Most important compilations of all-time?

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This certainly has to be number one, no?
http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o170/ROCKISM_101/aanuggets.jpg
Nuggets: Original Artyfacts From the First Psychedelic Era 1965-1968

― Tinky-Winky, Monday, 14 May 2007 11:57 (eighteen years ago)

Most comps are rubbish IMO. Unless it's a box set, most of them don't have room for enough tracks to make a point I guess. I would agree with Nuggets, and would also vote for Rhino's DIY sets in the early '90s. Those were always the better looking sibling to the label's Just Can't Get Enough new wave comps, which were always uniformly 50/50.

― MC, Monday, 14 May 2007 12:13 (eighteen years ago)

I think The Anthology of American Folk Music is right up there with Nuggets. And the liner notes (new and old) are crazy good.

― EZ Snappin, Monday, 14 May 2007 12:27 (eighteen years ago)

Possibly stretching the defintion of compilation further than you would wish, but I would plump for 'No New York', Eno's no wave sampler.

― Guilty_Boksen, Monday, 14 May 2007 12:39 (eighteen years ago)

If you are speaking of compilations as a marketing phenomenon, I think "Now That's What I Call Music" (the original double album from 1983) may be just as important. It has had an enormous impact afterwards. No so much the music (although 1983 was a great year for pop music) as the actual idea behind the compilation and the kinds of marketing trends it influenced.

― Geir Hongro, Monday, 14 May 2007 12:49 (eighteen years ago)

some of the century media/century black compilations from the late 90s were pretty grand. they provided a good avenue to get into some of the best metal around at the time.

― Charlie Howard, Monday, 14 May 2007 12:53 (eighteen years ago)

Wanna Buy A Bridge?
Fruit of the Original Sin
No New York
ReR Sampler 2xLP

― dan selzer, Monday, 14 May 2007 12:53 (eighteen years ago)

I mean, even today's increased emphasis on downloading single tracks rather than entire albums may be a result of the compilations trend of the 80s and 90s. Kids growing up from the late 80s onwards got used to buying albums with single hits by various acts rather than a few albums by a few acts, which helped the kids lean more towards single songs and less towards albums or favourite acts.

― Geir Hongro, Monday, 14 May 2007 12:54 (eighteen years ago)

Nah, it's like it ever was: Singles are cheaper than albums and have that one track you wanted. Even the "Now" albums have a ton of tracks one may not care for.

― Mark G, Monday, 14 May 2007 12:56 (eighteen years ago)

New Wave -- single disc punk comp ca 1977 w/ "New Rose" "Piss Factory"

This Is Reggae Music Vol 1-3 (Island)

Greatest Rap Hits Volume 2 (Sugar Hill)

― m coleman, Monday, 14 May 2007 12:57 (eighteen years ago)

Nah, it's like it ever was: Singles are cheaper than albums and have that one track you wanted.

The late 60s, 70s and most of the 80s were all about albums. But if you are speaking of the pre-Beatles age, surely.

― Geir Hongro, Monday, 14 May 2007 12:59 (eighteen years ago)

for me personally, the most influential compilations have been the two rubble boxes, glass arcade (on sarah), and one last kiss (on spinart). 90% of what i listen to that isn't fm radio fare can be traced back to those.

― electricsound, Monday, 14 May 2007 13:04 (eighteen years ago)

No, (geir) I was talking about the "Now" album and you saying it steered people towards singles/tracks. It's a compilation of singles/tracks, for the most part after they were hits (some in advance of them being hits). The late sixties-> Nineties albums bit, yes but that was a different market. The singles market was down until the late seventies,
Punk revived that market.

― Mark G, Monday, 14 May 2007 13:04 (eighteen years ago)

Tighten Up
The Rubble Series
Pillows and Prayers
Palatine

― Dr.C, Monday, 14 May 2007 13:06 (eighteen years ago)

Deep Lancashire: Songs, Ballads and Verse from the Industrial North West of England
vintage hawaiian music - steel guitar masters 1928-1934
vintage hawaiian music--the great singers 1928-1934
swing accordeon (1926-1942)
r. crumb's 78rpm collection - songs from the 1920's
pennies from heaven
mechanical music treasury
american bird songs and calls
hilbilly music...thank god!!!!!
Hawaiian Music Honolulu Hollywood Nashville 1927-1944
hawaiian steel guitar classics - historic recordings- 1927 - 1938

― 696, Monday, 14 May 2007 13:07 (eighteen years ago)

loads of ocora stuff

― Frogman Henry, Monday, 14 May 2007 13:09 (eighteen years ago)

Punk sort of revived the singles market in the UK. In the rest of the world it wasn't really revived until the downloading craze started. But before that, the kids had become more used to thinking along the lines of single tracks by buying compilations rather than albums by one act.

Of course, another recent trend that will save the future of the album nevertheless, is how 40-50-year-olds have been starting to buy albums to a much larger extent than before, partly because of TV ads, but also because they were more used to buying records in their youth than their parents were. An increasing amount of today's album sales are aimed at that market (plus there's the 30+ market with Coldplay etc. in addition)

― Geir Hongro, Monday, 14 May 2007 13:10 (eighteen years ago)

Well, I don't know about the rest of the world. So, OK.

Further to that: The forty-fifties are now buying albums that they could not afford at the time, as well as the 'maturation market'

Anyway, I'm off the subject now, so carry on!

― Mark G, Monday, 14 May 2007 13:14 (eighteen years ago)

Beleza Tripical Vol. I sure did do a lot for me. Discovered a tremendous amount of great music upon first hearing that one.

― ellaguru, Monday, 14 May 2007 15:46 (eighteen years ago)

Um, Tropical, I mean.

― ellaguru, Monday, 14 May 2007 15:47 (eighteen years ago)

r. crumb's 78rpm collection - songs from the 1920's

YES!

― Tinky-Winky, Monday, 14 May 2007 18:56 (eighteen years ago)

This Are Two Tone was hugely important to me when I was 15 or so.

― unperson, Monday, 14 May 2007 18:57 (eighteen years ago)

I seem to have misplaced my copy of Rockism 101 Presents Music to Bleach Your Anus By, but I can vouch for the appropriateness of the title.

― Mike Dixn, Monday, 14 May 2007 19:03 (eighteen years ago)

Norman Granz's The Jazz Scene

In 1949 this was pretty big.

http://microgroove.jp/mercury/TheJazzScene.shtml

― city worker, Monday, 14 May 2007 19:57 (eighteen years ago)

http://www.jahsonic.com/UBB2.jpg

― Jordan, Monday, 14 May 2007 19:59 (eighteen years ago)

Martin Williams's "The Smithsonian Collection of Claasic Jazz" was a revelation when it came out in the 70s.

― The guy who just votes in polls, Monday, 14 May 2007 20:20 (eighteen years ago)

the purple knif show: http://www.garagepunk.com/?p=99

― chris, Monday, 14 May 2007 20:28 (eighteen years ago)

Very good stuff already listed..

Add The Harder They Come

The "Just Say..." series from Sire/WB may a lot of people think that they were really into the whole late-80s's alternative thing.

― christoff, Monday, 14 May 2007 20:32 (eighteen years ago)

Tropicália: Ou Panis Et Circenses.

Kicked off a whole musical and cultural movement.

― leavethecapital, Monday, 14 May 2007 20:38 (eighteen years ago)

http://www.leftfield-online.co.uk/images/discography/scan/brithop.jpg

― That one guy that quit, Monday, 14 May 2007 20:42 (eighteen years ago)

The folk anthology could be more important than nuggets. but then again, how does one measure that?

― QuantumNoise, Monday, 14 May 2007 20:51 (eighteen years ago)

influence points.

― chris, Monday, 14 May 2007 21:08 (eighteen years ago)

the Basic Channel CD pretty much kick-started microhouse...

― henry s, Monday, 14 May 2007 21:35 (eighteen years ago)

kind of puts all that folky shit into perspective huh.

― That one guy that quit, Monday, 14 May 2007 21:37 (eighteen years ago)

Mr. Manicotti's "Big Itch" series.

― ian, Monday, 14 May 2007 21:37 (eighteen years ago)

If soundtracks count, then there's "Saturday Night Fever" in addition to "The Harder They Come".

― Geir Hongro, Monday, 14 May 2007 21:45 (eighteen years ago)

surely this has been done before.

my votes for top ten, fairly unrehearsed and unthought-out:

Smithsonian Anthology, as mentioned.

Wanna Buy A Bridge, ditto.

Not So Quiet On The Western Front (a mindblower for me at age 18).

Let Them Eat Jellybeans.

then maybe Nuggets...

Killed By Death #1 is pretty damn good also.

If You Can't Please Yourself, You Can't Please Your Soul (mostly awesome, otherwise unavailable tracks from the then-near-unbeatable Some Bizarre roster).

God's Favorite Dog just barely beats out No New York for me.

Devastate To Liberate LP (very underrated David Tibet-curated comp with all the usual suspects).

Lee Scratch Perry's Arkology triple CD.

― sleeve, Monday, 14 May 2007 21:58 (eighteen years ago)

The Tom Moulton-mixed Disco Gold Vols. 1 and 2 from 1975.

― Mr. Snrub, Monday, 14 May 2007 22:39 (eighteen years ago)

The Perfect Beats
Disco (Not Disco)
The Kompakt Total series

― Mr. Snrub, Monday, 14 May 2007 22:43 (eighteen years ago)

Hearing Let Them Eat Jellybeans was a life-changing experience at 13.

― shieldforyoureyes, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 02:17 (eighteen years ago)

I tried to Google it and didn't see anything immmediately but I was (msically) brought into the world on my parents 12 Volume RCA Victor History of Jazz 10" set. Therein I heard everything from leadbelly to Bix Biederbeck doing "Barnacle Bill the Sailor", Bessie Smith to Meade Lux Lewis WITH Ammons and Johnson (boogie piano trio), ummmm buncha other stuff.

Pretty much set me up.

― factcheckr, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 02:54 (eighteen years ago)

Project Blowed was pretty influential.

― Oilyrags, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 02:57 (eighteen years ago)

Wikipedia says C86.

― Tape Store, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 03:01 (eighteen years ago)

what jim said and tuatara.

― keythkeyth, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 03:19 (eighteen years ago)

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000003TB4.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

― jon /via/ chi 2.0, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 03:20 (eighteen years ago)

Mostly for Counting Crows, right?

― Tape Store, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 03:29 (eighteen years ago)

(xpost)

― Tape Store, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 03:30 (eighteen years ago)

Streetsounds Electro, Volumes 1-6. (1983-85)
The House Sound Of Chicago, Vols 1-3. (1986-88)
Reactivate 9 & 10. (1994-95)

― mike t-diva, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 10:07 (eighteen years ago)

The peak for singles sales in the UK was 1997, 14 years after the 'Now' compilations debuted.

― Billy Dods, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 10:16 (eighteen years ago)

The peak for singles sales in the UK was 1997, 14 years after the 'Now' compilations debuted.

OK. Then I guess singles sales were killed off by the record companies' annoying tendency to sell singles at a discount during the first week, which caused an annoyingly fast turnover in the charts. With downloading, this phenomenon is luckily no more.

I still think an airplay factor should be included in all charts all over the world though.

― Geir Hongro, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 10:20 (eighteen years ago)

ten important compilations for me personally:

Now! 6
Skinbeat: The First Touch
The Best Of Production House
A Retrospective Of House '91-'95 vol 3
Blech
Platinum Breaks
Asphodelic
Sampled
As Heard On Radio Soulwax vol 2
Never Mind The Bootlegs - Boom Selection
Ultramix 04

― blueski, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 10:25 (eighteen years ago)

C81 - not that important probably, just good

― Tom D., Tuesday, 15 May 2007 10:25 (eighteen years ago)

That Velvets double LP compilation with Coke bottle on it - important in Glasgow at any rate

― Tom D., Tuesday, 15 May 2007 10:26 (eighteen years ago)

I think Anthology of American Folk music is probably the most important. The way it mixed white and black American music, and emphasized strange individualism over cultural continuity makes it the blueprint for everything that followed from the Greenwich Village folk scene. And the CD reissue seems to have directly prompted the freak-folk vibe. That's two major shifts in music.

Nuggets is a close second, and similarly, for suddenly defining an approach that had just as suddenly vanished. To think it appeared so soon after the era it described shows how necessary it was.

C-86 is one who's magic I saw firsthand. It arrived at my college radio station just as I started dj'ing, and very quickly crystallized the notion of "indie" as distinct from "new wave" or "punk".

Not So Quiet on the Western Front seemed to really drive home the "anyone can do it" vibe for HC. Jellybeans showed how good it could be.

Personally, Boston Not LA meant a lot growing up in the Boston scene. The Perry Arkology is one set that I'd take to the desert island with me.

― bendy, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 05:14 (eighteen years ago)

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