Time Capsule

I was reading a blog entry on a Duran Duran site and someone had come up with a fun challenge for the band to create a music time capsule. The rules were simple: one song from each studio album, one song could be a B-side or stand alone single, and then one song could be anything from their catalogue including remixes. I think Nick responded back with his list. I suppose if any of them were going to do it, that’s who I would have guessed. Then the fans all weighed in with their choices. I won’t bore you with my list, especially since I didn’t create one. I did think about it, though.

The site said that DD has 11 Studio albums. I guess I didn’t realize they had that many. I had to go and see how many I owned. (Can I count cassettes?) If so, then I am only missing 3. I don’t have Liberty, Pop Trash or their very first album. I do have Decade and Arena, which aren’t studio albums, but have enough on them so I don’t really need the first album. As for the other 2…not real high on my list. They have some box sets out now with remixes and B-sides, but I don’t think I’m going for that either.

After seeing how many albums I owned by these guys, I wondered who else put out at least this many albums that I owned. The one group that jumped out at me right away was the Indigo Girls. I went and counted and sure enough, I have 13 now with the new CD that came out this week. I am only missing the live album Back on the Bus, Y’All. I think that’s pretty amazing that they have put out so many records over the last 20 years. So I thought maybe I should do the time capsule exercise with them instead. I’ll use the same rules I listed above, so that would eliminate the albums Back on the Bus, 1200 Curfews, and Rarities from the first part (not studio albums). Also, Retrospective is a greatest hits album, but it does have some original material on it, so I am going to include it. Here goes:

1. You Left it Up to Me- Strange Fire
2. Blood and Fire- Indigo Girls
3. Hammer and a Nail- Nomads, Indians, Saints
4. Chickenman- Rite of Passage
5. Fare Thee Well- Swamp Ophelia
6. Everything In It’s Own Time- Shaming of the Sun
7. Cold Beer and Remote Control- Come on Now Social
8. Leaving- Retrospective
9. Become You- Become You
10. Free In You- All that We Let In
11. Little Perennials- Despite Our Differences
12. Shed Your Skin (Tom Morello Remix)- Rarities
13. Romeo and Juliet – Rite of Passage

The rest of my music collection after that seems to drop off considerably. With all the greatest hit albums and iTunes available, owning music isn’t the same. You have to really like an artist to want to go out and buy an album, never mind all their albums. I made some guesses about which artists I thought I owned the most music. I was wrong in a lot of cases. It seems that 3 is the average number of albums I own for a particular artist.

Here are the next 5 artists that I own at least 4 albums not including a greatest hits album:

1. The Beatles- I have 7 albums and then 2 out of 3 of the Anthology CDs.
2. Prince- I would have been hurting here if not for my cassettes. They don’t still need to be functional, do they? I have 6 albums and then The Hits CD compilation including the B-sides.
3. Madonna- I have 4 albums plus the Immaculate Collection CD.
4. George Michael- I have 4 albums by the skin of my teeth. His CD Songs from the Last Century is awful and is sitting in the pile to toss. I also have his greatest hits. And no, I’m not counting anything with Wham!
5. Tracy Chapman, Garbage, and Rufus Wainwright- I own 4 albums each.