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Post by Michael on Feb 21, 2016 10:27:07 GMT
When I returned home yesterday evening from a weeklong business trip, I found two new cast recordings waiting for me in my mailbox. While sorting them, I started wondering how big my collection of cast recodings (or, more general, Musical related CDs) actually was.
So I counted them1) and came up with the following numbers of actual CDs (no digital downloads, no spotify or such):
Cast recordings: 148
Solo artist CDs (e.g. Chris Thatcher: Jesus Chris Superstar, Scott Alan live): 88
In addition, I do own three recordings only digitally, as they were never physically released (The Concrete Jungle, Made in Dagenham, Julie Atherton: A Fine Fine Line), so if I counted them too, I'd end up with 150 and 89.
I do however think that many of you must have even bigger collections, so how big are they?
And: Which cast recording is the one you've most often listened to? Quite easy for me: Memphis (OLC), despite it was only released a year ago.
1) The things you do to keep you awake until the very late evening to survive jetlag...
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Post by DebbieDoesDouglas(Hodge) on Feb 21, 2016 11:26:34 GMT
CDs - Sunset Boulevard, Little Shop of Horrors
Vinyl - Aspects of Love, Hair, Rocky Horror Show
Where as I like musicals I'm into and wide amount of music and am more likely to listen to some Nirvana or Mary Schneider than a musical at home.
Bravo on the collection though, me impressed
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617 posts
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Post by loureviews on Feb 21, 2016 16:10:39 GMT
I've got around 70 cast recordings (cassettes, CDs). The one I listen to the most is - if it counts, as a concept album - 'Chess'. If I had to pick a pure OLC, it would be 'Miss Saigon', or 'Side by Side by Sondheim'.
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1,103 posts
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Post by mallardo on Feb 21, 2016 16:59:28 GMT
There's a website called Castalbums.org which solicits you to list your MT collection. It is easily done because the site has virtually every cast album from every show ever recorded in its database and you merely check off the ones you have. If you're a collector it's an extremely informative place. Although it's an American site it covers world wide recordings.
Personally, I use the same name there I do here and the site tells me I have 293 cast recordings, all of them listed alphabetically and with graphics, images of the album covers. Check it out, by all means.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 21, 2016 18:00:23 GMT
What a great website! Thanks for recommending it.
I own around fifty different show recordings, but I collect foreign cast recordings of selected shows so my collection is much larger than fifty CDs. I also collect CDs of musical theatre stars so I have everything by Sarah Brightman and Josh Groban for example, and I have some great CD/DVD packages of some overseas Valjeans etc. I also tend to buY compilation albums which I have mentioned in another thread. I used to have a lot more on vinyl but have never replaced it as it's so easy to access and listen to now on Youtube. I also buy film scores when I like a piece of music I've heard.
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2,702 posts
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Post by viserys on Feb 21, 2016 18:06:02 GMT
Haha, after I recently posted here about collectors' items, I put a list of everything I own together in Excel. It's about 200 cast recordings so far, plus solo artists which I haven't listed yet and a box of CDs that has gone AWOL (I KNOW I owned those CDs at some point and can't remember selling them... but I have no idea where the box is).
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4,369 posts
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Post by Michael on Feb 22, 2016 16:29:14 GMT
There's a website called Castalbums.org which solicits you to list your MT collection. It is easily done because the site has virtually every cast album from every show ever recorded in its database and you merely check off the ones you have. If you're a collector it's an extremely informative place. Although it's an American site it covers world wide recordings. Personally, I use the same name there I do here and the site tells me I have 293 cast recordings, all of them listed alphabetically and with graphics, images of the album covers. Check it out, by all means. That site looks great and I've immediately signed up yesterday, but as of now, I'm still waiting for their confirmation mail with the necessary activation code - and for the three replacement mails I've requested since. And I can't activate my account without that mail. Odd. |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 22, 2016 17:08:53 GMT
There's a website called Castalbums.org which solicits you to list your MT collection. It is easily done because the site has virtually every cast album from every show ever recorded in its database and you merely check off the ones you have. If you're a collector it's an extremely informative place. Although it's an American site it covers world wide recordings. Personally, I use the same name there I do here and the site tells me I have 293 cast recordings, all of them listed alphabetically and with graphics, images of the album covers. Check it out, by all means. That site looks great and I've immediately signed up yesterday, but as of now, I'm still waiting for their confirmation mail with the necessary activation code - and for the three replacement mails I've requested since. And I can't activate my account without that mail. Odd. No problem for me... Activation code sent immediately. |
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4,369 posts
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Post by Michael on Feb 22, 2016 17:31:37 GMT
No problem for me... Activation code sent immediately. Requested the mail once more and still waiting. Really odd. So I've just emailed them. Lets see how it turns out. |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 22, 2016 19:09:21 GMT
Not sure if I should admit to this but, even though it's very out of date, my castalbums page* says I have 5238 recordings, I think that probably means about 7000 to 8000 with everything not on there. I've sort of lost count.
I have a very full room which is basically CDs. LPs, cassettes, videos, DVDs, memorabilia, scripts and such, plus an old wind up gramophone. It's supposed to be a bedroom but.....when you need space......
*It's CardinalPirelli (no gap) if anyone wants a gander and, sorry, but I really don't have time for trades for a while (when I retire maybe).
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Post by mallardo on Feb 22, 2016 19:37:48 GMT
CP, I feel pretty confident in saying you are the champion!
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Post by aksis on Feb 22, 2016 20:13:04 GMT
No problem for me... Activation code sent immediately. Requested the mail once more and still waiting. Really odd. So I've just emailed them. Lets see how it turns out. Mail was in spam folder here. |
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4,369 posts
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Post by Michael on Feb 22, 2016 20:17:06 GMT
Requested the mail once more and still waiting. Really odd. So I've just emailed them. Lets see how it turns out. Mail was in spam folder here. Nope, spam folder is empty. That was one of the first things I checked when I didn't get the mail after a few minutes. |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 22, 2016 20:26:15 GMT
CP, I feel pretty confident in saying you are the champion! Not even in the top twenty five anymore (you can see who has the largest collection via the database page)! I'll get it up to date at some point and reclaim my rightful place.  You get to know a lot of the big collectors, some are from here but most are from the US; given the change to non-physical media just how long will people put together a collection you can see rather than one that you've downloaded though? One collection you won't find on castalbums is that of Rex Bunnett who will be known to all major collectors as the 'go to' person in the UK for cast recordings, the collection of him and the late John Muir is a wonder to behold, including cylinder recordings from before the 78 era and piano rolls as well as the usual. overtures.org.uk/ |
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4,369 posts
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Post by Michael on Feb 24, 2016 21:20:45 GMT
The site owner finally replied to my mail and activated my account manually, so I can also be found on castalbums.org now As of now, 258 albums in my list: castalbums.org/users/michaelk/collection - by far not as impressive as you, CP, though. |
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Post by Anniek on Feb 25, 2016 10:34:10 GMT
Woah, those numbers! Very impressive!
Im making a list now of what I have listened/am going to give a listen. I'm doing this #everydayanothercastalbum challenge. So far I have around 460 albums listed (no double shows), so I have quite some hours to go, haha!
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1,103 posts
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Post by mallardo on Feb 25, 2016 11:45:13 GMT
460 different shows? I'm impressed. You should get over to castalbums.org and show off!
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Post by Deleted on Feb 25, 2016 17:30:44 GMT
Without exception every collector I have come across has been keen to share what they have, when I was younger with less cash I remember being given duplicates of things that were otherwise impossible to find or afford. I think that's the main difference between a hoarder and a collector, the former just gets things for themself. Personally I try to make rare recordings available to the companies that do out of copyright reissues, so there are a number of recordings that people are now able to hear rather than them sitting on a shelf so that only I have access to it.
Of course there are those who appear to be more self interested - those on the castrec mailing list will have read about Miles Kreuger, for example, sitting on incredibly rare material, gradually deteriorating. If you've seen brief clips of Broadway from the 30s and 40s filmed from the audience (such as the only footage of Gene Kelly onstage before film stardom in Pal Joey), they came via Kreuger, yet he won't allow an organisation that could safeguard those films to take them over so that they could be all digitised and saved.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 26, 2016 18:21:29 GMT
Crikey, my CD "collection" looks pretty meagre along side all these ones, so I am not even going to say how many. Grey Gardens is on the way for my birthday, thanks to a bit of hinting in the right direction after I saw it last month.
I do like the physical CDs: I have other music held digitally but somehow it's just not right for my musicals. I still slightly grieve for my original JCS album with the mauve and yellow cover, replaced many years ago. Never thought that there would come a time when vinyl would come back in fashion and you could buy a turntable with no problem.
Hard to say which are favourites as I rotate playing them, but probably the two most played are Pacific Overtures and the recording of the Donmar's Parade. Not sure if it counts but I also play the Bombshell CD (from the TV series Smash) quite a lot too.
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You get to know a lot of the big collectors, some are from here but most are from the US; given the change to non-physical media just how long will people put together a collection you can see rather than one that you've downloaded though?