Music part 2: popular
I used to sing in an all-male a cappella quartet. So that’s one type of music that I like — the Nylons and the Essentials, as well as the Flying Pickets, the House Jacks, the Alley Cats, and the Bobs.
I like songs where I can understand the lyrics — otherwise what’s the point of having lyrics? I’m not a big fan of country or hip hop, although there are some songs in those styles that I like. I like jazz but I’m not very knowledgeable about it. The time when I listened to the radio the most is the late 1980s so that era is certainly well represented in my collection.
Artists I’ve seen live: the Arrogant Worms, Tracy Bonham, the Essentials, Harmonytryx, Henry & the Folk, Moxy Früvous, the Nylons, and Sweet William.
Artists whose entire careers I am following (followed in the case of Moxy Früvous as they’re no longer together):
- Lily Allen — “Alright, Still”, “It’s Not Me, It’s You”
- The Arrogant Worms — C’est Cheese, Russell’s Shorts, Toast!, Torpid, Idiot Road, Dirt!, Beige…
- The Essentials — Oh What a Night, …And Then Some, Bare, Nothing But Blue
- Garfunkel & Oates — All Over Your Face, Music Songs, Slippery When Moist
- Moxy Früvous — Bargainville, Thornhill, Wood, You Will Go to the Moon, The b Album…
- The Nylons — Because, Four on the Floor, Happy Together, One Size Fits All, Play On…
Artists I’ve followed a lot of their career:
- Billy Joel — The Bridge, River of Dreams, Storm Front, Greatest Hits (2)
- Huey Lewis & the News — Fore!, Picture This, Small World, Sports, Hard at Play…
Artists I have multiple albums from:
- The Beatles — 1262-1966, 1967-1970
- Canadian Brass — Basin Street, Best of the Canadian Brass
- Phil Collins — No Jacket Required, …Hits
- Michael Jackson — Thriller, Bad
- Shel Neufeld — Wooden Reflections, Call of the Wild
Artists I have one amazing album from:
- Abba — Gold
- All Saints — All Saints
- The Alley Cats — Cruisin’
- Mark Anthony — Mark Anthony
- At Last — Slow It Down
- Barenaked Ladies — Gordon
- The Beach Boys — The Greatest Hits
- Shannon Beynon — My Illusion
- The Bobs — The Best of the Bobs: 20 Songs, 20 Years
- Tracy Bonham — Down Here
- Cibo Matto — Viva! La Woman
- Henry & the Folk — Bustrip Songbook
- Holly Cole Trio — Don’t Smoke in Bed
- Miles Davis — Kind of Blue
- Eurythmics — Greatest Hits
- Fine Young Cannibals — The Raw & the Cooked
- The Flying Pickets — Only You… The Best of the Flying Pickets
- Gowan — Best Of…
- Harmonytryx — The Instrument Alternative
- The House Jacks — Naked Noise
- INXS — Kick
- Jackson 5 — The Ultimate Collection
- Janet Jackson — Control
- Elton John — Greatest Hits 1976-1986
- Madonna — The Immaculate Collection
- Chuck Mangione — Best of Chuck Mangione
- The Police — Greatest Hits
- The Proclaimers — Sunshine on Leith
- Radio Free Vestibule (now known as The Vestibules) — Sketches Songs and Shoes
- Paul Simon — Greatest Hits: Shining Like a National Guitar
- Spice Girls — Greatest Hits
- Sting — Fields of Gold: The Best of Sting 1984-1994
- Sweet William — Sweet William
- The Temptations — The Best of, Volume 1: The 60s (The Millennium Collection)
- Bruce Willis — The Return of Bruno
Other artists worth mentioning (that I have three or more songs from):
- The Bangles
- Beyoncé
- Peter Gabriel
- Genesis
- Honeymoon Suite
- Kylie Minogue
- Roy Orbison
- Queen
- The Rolling Stones
- U2
- Wham!
- Steve Winwood
And I have four albums of popular music from various artists:
- The Best of 1985 (The Millenium Collection)
- The Best of 1986 (The Millenium Collection)
- The Best of 1987 (The Millenium Collection)
- The Number 1 Jazz Album