15+ Albums that Changed my life

Yee-haw.  It's going around MySpace and Facebook.

These aren't necessarily my all-time most listened to albums, but they all influenced me in one way or another

1) K-Tel compilation LP: Goofy Greats. This is some of the earliest music I listened to. K-Tel has always been known for making compilation records and this album was mostly novelty tracks from the late 60's. Songs included "Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini", "Beep Beep" "Mule Skinner Blues", "Bread and Butter", "Alley Oop", "Rockin Robin","Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron". I loved all those songs. One song scared me: "Surfin Bird" which was prominent in a recent family guy episode.

2) The Best of Emerson, Lake & Palmer
http://www.amazon.com/Best-Emerson-Lake-Palmer/dp/B00124T64O/
Growing up, I shared a room with my brother Scott. He bought his first CD player in the mid-to-late 80's and this was his first CD. I had to listen to whatever he was listening to, but when he wasn't home, I started playing this one. Now that I have most ELP albums, this Best of wasn't their best, but it got me hooked onto them. Favorie track: Karn Evil 9

3) The Best of Manhattan Transfer
http://www.amazon.com/Best-Manhattan-Transfer/dp/B000008I2X/
with a family of diverse musical tastes, this was the one thing we could all listen to. If music was playing at home, it was probably this one. When Scott and his wife moved to Tulsa and Dad, Mom and I went to visit, this cd was on repeat all night long in the background. Favorite track: Birdland

4) Beatles - White Album
http://www.amazon.com/Beatles-White-Album/dp/B000002UAX/
When Scott and his Cd player moved away, I needed something to listen to. I bought an 8-track player at a garage sale. At the time, I listened to Oldies 96.3 and was a fan of the beatles. I saw an 8-track called "the Beatles." I didn't recognize the cover or any of the song titles, and bought it. It turns out that the White Album doesn't say White Album on it anywhere, nor is the 8-track white. The 8-track was the 2nd album. My best friend and beatles expert David knew of it and dubbed the first album onto a cassette around 7th grade. Both got listened to a lot. After I got married, MariLynn bought me the CD. It's still my favorite Beatles album. Fav track: Birthday

5) Queen - News of the World
http://www.amazon.com/News-World-Queen/dp/B000000OAC/
After my brother Scott moved out, he left behind all of his cassettes dubbed off of LP. I didn't know who they were since I mostly knew "oldies". I listened to this and Queen has been my favorite band ever since. I asked my friends at school if any of them knew about Queen. I remember Joe Beard telling me their lead singer had just died of AIDS. My parents showed me Scott's LP collection where I found this. The front was really odd because it showed artwork of a robot killing the band. Fav track: We Will Rock You.

6) Electric Light Orchestra - Ole' E.L.O.
http://www.amazon.com/Ole-ELO-Electric-Light-Orchestra/dp/B0012GN2RY
I kept going through my brothers albums looking for other stuff I'd like and found this. Side note: Album artwork was far more important back in the days of LPs than it is now, You could do all this cool stuff with an album that the size limitations of a cd won't let you do. CDs sound better, though. This is a great greatest hits release before their sound changed and had more of a pop sound. Fav track: Kuiama.

7) Yes - Big Generator
http://www.amazon.com/Big-Generator-Yes/dp/B000002JLC/
I think this is the first album I ever purchased, as I bought the cassette at a mall on our schools infamous 8th grade trip to Washington, DC. Not their best album, but I liked it and have since got several more of their albums. While I was going through my LPs researching my list, I found I had this on LP, too and I don't remember ever buying it. Fav track: Shoot High, Aim Low.

8) Pink Floyd - The Wall
http://www.amazon.com/Wall-Deluxe-Packaging-Digitally-Remastered/dp/samples/B000006TRV/
Another of Scott's LPs dubbed onto Cassette. I listened to it over and over, but it took me a while to realize it was a double album. I thought it ended with "Goodbye Cruel World" which seemed like a fitting end. Then one day I turned the cassette over and there was more! I once loaned this cassette to a friend and when I got it back, he had used it to record his own band performing Smells like Teen Spirit over "Hey You." Fav track: Another Brick in the Wall

9) They Might Be Giants - Flood
http://www.amazon.com/Flood-They-Might-Be-Giants/dp/B000002H7V/
A few people told me they liked TMBG, including classmate JJ before she died a week before high school graduation. As a grad present, I got a gift certificate to Tower Records and bought Flood without ever hearing any of their music. They've got a sound I hadn't heard anywhere else, and that album was a good start. Fav song: Istanbul (Not Constantinople)

10) Billy Thorpe - Children of the Sun
http://www.amazon.com/Children-Sun-Billy-Thorpe/dp/B0000074G3/
Every time I'd visit my grandmother, the classic rock radio station there would play this cool song, the title track off the album, but I'd never hear it in Nashville. It was a 6 minute space-themed rock anthem. The problem was finding it. Thank you internet!

11) Chuck Jones - In Front of People
Chuck was at Lipscomb U. the same time I was. I thought he was a gifted songwriter with clever lyrics. He had a concert on campus that I went to. It was a blast. The concert was recorded and sold on CD, and I still listen to it often. He now goes by Southpaw Jones, and still makes new releases. His songs range from witty and hilarious to sad and emotional. MariLynn can't stand his music. Fav track: I'm an Adult Now.

12) Manfred Mann's Earth Band - Somewhere in Africa.
http://www.amazon.com/Somewhere-Africa-Manfred-Manns-Earth/dp/B000025A3S/
For the longest time,I knew three of their songs: Do Wah Ditty Ditty, Mighty Quinn and Blinded by the Light. I thought it was odd how all three songs sounded so different. I found this cassette and didn't listen to it for a long time, until one sunny Saturday MariLynn and I got in the car and on the spur of the moment drove a good stretch of the Natchez Trace Parkway, while we had this album playing. Since then, I've found their rock music to be on par with other classic or prog rock giants. fav track: Redemption Song

13) Huh Techno Issue
http://www.amazon.com/Techno-Issue/dp/B000BQPEMC/
I always figured I'd like electronica dance music, even though I don't dance. I stumbled upon this cd sampler to see what techno would be like. Turns out, that day we realized we both like techno music. She really liked a song called Luv Connection by Towa Tei, who was the DJ for Deee-lite. I was introduced to Electronic Behavior Network, a group that was known for making songs out of television samples. I listen to them often. fav track: Electronic Behavior Control System.

14) Fatboy Slim - You've come a Long Way, Baby
http://www.amazon.com/Youve-Come-Long-Edited-Version/dp/B00000DCEW/
MariLynn and I had already bought a few techno cds, and there were a couple of Fatboy Slim songs I liked. On our honeymoon, we ended up at a flea market in Orlando and I bought this cd. Over the next few years, I bought every cd of his (or any of his aliases) I could find, with lots of imports. I bought a cd single with a rare track from a guy in Singapore. Fav track: Rockafeller Skank

15) The White Stripes - Elephant
http://www.amazon.com/Elephant-White-Stripes/dp/B001AP11L6/
Who says modern rock music isn't any good? A lot of people, including me. There's one exception, as I heard a couple of their songs on a 2002 vacation to Dallas. They might just be the only big name modern rock group worth listening to. MariLynn can't stand them. Fav track: Seven Nation Army.

After I made the list, I realized that everything in the list is at least 7 years old. here's something newer

16) David Byrne and Brian Eno - Everything that Happens
http://www.everythingthathappens.com/
This came out not too long ago. When I was looking for ways to spend my Christmas Money, I saw they had one track for free to download, and I really liked it. For free, their website also streams all the other tracks. I was vaguely familiar with both artists but found this cd to be great, and there are multiple tracks I listen to over and over. Fav track: Home