mfs@mhuxr.UUCP (SIMON) (02/27/85)
Well this is what you've been waiting for, folks! The object of this survey, of course, was to identify the single piece that could provide musical enjoyment "forever", i.e. be more than just the current fad. To use a food analogy, the point was not to take along what tastes best, but what nourishes most. The survey was looking for a single unit of commercially released music to force selection among the works of a favorite composer or group. In this vein, the "Beatles from A to Z" entry was disallowed as outside the spirit of the survey. In the case of entries that specified more than one piece/unit, I arbitrarily chose the first one listed. The results were enlightening. There were 54 entries, and the "winners" were Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" and Kate Bush's "The Dreaming", which were tied with two votes apiece. 52 different selections out of 54 entries is a testimony to the variety of tastes on this net. It is also a signal that there is a lot of great music out there worth investigating (I guess my record buying budget is going bust, again). Aside from the above "winners", these are the responses (no spelling flames plz): The Roches, "the Roches" Handel, "Messiah" (Atlanta Symphony, Robert Shaw) Woody Guthrie, "Library of Congress recordings" Windham Hil Records Sampler Rush, "2112" JS Bach, "Well Tempered Keyboard" (Glenn Gould) Mozart, "String Quintets" (Smetana Quartet, Josef Suk, 1st viola) Pete Fountain, "The best of..." George Benson, "The George Benson Collection" David Bowie, "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars" Mozart, "Don Giovanni" (Glyndemourne/Fritzbush) De Danann, "Song for Ireland" The Jam, "Greatest Hits" Yes, "Close to the Edge" "Greatest Folksingers of the 60s" Mahler, "1st Symphony" (Boston Symphony, Eric Leinsdorf) The Who, "Who's Next" Elvis Costello, "My Aim is True" Captain Beefheart, "Trout Mask Replica" Mike Oldfield, "Five Miles Out" The Ramones, "Leave Home" Bruce Springsteen, "Born to Run" Asleep at the Wheel, "Served Live" Robin Trower, "Twice Removed from Yesterday" Bela Bartok, "Six String Quartets" (Tokyo String Quartets) Beethoven, "String Quartet # 16, Op. 131" (No information given) Brahms, "2nd Piano Concerto" (Vladimir Ashkenazy) Bob Marley and the Wailers, "Confrontation" U2, "Unforgettable Fire" The Grateful Dead, Any live recording Rachmaninoff, "3rd Piano Concerto" (Vladimir Ashkenazy) Leonard Bernstein, "Bernstein's Mass" (No information given) Monteverdi, "Vespers of the Virgin Mary" (Regensberger Donspatzen) JS Bach, "The Goldberg Variations" (Glenn Gould, 2nd recording) Weather Report, "Heavy Weather" The Beatles, "Revolver" Hugo Friedhofer, "Best Years of our lives" (soundtrack of movie of same name) Verdi, "La Traviata" (Royal Philharmonia, Aldo Ceccatto with Beverly Sills, Nicolai Gedda and Rolando Paneira) The Beatles, "Abbey Road" Marvin Gaye, "What's Going On" John Cage-Lejaren Hiller, "HPSCHD" The Clash, "Sandinista" Husker Du, "Zen Arcade" Wagner, "Tristan und Isolde" (Philharmonia orch, Furtwangler with Flagstad, Suthaus and Fischer-Duskau) Genesis, "The Lamb lies down on Broadway" Billy Joel, "Nylon Curtain" Incredible String Band, "Wee Tan/The Big Huge" Elvis Costello, "Imperial Bedrooms" ZZ Top, "Deguelo" and my own entry, Miles Davis, "Kind of Blue" That's it folks! Feel free to comment. Procrastinators who want to submit late entries should post them. Marcel Simon