Your personal history in music…one album at a time...

[nobody]

How about tracing your music listening habits through the years by picking out one album each decade that was most important to your personal music listening. Doesn’t matter if it was a biggie or not universally, but what was the biggest difference maker of the decade for you?

Something like this…

70s
Sex Pistols: Never Mind The Bullocks – I was way too young when I bought this as my first even personal purchase, non-gift album as a twelve year old. But, it was certainly the kick-start that sent me on my way as to what kinda stuff I’d end up listening to. This album led me to explore the English punk scene and got me into reggae after listening to the Clash. It got me into the US punk scene that had faded and sent me straight into the hardcore scene in the US that was emerging. And, it got me into post-punk stuff like PIL when I saw it was John’s new band.

80s
Run DMC: King of Rock – Hello rap music. OK…heard Kurtis Blow, Grandmaster Flash, and Sugarhill Gang with singles and a few assorted others tossed in there. But, this was a full length that kicked ass from start to finish. It was familiar enough to be instantly appealing, while taking off in another direction.

90s
Massive Attack: Protection – Got me more interested in more laid back electronic stuff. Had heard bits and pieces of electronic based stuff that was good and liked what dub I had heard, but this one got me off my ass and really seeking things out. It didn’t hurt that the internet was making it easier and easier to find and hear different types of music.

00s
Not really sure yet. Not so sure anything’s really been all that new and different that I’ve come across. And, I’m going back in time with a lot of stuff by getting more and more interested in jazz. I guess I’m still waiting for the album that opens new things up for this decade.

What’s missing?
Tons of stuff. All the old rockabilly and r&b that I love. But that kinda stuff was always there for me at home, never had to seek anything like that out. Industrial music; I almost took the first Revolting Cocks album as my 80s pick, but as rap has had more staying power and opened up in way more directions than Industrial, I went with the Run DMC. Hearing Miles Davis in the late 80s and starting a slowly growing interest in jazz. Winning tickets to see some old man called John Lee Hooker and suddenly getting the blues. Hearing some serious funk at parties a buddy used to throw. All moments in time and all important. But, forcing myself to pick, I’m sticking with the albums above as the biggest in my life.

So…what made you the music fan you are today?

[Dusty Chalk]

Can't do it, I'm going to cheat:

70's -- Crack the Sky, Safety in Numbers -- my first taste of cerebral music -- prior to that I listened to Steve Miller Band, Black Sabbath, and Henry Mancini. And lots of Joe Walsh.

Honorable mention: Jean-Michel Jarre, Equinoxe -- my first primarily synth-laden album.

80's -- Mike Oldfield, Exposed -- virtuosic and melodic, this defined me for the rest of my life (plus it has nice versions of both Tubular Bells and large portions of Incantations)

Honorable mention: Laurie Anderson, Mister Heartbreak -- the weirdness begins, and I am immediately smitten by the left-of-center contingent of artists.

90's -- Skinny Puppy, VIVISectVI -- 90's was a mixed bag for me -- I listened to a lot of shoegaze, industrial, and other weirder stuff, and there is no one album that covers both those extremes (except maybe something heavily postrock, Legendary Pink Dots, or Loveless) -- so I flipped a coin. If the coin had come up the other way, I would have listed Slowdive's Just for a Day.

Honorable mention: Garbage -- a return to more pop-oriented music, replete with hooks, melodies and energetic rhythms.

Oughts -- Talk Talk, Spirit of Eden -- post rock, and the discovery of intensity in other ways than "rawking out".

I could probably do this again tomorrow with a completely different list of albums. In fact, I could probably do it right now:

70's: ELO, Ole' ELO -- I listened to pop music (Boston, Eagles, etc.), but this album introduced me to "Kuiama", and was one of my first forays in going off the deep end, jam-wise (Deep Purple's Made in Japan and Led Zeppelin's The Song Remains the Same were two others).

Late 70's/Early 80's: Kraftwerk, Computer World -- the love-affair with synthesizers finishes puberty, and goes into post-adolescence.

Mid 80's: Depeche Mode, Construction Time Again -- ...and continues...(into the more heavily digital era)...

Late 80's/Early 90's: Ministry, The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste -- I was discovering metal again (Metallica's ...And Justice for All) and just beginning to dabble in industrial (I had heard Ministry's "The Nature of Love" single, but I was still taken aback when I heard their more metal side)

Honorable mention goes to the flip-side of that particular 100-minute cassette: Nine Inch Nails, Pretty Hate Machine

Mid-late 90's: Stabbing Westward, Darkest Days -- discovering music more oriented towards song-writing than anything else, yet still retaining the energy I craved.

Oughts: Mouse on Mars, I have no idea what album, perhaps I should reference seeing them live, as that is what did it for me. The perfect combination of experimentalism and pop contextualizations.

Honorable mention goes to seeing Neubauten live. Something everyone who loves alternative music should have done at least once in their life.

[-Jar-]

1970's: Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack (hehe)

1980 - 1985 - Iron Maiden - PIECE OF MIND

1985 - 1989 - Husker Du - NEW DAY RISING

1990 - 1995 - Slint - SPIDERLAND

1995 - 1999 - Hum - DOWNWARD IS HEAVENWARD

2000 - Now - Wilco - YHF

[recoveryone]

1960's: Anything with the Motown label (back then we only brought the 45's)
Now in the late 60's My older brother introduce me to Jimi Hendricks "Are you Experience"

1970's: Parliament Chocolate city P funk was born

1980's: Prince

1990's: NWA/ MC Hammer don't hurt'm

2000's: Neo-Soul movment Jill Scott/Eyrkia Badu/Deangelo

[JohnMichael]

70's The first 45rpm I purchased was The 5th Dimension's "Stoned Soul Picnic".
The first album was Blood, Sweat and Tears.
The next album was Carole King's Tapestry.
Discoverd Nina Simone
Maria Muldaur "Midnight at the Oasis"
Emerson, Lake and Palmer Pictures at an Exhibiton
which later caused me to discover classical music.

80's A blur
More Nina Simone

90's All music all the time

2000 More rock, more jazz, more classical and very electic.

[unleasHell]

cool idea for a thread, but pinning it down to just one release? no way (sorry)

60's: Yardbirds: Live w/Jimmy Page, Doors: First, Hendrix: Electric Ladyland

70-75: Camel: Mirage, Trower: Bridge of Sighs, Yes: Yessongs, PF: DSOTM

76-79: Joy Division: Unknown Pleasures, Madness: First, The Clash, Sex Pistols

80-85: Chameleons: Script of the Bridge, Simple Minds: Sons & Facination, Cure: 17 Seconds

85-90: Smiths: Pick One, Wild Swans: Bringing Home the Ashes, Peter Murphy: Deep

90-2000: Ozric Tentacles, Korai Orom, The Bella Low, The Revolutionary Army of the Infant Jesus

2001-Present: Black Tie Dynasty, Aiwa: The Harmonic Oddessy, Moving Units, The Editors...

[PeruvianSkies]

80-85: The Cars & Michael Jackson
85-90: Metallica & Depeche Mode
90-95: The Smashing Pumpkins & Dream Theater
95-00: ThirdEyeBlind & more The Smashing Pumpkins
00-05: The Flaming Lips & Paloalto
05-Current: Nada Surf & Phil Wickham

[Mr MidFi]

1970s...Genesis - Trick of the Tail
I came of age during the golden age of prog, and that's what I listened to. So sue me.

1980-85...U2 - Boy
I discovered U2 back in 1980, and I'm constantly surprised by how much mainstream acceptance they have received through the years.

1985-90...REM - Reckoning
I went through a period when I listened to REM and similar bands A LOT. I chose Reckoning for this list, but really any of their 1980s releases would suffice here.

1990-1999...Cowboy Junkies - Pale Sun, Crescent Moon
This was my musical "dark age." First I was a "young professional" then a "newlywed" then a "young dad," and overall I didn't really have a lot of time to spare for music. Frankly, I am hard-pressed to think of many albums from this era that were near and dear to my heart.

2000 to present...Built to Spill - Ancient Melodies of the Future
This has been my musical renaissance, thanks in large part to you intrepid Rave Reccers. I've purchased/acquired as much music in the past few years as I did in the previous 25. I chose AMotF because Jar already took YHF.

[Resident Loser]

...good idea, but a single choice won't cut it for me...

1950s: A red 78 with Jimmy Crack Corn/Blue Tail Fly b/w Big Rock Candy Mountain...The Ballad Of Davy Crockett...whatever records my parents listened to...Glenn Miller, Hank Williams...Julius La Rosa...

1960s: My cousins' Kingston Trio, Jan&Dean, The Beach Boys, Dylan, The Stones, Lovin Spoonful, Hendrix, Cream, CCR, Canned Heat...Sgt. Pepper...Tommy...

1970s: Solo and not-so-solo Beatles...Zepplin, Black Sabbath...the Dead...Tull, anything Zappa...Floyd...Yes...ELP...ELO...Heart...Elvis Costello...Joe Jackson...the Cars...Devo...Classical is creeping in, LP by LP...

1980s: Classical really becomes my main listen...other than looking to some C&W (mostly older stuff)...Lyle Lovett...Guitar jazz(???)...pop pretty much goes PLOP for me...officially untrustworthy as I'm over 30!

1990s: Classical with a vengeance...Zydeco/Cajun...Native American Flute music...more jazz, some contempo, but becoming more interested in the earlier stuff...

21st century: Pretty much all that went before with the emphasis on classical (much of it guitar) and Jazz of the 50s...and anything that appeals to me...bluegrass like Bill Monroe...Sinatra, Martin...looking back to see what I may have missed in my youth...

jimHJJ(,,,or simply dismissed...VU however still $ucks...)

[Troy]

There's no way I can pick one artist a decade, let alone one album. Especially my formative years: the late 70s, early 80s.

Early 60s- Freddy "Boom Boom" Cannon and a stack of orange Mickey Mouse Club 45's

Late 60s- Beatles

Early 70s- Jethro Tull, War, Alice Cooper

Late 70s- Pink Floyd, Yes, Genesis, Kansas

Early 80s- XTC, Split Enz, Wall of Voodoo, King Crimson

Late 80s- Stan Ridgway, Bill Nelson, Zappa

Early 90s- They Might Be Giants, Jellyfish

Late 90s- Mike Keneally, Spocks Beard, Flower Kings

2000s- Porcupine Tree, the iPod shuffle

[SlumpBuster]

Gosh, this is really hard. I'm gonna follow nobody's original idea. The following would be based on how it led me to other music and new sounds.



1980s The Chipmunks - Chipmunk Punk http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chipmunk_Punk
Hey, I was only born in 1975. I was going to put Hanoi Rocks - Bangkok Shocks, Saigon Shakes, Hanoi Rocks - But I didn't really uncover that until GnR re-released it in 1988 on the Uzi Suicide Label. But that Chipmunks record planted a seed in my 6 year old brain. Presently, all the artists covered on that record occupy lots of room on my shelves. Sure, lots of you probably have copies of Get the Knack hanging around, but how many still spin their copies of ...But the Little Girls Understand on a regular basis. I do. It also helped establish a very eclectic definition of what I consider to be punk or new wave. i.e. "punk" for me was not defined by Bollocks or McLaren, but by the Chipmunks.
Lots o' Runners up:
The Jesus & Mary Chain - Automatic
The Cure - Head on the Door
The Ramones -All of them - But primarily Rock and Roll Highschool and Half Way to Sanity got me going on them.
Judas Priest - Turbo



1990s - Pet Shop Boys - Disco 2

Like alot of genXers, my first taste of electronic music was probably Herbie Hancock's Rock It or the Miami Vice theme. When I got to college in 1993, I concluded that my record collection sucked. Hair metal was out, I never liked grunge, and had missed the boat on hip-hop. But, the one bright spot was my taste for electronic. Punk was the other. This record tied together alot of loose ideas for me. It brought together soaring house melodies with the Tresor/Berlin sound. It just clicked it all into place for me and gave me an electronic reference point that was in the middle, rather than on an extreme end of the spectrum. For me, it was a precursor to the Ibiza bangers that would take over the charts.
Lots o' runners up:
Rancid - Let's Go
Crystal Method - Vegas
Oasis - Definitely Maybe
Dandy Warhols - Come Down
Mustard Plug - Big Daddy Multitude
The Jesus & Mary Chain - Stoned and Dethroned

2000s No Doubt - RockSteady
Now out of college and married, I had to merge my taste with my wife's taste. No Doubt had always been something we could agree on. But this was influential for me because it showed me that big pop music was okay, and often even dang good. Rocksteady opened the door to lots of artists I wouldn't have peviously been interested in, like Kelly Clarkson and Avril Levigne. I "believe" Gwen Stefani as a big pop star primarily because I "believe" that she's probably got a room full of cool vinyl too.

[Stone]

I assume you mean albums from that decade that we listened to in that decade. Otherwise, my answers would be slightly different.

The 70s - mostly 45s from this era, but one that comes to mind is this:



Rock and Roll Over basically got me into the whole hard rock genre when I was 8 and 9.

The 80s - There were many. If I have to pick just one that really defined me and what I listened to, it'd have to be:



FFFRV single-handedly launched me into the world of punk and deeper into the whole "alternative" genre.

The 90s - After finishing up college and going through law school, during which time I didn't listen to music as much as previously, I delved back into it, and later in the 90s, this board really helped me catch up. One album that really struck a chord with me was:



The 00s - I'm not sure yet either. But it could very well be this:



I've always been a fan of pop music, and The Sunlandic Twins had enough hooks and enough twists and turns to really stand out to me, and really push me back to listen to a lot of pop music again.

[Dusty Chalk]

I should add that for the 60's, I mostly listened to my Batman record, maybe Jungle Book, and perhaps my Snoopy vs. the Red Baron record.

[noddin0ff]

Man, this is tough. One per decade…It’s doubly hard because I think most of the influential albums in my life, I heard about a decade too late. However, I’ll list the ones I actually heard in the decade they were released.
Limiting myself to ‘rock’ (with a handful of Honorable mentions in no particular order).

1970’s -- Pink Floyd: The Wall
Well, for most of the 70’s I didn’t have a stereo and we lived in remote areas of the Northwest so radio wasn’t really an option either. So, I guess my music history started when my brother and I could bike a few miles to our friend’s houses and hear what they were listening to. I mowed a lot of lawns for money and suffered miserable hay fever for it. Then end result was many tired, summer afternoons, loaded up on Benadryl, listening to The Wall on headphones (cassette tape of course). There was a lot for a squeaky clean kid about to enter Smalltown Jr High to absorb. I think it set an early standard for content in music (politics, drugs, anger, forbidden thoughts…) and the power of the extended jam.
Honorable Mentions: Eagles, ELO, Journey

1980’s -- Talking Heads: Stop Making Sense
I had never heard of Talking Heads (and I never actually saw the concert video until late in the 90’s) but when I saw the MTV video for Once in a Lifetime with David Byrne in that oversized suit…it kind of blew my mind. The lyrics didn’t make sense but they felt like they did. The hipness of the rhythms and the nerdyness of the lead singer. The mixture of styles I couldn’t quite pin down. It was very exciting and probably more than any other band, Talking Heads opened my mind to diversity in music. I think Stop Making Sense was the perfect album for that transition from High School to college. Whole new worlds different from the little one I knew.
Honorable Mentions: Prince, Duran Duran, The Cars, The Police, B-52’s

1990’s -- Nirvana: Nevermind
I was in college in Seattle, I didn’t go to clubs and had never heard of them. Wow. Still pissed he off’d himself. Rock, Punk, Hooks all viscerally tied personal emotions…
Honorable Mentions: Depeche Mode, The Cult, Love and Rockets, Camper Van Beethoven, The Fixx, The Pixies, R.E.M


2000’s -- The Beta Band: The Three EP’s / Medeski, Martin & Wood: Combustication
I have to cheat here. Both these came out late in the 1990’s but I didn’t hear them until the 2000’s. They probably have had a lot of influences on what I keep looking for in new music…which might be just a little bit of everything all at the same time.
Honorable Mentions: Cake, Gorillaz, Cat Power, Beck

[Resident Loser]

1970’s -- Pink Floyd: The Wall

1980’s -- Talking Heads: Stop Making Sense...Once in a Lifetime...The lyrics didn’t make sense but they felt like they did.

...choices IMHO. Forgot TH (and many, many others) when I posted...Byrne's solo with boombox of Psycho Killer is about the best thing I've seen commited to video...I take exception to your comment re: the lyric to the above highlighted song...Man, if anything ever made sense it's those words...In a nutshell: how F did I get here?...wherever this is...not to mention the lyric to Life During Wartime...

jimHJJ(...never have understood I Zimbra however...)

[noddin0ff]

Man, if anything ever made sense it's those words...In a nutshell: how F did I get here?...

Sure...NOW they make sense!


p.s. I think he explains I Zimbra pretty well in this clip even though it's the wrong album...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwCEajWOjKE

[Resident Loser]

Sure...NOW they make sense!


p.s. I think he explains I Zimbra pretty well in this clip even though it's the wrong album...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwCEajWOjKE

...first came out, I'd been at the same job about ten years, married nearly as long, been a homeowner for 3 or 4...I knew what it was about from word one...

jimHJJ(...I guess perspective plays a big part...)

[Ex Lion Tamer]

'70 - '75 - Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here My High School obsession
'76 - '80 - Elvis Costello - This Years Model Opened up a whole new world Rock music you could dance to who'd have known
'81 - '85 - Echo & The Bunnymen - Crocodiles British Alternative - the new obsession
'86 - '90 - Violent Femmes Collecge rock (could've as easily put R.E.M. Murmer here too).
'91 - '95 - Sonny Rollins - Saxophone Colossus Discovered jazz, coincided with getting serious about audio equipment.
'96 - '00 - Luna - Bewitched After a hiatus I found indie music (thanks to many here)
'00 - 05 - Spoon - Girls Can Tell The indie obsession continues
'05 - .... - ??? - been in a 1-year lull, we'll see what brings me out of it.

[Pat D]

It's hard to pick just one per decade so I'll give some representative favorites.

40s-Ravel's Bolero (over and over!); Victor Borge; Metropolitan Opera Saturday Broadcasts; Franck Symphony in d minor; Tchaikowski's 6th Symphony; Deems Taylor's Through the Looking Glass

50s-Tenors Jussi Bjoerling and Jan Peerce, Basses Ezio Pinza and Cesare Siepi, Baritone Leonard Warrne, Mozart's Requiem, Puccini's La Boheme; Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto no. 3, Beethoven Piano Concerto no. 5 (Emperor).

60s-Bjoerling and Warren; Bach's Magnificat; Handel's Messiah (performed); Mozart's Requiem; (performed), Peter, Paul and Mary

70s-Bach's St. Matthew Passion (performed); Orff's Carmina Burana (performed); Beethoven's 3rd Symphony (Eroica); Beethoven's Violin Concerto; some Beethoven Sonatas; Chopin's Etudes; Verdi's Il Trovatore (Milanov, Bjoerling, Warren); Dvorak's 9th Symphony (New World)

80s-Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert, Rachmaninoff, Sibelius Symphonies; Mayuzumi's Samsara tone poem; Brahms and Faure Requiems; Tenor Beniamino Gigli; Bach's Passacaglia and Fugue for organ; Renaissance Brass Music; London, Nimbus and Denon CDs

90s-Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, Dvorak Quartets; Leonard Cohen via Jennifer Warnes Famous Blue Raincoat album; Kraus and Vanhal symphonies;Dire Straits' On Every Street; Naxos CDs

2000s-Wagner's Ring Cycle (Solti); Diana Krall; Bruckner and Mahler Symphonies

[Dave_G]

But here goes:

60's - Up until like 1967 or so it was music my parents played (like Herb Alpert and barbershop quartet stuff) and things my sisters listened to, like Beatles and all. I was listening to AM radio and all the pop stuff. I had a few Partridge Family albums, Osmonds, and Jackson 5 records, and of course "The Lion Sleeps Tonite", Silverbird, et al.

Early 70's - the first taste of rock I got was Bloodrocks' D.O.A. song, that started it all for me. Soon got into Pink Floyd, Beatles, and the Doors. This was probably about 1970-1971. Then about 1972 it all came together - Genesis, Yes, and TULL and of course Deep Purple.

1974 was the slammer year for me. First concert (Fogaht) and big time into Rush, Kansas, Yes, Uriah Heep, Tull, Ted Nugent, AC/DC, and tons more. Styx, Marley.

80's - Split Enz, XTC, Devo, Clash, Marillion, Ultravox, and all prog. U2, Van Halen, and The Fixx.

90's - More of the same...Camel and some other prog I never new came to me via Troy.

00's - Flower Kings, IQ, etc...and still all the stuff above.

I dabble in classical, and I mean dabble...could try more but have no idea where to start...I dig Rimsky-Korsokov and stuff like that.

Dave

[Resident Loser]

...long time, no see...it's nice to see at least one person around here with a history that goes back to the mono 78s era...Well rounded assortment if I may say so...

I forgot to include my attendance at classical performances in the 60s...The next to last performance of Andrea Chenier at the old Met and Mozart's Die Zauberflote at the new...If memory serves it was the production using Chagall's costumes and scenery...

jimHJJ(...how are things?...)

[Resident Loser]

...I dabble in classical, and I mean dabble...could try more but have no idea where to start...I dig Rimsky-Korsokov and stuff like that...

...while I defer to Pat D's experience with specific performances, this may be a good place to start:

http://www.classical.net/music/rep/top.html

jimHJJ(...good luck and good listening...)

[Pat D]

...while I defer to Pat D's experience with specific performances, this may be a good place to start:

http://www.classical.net/music/rep/top.html

jimHJJ(...good luck and good listening...)

ROFL! Defer to me? I just have been brought up with mostly classical music and continued to like it--I don't have the money to become an expert on recordings! I can't afford to listen to everything available, but I have some good ones. Since my collection goes back a long time, I don't have a lot of the newer releases, which may or may not be better than the ones I know.

Let's see, Dave likes Rimsky Korsakoff, probably Scheherezade (or Scary Zade, as I calls her). Well, that comes under Russian, Romantic and programme music. Hmm, well, there are the Tchaikovsky Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty and Nutcracker ballets--excerpts if you don't want to go through the whole things with conductors such as Dorati and Monteux. And of course, you can get them on DVD, I think--we have Nutcracker on DVD. He wrote some tone poems and symphonies, 4, 5, and 6 being the great ones--my personal favorite being the Fifth.

The World of Borodin is a great budget disc, includes the best recording ever of his 2nd Symphony conducted by Jean Martinon.

Mussorgsky (orchestrated by Ravel) Pictures at an Exhibition and Stravinsky's Firebird Suite were often coupled in the LP era.

There's a terrific set of Overtures by von Suppe and Auber on Mercury conducted by Paul Paray, which has been a classic for decades. Rossini Overtures are fun, just get the 7 or 8 best ones on a single CD.

That looks like a good site, BTW. I should bookmark it. Here's another good one with some good short introductory material.

http://www.good-music-guide.com/index.htm

[Resident Loser]

ROFL! Defer to me? I just have been brought up with mostly classical music and continued to like it ...

...your experience is way beyond mine...The classical collection I own is the result of curiosity and happanstance...It began pretty much with supermarket-sourced releases from the Columbia (now SONY) Great Performances series and some DG and Musikfest from the cut-out bins here and there...Now when I hear things on WQXR that interest me, there's a website to visit which provides a daily playlist, which in turn supplies the needed particulars...Unfortunately now with Tower Records having met it's demise, tracking stuff down for a B&M touchy-feely purchase is becoming quite problematic...and places like BB &CC, well...I probably have a bigger collection than their Classical section...

jimHJJ(...I was brought up on Tex Ritter and Tennesseee Ernie Ford...)

[Pat D]

...your experience is way beyond mine...The classical collection I own is the result of curiosity and happanstance...It began pretty much with supermarket-sourced releases from the Columbia (now SONY) Great Performances series and some DG and Musikfest from the cut-out bins here and there...Now when I hear things on WQXR that interest me, there's a website to visit which provides a daily playlist, which in turn supplies the needed particulars...Unfortunately now with Tower Records having met it's demise, tracking stuff down for a B&M touchy-feely purchase is becoming quite problematic...and places like BB &CC, well...I probably have a bigger collection than their Classical section...

jimHJJ(...I was brought up on Tex Ritter and Tennesseee Ernie Ford...)

Nothing the matter with Sony (Columbia) Great Performances, DG and DG Musikfest. Lots of good stuff there. But I always liked London Weekend Classics and some Philips reissues. A lot of good Denon CDs have been in the cut-out bins over the years, though I haven't seen many lately. Denon often had lesser known artists but a lot of their stuff was good, too. But now we don't have any A-V stores with decent classical collections in our little burg anymore and I don't travel as much as I used to. But there's always Amazon, although that does take away from the 'touchy-feely' aspect of shopping--I always had the theory that if the artwork on the cover was good, the recording probably was, too, and I picked up a lot of good recordings previously unknown to me that way.

We don't get WQXR in this neck of the woods, but CBC Radio Two has some interesting stuff sometimes.

We listen to a lot of drama on line on the BBC--great stuff.

Uhh . . . yeah, I have a bigger classical music collection than the local stores, too!