Lisa has been writing about this article in the Guardian last week. The article starts with a statistic from Napster, that the average person owns 126 albums, of which 37 have been lost, leaving just 89. It goes on to speculate which 89 albums you should own if that is the case.
I was faintly amused at the time but thought nothing more of it until the idea started cropping up all over the place, and then I started thinking what I would keep if I could only have 89 albums instead of hundreds + a loft full of vinyl and tapes. My first thought is something like this:
- Gang of Four – Entertainment!
The obvious starting place, but I would be sorely tempted to ditch something else and have Return The Gift too. - Pulp – Different Class
- Les Negresses Vertes – Famille Nombreuse
The last album they made before Helno died - Van Morrison – Days Like This
Even if only for the title song - Busta Rhymes – Extinction Level Event
The most technically advanced rapper? - Elton John – Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
I think we all used to know the words to every single song off this when I was at school
- Clint Eastwood & General Saint – Two Bad DJ
With the might Sly & Robbie as rhythm section - Dury & The Blockheads – New Boots & Panties
(I was born in Billericay!) - Blondie – Parallel Lines
Essential - Kaiser Chiefs – Employment
I don’t know if it will stand the test of time, but I am enjoying it now - The Clash – The Story Of The Clash volume 1
- Meat Loaf – Bat Out Of Hell
OK so its naff, but what about those memories… - Metallica – Metallica (the black album)
- Green Day – American Idiot
- Pink Floyd – Dark Side of the Moon
Too obvious? - The Levellers – Levelling the Land
- N.W.A. – Straight Outta Compton
I can’t believe I didn’t hear this until this year - Fleetwood Mac – Rumours
The DVD-A version in 5.1 surround - Squeeze – Cool For Cats
- Fischerspooner – #1
Like early Depeche Mode or Kraftwerk. But more camp. - Crowded House – Woodface
Has two of my all-time favourite songs on it - Kraftwerk – Minimum-Maximum
Cheating really as its more of a greatest hits live album - Various Artists – Woke Up This Mornin’
Great mixture of blues. Worth it just for BB King and The Thrill Is Gone
- Angelique Kidjo – Aye
From Benin. The first thing of hers I ever heard and it totally blew me away. For a long time this was my test-out-a-new-stereo CD
- David Bowie – Hunky Dory
- The Rezillos – Can’t Stand The Rezillos
On the CD version you get a complete live album thrown in too.
- The Prodigy – The Fat of the Land
- Tarika – Son Egal
Trancelike songs from Madagascar - Yazoo – Upstairs At Eric’s
- Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin II
Or maybe How The West Was Won for the Moby Dick drum solo live
- Baaba Maal – Firin’ In Fouta
Genius - The Tubes – White Punks On Dope
A compilation because I could really not choose between the individual albums
- Manu Chao & the Radio Bemba Sound System – The Live Album
Not at all like the studio albums
- Red Hot Chilli Peppers – Blood Sugar Sex Magic
- Pet Shop Boys – PopArt
a best-of with 3rd CD of remixes
- Gogol Bordello – Multi Kontra Culti Vs Irony
- Dr Feelgood – Casebook
Eight bars of piano! - Ozomatli – Street Signs
Supposedly one of the best live acts in the world, and I can believe it
- Elastica – Elastica
Stunning debut album even if you can’t listen to it without thinking of the Fiat advert
- Black Uhuru – Liberation: the Island Anthology
More Sly & Robbie - Thin Lizzy – Live & Dangerous
The best live album in the world? I think so. - Niagara – Religion
- Stevie Wonder – Innervisions
Take your pick from this, Talking Book, Fulfillingness’ First Finale or Songs in the Key of Life – this shades it because of Living For The City. - Human League – Dare
Takes you right back to the 80s
- The White Stripes – Elephant
- Yes – Close To The Edge
Sod fashion – I still like Yes - Megadeth – Peace Sells…
The lyrics of the title track still make me laugh
- Amadou & Mariam – Dimanche a Bamako
- The B-52’s – The B-52’s
So much better than Love Shack
- Elmer Food Beat – Ze Disque Est 30cm
For the sheer singalong potential - Athletico Spizz 80 – Do A Runner
The first Spizz album
- The Streets – Original Pirate Material
- Rachid Taha – Tekitoi
- Bow Wow Wow – See Jungle! See Jungle! Go Join Your Gang Yeah! City All Over Go Ape Crazy
- Boz Scaggs – Silk Degrees
You forget just how good a collection of songs this is
- Sergeant Garcia – Semilla Escondida
From the same mould as Manu Chao - Nine Below Zero – Don’t Point Your Finger
On green vinyl. - Genesis – Trick of the Tail
Takes me right back to school discos
- John Lee Hooker – Mr Lucky
Started the fashion for a guest-infested album?
- Manu Dibango – Wakafrika
Guest-infested African jazz/pop
- U2 – War
- N.E.R.D. – In Search Of
- Paul Simon – Graceland
- Faith No More – The Real Thing
Includes Epic. Thats all you need to know isn’t it? - Missy Elliot – Under Construction
- Lou Reed – Transformer
- Ojos de Brujo – Bari
- The Ramones – Rocket to Russia
- Adam & The Ants – Kings of the Wild Frontier
And who hasn’t played along to this on the biscuit tins? - Russ Ballard – Russ Ballard
Can you believe that the only way I could get this on CD was Japanese import?
- Santana – Moonflower
Side 3 of the original vinyl is sublime - Sean Paul – Dutty Rock
Good-time album which brought dancehall back to prominence
- The Penguin Cafe Orchestra – Penguin Cafe Orchestra
- American Graffitti Soundtrack
The only rock & roll album you need
- The Specials – The Specials
- Simon & Garfunkel – The Definitive…
- Nirvana – Nevermind
- Radiohead – OK Computer
- Khaled – Sahra
His most accessible album - Jean-Michel Jarre – Revolutions
- Iron Maiden – The Number of the Beast
- Talking Heads – Stop Making Sense
Soundtrack from the best concert film ever
- Die Toten Hosen – Eine Kleines Bisschen Horrorschau
Beethoven + German punk - Paul McCartney & Wings – Band On The Run
The band The Beatles could have been! (c)Alan Partridge
The first proper album I ever bought on vinyl - REM – Automatic for the People
- Tinariwen – Ammassakoul
Hypnotic Taureg blues
- Donald Fagen – Kamakiriad
- Depeche Mode – A Broken Frame
- Various Artists – Dancehall Anthems
Great selection of Greensleeves artists
No way is it the best 89 albums – just ones I have which are special to me. Bands I have seen live are perhaps over-represented, as are classic albums from when I was a teen, and albums I like singing along to.
Can’t I make it 99, so I can include JS Bach, Peter Gabriel, Erasure, the Blues Brothers, Prince and a few others?
spizz // Dec 3, 2007 at 7:54 pm
No. 51? I don’t whether being outside the top fifty is good enough!
See you on the 15th December at the Spizz Festival?
Skuds // Dec 4, 2007 at 9:34 pm
Its not in order. If it was I am sure you would have been at least 49 🙂