Ninety by 808 State

A speculative acquisition which didn't grab me and outstayed its welcome.

By around 15 years.

Really, how many 808 State songs do I need? And how many times am I going to listen to Pacific State?

Ocean Colour Scene by Ocean Colour Scene

I first saw Ocean Colour Scene supporting Jesus Jones (along with Ned's Atomic Dustbin) and then again at ICA Rock Week, where I took a bunch of black and white photos. They also appeared on SnubTV, though I never thought they'd become as popular as they eventually did.

I spent a fair while searching for the original version of the song Sway several months after it was released, but I evidently missed the boat. The album was disappointing, attempting to ape some of the baggy and Madchester trends happening at the time. The band agreed.

Sway still sounds great though. And the album version turned out to be the same one they released as a single.

Perhaps they should've released a live version.

The Simpsons Collection: Two Cars In Every Garage, Three Eyes On Every Fish/Brush With Greatness

I first saw The Simpsons in 1990 when a colleague named Simpson received a tape from friends in New York. A lot had been written about the show in the media, but it would be some time before the show arrived on Sky One. And I didn't know anyone with satellite.

The episodes included Simpson and Delilah, The Crepes Of Wrath and Krusty Gets Busted - which at the time looked like hilarious, ground-breaking animated comedy. Now they look poorly-sketched, badly animated, half-characterised run throughs. I never imagined it would improve so much over the next four years.

By this time, although the show was broadcast on Sky, I still didn't know anyone with satellite, so when the first batch of videos were release, I started picking them up from Woolworths. Two episodes per tape, £8.99 each. Series 1 had thirteen episodes. Series 2, 22. Now you can pick up a series for the cost of two of the tapes.

And tapes take up so much room.

So long, and thanks for all the laughs.

Songs From The Big Chair by Tears For Fears

I saw this cheap in Trumps, Barkingside. I quite liked Tears For Fears and this had Everyone Wants to Rule The World on it. It also had a fair bit of filler and thus wasn't played often.

We can't work it out and it must be vanquished.

Star Wars: Incredible Cross-Sections

Another odd gift: a technical guide to non-existent technology.

What do I look like?

Banished. Eventually.

Cafe del Mar volumen seis by Various

Flexing my credibility (and wallet) on another trip to Australia, I picked up this. Probably attracted by At The River, but it made it onto the CD player far too infrequently (unlike also featured artist Talvin Singh's solo album).

Go now.

Aliens Ate My Buick by Thomas Dolby

I bought this for the opening track Key To Her Ferrari which Annie Nightingale used to play on her show in 80s. It wasn't bad. And neither was the second track Airhead.

The rest wasn't quite as not bad.

I didn't get where I am today being not quite as not bad.

Or maybe I did.

Motown Dance Party 2 by Various

One of my problems as a collector is I am a completist. So naturally having bought part one, I invariably buy part two, whether it's good or not.

This isn't bad. I enjoyed playing bass along to Diana Ross and My Own Piano. But it couldn't last...

When I dispose of part one, I have to dispose of part two.

I am, after all, a completist.

Little Big Adventure

I remember a colleague showing me the demo of this from a magazine cover disc and it looked really exciting and original.

I didn't buy the original release, but a reissue. And I never had the patience or imagination to get beyond the inital level.

I never got very far with the original Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy game either.

Beautiful Freak by Eels

A striking cover and two strong singles, but the album never impressed me enough to make me grab it from the sheld and stick the whole thing on again.


As I said before, they're such an interesting band, I have to guard against becoming intrigued enough to buy their entire back catalogue.

Notes From a Small Island

Opening this to assess the contents I found I'd never even unwrapped it... which means I certainly hadn't watched it! Too late now - perhaps one day I'll find a cheap DVD and three hours of spare time.


Picked up on a whim in Australia.

Good To Great by Jim Collins

By rights I should probably have burned this and prevented someone else's intellect from being polluted by its rags-to-riches nonsense. But I wasted a lot of money on it and wanted to get some of it back.

Greedy. Unprincipled. I should burn in hell.

Hits and B-Sides by Prince

Pop, soul or funk? Classification is overrated anyway.

And I do like Prince (I went to see him at Earls Court in 1992). But not enough to want to wade through a collection of hits and b-sides; I much prefer to grab one of his albums at random and listen to the whole thing.

If I'm honest with myself, I only bought this because it was so stupendously cheap.

Dig Your Own Hole by Chemical Brothers

Unfair to tag this as a victim of my narrow-mindedness, as I started listening to progressive house-styled dance in 1991, but my enthusiasm for Leftfield, Future Sound of London and the Guerilla record label didn't quite translate to the Big Beat sound of The Chemical Brothers (although I did like Bentley Rhythm Ace's album!).

I've actually played Let It Slide by Ariel much more than this... Sorry Tom!