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Posted by the_roofdog (U9532299) on Monday, 21st July 2008
Apologies for the overly muso/Dustin Hoffman-in-Rain Man nature of this thread but I treated myself to reorganising the record collection last night and wondered what rules 6 Music listeners would apply to the following conundrums:
"The" should obviously be ignored. What about "A"? 'A Tribe Called Quest', 'A Guy Called Gerald', for some reason I don't feel comfortable ignoring it.
'Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan', 'McAlmont & Butler', 'Iggy Pop & the Stooges'. Discuss. [25 marks]
'Captain Beefheart' I file under 'C', but if he was a real captain I think I'd file him under 'B'. What's that about?
Side projects: let's face it, 'She's The Boss' is never going to get listened to if you don't file it between 'Undercover' and 'Dirty Work' is it?
'999'? '!!!' ??? Show your working.
Also, how do you cope with the ....erm ...... "questionable taste" of ones life partner when it comes to records? Most of Mrs Fist's albums are humdingers, (a wife who loves Dinosaur Jr - what more could you ask for in a helpmeet?) and I want them filed with mine for ease of access. But she's also got some stinkers. Amazulu anyone? What if a vistor flicks through and thinks they're mine?
Should I quarantine these on a seperate shelf? Or put a massive Ourprice-type sticker on the cover, indicating ownership?
Well I can't help you there Fist; I know you wouldn't think it from my original post but I'm single.
Well, I know what you mean about captain beefheart - I've had to pause for minute and think about that one. Ditto Jethro Tull - often shelved under "T" in ourprice by ignorant Youth. Future generations will struggle with Biffy Clyro (or whatever they're called).
Alice Cooper is an odd one too - I think it was the name of the BAND when they started - therefore file under A, but became the name of the lead singer later - file under C.
Numbers should go FIRST, before letters, in numerical order. I would put "punctuation" bands at the END, after the letters. Except for the band 'Umlaut', under "U" obviously. Or perhaps in the bin.
Here's another one for you: compilations. Do you file them amongst the artistes, alphabetically by Title - eg the Compilation Gather in the Mushrooms goes under "G". Or do you have a separate section for compilations?
Of course, all this is kind of theoretical as at the moment, all my vinyl, CDs and tapes are jumbled up in a huge heap along with old pants, broken foodstuffs, children's toys, yellowing newspapers, decorators' tools, stray business invoices and crumpled cider cans. Welcome to Castle Onan.
I for one diasgree entirely with the whole organising of record collections.
For me, part of the pleasure of seeking out a specific CD was flicking through boxes and boxes of discs I'd long since forgotten about and finding numerous treasures along with the CD I was orignally looking for. A wizard past-time in itself.
That said, since the advent of downloading music into a "Library" on your computer, this practice is very much in decline...
With regards "other half"'s music, I say embrace their appauling tastes! My MP3 player is crammed full of gems like "The Best of George Michael", "The Best of the Suga Babes", "The Best of Lionel Richie and the Commodores", "The Best of Elton John", (can you spot a pattern here?), along with my personal favourite, "The Bugsy Malone Soundtrack".
It also enables you to excuse any of your own musical "mistakes" as those of yout "significant other".
"I could have been anything that I wanted to be...." [cracks a tin of cider]
There's an exclusion zone round my music which is filed alphabetically and by genre.
My girlfriend understands that if she returns with a spontaneous supermarket purchase its higly unlikely to meet the quality control criteria and will need to be stored elsewhere or left in the car.
I have my vinyl alphabetical by artist, and whilst I think really it should just be by first letter, I do actually go by surnames of solo artists. Compilations are at the end, forming a buffer between my music and Mr Bargeman's. For numbers, although again theoretically it should be at the front (whisper it) 10cc is under T.
Tapes are in an informal arrangement in a drawer, mine on top, Mr B's underneath.
Cds are harder as they are being added to, so they are loosely in racks by decade, then alphabetical, except for favourite artists of whom I have lots which are in their own rack.
I generally tend to abide to the Guinness British Hit Singles rules of ordering although they sometimes to me lack consistency. Surely Jon Spencer Blues Explosion as a band should be under J? I recall that as P J Harvey were originally classed as a band they were filed under P so why should JSBE be under S?
Their rules for spaces/punctuation tend to confuse me too. R.E.M. preceding Radio Dept. just doesn't sit right with me so after Reindeer Section they go. Ditto The Go! Team being before The Go-Betweens.
They meticulously pay attention to every space, dot, hyphon, etc... and then treat Dr as if its written Doctor. Perhaps for the next edition they should sort the artists phonetically.
Ah, that's the difference between the encyclopedia and dictionary ways of sorting I think.
Encyclopedia: consider the first word on its own, only move onto the second when needed
The Go > Go Team > Go West > Godspeed You Black Emperor!
Dictionary: just consider the letters as they come as if you were dealing with one long word:
The Go > Godspeed You Black Emperor! > Go Team > Go West
How about the minefield that is "Marc Riley With The Creepers" ?, is it M for Marc, R for Riley, or C for Creepers (As their later releases were labeled).
What's more important, keeping all your Marc Riley records together, or alphabetical correctness.
There is a person in our house (who's name is spoken in hushed tones) who long ago took responsibility for ordering the CD rack. She decided that the first letter of whatever band or artist decides how its ordered, Roxy Music would be 'R' Kate Bush 'K' etc. So David Bowie comes under 'D' as does Doves.
Compilations have their own area and as far as I can see are ordered by virtue of whichever one gets put in the slot first, the same applies to classical music.
Complications arise for me from bands beginning with the definite article. I canβt remember without checking if The Damned is filed under 'D' or 'T', so to me that's where the system breaks down.
I think the 'The' is supposed to be ignored in the bands name so if that's the case I've never been sure where we file 'The The' but I'm sure the head librarian would know. I think we have a special place for such anomalies and probably, if she reads this, I'll be filed there as well under 'B' for βBroken manβ or possibly 'S' for βsleeping on the sofaβ.
It makes sense to her anyway and I just bow to her superior intellect, and the loaded shotgun she wields at times when I have been foolish enough to question 'The system'.
, in reply to message 12.
Posted by the_roofdog (U9532299) on Thursday, 18th September 2008
That Bon Iver tried to trick me and threatened to throw my shelves into disarray. I thought it was his name
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