Getting Started

Way back in August I wrote about the slightly unusual way I organize my CDs and the idea I'd come up with to listen to every CD I own in order.

More than six months later, I've made my first steps toward completing that task. Over the recent long holiday weekend, I cataloged my collection and cleaned my shelves up a bit (and, sadly, had to toss the Rollins Band release "Come in & Burn" because I'd discovered the disc is missing). A picture of my much-neater shelves (which are actually shoe cubbies) is shown above.

I now have a complete inventory of my CD collection (minus singles and bootlegs because I don't want to delve into that quite yet) that will assist me in this task and be of great service to me the next time I move—no need to worry about my CDs getting out of order and needing to resort to a traditional alphabetized collection because I now have a master list!

For the most part, my CDs are stored in chronological order, starting with the first CDs I got way back in high school. CDs by the same artist are grouped together with the newest purchase slotted at the end. There are currently three exceptions to this practice—Elvis Costello, Madonna and U2. These artists are grouped separately because I have more CDs from each of them than anyone else and it's just so much easier to have their CDs at the very end than taking up space in the middle.

My original thought for this project was to start at the very beginning with the two-disc Doors greatest hits collection I got for Christmas 1994 when I got the stereo I still own and my first CDs. I've decided, instead, to start with my Elvis Costello chunk to prepare for his Spinning Songbook Tour stop at The Wiltern in April.

"Painted From Memory," Elvis Costello's collaboration with Burt Bacharach, is first on my list. I bought this CD when it came out in 1998, intrigued by what these seemingly different legends could come with together and impressed by their first collaboration, the song "God Give Me Strength" from the Allison Anders film "Grace of My Heart" (that song remains a favorite).

Here's what I have to look forward to over the next few weeks. From here, I'll most likely go back to the start, although Madonna's new album could tempt me to spend some quality time with her catalog.

Elvis Costello With Burt Bacharach "Painted From Memory"
"The Very Best of Elvis Costello"
"My Aim Is True" (Rhino reissue)
Elvis Costello and The Attractions "All This Useless Beauty" (Rhino reissue)
"Spike" (Rhino reissue)
"When I Was Cruel"
"This Years Model" (Rhino reissue)
"North"
Elvis Costello and The Attractions "Armed Forces" (Rhino reissue)
Elvis Costello and The Attractions "Trust" (Rhino reissue)
Elvis Costello and The Attractions "Get Happy"
Elvis Costello and The Attractions "National Ransom"
Elvis Costello and The Attractions "Punch the Clock" (Rhino reissue)
Original Soundtrack "De-Lovely"
Elvis Costello & The Imposters "The Delivery Man"
Elvis Costello Live With the Metropole Orkest "My Flame Burns Blue"
Elvis Costello and The Attractions "Imperial Bedroom"
Elvis Costello & Allen Toussant "The River in Reverse"
"Secret, Profane & Sugarcane"

I currently own 19 Elvis Costello albums and have a sizeable list of releases yet to acquire. He releases one album a year, on average, and had a 20-year head start on me when I first became a fan, so I have a lot of catching up to do. About 10 years ago, he had a reissue deal with Rhino Records and re-released 17 of his albums with bonus CDs and detailed liner notes. What luck that I should become a fan when he started that! The deal ended in 2006 so there won't be any more special reissues, but I still have 10 to get so at least have that to look forward to.

Back to the music. I'll be checking in soon.