Another 10 More Random Albums

Just a reminder that these are all vinyl records that I can’t play anymore. They are sitting in limbo, and they are acknowledged here…

Daphnis et Chloé: Choeur et Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, Charles Dutoit

I bought this for my daughter, and she was much younger then than she is now, and she like to watch ballet on television so I bought this ballet music thinking she’d be interested, but she wasn’t so interested. She did, however, take the picture of the cover. Thank you daughter.

The first classical record I ever bought was another recording of this music, by Charles Munch possibly, and it was unusual in that it featured the entire ballet, not just the suites. This is also the entire ballet, and this was one of the first ever digital recordings. It was released in 1981. Wow.

John Denver – Take Me To Tomorrow

I bought this by accident, well not exactly. I bought Rhymes And Reasons on eBay, and this came along for the ride. I had it already, so I wouldn’t have bought it, and I have since replaced R & R with a CD copy. I like this album, though, for what it’s worth; it was an early LP, maybe his second, and way way better than Rhymes And Reasons anyway. But now I have them both.

Chris de Burgh – Spanish Train And Other Stories.

This is my wife’s. It sucks. She doesn’t even like it anymore. I liked Chris de Burgh for a while.
First time I heard of him was I think in 1976; he had just released Perfect Day and he was coming to Winnipeg. He seemed kind of cool, kind of hip. But he wasn’t really, he was just tiresome.

An Evening With John Denver

Considered by those that make such judgments to be one of the suckiest albums ever. Sorry, but I like it.

Musical Mother Goose

I don’t know about this one. I don’t know where it came from. Obviously a children’s album, but I don’t think any of my kids ever listened to it. It’s one of those cheap kids’ albums that every family used to have.

Richard Strauss: Also Sprach Zarathustra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, William Steinberg

The music from 2001. Of course that’s only the opening bars, but that’s all you need really. It was Karl Boehm whose recording was used in the movie. Strauss was yet another Nazi, though he was quite old when he joined the party, and probably senile. But it’s not so surprising that he set Nietzsche to music. Of course you can’t set Nietzsche to music, but that didn’t stop Strauss…

Britten, Serendate For Tenor, Horn And Strings with Robert Tear and Alan Civil,
Les Illuminations with Heather Harper (soprano), Northern Sinfonia, Neville Marriner cond.

I have been in love with Britten’s Serenade since the first time I heard it. The version I heard originally, and which I still have on MP3, had Britten himself conducting, and Peter Pears singing, and Barry Tuckwell playing horn. Alan Civil plays horn here, and he played on “For No One” by the Beatles, on Revolver.

Brahms, Symphony No. 1, Academic Festival Overture, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Sir Georg Solti

I may have actually bought this one new, that’s all I can tell you…

The Bach Album, Eugene Ormandy, Philadelphia Orchestra

A double album with transactions and orchestral works by Bach. All his greatest hits seem to be here: Toccata And Fugue in D Minor, Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring, Air On the G String etc. I hear that they play that last one in strip clubs…

Petite Sings

Ok, I don’t even know how to describe this. There was this TV show, ok? A TV show, a kids’ show, and it was called “Archie Wood And Friends.” Archie Wood was a puppet; he was made of wood, hence his name, (Archie?). And the ventriloquist, his name was Uncle Bob. And see, Uncle Bob, he wasn’t very good, you could see his lips move. He didn’t make any effort to hide it. I guess when you’re a kid you look at the puppet. Of course Archie had friends, like Marvin Mouse.

And Petite. Petite was a dog. And every week she sang. It seems to me, and my memory may be faulty here, but it seems to me that every week she sang "How Much Is That Doggie In The Window." So imagine how surprised I was to find this album at Value Village. A whole album of Petite singing contemporary pop: “These Boots Are Made For Walking,” “Me & Bobby McGee,” “Rose Garden,’ etc. I kid you not. Of course she also does “Safety Song,” “Little White Duck,” and “Fun In The Fall,” but still…

It doesn't get more surreal than this.