I’m not interested in recordings that you once liked, but don’t like now. I’m only interested in recordings that you once owned, but don’t anymore, and would still listen to if you had a copy on-hand.
Two personal examples of what I am interested in:
Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon: The first CD I bought. If I had it today, I’d pop it in the CD player sometime in the next week and listen to it from beginning to end. I don’t know it’s eventual fate, it was probably borrowed away. I hear most of it’s best parts on the radio these days, but I do dearly miss “The Great Gig in the Sky”. I have a habit of repeatedly listening to the same recording over and over again (seriously, it verges on a mania). If I still had it, I’d probably have listened to it too much out of reverence. This would have not only wasted time I could have spent listening to new songs I haven’t heard yet, but would have gotten me one listen closer to hating that record. Every record has that moment.
Led Zeppelin II/IV: I used to own each of these on either/both tape/lp (yes I still own a copy of I and III, and Presence). The tape copies destroyed themselves long ago, and the albums were sold to buy an expensive album, which was then again sold to buy several inexpensive ones. If I owned them, they’d present the same problem as the first example, but with the additional problem of Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones. I’m a guitar and bass player, and I think would have spent too much time trying to be Jimmy Page or John Paul Jones (instead of learning to play like myself) if I had always had them to plop down at my convenience. The other albums of theirs that I still have, have nice moments, but they don’t present the same problems of maniacal listening for me.
A personal example of what I’m not interested in:
Styx’s Paradise Theater was the first record I owned that I bought with money I earned. In retrospect, I wish I’d bought my third KISS record, and bought KISS Alive! (or anything else, by anyone). Styx was mediocre at best IMHO, that album wasn’t their best, and my peers still thought it was too heavy metal. :rolleyes: (well, we were in the 5th grade, it was 1981. Disco still reigned(shudder).)
The rules for this lament: If you have an example of the second type (I hope we all do), you have to have at least one example of the first type of musical boyfriend/girlfriend that you at least feel better than “Don’t think twice, it’s alright” about. If you have only records that you love and miss, fire away!
What constitutes owning a recording?: Streaming it, hearing it on the radio and even hearing it live don’t count. You have to have been able to have been busted for possession. Did you at least download the mp3? Friends making you tapes/recording off the radio count. Why? Because my first copy of Led Zeppelin I was a duplicated copy in a box of tapes that I bought at a church garage sale, that’s why! (b side - Jeff Beck’s Truth).
What powers do I have to enforce my rules? The metaphorical equivalent of dildos, that’s what.
And if all that was tl;dr:
Bonus question that anyone can answer, whether you have opinions on recordings or not: What’s the oldest recording that you own, that was bought by someone you personally knew? Mine: A 1959 copy of Time Out by the Dave Brubeck Quartet. My dad bought it when it was new, and rightfully thought he was pretty cool. 54 years is pretty good, but I’m pretty sure someone on this board can beat me with something that they personally bought, and let’s see what someone can do with a relative or friend!