of my favorite songs off this album, Nightswimming.  I like the funky "band warm-up" at the beginning.  Anyways, if you haven't gone swimming in the ocean at night, you should. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-YHU6BwPR0

[bulbasaur]

The Cars - The Cars

This may not be the greatest album of all time, and The Cars may not be the best band of all time, but they have some catchy songs that a lot of people know.  There are surprisingly a lot of covers of The Cars on Youtube.  In any case, I don't mind that they come around here wasting all my time. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5-rdr0qhWk

[bulbasaur]

Smokey Robinson - Make It Happen

When I was a kid, my uncle bought an old house.  I spent a lot of time there.  The basement was full of old stuff.  Obviously, my cousins and I treated the basement as our own little warehouse of treasures.  One of those treasures was an old record player with a ton of records.  Virtually all of those records were Motown.  I would play the records all day as we played.  I ended up memorizing all of the songs.  When I was older, I went back and bought all those albums on CD. 

In college, that knowledge would come in handy.  During a karaoke event, a fellow RA was trying to encourage people to participate.  Unfortunately, she started messing up her song.  She was getting a bit teary eyed, so I decided to join her on stage and make it a duet.  She got a big applause, and everyone joined in later.  The song we sang was Smokey Robinson's Tears of a Clown.  Later that night, I found that she was a huge Motown fan.   We shared our collections.

Looking back, I wished I would have taken my uncle's records and record player.  He eventually threw is all away when he finally cleaned the basement.  Those records might be worth a small fortune now. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2E_RSJAhYU