I am a download junkie. There’s no denying it – the 28,000+ songs on my hard drive weren’t all ripped from my CD collection that now does little more than keep one of the basement walls from being bare. A healthy chunk of my music has known no other home but the computer and isn’t likely to find its way to disc. Occasionally I still buy a CD (they still make ‘em, can you believe it?), but generally out of necessity – some of the stuff is obscure enough that I can’t find it to download.
Still, I get nostalgic for my former music buying habits – paying for an actual, tangible object that might have even required unwrapping. Hmm…I guess a benefit of the mp3 is that you don’t have to wait for your fingernails to grow before you can get the shrink wrap off a CD. How about those awful plastic cases CDs and cassettes used to come in that required super human strength or a machete to open?
I’ve survived a few music formats. Beyond 45 records, my first-ever album music purchase was a K-Tel compilation eight track. That might evoke more than a few chuckles, but there’s even more ammo when it comes to the cassette department, considering my first venture into the tape world was the Xanadu soundtrack. I am proud of my first CD buy – Marillion’s Clutching at Straws, even if I didn’t own a CD player when I bought it. I already had the cassette, but the CD had a bonus track and my buddy across the hall in the dorm let me play it on his CD player.
In my pre-digital adult life, Tuesdays were weekly holidays since that’s when new releases came out. In my college days, the only game in town was (shudder) Wal-Mart, but I occasionally hopped a ride with a buddy to Streetside Records thirty minutes away. In post-college days, my musical hunts often took me to Westport. For those unfamiliar with the Kansas City area, Westport is the kind of neighborhood where, well, there were lots of used record shops. My favorite was Music Exchange. It was one of those places that smelled of dust from the crates of old records and whose door and windows were wallpapered with notices of when and where local bands were playing.
Once the CD dominated, my most frequent stop was Disc Traders. Neither would win a best-name contest, but at the latter they knew me by name, knew my tastes well enough to make recommendations, and weren’t wearing brightly-colored smocks and asking if I needed a shopping cart. It was a relief to know that even in suburbia, I could hit a store that didn’t have a TM after their logo – or even a logo for that matter.
Wrapped or unwrapped, once the acquisition was home or in the car, I’d check out the album packaging, read off song titles, peruse the liner notes and lyrics, and plop the thing in for that virgin listen. What really heightened the experience is when the tunes of choice were either 1) new stuff by a favorite act, or 2) a been-on-my-most-wanted-list-forever item.
I can’t remember the last time I plopped down cash or credit card on an actual counter instead of clicking on the “Pay Now” button. While grabbing up 7 Worlds Collide on Amazon.com may not be the same as stumbling across that long-sought 3rd Matinee disc (complete with a “For Promotional Use Only” label) at whatever-the-name-of-that-place-was-on-75th-Street, both methods can still elicit joy.
Last Friday, two new Kevin Gilbert CDs greeted me in my mailbox. There hasn’t been a “new” KG album since 2002’s Kaviar Sessions. Of course, unless you’re Elvis, Hendrix, or 2pac, you aren’t moving a lot of product from the grave. To the credit of KG’s estate, they’ve released a handful of gems since his untimely passing in 1996, most notably The Shaming of the True in 2000 – my favorite album of the last decade. No worries if you don’t know the name – his solo stuff hasn’t even scraped the bottom of the Billboard charts. His greatest fame comes from his 1990 Toy Matinee project that sold a few hundred thousand shy of gold on the strength of minor album-rock hit “Last Plane Out” and his stint as one of the under-appreciated musicians behind Sheryl Crow’s success with Tuesday Night Music Club. If you’re curious about him, check out my Dave’s Music Database page on him or go straight to the official KevinGilbert.com website.
However, I digress. The point of this blog wasn’t to convert you to KG’s music (well, maybe a little), but to simply relive those music buying experiences in era when phrases like “backmasking” and “dropping the needle on a stack of vinyl” dominated instead of “iTunes” and “synching up your musical device.” The names and formats in your own collection will vary, but there remains one constant among anyone who’s ever bought music – the elation of that perfect purchase, the discovery of a lost treasure, the arrival of a long-awaited must-have. Go ahead and break out that Xanadu soundtrack again – nobody has to know but you.
DavesMusicDatabase.com is devoted to ranking, rating, and reviewing music of all genres and eras. The DMDB blog serves up album and song reviews, best-of lists, music history snapshots, and music-related essays.
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Showing posts with label records. Show all posts
Showing posts with label records. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Monday, November 29, 1982
Foreigner: A Retrospective, 1976-1992
 | ForeignerA Retrospective: 1976-1992 |
Overview:English musician Mick Jones, formerly of Spooky Tooth, formed Foreigner in 1976 with Ian McDonald (formerly of King Crimson) and American singer Lou Gramm. He suggested the name “Foreigner” after the group had blossomed into a six-piece with three Brits and three Americans. In the short five years covered on this page, they lost three founding members and by 1981 were working as a four-piece unit. From 1977 to 1981 the band released four studio albums, all of which hit the top 5 on the Billboard album charts and sold at least five million each. Their most successful album was 4, which spent 10 weeks on top. They hit the top 40 eleven times in that same span with their biggest hit being “Waiting for a Girl Like You,” a #2 hit for 10 weeks. The Players:
On the Web: |
Awards:
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The Studio Albums:Hover over an album cover to see its title and year of release. Click on the album to go to its dedicated DMDB page. 
Compilations:
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| Foreigner (1977):
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The debut album from Foreigner was an immediate success, spawning three top-10 hits and a third top-20 hit. The album sold more than five million copies and hit the top 5 on the Billboard album chart.
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| Double Vision (1978):
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With two top-five hits, Foreigner wasn’t suffering from a sophomore slump. Not only did the album chart a notch higher (#3) than its predecessor, but it outsold it with more than ten million copies worldwide. A third song, “Blue Morning, Blue Day,” was a top-20 hit, but isn’t included on the Records compilation.
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| Head Games (1979):
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While Head Games still put two songs in the top 20 on the U.S. pop chart, it wasn’t quite the same lofty heights as the Double Vision album. Still, the album was a top-five hit with sales over five million.
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| Foreigner 4 (1981):
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This was Foreigner’s most successful outing. The album spent a whopping ten weeks atop the Billboard album chart and gave them their biggest hit to date with the power ballad “Waiting for a Girl Like You,” which spent ten weeks in the runner-up spot on the Billboard Hot 100.
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RecordsForeigner |
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Released: November 29, 1982 Recorded: 1977-1982 Peak: 10 US, 58 UK, -- CN, 26 AU, 11 DF Sales (in millions): 7.0 US, 0.06 UK, 11.4 world (includes US and UK) Genre: classic rock |
Tracks: (1) Cold As Ice (2) Double Vision (3) Head Games (4) Waiting for a Girl Like You (5) Feels Like the First Time (6) Urgent (7) Dirty White Boy (8) Juke Box Hero (9) Long, Long Way from Home (10) Hot Blooded (live) Total Running Time: 39:23 |
Rating:  4.392 out of 5.00 (average of 13 ratings)
Awards: (Click on award to learn more).
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About Records: After four top-10 albums and 11 top-40 singles in five years, Foreigner took a break, offering fans their first compilation. It was a multi-platinum, top-10 hit just like its predecessors despite offering nothing new, save a live version of “Hot Blooded.” In fact, this wasn’t just a multi-platinum seller; it was Foreigner’s third album (after Double Vision and 4) to top ten million in sales worldwide. As packed as this is with hits, it still misses a few, most notably the #15 hit “Blue Morning, Blue Day” and the #41 hit “Women.” They could have easily been added, considering the album’s sub-40-minute running length. Still, there’s no arguing with what is here. There would be many compilations to follow over the years, but this was the first and most successful. |
| Agent Provocateur (1984):
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Foreigner’s fifth album couldn’t possibly live up the success of their #1, multi-platinum fourth effort, but Agent Provocateur was still a top 5, platinum seller. It also gave the group their only #1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 with “I Want to Know What Love Is.”
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| Inside Information (1987):
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This was Foreigner’s first album to miss the Billboard top 10, but it was still a million seller with two top-10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100.
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The Very Best…and BeyondForeigner |
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Released: September 22, 1992 Recorded: 1977-1992 Peak: 123 US, -- UK, -- CN, -- AU Sales (in millions): 2.0 US, 0.06 UK, 4.5 world (includes US and UK) Genre: classic rock |
Tracks: (1) Soul Doctor (2) Prisoner of Love (3) With Heaven on Our Side (4) Juke Box Hero (5) Hot Blooded (6) Cold As Ice (7) Head Games (8) Waiting for a Girl Like You (9) Urgent (10) Double Vision (11) I Want to Know What Love Is (12) Say You Will (13) That Was Yesterday (14) I Don’t Want to Live Without You (15) Rev on the Red Line (16) Dirty White Boy (17) Feels Like the First Time Total Running Time: 73:10 |
Rating:  3.774 out of 5.00 (average of 9 ratings)
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About The Very Best…and Beyond: This collection essentially served as a super-sized version of 1982’s Records with the studio recording of “Hot Blooded” instead of a live version. “Long, Long Way from Home” is absent and “Blue Morning, Blue Day” still hasn’t made the cut on a compilation, but this set is superior to Records because of the inclusion of post-1982 hits “I Want to Know What Love Is,” “That Was Yesterday,” “Say You Will,” and “I Don’t Want to Live Without You.” This set skips over Foreigner’s 1991 Unusual Heat, which was made without Lou Gramm, and adds three fairly forgettable new songs. Tracks Not on Previously Noted Albums:
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Resources and Related Links:First posted 9/20/2020; last updated 7/9/2022. |
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