tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16979831.post113773895769391946..comments2023-09-15T08:25:52.357-05:00Comments on Designated Import: Best albums from the last 7 half decadesAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11380041867258824155noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16979831.post-1138515323534555952006-01-29T00:15:00.000-06:002006-01-29T00:15:00.000-06:00*sigh* I'm old...Actually, I prefer to think of it...*sigh* I'm old...<BR/><BR/>Actually, I prefer to think of it as being born at a slightly more comfortable distance from the apocalypse.<BR/><BR/>CDs first came out when I was in college. I remember going to a stereo store in 1982 or 1983 with some friends and having a salesman try to sell us a CD player by comparing the "harmonic distortion" between turntables and CD players.<BR/><BR/>And, sorry, no New Order. At the time, I was listening to Q107 out of Toronto (CILQ 107.1). They played album rock (The Who, The Stones, Pink Floyd, etc., at a time when they were still making new albums). They didn't play any new wave stuff (with the exception of singles like "Whip It" by Devo, and "Cars" by Gary Neuman).<BR/><BR/>New Order was played on CFNY 102.1. This is the station Rush sings about in "Spirit of Radio". There was a big rivalry between CFNY and Q107, though at the time CFNY had a miniscule audience in comparison. They two stations had very little in common, playlist wise. Since I was a big Who and Pink Floyd fan, I stayed with Q107 and missed most of the new wave stuff.<BR/><BR/>I switched to CFNY (now called 102.1, the Edge, with studios in Toronto instead of Brampton) in the early 90s. Q107 was morphing into what is now called a "classic rock" station. I was getting tired of hearing the same stuff all the time. I knew of the grunge movement, but Q107 barely played any of it. I switched to CFNY and started to hear a whole spectrum of new music. This was the point where it was starting to be called "alternative rock", or "alt-rock". I stuck with CFNY until I left Toronto. <BR/><BR/>Even though I still love Pink Floyd and the rock groups I grew up with, I have a hard time listening to classic rock stations, except for short periods of time (like when I'm in a different city and that's all that's worth listening to). Almost everything I listen to is alt-rock now. I mostly listen to 91.1, Monroe's college station, which alt-rock almost exclusively.<BR/><BR/>Two anecdotes:<BR/><BR/>1) My brother stopped listening to Q107 after that station sponsored Green Day's first or second concert tour date in Toronto. He overheard one of the DJs saying to another, "These guys suck."<BR/><BR/>2) Because CFNY doesn't play classic rock or rock from groups known to be classic rock groups, Rush isn't on their play list. When DJ Alan Cross left CFNY a few years ago (I think he's back; he has a syndicated radio show called, "The Ongoing History of New Music" which is worth listening to over the Internet), he played "Spirit of Radio" as his parting song. However, he played The Catherine Wheel's version, not Rush's version. The Catherine Wheel is considered alt-rock while Rush isn't, even though The Catherine Wheel's cover of the Rush song is fairly true to the original.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11380041867258824155noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16979831.post-1138329427998736762006-01-26T20:37:00.000-06:002006-01-26T20:37:00.000-06:00Now, now, don't be harsh! There are plenty of grea...Now, now, don't be harsh! There are plenty of great albums that I didn't mention.<BR/><BR/>I seem to remember buying the first Blondie album on vinyl, but I don't know if I still have it. I need to get a sound card for the computer that will let me record vinyl albums onto CD before a) the stereo gives out and I can't find a receiver that can accept inputs from a turntable, and b) the RIAA stop electronic companies from creating devices that can record analog signals.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11380041867258824155noreply@blogger.com