Desert Isle

[stern@chem.nwu.edu (Charlotte Stern)]

I actually like the idea of Love Hound desert island lists,
because I would be interested in what absolute staples in people's
musical diets I have never heard of and should.  Considering the
strength of the Kate Bush-bond, these lists are likely to be
enlightening.

Here, then, with the obvious caveats, are my indispensables.
Naturally, I cheated...
when there were artists with multiple DI-worthy albums, I listed them
in descending order.  If you are a purist, just delete all but the
first in these multiple listings.
I have also avoided (as much as possible)
greatest hits/compilations, etc., which I think
is important, since this is really a "greatest albums of rock era"
list, and as such should be pure albums, IMHO.

There are three sections here.  It is pretty self-explanatory.
If anyone sees something in this list they want more details on,
please do drop me a line... if they're indispensable to
my existence, maybe you'll like them too.
Here goes...

DESERT ISLAND LIST -- Mike Mendelson -- July 19, 1991

---------------
TOP 10 (ranked)
---------------
1. Kate Bush -- Lionheart, Never For Ever, Hounds of Love, The Dreaming
2. The Bobs -- The Bobs, Songs for Tomorrow Morning, My I'm Large
3. Supertramp -- Even in the Quietest Moments, Breakfast in America
4. Danny Wilson -- Meet Danny Wilson
5. Emerson, Lake and Palmer -- Trilogy
6. Triffids -- Calenture
7. Bruce Springsteen -- Greetings from Asbury Park, Born to Run
8. Thomas Dolby -- The Flat Earth, Golden Age of Wireless
9. David Bowie -- Hunky Dory, Ziggy Stardust
10. Cocteau Twins -- Tiny Dynamine/Echoes in a Shallow Bay

-------------------
Runners Up (ranked)
-------------------
11. Indigo Girls -- Indigo Girls
12. Elton John -- Tumbleweed Connection, Captain Fantastic
13. Steely Dan -- Countdown to Ecstasy, Pretzel Logic, Can't Buy a Thrill
14. Harmonium -- Si on avait besoin d'une cinqieme saison
15. Joni Mitchell -- Lady of the Canyon, Court and Spark
16. Pete Townshend -- Iron Man
17. Kirsty MacColl -- Kite
18. CSNY -- Deja Vu, CSN
19. Police -- Regatta de Blanc, Outlandos D'Amour, Ghost in the Machine
20. Neil Young -- After the Goldrush, Harvest, Rust Never Sleeps
21. The Pursuit of Happiness-- Love Junk
22. Todd Rundgren -- A Wizard--A True Star, Something/Anything, A Cappella
23. The Who -- Tommy (in particular the live Carnegie Hall version)
24. Happy Rhodes -- Volume 1, Volume 2
25. Genesis -- Trick of the Tail
26. Billy Joel -- The Stranger, Songs in the Attic
27. Peter Gabriel - PG1, PG3, So
27. ELO -- Eldorado, Face the Music
28. America -- Greatest Hits

----------------------------------------------------
Honorable Mentions (incomplete; ranked only roughly)
----------------------------------------------------
Reivers -- Translate Slowly, Saturday, End of the Day
Dead Can Dance -- Aion
Christine Lavin -- Beau Woes
The Beatles -- Abbey Road
Queen -- Night at the Opera
Pink Floyd -- Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here
Suzanne Vega -- Suzanne Vega, Solitude Standing
Melissa Etheridge -- Melissa Etheridge, Brave and Crazy
Nancy Griffith -- Storm
Siouxsie and the Banshees -- Tinderbox
Innocence Mission -- Innocence Mission
Joe Jackson -- Big World, Look Sharp

-mjm