Wanna Call You Everyday And Beg You To Be Near Me, But I Know Your Head Is Under water... I Doubt That You Could Hear Me...

I am very faithful to the care and feeding of my music collection. For the last 4 years I have worked to make it something more than the scant 20 compact discs I owned, mostly comprised of forgettable songs, at that time. I joined BMG, first of all, and quickly learned that if you control the beast, this club can work for you and save you thousands of dollars.

Your criteria for purchase-worthy music may be different from mine, but let me urge you to begin the process of expressing yourself this way if you've not already. For me, If I am going to purchase an album, I use as my rule of thumb that I must like at least 3 songs on it, or I purchase a single of the song I do enjoy. There have been a few occasions in which I purchased an album because I really liked one song, but in those cases, I perceived the song to have an inherent timelessness--or that it would be so important to me, musically, that I trusted the rest of the album to follow suit. I've regretted this perhaps once. Not bad.

When I am experimenting--that is out shopping for music without a roadmap or a specific purchase agenda--I go by the cd cover. If I like the cover, I like the music. This strategy has only failed me once in the past. Or, sometimes, and I don't know how I am able to intuit this, I can feel the artistic intentions of a group or individual very strongly when I hold an album. It isn't always so much that I like the aesthetic qualities of the cover art, as much as I am inexplicably viscerally compelled by it.

Of course, you should never underestimate the failsafe of being observant of the music you hear when you are at a friend's house or when you are out and about in the world... If something moves you, ask "What's this group?" "How did you find out about them?" and then, ask to have a more indepth listen. Pursue your leads to productive ends. And become one of those cutting-edge types while you're at it.

Something else that is important to me when choosing the music I want to own is its historical significance. There are albums I believe I should own purely because of their impact on the culture of the time they represent, or in some cases, on the world. The Beatles are a bit before my time, and I have never been ga ga about them (though if I think about it, I do like enough of their songs), but I believe it is my duty to own Abbey Road. As someone born a mere ten years after their invasion, I am a post british invasion music baby. My shelves need to reflect that. What is past is prologue as someone once said.

It is crucial to me, personally, that many different genres be represented in my collection as well. That's a lot easier these days due to the intuitive blurring of categories, crossover efforts, and the conclusion all music lovers eventually come to.... the more you listen to all kinds of music, the more univeral you understand it to be. I am proud to say that I own Barry White's Greatest Hits and The Cure's Disintegration.