My DIDs, finally!

[ed@wente.llnl.gov (Ed Suranyi)]

Several months ago there was a thread were people were posting
their desert island discs.  I put it off because:

1)  I found it very difficult to select just ten albums, and I wasn't
going to say anything like, "If I could I'd take along these thirty
albums as well."  That's cheating.

2)  This is silly, I know, but I've always been reluctant to discuss
my musical taste for fear that someone will say something like, "You
like THAT?  Yucch.  You must be full of sh*t."  That's why I personally
rarely criticize other people's choices.  If I don't like something that
somebody else likes, I'm more likely to think that the fault lies within
myself.

However, a few days ago Larry Hernandez convinced me to post it.
So here's my current list, in the order in which they occur to me.

1.  Kate Bush -- _Hounds Of Love_
    I certainly don't need to say anything else here, do I?

2.  France Gall -- _Paris, France_ (aka _Il Jouait du Piano Debout_)
    A friend of mine brought this album back from a trip to France about
    ten years ago and played it for me.  I HAD to tape a copy, and now
    it's one of my favorites.  I was relying on that old tape copy all
    this time, because I never was able to find the album in any stores
    -- and I had been looking in stores in the US, Canada, and Britain.
    But a few weeks ago I actually found a CD of this album in Montreal!
    I like several of her other albums as well, such as:

3.  France Gall -- _Tout Pour la Musique_
    For the last five years I've been trying to build up my collection of
    France Gall records.  It's been very difficult.  I found an album by
    her in the US exactly once, and snatched it up.  All the other
    half-dozen or so albums I got from Canada, Britain, and Japan.  This
    one I found the LP of in London in 1988, and again I found the CD in
    Montreal a few weeks ago.  Anybody else who's even heard of her?

4.  Gilbert & Sullivan -- _The Mikado_ 
    Sullivan's melodic music, combined with Gilbert's witty lyrics and
    clever rhymes (who else would rhyme "executioner" with "you shun her"?)
    make this a winner.  The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company recorded a good
    version.  It's a double album -- I hope that's OK!

5.  Dvorak -- _The New World Symphony_
    Just tons of incredible melodies.  Many good recordings are available.
    Several include Smetana's _Die Moldau_ as well, a terrific bonus.

6.  Renaissance -- _Scheherazade and Other Stories_
    A tough choice out of all the Renaissance albums, but this one
    includes "Ocean Gypsy", which is probably my favorite of their songs.

7.  Leonard Bernstein -- _West Side Story_
    The Original Broadway Cast is the best version of this.  It's far
    better than the movie soundtrack album, which is missing two
    instrumental pieces I consider absolutely essential:  The mambo
    from the dance at the gym, and the "Somewhere" ballet.  The latter
    was not even included in the movie.  The recent recording with
    Bernstein himself conducting is fabulous in the instrumental parts,
    but the miscasting of Kiri Te Kanawa and Jose Carreras as the leads
    is disconcerting.

8.  10,000 Maniacs -- _In My Tribe_
    I know longtime fans tend to like _The Wishing Chair_ best, but 
    IMT was the album that hooked me.

9.  'Til Tuesday -- _Everything's Different Now_
    I like all three of their albums, but this is the one I've listened
    to most recently.  Every song on the first side is terrific.

10.  Beethoven -- _Symphony No. 9_
     I had to include another classical piece, so why not the greatest
     of them all?  It's endlessly fascinating, thrillingly exciting.
     Lots of good versions exist.
    
Ed
ed@wente.llnl.gov