My DIDs, finally

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

I tried posting this over the weekend but it never appeared.  Apologies
to those who have seen it before.

Larry Hernandez convinced me to finally post my Desert Island Discs.  I
had been putting it off for a long time because it's SO hard to pick
just ten albums.  I wasn't going to say anything like, "If I could,
I'd bring these thirty albums as well."  That's cheating!

Also, I know my tastes aren't really as "cool" as some of yours are.
But we're among friends here, aren't we?

So here's my current list, with comments.  It certainly can change.
They are in the order in which they occur to me.

1)  Kate Bush -- _Hounds of Love_
    No explanation needed for this newsgroup, is there?

2)  France Gall -- _Paris, France_ (aka _Il Jouait du Piano Debout_)
    This is a French singer who has been around a VERY long time --
    her earliest albums date from 1963 or so, and her latest studio
    album, _Babacar_ came out about three years ago.  In that timespan
    she's changed styles several times.  I like all her styles, but
    I like her later work, such as _Paris, France_, the best.

    I first heard of her when a friend brought this album back with
    him from France about ten years ago.  Until recently, the only copy
    of that album I've had is the cassette copy I made from his album.
    And believe me, I've looked.  Even though Gall has many albums
    in France, it's just about impossible to find them in the US or
    Britain.  But just a few weeks ago I actually found a copy of this
    album on CD in Montreal!  So I snatched it up right away.
    Lots of great pop songs.  Nothing really alternative, but it always
    makes me feel good to hear it.

3)  France Gall -- _Tout Pour la Musique_
    Yep, her again, from about four or five years ago.  I found this LP
    in London in 1988; it was the only France Gall item I found there
    and the first time I ever actually saw anything by her in any store.
    Once again, I found this on CD in Montreal a few weeks ago.

4)  Dvorak -- _New World Symphony_
    Just lots of incredibly great melodies.  Many good versions exist on
    CD.

5)  Gilbert & Sullivan -- _The Mikado_
    Sullivan's gift for writing appropriate, tuneful melodies combined
    with Gilbert's witty lyrics and clever rhymes (who else would rhyme
    "executioner" with "you shun her"?) make this a winner.  This is
    a two-CD set; I hope that's OK!

6)  _West Side Story -- Original Broadway Cast Recording_
    My favorite musical, primarily because of Leonard Bernstein's
    incomparable score.  The version I've cited is the best.  The
    soundtrack album is not nearly as good because it leaves out
    two instrumental pieces that I consider essential: the Mambo from
    the Dance at the Gym, and the "Somewhere" ballet.  The recording
    Bernstein himself conducted a few years ago is fabulous in the
    instrumental parts, but the miscasting of Kiri Te Kanawa and
    Jose Carreras in the lead parts is disconcerting.

7)  10,000 Maniacs -- _In My Tribe_
    I know most of their true fans like _The Wishing Chair_ best, but
    IMT was the album that hooked me.

8)  Beethoven -- _Symphony No. 9_
    Always fascinating, thrillingly exciting.  Lots of good versions exist
    on CD.

9)  'Til Tuesday -- _Everything's Different Now_
    As far as I'm concerned, they got better with each album.  Too
    bad they've broken up now (at least, I think they have.)

10)  ABBA -- _Arrival_
     This was a really hard position to fill, as there were so many
     albums that demanded the tenth position.  I decided to go with
     a sentimental favorite.  _Arrival_ was the first album I ever bought.
     I was living in Canada then, and they were far more popular there
     than in the United States.  For all you ABBA-haters, and I know
     there are plenty of you out there:  I KNOW their lyrics are
     incredibly stupid, but they had few peers when it came to writing
     hook-laden melodies.

I'm a little surprised that two France Gall albums made the list, and
only one Kate, but that's the way it goes.

One last comment -- I would HATE to have only those ten albums around!

Ed
ed@wente.llnl.gov