Back to Shrevie's rant in Diner.
When he starts to tell Beth that the records need to be filed in alphabetical order and according to genre, I have to whole heartedly agree but there are conditions in my sad little world.
Firstly, all of the vinyl albums, cds, 7" and cd singles are only alphabetised and filed by year, they are not split according to genre, well not any more, any way.
The 12 inch singles are split into 2 catagories, there is the dance music, all post 1986, house, techno and the myriad of sub genres that exist and then there are all the rest. The all the rest section are as the albums and the cds. The dance twelves are where it gets tricky, they are all sorted like the rest but also some are grouped together by label and others according to producer. The Weatherall section taking up a bit of room.
When I first moved in with L, the first priority was to organise the music.The vinyl was easy, as it had all moved with me. The cds were where it got difficult, as far as I could see there was no methodology to the filing, in fact, there didn't even seem to be a designated area to house the cds.
This had to be rectified, But I also hit another snag, there were certain cds that needed to be, how to put it, quarantined. There was no way that Michael Bolton was snuggling up next to Eric Bogle or Curtis Stigers getting a whiff of credability by being next to SLF. There were about half a dozen of these offending discs which were quietly placed in a drawer in the hope that they would not be missed.
I felt quite proud when I was finished at my achievement.
A couple of weeks later L said to me "where are the Elvis cds?"
"Under P of course, where else would they be "I answered.
"E, after all there is only one Elvis" came the witty retort.
I just shook my head and pointed to the cds.
L picked out the one she wanted and while placing the cd in the tray muttered something like I can't find a bloody thing since you decided to organise the cds. Which is a comment that I have heard more than once over the intervening years.
I don't understand the problem, music needs to filed in some sort of order, if not the next stop would be anarchy. I will not even get started on the leaving records/discs out of their covers or I would bore the ones who've stuck it out this far to death.
So there you go, the case for the prosecution and it is hard to disagree with the sadsack tag.
Elvis Presley - Crawfish
Elvis Presley - Only The Strong Survive
6 comments:
lol, I have no order to my cds. None whatsoever.
Everything in one system, A-Z order, by surname/band name, then chronological by artist, 12" and albums together(I ignore The, although I do file A Tribe Called Quest under A not T for tribe. Somehow the A seems important.). I've never tried to do it by genre- too complicated and what about crossover stuff? And what if I have a section with only one record. Too much. Compilations and soundtracks filed at end, by title. CDs done the same, 7"s A-Z in their own place.It makes perfect sense. Except to Mrs Swiss, who can't remember what anythings called and once spent half a day looking for Cowgirl by Underworld.
A small number of records Mrs Swiss brought with her 'disappeared' when we moved in together- including Clapton's 261 Ocean Boulevard, which stood no chance whatsoever, in amonth of Sunday's, of getting in next to The Clash. She claims it isn't even hers...
Separate areas. Only solution. Mrs Ctel's so messy in any event that there's no chance of order. But her collection's small so it doesn't matter. Mine are only filed alphabetically. But all the As lumped together, not in perfect order. That way I have a chance of finding what I want but equally a chance of being side-tracked by a pleasant surprise.
Before Mrs M, and I moved in (91), I was super neaty and tidy with collection filed by genre and preference really. It's all gone to slop now, all loosely piled or hidden away but still by genre and preference.
I'm also just as much of a terror for comics, guitars and DVDs though
My collection was in purchase order and that was just fine. But college and moving between flats for years has left it hopelessly jumbled. The other day I was looking for the Best of Blondie and in the end I gave up - the mood had passed. Left to its own devices it seems to form clumps by genre.
Despite the chaos I draw the line at allowing my wife's records to mix with mine - they're sectioned off by a good sturdy copy of Bob Dylan's "Biograph".
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