There’s a music shop near Sangeet theatre that’s selling off most of its cds at reduced prices. BAsically I stumbled upon it one day – just when I had moved to Hyderabad, and was browsing through the collection there and suddenly found a cd of Sepultura’s CHAOS AD. And the original cd, at that. It was slightly battered, the cover was open and the a little faded, but the cd inside looked fine. Asked the guy how much he would sell it for. 300 rupees, he said. Cd prices at that point of time were coming down drastically, and I told him so – and pointed out that 300 rupees is a ridiculous price for something that has obviously been used.

My powers of persuasion worked! He gave it to me for 225 bucks.

Slowly, I started buying the stuff there. Everytime I was there, i would see some stuff I hadn’t noticed before. Started telling my friends/colleagues about the place, and one of them found Floyd’s Dark Side of The Moon for 200 Rs. Rishi bought his first Judas Priest album from there, too.

Among the good stuff I got in the beginning were Chemical Brothers’ Dig Your Own Hole, Prodigy’s Fat of the Land and Music For the Jilted Generation. Alanis Morrisette – Jagged Little Pill, three Blur Albums, Oasis – Be Here Now
Kula Shaker – Peasants, Pigs and Astronauts, the Kabhi na Kabhi OST……

But unfortunately, I missed out on something real good – a two cd-set of The Best of The Doors that was going for 400 bucks ( i know I could have got the price down to 350 bucks, but I didn’t even try, coz I had all the mp3s.) And now, one fine day, I go there and see that the cd has been sold. Pah!

Panic mode ON!

Last Saturday, I went there and told Naveen (that’s the guy’s name, we are on a first name basis now ) that I am buying 14 cds, and he said, ok, flat rate, 2200 bucks. YO! So these were the cds I got –

Neil Diamond – Tennessee Moon – Neil Diamond has one of the most amazing voices I know, and with Chandru’s help, I have almost all his albums. (copied, of course) Am planning to buy “The Essential Neil Diamond” just to HAVE it. “Tennessee Moon” isn’t his finest album, but it sure has some great tunes. Featues Waylon Jennings and Chet Atkins as guest stars among others. Gave it a listen.

Connie Francis – The Best of I heard Connie Francis singing “Stupid Cupid” on the Mementoes album, and …need I say anything more? Chandru tells me this is a pretty rare album. Most of the songs on it are in Mono.

Enigma – E3
Enigma – The Screen Behind the Mirror – The only Enigma album I had heard so far was MCMX ( the first album) and random tracks. I heard TSBTM once so far, and it uses snatches of Carmina Burana. BEautiful music to listen to in a darkened room at night.

Dean Martin – The Best of I bought this primarily for the fact that this has “Baby it’s Cold Outside”, one of my favourite songs. And also I have but one Heart, which featured on the Godfather soundtrack. Other songs here include a version of Volare, and La Bamba. I found out that the versions of Baby It’s Cold Outside and I have but one heart were radically different frm the original versions, they were more voice-centric.

Bruce Springsteen – 18 Greatest Hits. The Boss is one artiste I haven’t listened to properly, except for the ever-present Born In The USA, and Streets of Philadelphia, and The Ghost of Tom Joad. Haven’t started on it yet.

Luciano Pavorotti and Friends – Live for Guatemala and Kosovo – Beautiful live album. I love Pavorotti’s voice, complements that of artistes like Mariah Carey, and BOyzone who sing along on this album. It also features legends like BB King and Zucchero. One of my favourite tracks on this album is a Spanish number by Gloria Estefan. Pure Latino!

Elvis Presley – debut album. – Since I bought the video of the Making of this album, it’s only fair that I should buy the original. Elvis is GOD!

AR Rahman – Bombay OST – At last count, this is the 9th time I have possessed this album in any form. The cassette in Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu, then a Tamil cassette my father bought for me just because he saw a different cover saying “AR Rahman” and didn’t realise it was Bombay. (My parents used to indulge and encourage my ARR fixation a lot when I was a dorky kid) Then a version of the Tamil album with additional songs. The mp3s. Then a Bombay/Kaadhalan combo cd, that I got as a gift. Then another Bombay/Iruvar combo that I got as a gift (and later gave away). And now this. The original Hindi cd.

Hey Raam OST – Under-rated album by many. Over-rated by some. I love Shruti Haasan’s vocals on the title track. In love with Rani Mukherjee’s recitation of the Bangla poem. Love the piano on “Nee Partha Paarven”.

Pro-Pain – Contents Under Pressure. Highly recommended by the biggest Metal-freak I know. The other Metal-freak I know, the guy from Bangladesh, hasn’t even heard of it.

Offspring – Americana. – Give it to me, bay-bee. (Aha Aha)
Give it to me, bay-bee. (Aha Aha)

Simon and Garfunkel – Best of All the best songs in one cd. Sometimes it’s nice to have a cd just for the heck of possessing it. :-)

Spice Girls – Spice. Aaaaaaaaah! Nostalgia time. Many nights have I spent with the Spicy five’s ditties, and well, it’s back to basics again. You can’t imagine the trouble I had to go through in the pre-Internet era to get just one nude Geri Halliwell pic….

And that is the psychology behind an excessive cd-buying spree.