25 Golden Greats

For no apparent reason, a list of albums. These are not necessarily my favorite albums; they are just the ones that, when I look back, had the most effect on my musical tastes. That said, I am a fan of virtually all of these albums, and listen to each of them on a regular basis. The dates aren't when the albums were released, but rather when I obtained them. The high water mark seems to be around 1998; I think that was the point I had the most disposable income, and before I really had a job to worry about. Looking over the list, I'm sort of surprised; I had always assumed that I had done the alternative thing first, and then sort of discovered disco (and through that, soul music), but looking it over it's clear that both strands of my musical taste developed simultaneously. Soul and disco appear to be under-represented, partially because they tend to be so single-oriented for me, collected on compilations. Norma Jean's "I Like Love" and Sylvester's "Over & Over" were both defining songs for me, but they both are songs I first heard on compilations in the mid-to-late '90s. There were also songs I first encountered as singles, like Morrisey's "Interesting Drug" or Suede's "Stay Together". But the emphasis here is on cohesive albums by a single artist. These basically represent the albums that proved a revelation to me, where they opened up new musical avenues, or I just loved every single song on them.

• 1985 Duran Duran "Rio" tape.
• 1987 The Smiths "Louder Than Bombs" tape.
• 1989 The Velvet Underground & Nico "The Velvet Underground & Nico" tape.
• 1990 Devo "Q. Are We Not Men? A. We Are Devo!" used LP.
• 1990 Laurie Anderson "Big Science" used LP.
• 1990 Patti Smith "Horses" used LP.
• 1991 The B-52's "The B-52's" tape.
• 1991 The Pixies "Doolittle" tape.
• 1992 The Buzzcocks "Operator's Manual" tape.
• 1992 Danielle Dax "Blast the Human Flower" tape.
• 1992 Pet Shop Boys "Discography" tape.
• 1993 The Beach Boys "Pet Sounds" tape.
• 1993 Donna Summer "Anthology" CD.
• 1993 Roxy Music "Country Life" used tape.
• 1994 Ella Fitzgerald "Verve Jazz Masters 6" CD.
• 1996 Orbital "In Sides" CD.
• 1996 X "Los Angeles/Wild Gift" CD.
• 1997 LaBelle "Something Silver" CD.
• 1998 Belle & Sebastian "If You're Feeling Sinister" CD.
• 1998 The Jam "Compact Snap" used CD.
• 1998 Plug "Drum & Bass for Papa" CD.
• 1999 The Gentle People "Soundtracks for Living" CD.
• 1999 Gus Gus "This is Normal" CD.
• 2001 Fantastic Plastic Machine "Beautiful" CD.
• 2002 Missy Elliott "Miss E...So Addictive" CD.

Song: Bibi Presents "Summer [Full Percussion Mix]".