Showing posts with label ABBA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ABBA. Show all posts

Saturday, October 5, 2024

Downsizing in desperate times

Just some of what's left (some empty space)

 Like many people these days, I'm struggling to make ends meet, and have too much at home I don't need anymore. Between bills and taxes, it's hard to keep up on a limited income. I hired a solicitor to look into the tax situation. I don't typically discuss my personal life like this, although one can relate. It's after reading some clickbait article that hit home is when it was time to take stock and decide which of it can go to the shop. What they didn't take went to Atlanta-based app decluttr via UPS, even though they pay twopence since I've used them several times. There are so many CDs I just don't listen to anymore. They are taken off my collection on Discogs of course and it shows how much I've spent over the years. The first two goes barely add up to $100, but it's better than nothing. Also, recent events brought family to town for the time being, and the social are coming over soon to boot, so I have to tidy up, even though I started to before the unexpected occurred. Usually I bring things in for store credit, but I need the cash to whittle down debt. I had been filling up boxes and crates with dozens of titles. Had to channel my inner Suze Orman and Marie Kondo sacrificing what had been sitting around for a year or so. Racks have been filling up the wardrobes. They're obviously not made for that. Trying to break a cycle. Who I have extra of that can go are tagged (even the boys). If I have the LP, then I might not need the CD unless it has bonus material or is rare. I spent a right fortune over the years, but changes in the past few years meant having to transition what I like to do. If I ever have to move house again, I really would have to cull since I would most likely go to a flat or somewhere smaller. Just not how I pictured my life, but no one does having to face challenges everyday. I'll be lucky to get $100 from all of it, since vinyl is a bigger priority now, and I only have so much of that to give up. I may be getting something in the post, but I'm not too sure. We all know there's no such thing as overnight.

You can also support me here and here. The ones who paved the way for that are also tagged. In any case, I know this won't last forever, but you think it will when you're in the middle of it. My grandparents' generation survived the Depression and WWII, so we'll get through this too. Life and the economy has hills and plateaux like anything. I just need to be better with priorities during this midlife crisis of mine. I'm trying to get help from an agency, but it's still not enough and I won't go further.

Thursday, June 27, 2024

Identity crisis

Arena live at The Waterfront, Norwich, 5th April 2019 - 40598073853
The real Arena, 2019.
kitmasterbloke, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

 If an artist or group has a common or generic name, chances are someone else will have it too. Before the internet, that was the case. If one makes it big, the other may contact their solicitors and settle out of court. I wrote a similar post years ago on our sister retail blog. In recent years, when I try to look up some people, I find mp3s from the wrong ones, who may not realise that the "real" one even exist. Spinoffs and disputes over use of the name by former members isn't exactly what I mean since that's a different post entirely. These are the ones I know off hand, but there are tonnes more out there.

Asia (my Asia settled with lesser known mid-West band and lesser knowns come up for mp3s)

Duran Duran (there are an obscure band called Duran Duran Duran)

Fish (can even be confused with Phish)

Tony Banks (once found an unknown artist with same name)

Ray Wilson (same)

Justin Hayward (there's also a DJ)

Brian May (Queen guitarist and late Australian film composer)

Roger Taylor (drummers for Queen and Duran Duran, which would probably have caused issues back at EMI)

Rush (even the boys have some chancers that are really fly by night calling themselves that, as well as Big Time Rush [please!], Mahogany Rush [also Cancon], Tom Rush, Jennifer Rush, films called Rush)

Savoy (can also get mixed up with Savoy Brown with late Oswego County resident Kim Simmonds)

Jim Diamond (was once a Diamond Jim out there)

PhD (his duo had to contend with a hip-hop one)

Bandit (his earlier band with AC/DCs Cliff Williams and Kate Bush's husband Danny McIntosh)

Status Quo (not to be confused with hip hop artist Stat Quo or song from High School Musical)

IQ (you have to have one to know who the real one are)

Jadis (even them, but could even get conflated with character on The Walking Dead)

Pallas (founder Graeme Murray originally called his band Rainbow, but that's in the same boat)

Magnum (I recently got a CD from the wrong Magnum, which I got rid of)

INXS (was once a shop in the Mohawk Valley)

Visage (was spa run by my doctor likely stopped by Steve Stranges estate if not the state)

Genesis (was once obscure band in the US at the same of the one I know being formed and another in Colombia, and also the late Genesis P-Orridge)

Alan Williams (because of others with the name, the one I used to know used the name Al Chantrey)

Toyah (not to be confused with Toya)

Slaughter (Clark County and Canadian bands)

X (US and Japan)

The Beat (Paul Collins's Beat and The English Beat)

Earth, Wind & Fire (not to be confused with Earth Fire, who Boris wants me to find)

Cinema (short-lived Yes spinoff settled with other Cinemas after becoming Yes proper again)

Tony Kaye (original Yes member and fellow UK pat and director)

Jon Anderson (not to be confused with country artist John Anderson)

Michael Jackson (even the King of Pop had two others with the same name)

Joe Jackson (his dad and the pop/jazz artist)

Paul Young (solo artist and late Sad Café/Mike & the Mechanics vocalist)

Rainbow (Ritchie Blackmores band; original name for Pallas; Sissy Spacek once recorded as Rainbo)

Velvet Underground (band with SU's own Lou Reed; early band with AC/DCs Malcolm Young)

Vanessa Williams (SU alum, Melrose Place co-star [both did Soul Food], and gospel artist)

Bush (UK and Canadian bands)

Arena (pictured; UK band and over a dozen or so different artists with that name)

Hootenanny Singers (Swedish folk band with ABBAs Björn Ulvæus and obscure US band)

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Vinyl wishlist

Only have the international edition on LP right now.

By the cover art can be obtained from Australian Music Corporation Pty. Ltd., Fair useLink

    Records have been coming back in recent years, although not quite as en masse as decades past, but still making headway. Later titles and editions are rarer and/or more expensive though I found a few of those. Some titles I don't have on LP, but I do on CD or even tape, and others I don't have at all just yet, so here's what I hope to find in the months to come:

ABBA
The Album (1977) autographed
Live (1986)
Live at Wembley Arena
The Singles: The First Ten Years
Chess singles

AC/DC
High Voltage (Australasia) (pictured)
TNT (most tracks are on international edition of previous album)
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (Australasia)
Let There Be Rock (Australasia)
Powerage
Highway to Hell
'74 Jailbreak
Fly on the Wall
Who Made Who
Blow Up Your Video
The Razors Edge
Ballbreaker
Stiff Upper Lip
Black Ice
Rock or Bust
Power Up

a-ha
Stay on These Roads
East of the Sun, West of the Moon
Memorial Beach
Minor Earth, Major Sky
Lifelines
Cast in Steel
Morten Harket - Brother
Savoy - See the Beauty in Your Drab Hometown and Under
Magne Furuholmen - White Xmas Lies
True North  

Jon Anderson
Change We Must?
3 Ships
In the City of Angels
Invention of Knowledge (w/Roine Stolt)
1,000 Hands
True

Songs from the Lions Cage
Pride
The Visitor
Immortal?
Contagion
Peppers Ghost
The Seventh Degree of Separation
The Unquiet Sky
Double Vision
The Theory of Molecular Inheritance


Asia
XXX
Aurora
Aqua
Aria
Aura
Symfonia
Dukes of the Orient (2018) and Freakshow
AFJP - Aviana

Tony Banks
The Wicked Lady
Bankstatement (1989)
Still

The Beatles
Not for Sale (bootleg)
Rubber Soul (US)
Revolver (US/UK stereo)
Magical Mystery Tour (stereo)
White album mono
Yellow Submarine (songtrack)
Greatest Hits Vol 1 (Australasia/Southeast Asia)
Various bootlegs
Reel Music
Past Masters Vol 1-2
Love (Cirqué du Soleil)
Live at the BBC Vol 1-2
Anthology 1-3
1 (2000)

Black Sabbath
Forbidden
Technical Ecstacy
Mob Rules
Live Evil
Born Again
Seventh Star
The Eternal Idol
Headless Cross
Týr
13 (2013)

Boy George
Sold
Tense Nervous Headache
Boyfriend
High Hat
The Martyr Mantras (Jesus Loves You)
SE18

Kate Bush
Kate Bush 12"
Hounds of Love 12"
The Red Shoes
Aerial
50 Words for Snow
Directors Cut
The Fellowship Presents Before the Dawn

Bush
Sixteen Stone
Razorblade Suitcase
Man on the Run
Black and White Rainbows
The Sea of Memories
The Art of Survival
Loaded
I Beat Loneliness

Phil Collins
I Missed Again
Thru These Walls
One More Night
Don't Lose My Number
Serious Hits... Live!
Both Sides
Singles

Crowded House
Temple of Low Men
Time on Earth
Dreamers Are Waiting
Gravity Stairs

Culture Club
Mistake No 3
The War Song
This Time

Def Leppard
First Strike
Adrenalize
Retro Active
Slang
X (2002)
Songs from the Sparkle Lounge
Def Leppard (2015)
The Story So Far
Diamond Star Halos
Drastic Symphonies

Depeche Mode
Live in Berlin
Martin Gore and Dave Gahan solo LPs
Some Great Reward
Catching Up with Depeche Mode (1985)
The Singles 81>85
Music for the Masses
101 (1989)
Martin L. Gore - Counterfeit EP
Exciter
Sounds of the Universe
Songs of Faith and Devotion live
Playing the Angel
Delta Machine
Spirit
Memento Mori

Jim Diamond
Bandit (1976)
Bacco - Cha Cha Me
PhD - Is It Safe?
I Should Have Known Better
I Sleep Alone at Night(s)
Desire for Freedom
Jim Diamond (1993)
Broadway 12"

Evil or Divine
Sacred Heart
Dream Evil
Lock Up the Wolves
Strange Highways
Angry Machines
Magica
Master of the Moon
The Very Beast of Dio Vol 2

Duran Duran
Arena
All You Need is Now
Big Thing!
Decade
Liberty
Red Carpet Massacre
Danse Macabre
Elf (1972)
LA 59/Carolina County Ball
Trying to Burn the Sun

Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Black Moon
In the Hot Seat
Welcome Back My Friends...
Works Vol 1

Eurythmics
The Tourists (1978)
Peace
We Too Are One singles

Agnetha Fältskog
Eyes of a Woman
A+ (2023)

Fish
Internal Exile
13th Star
A Feast of Consequences
Weltschmerz

Fleetwood Mac
English Rose
Black Magic Woman
The Original Fleetwood Mac (1971)
Penguin
Behind the Mask
Before the Beginning Vol 1 & 2
Alternate Live
Rumours Live

Peter Gabriel
Out Out 12"
Shaking the Tree
Us
Up
New Blood
i/o Bright and Dark Side Mixes

As You Were
Knebworth 2022
2024 album with John Squire (Stone Roses)

Noel Gallaghers High Flying Birds
First album
EPs
Back the Way We Came Vol 1
Council Skies
Chasing Yesterday

Genesis
From Genesis to Revelation (mono)
A Trick of the Tail autographed
The Story of Genesis
We Can't Dance
The Way We Walk Vol 1-2
Calling All Stations
BBC Broadcasts

Gentle Giant
Acquiring the Taste (US LP to photocopy sleeves)

Geordie
Hope You Like It
Don't Be Fooled by the Name
Save the World
No Good Woman
Strange Man

David Gilmour
David Gilmour (1978)
Rattle That Lock
Live at Pompeii
Luck and Strange

Gowan
Gowan (1982)
Great Dirty World
Lost Brotherhood

Amy Grant
Unguarded
Heart in Motion
Home for Christmas

Steve Hackett
The Night Siren
GTR (1986)
Wolflight
The Circus and the Nightwhale
At the Edge of Light
Surrender to Silence

Steve Harley/Cockney Rebel
A Closer Look
Timeless Flight
Face to Face
Uncovered (solo)
The Candidate (solo)
Greatest Hits

George Harrison
Wonderwall Music
The Best of Dark Horse (1976-89)
Live in Japan
Brainwashed

Annie Haslam
Still Life
Annie Haslam (1989)

Justin Hayward
Night Flight
Classic Blue
All the Way

Roger Hodgson
You Make Me Love You
London
Supertramp - Autobiography
Open the Door

INXS
INXS (1980)
Max Q (1989)
X (1990)
Welcome to Wherever You Are
Full Moon Dirty Hearts
Elegantly Wasted

IQ
Tales from the Lush Attic
The Wake
Nomzamo
Are You Sitting Comfortably?
The Road of Bones
Resistance
Dominion

Eddie Jobson/Zinc 
The Green Album

Elton John
The Big Picture
Made in England
Songs from the West Coast
Sleeping with the Past
The One
Peachtree Road
The Union (w/Leon Russell)
Wonderful Crazy Night
The Lockdown Sessions (w/various artists)  

Jon & Vangelis
The Best of Jon & Vangelis
Page of Life

Kajagoogoo
Islands/Extra Play (Canada)
Kaja - Crazy Peoples Right to Speak
Limahl - Colour All My Days

Nik Kershaw
Human Racing
Radio Musicola
The Works
Oxymoron

King Crimson
In the Court of the Crimson King
In the Wake of Poseidon
Starless and Bible Black
USA

Denny Laine
Holly Days

John Lennon
Sometime in New York City
Shaved Fish
Two Virgins
Live in New York City
Menlove Ave.
Imagine: John Lennon (soundtrack)

Julian Lennon
Mr Jordan
Help Yourself
Everything Changes

Annie Lennox
A Christmas Cornucopia
Nostalgia

Magnum II (1979)
Matador
Chase the Dragon
The Eleventh Hour!
On a Storytellers Night
Vigilante
Wings of Heaven
Goodnight LA
The Monster Roars
Here Comes the Rain

Marillion
Marbles
FEAR
Punch and Judy
Brief Encounter
The Thieving Magpie (La Gazza Ladra)
Holidays in Eden
Brave
Afraid of Sunlight
An Hour Before It's Dark

Paul McCartney
Tripping the Live Fantastic!
Wingspan
Tug of War 7"/12"
MTV Unplugged
Run Devil Run
Figure of Eight 12" (album version)
All the Best!
Off the Ground
Driving Rain
Pure McCartney
Electric Arguments (The Fireman)
Amœba Gig
The Boys at Dungeon Lane

Christine McVie
Christine Perfect (1970)
Christine McVie (1984)
In the Meantine
Buckingham McVie (2017)
Songbird

Freddie Mercury
Mr Bad Guy
Barcelona (w/Montserrat Caballé)
Never Boring

George Michael
Symphonica
Older

Mike & the Mechanics
The Living Years
Word of Mouth
Let Me Fly

The Moody Blues
John Lodge - Natural Avenue
Ray Thomas solo LPs
Keys of the Kingdom

Patrick Moraz
Out in the Sun
Timecode

Alanis Morissette
Jagged Little Pill (acoustic)
Under Rug Swept
Alanis Unplugged
So-Called Chaos
Flavours of Entanglement
Havoc and Bright Lights
Live in Montreux, Switzerland 2012
Such Pretty Forks in the Road

Stevie Nicks
Crystal Visions
The Other Side of the Mirror
Timespace
In Your Dreams
24 Karat Gold: Songs from the Vault
Stand Back

oasis
Definitely Maybe 30th Anniversary boxed set
(What's the Story) Morning Glory?
Standing on the Shoulder of Giants
Heathen Chemistry
Dig Out Your Soul
Beady Eye - BE

Ozzy Osbourne
Bark at the Moon
Tribute
No Rest for the Wicked
Just Say Ozzy
No More Tears
Black Rain
Scream
Ordinary Man
Patient No. 9  

Pallas
The Pallas EP
Arrive Alive
The Sentinel
Knightmoves
The Wedge
The Messenger

Anthony Phillips
Wise After the Event
1984 (1981)

Pink Floyd
The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (mono)
More soundtrack
Ummagumma
Bootlegs
The Early Years
Works
The Later Years
Live at Knebworth
The Endless River
Live at Pompeii
Live at the LA Sports Arena

Queen
A Day at the Races autographed
Greatest Hits II & III
Flash Gordon
Brian May & Friends - Star Fleet Project
Live Magic
The Miracle 12"
Innuendo
Live at Wembley '86
Live at the Rainbow '74
Queen Forever
A Night at the Odeon Live
On Air: The Complete BBC Radio Sessions/Live at the Beeb

Rabbitt
Boys Will Be Boys
A Croak and a Grunt in the Night
Rock Rabbitt (1978)

Trevor Rabin
Trevor Rabin (1978)/Beginnings (South Africa)
Face to Face
Wolf
Can't Look Away
Rio

Renaissance
Prologue
Ashes Are Burning
Live at Carnegie Hall (I only have half the UK LP)
Azure d'Or

REO Speedwagon
R.E.O./T.W.O. (1972)
R.E.O. (1976)
Live: You Get What You Play For
The Earth, A Small Man, His Dog and a Chicken
You Can Tune a Piano, But You Can't Tuna Fish!
The Hits

Rush
Rush (1974)
2112 autographed
Feedback
Presto
Counterparts
2112 Live
Snakes and Arrows
Rush in Rio
Chronicles
Test for Echo
Moving Pictures Live
Clockwork Angels
ABC 1974
Spirits of the Airwaves
Clockwork Angels Live

Sad Café
Fanx Ta-Ra
Misplaced Ideals UK LP
Façades
Sad Café (1980)
Olé
Live
Whatever It Takes

Split Enz
Frenzy
See You 'Round
History Never Repeats

Nad Sylvan
Courting the Widow
The Bride Said No
The Regal B------
Spiritus Mundi
Monumentata

Talk Talk
It's My Mix
The Colour of Spring
Spirit of Eden
Natural History

Roger Taylor
Strange Frontier
The Cross - Sh--- It!
Fun on Earth
Outsider

Tears for Fears
Elemental
The Seeds of Love
Ready Boys and Girls 10"
The Tipping Point

Rick Wakeman
The Red Planet
Lisztomania
Criminal Record
Cost of Living
Live at Hammersmith
The Time Machine
Softsword
Return to the Centre of the Earth
Journey to the Centre of the Earth (studio version)
King Arthur (remake)
A Gallery of the Imagination

Roger Waters
The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking
Radio KAOS
The Wall: Live in Berlin and new version
Amused to Death
Is This the Life We Really Want?
Dark Side of the Moon Redux

John Wetton
Kings Road
Wetton/Manzanera (1987)
Jack-Knife - I Wish You Would

Wham!
The Final
Music from the Edge of Heaven

Yes
Geoff Downes - The Light Programme
Steve Howe - Beginnings
Keys to Ascension 1-2
Big Generator
Union
Talk
The Ladder
Magnification
Fly from Here
Heaven and Earth
Progeny
Like It Is (Bristol)
Topographic Drama: Live Across America
50Live
From a Page
The Quest
Mirror to the Sky
Aurora

Subject to change.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

My Pirate Collection


The Eleventh Hour! by Magnum (not actual CD)

In the past decade, my collection of pirates has grown, especially in the past couple years. I just have to boast about how much I've acquired. CD-Rs don't count 'cos anyone can make those these days. MP3s; oh, please!
All courtesy Boris except * from a shop or elsewhere. Bootlegs will be on another list in future.


ABBA
ABBA (1975)** (Also on Polish LP released in Cold War era)
ABBA The Album (1977-78) (Also on Japanese LP)
Voulez-Vous** (also on UK and Mexican LPs)
ABBA Gold
Live at Wembley Arena
Agnetha Fältskog - A+ (2013)

AC/DC
High Voltage (Australia and international**)
Powerage/Blow Up Your Video*
Highway to Hell***
For Those About to Rock*/**
'74 Jailbreak
Flick of the Switch**
Fly on the Wall (cassette* and CD)
Who Made Who?
The Razors Edge
Ballbreaker
Stiff Upper Lip
Black Ice
Live at River Plate
Greatest Hells Hits (counts as a pirate since it has official tracks in a compilation that the band would never release themselves)*
Iron Man 2 soundtrack (closest thing to an official compilation to date)
No Bull
Back Home with Brian (although a bootleg anyway)
Rock or Bust/Backtracks*
Rarities (may be more of a bootleg compilation)
Volts (from the Bonfire boxed set)
Let There Be Rock (Australia)
Bon Scott & Fraternity - Complete Sessions 1971-72

Ace of Base
Flowers*

a-ha
Hunting High and Low**
Scoundrel Days**
Stay on These Roads*
East of the Sun, West of the Moon*
Memorial Beach
How Can I Sleep with Your Voice in My Head?
Analogue*
Foot of the Mountain
(Used to have Minor Earth Major Sky until I received the EU promo, so I sold the pirate).
Morten Harket - Out of My Hands* and Brother*
Magne F - Past Perfect Future Tense and White Xmas Lies

Jon Anderson
Animation*/**
Deseo
Toltec
Survival and Other Stories
Anderson/(Roine) Stolt (Kaipa/The Flower Kings/Transatlantic/Agents of Mercy) - Invention of Knowledge
1,000 Hands Chapter One
True

The Theory of Molecular Inheritance

Asia
Astra**
Geoffrey Downes - The Light Programme and Evolution

Asia (featuring John Payne)
Aria (also on US tape)
Rare
Silent Nation

Tony Banks
Bankstatement*

The Beatles
Please Please Me/The Early Beatles**/***
with the beatles (1963)**/Meet the Beatles!*** (stereo original remaster and mono 1987 mixes)
Second Album (1964)***
A Hard Days Night (remaster)**/(stereo mini-LP)/Something New*/***
Beatles No. 5*
Beatles for Sale*/Beatles '65 (stereo and mono old mixes)/(new mix)**/***
Beatles VI*** (also on US and Japanese LPs)
The Beatles (self-titled West German compilations)
Beatles' Greatest (Israel and Japan LP covers)**
Help! (CD Maximum)*/(remaster)**/***
Rubber Soul*/**/***
Yesterday and Today***
Revolver**/***
A Collection of Beatles Oldies*/**
Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band**/*** (original UK and US stereo and EU remastered mono LPs and original and remastered CDs)
Magical Mystery Tour (stereo* and mono original and stereo and mono*/** remasters)/***
The white album */**/*** (both stereo CD editions and Japanese LP w/o obi)
Yellow Submarine*/**/***/film DVD
Hey Jude***
Abbey Road*** (pictured above; copy of Japanese release, copy of 2009 EU remaster*, and CD Maximum 2-in-1 w/Hey Jude [The Beatles Again]*/**/***)
Let It Be*/*** (also on original Argentina CD)
Live at the Star Club (given a general release at first though technically a bootleg)*/**/***
Live at the Hollywood Bowl (rough mix not used on 1977 LP)*/**
Anthology 1* (only one from mainland China I've found, unless my copy of Let It Be... Naked is a pirate too)
1 (2000)*
The Early Tapes of the Beatles (with Tony Sheridan and the Beat Brothers)*/**
Mono Masters*
Love*

[Did get Ringo (1973) one year to sell online but I'm not as interested in Starrs solo stuff]

Black Sabbath
(Note: Power Sound 2001/Creative Sounds budget reissues are pretty much grey market, so they don't really count here.)
Sabotage*/**
Technical Ecstasy
Never Say Die!**
Heaven and Hell**
Live Evil
Born Again
Headless Cross*
Týr
Dehumanizer*
The Dio Years
Cross Purposes*
Forbidden
Heaven & Hell - The Devil You Know*
13 (2013)
The End EP
Gathered in Their Masses
The End: Live in Birmingham

Kate Bush
Lionheart**
The Red Shoes**
Live at Hammersmith '79 (practically a bootleg, but there was once an official full-length release)*

Crowded House
Intriguer*

Def Leppard
Retro Active*
Slang
Def Leppard (2015)
Down 'n' Outz - This is How We Roll (Joe Elliotts side project)
Retromania (compilation of B-sides, bonus tracks, covers, live and other rare tracks)

Depeche Mode
Black Celebration**
Music for the Masses**
Violator**
Songs of Faith and Devotion**
Ultra
Martin L. Gore - Counterfeit² and The Third Chimpanzee EP
Playing the Angel
The Best of Depeche Mode Vol 1
Sounds of the Universe
Delta Machine
Mode: M, O, D, and E

Holy Diver remaster**
The Last in Line**
Sacred Heart
Dream Evil
Strange Highways
Angry Machines
Magica
Killing the Dragon**
Master of the Moon
The Elves - ...And Before Elf, There Were Elves (Ronnie James Dios early band)

Duran Duran
Sing Blue Silver
Red Carpet Massacre
Future Past**

Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Emerson, Lake & Palmer (1970)**
Tarkus**
Pictures at an Exhibition**
Works Vol 1 and 2**
Love Beach (also on Canadian and South Korean LPs)**
Black Moon
In the Hot Seat

Fish
Vigil in a Wilderness of Mirrors**
Internal Exile
Sunsets on Empire
Fellini Days
13th Star
A Feast of Consequences
A Parley with Angels
Weltschmerz

Fleetwood Mac
Peter Greens Fleetwood Mac (1968)**
The Pious Bird of Good Omen**
Penguin
Buckingham Nicks (1973)***
Stevie Nicks - The Other Side of the Mirror
Mick Fleetwood & Friends Celebrate the Music of Peter Green and the Early Years of Fleetwood Mac

Peter Gabriel
Scratch My Back
New Blood
Rated PG
Flotsam and Jetsam
i/o

Dave Gahan
Paper Monsters
Hourglass
Angels & Ghosts and Imposter (with Soulsavers)

Genesis
Live (1973)*/**
Selling England by the Pound**
...and then there were three...**
Three Sides Live*/**
We Can't Dance**
The Last Domino
Extra Tracks 1970-1975, 1976-1982, 1983-1998
Phil Collins - No Jacket Required** and Going Back**

Gentle Giant
Octopus**
In a Glass House**
Free Hand**
The Missing Piece**
Giant for a Day!**
Three Piece Suite

Geordie
Hope You Like It
Don't Be Fooled by the Name
Save the World
No Good Woman
The Singles Collection
Keep on Rockin'
Unreleased Tapes

Rattle That Lock
Yes I Have Ghosts**
Live in Pompeii (solo version)

Steve Hackett
Defector**
Blues with a Feeling
Till We Have Faces**
Feedback '86
Genesis Files/Revisited 1*
Squackett - Life Within a Day
Genesis Revisited II: Selection and full album with various artists
Under a Mediterranean Sky
Surrender of Silence
Genesis Revisited Live: Seconds Out & More
The Circus and the Nightwhale
Live Magic at Trading Boundaries

George Harrison
Electronic Sound
Living in the Material World (also on South African LP)
Dark Horse** (also on UK and Argentina LPs)
Extra Texture* (also on Barbados LP)
Thirty Three & 1/3*/**
George Harrison (1979)**
Gone Troppo**
Cloud Nine*/**
Songs by George Harrison
The Best of Dark Horse*/**
Live in Japan
Early Takes Vol 1

Steve Howe
Beginnings
The Steve Howe Album (1979)**
Turbulence
Not Necessarily Acoustic
Homebrew 5
Nexus w/Virgil Howe
Love Is**
Guitarscape

Tony Iommi
Iommi (2000) (with various artists including Ozzy Osbourne and Bill Ward on non-Sabbath track, Skin, Billy Idol, Billy Corgan, Henry Rollins, and more)
Fused (with Glenn Highes)
The DEP Sessions (with Glenn Hughes)
WhoCares (charity compilation with Ian Gillan and various artists)

IQ
Ever (don't ever tell Martin Orford!)*
Subterranea
The Seventh House
Tales from a Dark Christmas (for obvious reasons, I must wait until November to have a listen)

Elton John
Empty Sky**
Tumbleweed Connection**
Madman Across the Water**
Honky Château**
Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player!**
Here and There**
A Single Man**
Victim of Love**
Rare Masters (includes Friends soundtrack**)
Peachtree Road
The Captain and the Kid**
The Diving Board**
Good Morning to the Night (w/P-Nau)
Diamonds**
Regimental Sgt Zippo**

King Crimson
In the Court of the Crimson King***
Larks' Tongues in Aspic*/** (signed by Bill Bruford without him knowing the truth!)
Starless and Bible Black**
Red**
USA

John Lennon
John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band (1970)/Jams & Demos**
Imagine**
Sometime in New York City***
Mind Games (2010 and 2024 editions) */**
Walls and Bridges*/**
Rock 'n' Roll**
Double Fantasy** (also on Canadian and Mexican LPs)
Acoustic
The US vs John Lennon

Jon and Vangelis
Short Stories**
Page of Life

Duncan Mackay
Chimera
Score
The Bletchley Park Project (with Georg Voros)
Kintsugi

Kingdom of Madness
Magnum II (1979)
Chase the Dragon
The Eleventh Hour!
On a Storytellers Night
Vigilante
Wings of Heaven
Goodnight LA
Sleepwalking
Rock Art
Sacred Blood "Divine" Lies
The Monster Roars
Here Comes the Rain

Marillion
Real to Reel**/Brief Encounter
Early Stages (complete and highlights)
Sounds That Can't Be Made
With Friends from the Orchestra
Mark Kellys Marathon (2020)
With Friends at St Davids
An Hour Before It's Dark

Brian May
Back to the Light
Resurrection
Another World**

Paul McCartney (and Wings+)
Ram (Paul and Linda McCartney)**/***
Wild Life*/**/+/***
Red Rose Speedway*/**/+/***
Back to the Egg**
McCartney II (1980)**
Tug of War**
Pipes of Peace**
Give My Regards to Broad Street (also on Méxicana LP)*
Снова в СССР (also on LP from there)*
Flowers in the Dirt Original B-Sides, Remixes, Single Mixes and Cassette Demos
Tripping the Live Fantastic!*
MTV Unplugged: The Official Bootleg*
Flaming Pie*
Driving Rain
Electric Arguments (Fireman)*
Back in the US (DVD)* (CD**)
New (regular edition)**
McCartney III (2020)**
7" Singles
Band on the Run Unmixed

Freddie Mercury
Mr Bad Guy
Barcelona (with Montserrat Caballé) original edition and remaster (also on US LP)
The Great Pretender
Original Version/Single Version/Rarities (practically a bootleg)

George Michael
Older

Moody Blues
The Present**

Alanis Morissette
So-Called Chaos
Such Pretty Forks in the Road

Noel Gallaghers High Flying Birds
Noel Gallaghers High Flying Birds (2011)

Ozzy Osbourne
Blizzard of Ozz**
Diary of a Madman**
Tribute
No Rest for the Wicked**
No More Tears
Down to Earth
Black Rain
Scream

Pink Floyd
The Piper at the Gates of Dawn**
Music from the Motion Picture More
Ummagumma***
Atom Heart Mother*/**
Meddle**
Live at Pompeii (unofficial and official CDs; also on official DVD)
Dark Side of the Moon Live (also on bootleg)
Animals (2018 remix)**
The Wall**
The Final Cut**
A Momentary Lapse of Reason**
Delicate Sound of Thunder (also on USSR LP and original Brasil CDs)
P*U*L*S*E*
Richard Wright - Wet Dream**, Broken China and Identity (Zee)
The Australian Pink Floyd Show - Everything Under the Sun
Cre/ation (from The Early Years)
The Later Years: Unreleased Live and Studio/Knebworth Concert 1990 (also on separate CD)

Queen
Queen I (1973)** (also on Mexican LP and UK cassette)
Flash Gordon***
Live Killers*/**
Hot Space**
The Works** (also on UK LP and South Korean cassette)
A Kind of Magic**
The Miracle LP* and CD**
At the Beeb*
Innuendo**
Made in Heaven**
Return of the Champions (Queen + Paul Rodgers)
On Fire: Live at the Bowl
The Cosmos Rocks (Queen + Paul Rodgers)
Deep Cuts Vol 1-2
Queen Forever
A Night at the Odeon
On Air
Roger Taylor - Strange Frontier
The Cross - Mad, Fab and Dangerous to Know (Taylors side project)

Trevor Rabin
Wolf

Richie Blackmores Rainbow (1975)
Rainbow Rising (1976)
Long Live Rock 'n' Roll
On Stage

Renaissance
A Song for All Seasons**
Azure d'Or
Camera Camera**
Tuscany
In the Land of the Rising Sun
Grandine il Vento/Symphony of Light
de Lane Lea Studios 1973

REO Speedwagon
REO (1976)
You Can Tune a Piano, But You Can't Tuna Fish
Nine Lives**
Good Trouble**

Rush
Rush (1974)**
(I have bootlegs of the boys too, but that's for another day and a different animal)

Supertramp
Indelibly Stamped**
Crisis? What Crisis?**
Breakfast in America*/**
Famous Last Words*/**
Paris (also on Japan LPs)

Nad Sylvan
Courting the Widow
The Bride Said No
Monumentata

The Tipping Point

Traveling Wilburys
Volume 1 & 3*

UK
UK (1978)**
Danger Money**
Night After Night** (All three albums on 2 CDs)

Rick Wakeman
The Six Wives of Henry VIII**/Silent Nights*/**
The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table**
No Earthly Connection**
1984 (1981)**
Phantom Power*
Softsword
Out There
Lisztomania soundtrack (with Roger Daltrey)
Rhapsodies**
The Living Tree: In Concert Vol 1 and Studio (w/Jon Anderson)
The Red Planet

Roger Waters
The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking
Radio KAOS
In the Flesh
The Wall (2015)
Comfortably Numb
The Lockdown Sessions

John Wetton
Caught in the Crossfire (also on Australian LP)
Arkangel** (also on EU compilation with Asia proper with missing tracks)
Sinister/Welcome to Heaven*
Rock of Faith
Raised in Captivity
Icon Zero w/Geoff Downes (formerly self-titled with alternate tracks)
An Extraordinary Life: The Rarities Vol. 1 & 2

Ray Wilson
Makes Me Think of Home
Upon My Life
Propaganda Man
Chasing Rainbows

World Trade
World Trade (1989)
Euphoria
Unify
Billy Sherwood - Citizen: In the Next Life

Yes
Yes (1969)*/**
The Yes Album (1971)**
Close to the Edge**
Tales from Topographic Oceans**
Going for the One**
Tormato*/**
Drama**
Big Generator**
Talk*
Keys to Ascension Vol 1-2
The Ultimate Yes
The Quest
Tony Kaye - End of Innocence
Mirror to the Sky

**Also on official import from the UK, EU or Canada.
***Also on original US LP.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

EU or not EU?


For over a decade, releases made in European Union member countries will often say 'Made in the EU' as a catch-all for items made in the UK, Ireland, France, Italy, Benelux, Germany, Austria, Serbia, Sweden, Greece, Denmark, Spain, and Portugal. It consolidates production, whereas in the old days, manufacturing for one country was done within that country; for instance, WEA Fillipachi in France made records for shops in France and Monaco, though WEA Germany often made items for sale throughout what was the EEC by the '80s. EMI closed their plant in Swindon, Whitshire, England and moved production to the continent at the existing factory in Uden, Holland well before their current crisis. Anything designed as of 1999 may now use the EU label, but occasionally, some indies will say the exact country of origin, whether not to confuse those who don't read the papers, or an anti-EU bias, whatever the case may be. Non-EU countries like Switzerland and Norway may have their products made in the EU as well, as they're not major music markets.
On older items from present-day EU member nations, I put the label on. Even we Yanks know about what goes on in Brussel, but go to a news site for more on that as I'm no pundit.
As with any imports, it's easier when the shop in town has it used, but I order online occasionally, but it's too easy to go overboard, you know.
As in North America, physical sales are in decline due to downloading and the economy alike. Lesser-selling items in Europe may wind up in US stores as impulse buys, like a Jennifer Lopez CD.
Major labels maintain offices for every sizeable nation catering to national and international signings just the same. Non-Anglophone artists that don't perform in English may not be able to expand their fanbase beyond their own people if they don't wish to take the ABBA route, if you like.
There are also DVDs and Blu-Rays made there, but they will only work in PAL units unless they're region-free or NTSC formatted. They haven't suffered as much as their audio counterparts since video takes up more space and bandwidth.
If you think the EU is a lot to take in, Sony are outsourcing disc production to México! That's NAFTA for ya!
As of 23/6/16 - the UK have just voted out but this may not be over just yet but that's just not our area to report on here.  Only CDs from the continent in member nations count as EU from here on out.

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Ace of Base and ABBA: From Sweden with Love

Svenska flaggan

Here's an article 15 years in the making! Sweden's première pop supergroups ABBA and Ace of Base have been compared to each other since 1992. It just goes to show how much they have in common.

ABBA: Appeared at 1974 Eurovision festival.
AoB: Current member Clara Hagman on Svenska Idol last year.

ABBA: Agnetha Fältskog is the new Greta Garbo.
AoB: Former member Linn Berggren is the new Agnetha Fältskog.

ABBA: Once nominated for a Grammy.
AoB: So were AoB, but lost to multi-winner Sheryl Crow.

ABBA: Super Trouper sleeve and a couple videos shot a Swedish circus.
AoB: Jenny Berggren has song called "Living in a Circus".

ABBA: Signed to Polar Music. Catalogue owned by Universal.
AoB: "Decca-ed" by Polar Music. Signed to Universal in Europe outside Nordic countries.

ABBA: Two guys, one blonde, one brunette/redhead.
AoB: Two guys, one blonde, one brunette (then and now).

ABBA: Messrs Andersson and Ulvaeus return to UK #1 with West End divas in Chess.
AoB: Jonas Berggren and Ulf Eckberg discover barely legal girls through a demo and Idol.

ABBA: All four members had some solo or side career.
AoB: Jonas Berggren produced Yaki-Da, Jenny Berggren leaves for solo career.

ABBA: Had success in many countries, including the Iron Curtain.
AoB: Had success in many countries, playing ex-bloc countries.

ABBA: Only US #1 "Dancing Queen"
AoB: Only US #1 "The Sign".

ABBA: Numerous compilations since 1975.
AoB: Numerous compilations since 1999.

ABBA: Wrote English-language track with Neil Sedaka.
AoB: Recently met "Breaking Up is Hard to Do" crooner.

ABBA: Fältskog recorded two Diane Warren/Albert Hammond Snr. tracks on 1987 solo album.
AoB: "Don't Turn Around" from US duo, also sung by Aswad and Tina Turner.

ABBA: Fältskog had stalker ex from Nederland.
AoB: Had stalker fan from Deutschland.

ABBA: "The Name of the Game"
AoB: "What's the Name of the Game?"

ABBA: "Voulez-Vous"
AoB: "Voulez-Vous Danser".

ABBA: "Angeleyes".
AoB: "Angel Eyes".

There may be more, but then, it's cheap to compare, innit?