completism

Spacemen 3, et. al.
Pink Floyd
The Church

From the (also dim & distant) record store clerk days, drive yourself mad by becoming a completist for:

frank zappa
bill nelson
soft machine (or better/worse still, "canterbury")

I think for a long time it was thought that Syd appeared on "Singing a Song in the Morning", which can be found on some classic Syd bootlegs. However, the song that appears on those boots is the Kevin Ayres single, actually called Religious Experiance(can't remember if it was released as Singing...) and doesn't feature Syd. The truth is in the liner notes to Kevin Ayres Joy of a Toy reissue. Syd came by, recorded a lead guitar line, then left. Then Kevin changed his mind and played guitar on top of Syd's, very much mimicking syd's style. So the final version is actually just Kevin playing like Syd. The CD features both the original Syd session and 2 or 3 later Kevin versions.

i would love to hear all the bart/cat's miaow stuff.

completing a label collection is more fun.

were their other songs as good as the single?

I have everything by the Shop Assistants that I know of. Even that free 7" that came with Sounds with the different version of Train From Kansas City.

I could try computerizing it and putting it on slsk if anyone wants it?

Does ANYONE own the complete Sun Ra discography?

I think I have everything by the Rosehips, cos I have the discography CD and the split flexi with the Fat Tulips.

Did Opal release anything that's not on Early Recordings or Happy Nightmare Baby?

If the Wedding Present hadn't reformed, I'd have everything by them.

Do you Shop Assistants completists have the Rolling Stones tribute album with their version of "Respectable"? And then there's the 53rd & 3rd compilation with a song called "Tried To Tell You"...any others?

Ahhh the joy of torrents. But the real question is is it worth having all those albums?

Yes, the version of The Doors' "Indian Summer" on a Chemical Imbalance 7" EP

All the bands I like are too prolific to actually get "everything". I'm usually missing one or two obscure things.

all the CM stuff is on the two reissue cds, with the exception of a couple of songs on 'little baby sourpuss' (and the darla EP)

Further to all the comments earlier, there's also the cover of Elizabeth Cotten's "Freight Train" that's only on the UK 12" of "Fell From the Sun". From memory.

Did they ever release "Rocket Machine" as a single? Someone told me they did, but I can't find any reference to it at all. Anywhere.

http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/stevewynn/message/2708?viscount=100

that's cheating!

Bob Dylan
Sonic Youth
The Slackers
Spacemen 3/Spiritualized
Flaming Lips

Ahhh the joy of torrents. But the real question is is it worth having all those albums?

the notion of downloading a torrent being equal to owning every recording aside, how the fuck did you manage to download RRR-500? have you got it spread across 500 infinite hard drives, or just one?

I find it difficult to believe that anyone apart from a totally anal fanatic could have absolutely every official release that Dylan has ever sang or played on.

the original question was "OK so what bands/artists do you own every single known official recording of?"

not passing judegement on downloading, but having all the mp3s is not the same as owning all their official releases.

i also took the statement to mean owning all the releases, not just having all the songs. like having all their original releases vs having talulah gosh's backwash or charles bronson's discocrappy.

buying the complete records of ... hardly seems like completism to me. and downloading every mp3 just seems sad.

Oh crap, and I've cheated by having Gala instead of the 1st 3 EP's individually. I do have Scar though, so I'm only missing Mad Love & Sweetness & Light.

Well, I don't, but I wish I did.

what happens to those cassettes? i figure they just disappear 'cause people aren't so into selling them on ebay or elsewhere as vinyl.

I own everything by My Bloody Valentine that includes Bilinda.

just realized i've been fairly completist about the clientele. after seeing them in an nyu student hall (or some such building) basement in i guess '99 or '00, i've made sure to buy each single as it comes out. i think i'm only missing a live single and the compilation appearances (which i don't think are ever exclusive, anyway). i sometimes feel guilty for owning the march records 10", since they never got paid for it, and skippy march is a dick. seen them at least once live since then, but it's never been as good as seeing them play in that basement with the trial projected behind them.