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Notes on a music collection, part 1
According to my music player, my digital collection consists of 2,542 tracks, with a total running time of 143 hours and 39 minutes.
The phrase "a song I don't particularly care for from an album I got for one of the other tracks" is going to show up often enough that I should probably come up with a snappy abbreviation.
'B' Movie Box Car Blues, The Blues Brothers - This wasn't quite that; I got the album because I was curious about the songs they did that didn't make into into the movie, but it turns out, astonishingly, that those songs aren't quite as good or as catchy as the ones that did make it into the movie. This one has an okay tune but the words don't do anything for me.
'C' Is for Cookie, Cookie Monster. On the other hand, Sesame Street Platinum All-Time Favourites is one of the albums where I like nearly everything on there, though some of them are dependent on what mood I'm in. This one is fun, but a bit hard on the ears.
The 'C' Jam Blues, Duke Ellington. Instrumental. Nothing against it, but not one I'm specifically interested in hearing again.
'Great' Mass in C Minor, first movement, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Choir, under the baton of Leonard Bernstein). The Amadeus Code is another album I got because I was curious about the works I wasn't already familiar with, and mostly preferred the works I was already familiar with. Nothing against it, but not a favourite.
'Round Midnight, Miles Davis. I should probably come up with a snappy abbreviation for "I have no strong feelings about this one way or the other" too.
(I Got Everything I Need) Almost, The Blues Brothers. A torch song: "I don't got you / And you're the thing I need the most." Okay, but not for me.
(I Left My Heart) In San Francisco, James Last. James Last was famous for doing inoffensive instrumental covers. I got this album, if memory serves, because somebody in a Doctor Who novel made a slighting comment about the taste of people who like James Last music, and I wanted to know what it was actually like. There are undoubtedly better versions of this song, and surely there are worse versions; this is the one I have.
(I'm Spending) Hanukkah in Santa Monica, Tom Lehrer. A breezy pop song for the Jewish holidays, written on the grounds that it was about time somebody did one and all the great Jewish songwriters were kept too busy writing breezy holiday songs for the Christians. Arguably less a tribute to Judaism than to the joy of finding satisfying rhymes to words like "Maccabeus" and "Shavuos".
(I'm) A Gnu, Flanders and Swann. A comic song about wildebeest and the pleasures of pronouncing silent letters (especially in words that don't in fact contain silent letters). This recording includes a spoken-word introduction which connects, via a roundabout method, to the difficulties of finding wheelchair-accessible parking.
(I've Got) Beginner's Luck, Fred Astaire. I have no strong feelings about this one way or the other.
(Remember the Days of the) Old School Yard, Cat Stevens. A song I don't particularly care for from an album I got for one of the other tracks.
(There'll Be) Peace in the Valley, Johnny Cash. It's okay, but not for me.
(We Want) The Same Thing, Belinda Carlisle. Sometimes I'm in the right mood for it, but there are other songs on the album I like better.
1-2-8, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones. A song I don't particularly care for from an album I got for one of the other tracks.
3AK Jingle, The Seekers. The Complete Seekers takes its remit very seriously.
7 Deadly Sins, The Traveling Wilburys. A song I don't particularly care for from an album I got for one of the other tracks.
12 Variations on 'Ah, vous dirai-je maman', Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Christoph Eschenbach). A piano solo, riffing on a melody better known in English as the tune to "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star".
25 Minutes to Go, Johnny Cash. The Folsom Prison live version. The crowd seems to be enjoying it (for however much you can trust the crowd noise on an album where the most famous cheer was notoriously revealed to have been edited in from a different part of the concert -- but that's a different song, for another time).
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Original Broadway Cast. Come to think of it, I don't think I've listened to this since I won the Putnam County Spelling Bee. It's fun, but I haven't missed it.
30,000 Pounds of Bananas, Harry Chapin. A song that might actually have ended up being my favourite from an album I got for one of the other tracks -- not that that's a high bar; there are some songs on this album that I really don't like, and I've rather gone off the song I got the album for. This song, like most of the songs on the album, is telling a sad story, but it leans into the absurdity of it and tells the story with a sense of fun and a bit of stylistic variety. It's not getting on the shuffle playlist, though.
The 59th Street Bridge Song. My first multiple -- I have three versions: the original by Simon and Garfunkel, and covers by Harpers Bizarre and The Seekers. The Harpers Bizarre version is quite nice, but there's something about the Seekers version that I don't think works.
99 Red Balloons, Nena. The English-language version. I think I've heard it enough times now.
100 Metres, Vangelis. Instrumental, from the soundtrack to Chariots of Fire. No tune; lots of sustained notes. Doesn't evoke anything in me because I still haven't actually seen the movie.
100 Mile Dash, Michael Giacchino. Instrumental, from the soundtrack to The Incredibles. More melody, more movement, and of course it helps that in this case I have seen the movie.
The phrase "a song I don't particularly care for from an album I got for one of the other tracks" is going to show up often enough that I should probably come up with a snappy abbreviation.
'B' Movie Box Car Blues, The Blues Brothers - This wasn't quite that; I got the album because I was curious about the songs they did that didn't make into into the movie, but it turns out, astonishingly, that those songs aren't quite as good or as catchy as the ones that did make it into the movie. This one has an okay tune but the words don't do anything for me.
'C' Is for Cookie, Cookie Monster. On the other hand, Sesame Street Platinum All-Time Favourites is one of the albums where I like nearly everything on there, though some of them are dependent on what mood I'm in. This one is fun, but a bit hard on the ears.
The 'C' Jam Blues, Duke Ellington. Instrumental. Nothing against it, but not one I'm specifically interested in hearing again.
'Great' Mass in C Minor, first movement, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Choir, under the baton of Leonard Bernstein). The Amadeus Code is another album I got because I was curious about the works I wasn't already familiar with, and mostly preferred the works I was already familiar with. Nothing against it, but not a favourite.
'Round Midnight, Miles Davis. I should probably come up with a snappy abbreviation for "I have no strong feelings about this one way or the other" too.
(I Got Everything I Need) Almost, The Blues Brothers. A torch song: "I don't got you / And you're the thing I need the most." Okay, but not for me.
(I Left My Heart) In San Francisco, James Last. James Last was famous for doing inoffensive instrumental covers. I got this album, if memory serves, because somebody in a Doctor Who novel made a slighting comment about the taste of people who like James Last music, and I wanted to know what it was actually like. There are undoubtedly better versions of this song, and surely there are worse versions; this is the one I have.
(I'm Spending) Hanukkah in Santa Monica, Tom Lehrer. A breezy pop song for the Jewish holidays, written on the grounds that it was about time somebody did one and all the great Jewish songwriters were kept too busy writing breezy holiday songs for the Christians. Arguably less a tribute to Judaism than to the joy of finding satisfying rhymes to words like "Maccabeus" and "Shavuos".
(I'm) A Gnu, Flanders and Swann. A comic song about wildebeest and the pleasures of pronouncing silent letters (especially in words that don't in fact contain silent letters). This recording includes a spoken-word introduction which connects, via a roundabout method, to the difficulties of finding wheelchair-accessible parking.
(I've Got) Beginner's Luck, Fred Astaire. I have no strong feelings about this one way or the other.
(Remember the Days of the) Old School Yard, Cat Stevens. A song I don't particularly care for from an album I got for one of the other tracks.
(There'll Be) Peace in the Valley, Johnny Cash. It's okay, but not for me.
(We Want) The Same Thing, Belinda Carlisle. Sometimes I'm in the right mood for it, but there are other songs on the album I like better.
1-2-8, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones. A song I don't particularly care for from an album I got for one of the other tracks.
3AK Jingle, The Seekers. The Complete Seekers takes its remit very seriously.
7 Deadly Sins, The Traveling Wilburys. A song I don't particularly care for from an album I got for one of the other tracks.
12 Variations on 'Ah, vous dirai-je maman', Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Christoph Eschenbach). A piano solo, riffing on a melody better known in English as the tune to "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star".
25 Minutes to Go, Johnny Cash. The Folsom Prison live version. The crowd seems to be enjoying it (for however much you can trust the crowd noise on an album where the most famous cheer was notoriously revealed to have been edited in from a different part of the concert -- but that's a different song, for another time).
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Original Broadway Cast. Come to think of it, I don't think I've listened to this since I won the Putnam County Spelling Bee. It's fun, but I haven't missed it.
30,000 Pounds of Bananas, Harry Chapin. A song that might actually have ended up being my favourite from an album I got for one of the other tracks -- not that that's a high bar; there are some songs on this album that I really don't like, and I've rather gone off the song I got the album for. This song, like most of the songs on the album, is telling a sad story, but it leans into the absurdity of it and tells the story with a sense of fun and a bit of stylistic variety. It's not getting on the shuffle playlist, though.
The 59th Street Bridge Song. My first multiple -- I have three versions: the original by Simon and Garfunkel, and covers by Harpers Bizarre and The Seekers. The Harpers Bizarre version is quite nice, but there's something about the Seekers version that I don't think works.
99 Red Balloons, Nena. The English-language version. I think I've heard it enough times now.
100 Metres, Vangelis. Instrumental, from the soundtrack to Chariots of Fire. No tune; lots of sustained notes. Doesn't evoke anything in me because I still haven't actually seen the movie.
100 Mile Dash, Michael Giacchino. Instrumental, from the soundtrack to The Incredibles. More melody, more movement, and of course it helps that in this case I have seen the movie.
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I would have claimed, prior to this, that I was aware of everything Tom Lehrer had written, but the one you mention here is one I cannot pull out of memory at all.