Random Memorial for Monday 1/28/19

Gone but not forgotten:  the 1994 "edit" of one of Babs' "rare" concerts so that it could be just one cassette/CD instead of the previously released two cassette/CD set -- aka 'Barbra The Concert: Highlights'

That whole cassette/CD thing is relevant because the ongoing #discardedcassette series is all about getting rid of the cassettes for which there is also a CD in the overall musical collection (because at some point it just doesn't make sense to have multiples of media ... especially when the kids nowadays keep everything up in the clouds).

As for the song to attach to this post to memorialize this release -- it's going to be a medley (who doesn't love a medley in a live show?) from an album/soundtrack that I currently ONLY have in cassette form (which means I only get to hear it on the rare [which I assume is the opposite of the phrase "on the regular"]) ... aka ... the songs from 'Yentl' ... aka ... "papa ... watch me ... flyyyyyyyyyy".

YENTL FOR ALL THE FEELS:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLy3YDq2xl0

Random Memorial for Monday 1/14/19

Gone but not forgotten:  the fourth greatest hits album from Babs that came out in late 1989 ... and that now finds its way into the trash can next to the wilted basil ... but only because the CD version of this compilation release is firmly ensconced in the part of the vast musical collection in this house that is NOT being discarded.

In other words, this is the latest entry in my ongoing #discardedcassettes series and now I have to complete the task by selecting one song from said item to feature as an accompaniment to this post.

According to the wiki, there were only two new songs on it and although both were released, the first one to radio (which is how things were done back then) was special because it was only the third time that Ms. Streisand had an official video made (although a different wiki reference implies that it was only the second time ... which just goes to show you that you can't always trust the wiki).  Regardless -- please enjoy the Michael Bolton/Diane Warren penned 'We're Not Making Love Anymore' at the link below/to follow:

WE MAY HOLD EACH OTHER TIGHT ... SAY THAT EVERYTHING'S ALL RIGHT:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqjlT1mVWC8

Random Memorial for Monday 12/10/18

Gone but not forgotten:  the 3rd live album from a certain Barbra which came out way back in 1987 (when I was but a sophomore in high school), and which finds its way into the trash can ONLY because the CD version of this particular once-in-a-lifetime recording (well, thrice-in-a-lifetime as of this release) is also firmly ensconced alphabetically in our collection.

Lookit -- it's a song that originally captured the sense of hope at the occasion of the end of the Great War (aka WWI) ... but as someone who's glass is almost always half full, I'm willing to keep it in my back pocket for election night in 2020 (or, heaven forbid, 2024).

I refuse to believe that there won't be a day soon enough again when the clouds above are clear again ... happy times ... happy nights ... happy days ... are/will be ... here ... a- ... -gain.

GET THIS READY TO BE QUEUED UP:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wy9poGs-w6Q

Random Memorial for Monday 11/26/18

Gone but not forgotten:  the 26th studio album from Babs, which found its way to the trash can NOT because I have a thing against Ms. Streisand, BUT only because I also have this release in CD format in the music collection.

As is tradition for this particular series, I must choose a tune from the cassette that is being discarded ... and, for this post, it will be her interpretation of the classic song from 'Into the Woods' that warns parents about how kids are always paying attention to that which they say and do.

Now there's not enough space to talk about how I was keenly aware of the behavior that I saw from my bio-moms and bio-dads ... so instead I'm just gonna say that Barbra knew that one who is trusted with the well-being of another should be hyper-aware and exceptionally careful about what is said.  Children are always listening ...

CHILDREN WILL INDEED LISTEN:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAf13cKZ4Tc

Random Memorial for Monday 11/12/18

Gone but not forgotten:  the sixth album released by Bonnie Raitt ... that's almost as old as I am.  (It was released in 1977 ... and I was released out my momma's privates in 1972).

I know that it's pretty old because that cassette was once white and has aged into that dirty yellow color.

I also know that it's pretty pretty old because I distinctly remember all but wearing it out in my very first car, the yellow gold Ford Escort, flipping the tape over to hear side 1 again when side 2 was done, in that generation's version of putting it on "repeat".

Finally, I know that it's pretty pretty pretty old because it's one of those releases where *every* single song is worthy of being featured in this post since they are all just that good.  So much so, that I'm going to break with tradition and post TWO tunes in its memory (and by the way, you should know by now that the CD version of the album is currently in the massive music collection, which makes this cassette a duplicate, which is why this is in the trash in the first place).

As I said, any of the songs *could* be listed below, but seeing as how ain't nobody sings a sad sad song full of the heartache that comes from knowing too too much about human nature like Bonnie does ... it's going to have to be the ones that all about the sadness everybody in town felt when they found 'Louise' ... and the sadness that comes from realizing that it's finally time to pack up and leave a loved one as you sing your 'Opening Farewell' to them.

But really, go find this whole album and put it on repeat.  You're welcome.

SO SO SAD, PART 1:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wut4Tn7GcBY

SO SO SAD, PART 2:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_70MgKn8jY

Random Memorial for Monday 11/5/18

Gone but not forgotten:  tonight's hamburger helper.

Also gone but not forgotten:  Reba's 17th album 'It's Your Call' -- at least in *cassette* form, as it used to be when it was in the music collection before it found itself in the trash can tonight as the latest cassette to be "done like that" seeing as how the CD is *also* already in the music mix.

(To tell you the truth, I had thought that I had already featured all of the Rebas in this category, but I found this one in the bottom of the box tonight.)

Twenty six years ago, when this was released, I was listening to ALL the songs ... but the one I'll feature tonight is Reba's take on the Patty Loveless tune 'Baby's Gone Blues', 'cause who doesn't like them some classic country crooner who is "sang"ing the blues ...

IT'S SO HARD ON MY HEART GOING FROM GOOD INTO GONE:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFb8F9bwqf4

Random Memorial for Monday 10/15/18

Gone but not forgotten:  the greatest hits of Bette Midler, as packaged in the 1993 compilation called 'Experience the Divine'.

As a reminder, this isn't some protest about Bette's political tweets -- especially seeing as how I agree with the vast majority of them -- but is instead a representation of the fact that I'm discarding cassettes for which we also have the CD in our collection.

It is such a chore to pick just one tune amidst such a collection of greatest hits ... and although I have an affinity for 'Only in Miami' now that we live in the SoFlo ... and although 'The Rose' makes me cry upon every listening ... and although I remember Johnnie's last show when she sang 'One for my Baby ... and One more for the Road', I'm going to pick the melancholy opening track of 'Hello in There', for reasons I'll share soon in an as yet unwritten post ... and, because as the Marvelous Bette says in the opening moments of the link below/to follow ... "we're all here for the survival".

SAY 'HELLO IN THERE ... HELLO':
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ldqc0_vzfgk

Random Memorial for Monday 10/1/18

Gone but not forgotten:  the debut album from the late mega-philanthropist Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou -- or, as you probably know him, George Michael.  (Unless you're of a certain age, and then you know him as DJ James K's godfather.)

Remember, this isn't in any way meant to be disrespectful to the soulful chanteur -- it's just that the CD version of this release is also in the music collection, so it's time to purge the 80's music technology.

As for the tune to accompany this post?  I'll pick the one released in October of 31 years ago (1987 for those of you who suck at math) ... and if you don't know which one that is, then let me yell at you:  "WON'T YOU GIVE ME A BREAK SOMEBODY GIVE ME A BREAK NOW!" ... just in case you too are having a 'Hard Day'.

(BONUS song tonight ... you can see the Armour bag in the trash [we're having meatballs tonight for dinner], and so the song that is *really* running around my head this evening is the classic jingle for their hot dogs, which may or may not be politically correct in this day and age -- but could anyone really rhyme anything with big-boned kids?!?)

MOVE YOUR MOUTH FOREVER BUT THE WORDS SOUND JUST THE SAME:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_WeLoUXx0U

Random Memorial for Monday 9/17/18

Gone but not forgotten:  Liza.  Well, the live version of her.  Or, even more accurately, the version of her artistic output released in 1992 as 'Liza Live (from the Radio City Music Hall)'.

Fear not -- Ms. Minnelli isn't dead (yet).  It's just that this 5th live release of hers is also in the music collection as a CD, so the ancient cassette is being discarded because it is apparently healthy to purge ... (slowly ... one cassette at a time ... on a fortnightly schedule ... 'cause deep down inside I actually don't like to purge).

As for the tune to include with the post -- it's probably not a surprise that it would be a Kander/Ebb song, what with her affinity for their work, but the question is *which* one.  And the answer is -- the passive-aggressive ditty about wanting to know and not wanting to know but really wanting to know when you've been cheated on ... and especially with whom ... featured in 'Sorry I Asked'.  An emotional roller-coaster of a song ... with a big "burn" payoff at the end ... PLUS a natural timeline defying "easter egg" hidden at the end of the song tied to her 'Arrested Development' storyline years later (you know if you know)... what's not to love?

YOU KNOW WHAT MISTER ... BUSTER ... STRANGER?:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJJGaUbCsmY

Random Memorial for Monday 9/3/18

Gone but not forgotten:  the cassette version documenting when Meatloaf went back INTO hell for 'Bat out of Hell II' (in the early nineties, for those of you unaware that there was a sequel to his classic release that came along twenty  years later).

Which brings up a point of potential clarification, because this was actually a trilogy, but know now that you won't be seeing a song from 'Bat out of Hell III:  The Monster is Loose' (from the 00's) in two weeks because by the time that was released, I had moved on to CDs exclusively ... and since this series is only for those double entries in the collection where there's a cassette AND a CD, it's the last Meat-release that will be featured.

That being said -- you WILL see a song from *this* release ... and I'm choosing the operatic complaint ditty where Marvin Aday gets hella ANGRY and screams to the gods about how everything is DEFECTIVE ... after which he concludes that 'Life is a Lemon and I want my Money Back'!  Rage on, Meat, rage on!

WHATEVER YOU ARE THINKING OF, JUST KNOW IN ADVANCE IT'S DEFECTIVE:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrJ93WJRiaA
 

Random Memorial for Monday 8/20/18

Gone but not forgotten:  the meatloaf in the trash can.

Oops -- I probably should have capitalized that M ... because it is indeed a cassette in Marvin Aday's *stage name* that's being shown in the trash receptacle in the accompanying photo.  (Also, just in case you've not seen this series before, this example of a now-ancient form of delivering music is only IN the trash can because the CD version is still in the overall music collection ...)

It's the *classic* Marvin/Meatloaf release, of course -- not the *rare* classic that has him in a duet with Cher, but the standard classic operatic 'Bat out of Hell' (... or, seeing as how there were eventually TWO sequels, 'Bat out of Hell [part 1]').  It IS a classic because EVERY song on it is a classic, although seeing as how I typically only choose ONE tune to feature as I say goodbye to releases via this type of post every other week, it's going to have to be the blue-balls-opus I first heard at a party in the basement of a house in Germany during my college semester abroad -- where I was called out for not knowing all the words -- a mistake I most definitely no longer make!

AND NOW I'M PRAYING FOR THE END OF TIME:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmPMMitJDYg

Random Memorial for Monday 8/6/18

Gone but not forgotten:  that which will end the summer of Madge-in-the-trash-can.

(Regular readers might recall that last summer was the summer of Reba-in-the-trash-can ... and Celine-in-the-trash-can was the summer before that [or thereabouts]).

Indeed, this is the last of the cassettes from this particular artist that are being discarded because the CD version of the same is in the master massive music collection ...

As for the tune being chosen to feature to accompany this post, it's the paradoxical song that declares that 'Nothing Really Matters' ... but that "Nothing takes the past away like the future" and that "Nothing makes the darkness go like the light" ... which kind of makes the "the future" and "the light" into things that really matter, no?

SO, IN THE END, SOME STUFF DOES MATTER:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAVx9RKaLPU

Random Memorial for Monday 7/23/18

Gone but not forgotten:  another cassette tape in the trash, for this, the summer of Madonna -- well, at least the summer of Madonna when it comes to this occasional series. 

(And, as a reminder, Madge is in the trash because this CD version is also already in the overall music collection, and one has to purge at some time in one's life.)

Of course, if I'm being completely accurate, that might be Miss Dita there in the trash, as ... you know ... she was kind of the hostess for the album.  (Yes, I am aware that my referring to it as an album is hinting at my old age -- and kids, albums came before cassettes but after eight-tracks.  Ask your grandparents -- or a hipster DJ -- for more info.)

As for the tune I'll choose to feature in honor of this item going the way of the empty yogurt container is one that speaks to *this* day and age the same as it did to the 1992 era when this fifth album of hers was released: 'Why's It So Hard' -- and you needn't be worried that a song with *that* title on an album named 'Erotica' might be pornographic, as she saved that approach and her usage of double entendres (and single entendres) ... for other tracks.

LOVE YOUR SISTER ... LOVE YOUR BROTHER ... NOW!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnQdzJ_SO-8

Random Memorial for Monday 7/9/18

Gone but not forgotten:  here it is another fortnight ... and there is another "Madge" tape in the trash can (right there with the remnant's of last night's key lime pie slices).

Remember -- this isn't some kind of protest, but just the realization that, seeing as how we also have the CD in the collection, holding on to a duplicate of her release in cassette tape format from the last millennium is no longer necessary.

As for this album -- her third -- from the heyday of my life known as the late 80's -- the song I'll choose from it to accompany tonight's goodbye post is the rallying cry to save the world for the boys and girls born into it by choosing love not war.  Because, in a time like ours, is there ever a message more relevant as one that affirms that 'Love' [is what] 'Makes the World Go 'Round'!?

REACH OUT FOR SOMEONE'S HAND:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eTHpZOLG6g

Random Memorial for Monday 6/25/18

Gone but not forgotten: yet another cassette going out in the garbage -- this time the first of a few from Ms. Ciccone.

As a reminder, this isn't any kind of dig against the singer -- it's just that it's her turn to get purged from the cassette collection because there is an identical version of the release in with the CDs (and even though those tricky millennials *tried* to make cassettes a thing again, it doesn't seem like it's going to stick).

So fare thee well, "virginal" Madonna (and is there any more an appropriate use of those air quotes) ... and since I have to pick a tune to accompany the image, I'm going to go with her cover of Ross Royce's song (something I didn't even know *was* a cover until I went fact checking this post -- although, let's face it, I was only six years old when the original came out in the late 70's).  For that matter, I might as well break my rules (they are MY rules after all) and post BOTH versions of 'Love Don't Live Here Any More' ...

MADONNA GOT ABANDONED:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TY1UdLLw7TQ

BUT ROSS ROYCE GOT ABANDONED FIRST:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5gFAiPJhvI

Random Memorial for Monday 6/11/18

Gone but not forgotten:  the next cassette being discarded because the CD version of it already exists in the music collection.

'Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow:  The Greatest Hits of Kenny Loggins' is *most definitely* in said collection, because it's one of the ones I'm sure to grab any time there is a road trip being planned.

How to choose just one tune to feature as we say goodbye to this great greatest hits release?  It's safe knowing that any choice will be one of quality, but since I have to pick just one ('cause those are the rules for this concept), I'm going to go for all the wistfulness and the full circularity and the Amy Grant guest star appearance that all make up 'Back to Pooh Corner'.  The fact that my own bio-moms used to tell me that the "wonderful thing about tiggers" was "that tiggers are wonderful things" as a form of encouragement to just be me had nothing to do with this choice.  Maybe.

"I swear that old bear whispered, 'boy, welcome home'" ...

TIGGERS *ARE* WONDERFUL THINGS:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syU3NDkZPvs

Random Memorial for Monday 5/28/18

Gone but not forgotten:  another cassette getting thrown out because the CD version is also in the music collection and because there's only so much space for "things" as you get older.

By the way -- what's *not* being discarded?  The 78 full sized vinyl album of Hey Lewis & The News' 'Fore' released in 1987 (a big year for me) -- an item that I also still have in that collection -- 'cause vinyl has cache that cassettes just don't.

Anyway -- back to the item pictured in the trash can ... it's the 1996 greatest hits and more collection (with four new songs) named 'Time Flies'.  And the fact that it's from the 90's shouldn't be a surprise, seeing as how the 90's were a big time for cassettes.

As for the song to feature in this goodbye post (again, to the cassette -- NOT to the CD), it's been established that I'm a sucker for a loud horn section, and there may not be a hornier horn section than the one in 'Doin' It All for my Baby' (the fifth top ten hit from the aforementioned 'Fore' album).  Horny horns ... you will be missed ... but only until I pull out the CD for another listen ...

DOIN' IT ... DOIN' IT ... DOIN' IT ... YEAH!:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpdZvewjwJs

Random Memorial for Monday 5/14/18

Gone but not forgotten:  the Greatest Hits of Journey (at least the greatest ones circa 1988, when this compilation was released).

Now why would I be throwing away what was once known as the sixth highest certified 'greatest hits' package in the United States (as of a 2008 tabulation [as per the all knowing Wiki])?  Because, as I've explained every other week on Mondays for awhile now, the CD version of this masterpiece is *also* in the music collection, so it's time now for the cassette to be discarded.

How do I possibly choose a tune to feature in honor of the cassette's "passing"?  I guess the only way to do so is to close my eyes and to picture the roller rink of my youth and to listen closely to the memory to figure out what inspirational (and maybe slightly confrontational) song is playing in the background.

In other words, Steve Perry scream-singing about what would happen if "he" ever hurts "you", you will be missed (well at least when it comes to scream-singing on a cassette):

Someday love will find you
Break those chains that bind you, one night will remind you
How we touched and went our separate ways
If he ever hurts you, true love won't desert you
You know I still love you
Though we touched and went our separate ways

HERE WE STAND -- WORLDS APART ... HEARTS BROKEN IN TWO (... TWO ... TWO):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LatorN4P9aA

Random Memorial for Monday 4/30/18

Gone but not forgotten:  Janet.  (Ms. Jackson if you're nasty.)

Yep, there's another cassette in the trash can tonight because we already also have the CD in the music collection.

Tonight, it's Michael's little sister -- a star in her own right (even if she tricks Arab baby daddies into giving her the one little thing that she couldn't have [and yes, this is a shout out to Heart]) ... and there's nothing quite representative of the late 80's/early 90's (the era when I grew up) than 'That's the Way Love Goes'.

In other words ... 'like a moth to the flame fueled by the fire ..."

YOUR LOVE IS BLIND, CAN'T YOU SEE MY DESIRE:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpQ88a6zy8E

Random Memorial for Monday 4/16/18

Gone but not forgotten:  the fourth (and final) Billy Joel cassette that is finding its way into the trash can (for no other reason than that I also have the same item in CD format).

This one is the second to last one before he retired ... and by "retired", I mean before he went classical ... and then released various and assorted greatest hits compilations ... and then started his live concerting to put his daughter through college.

To me, it will always be the "modern" Billy Joel, because it was released the year I graduated from high school and started a decade's worth of college and other post-graduate education.  As such, many of the tracks are tied to actual experiences -- 'We Didn't Start the Fire" was playing at the cast party where I actually turned over a table at the Lebanon Knights of Columbus long before housewives were doing it ... the lyrics to 'And So It Goes' were pinned to my dorm room door in an awkward attempt to break up with a girlfriend ... 'I Go To Extremes' was frequently blared at a volume of 11 to celebrate the emotional ups and downs of that era.

Al that said, the tune I'll feature will be the one that speaks to a different time in a different day when the Cold War was winding down and we were all realizing that we were more like "the enemy" than we thought.  Maybe we all could benefit from a return trip to 'Leningrad' in modern times ...

COLD WAR KIDS HARD TO KILL UNDER THEIR DESKS IN AN AIR RAID DRILL:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgD_-dRZPgs