Brad Posted December 9, 2004 Report Share Posted December 9, 2004 I am without a doubt a Jazz-aholic. I usually buy a normal amount of cds but lately I've been on a binge and just like alcoholics I can't kick the jazz buying habit. Here's the haul: On Monday I received a Beehive LP from Euclid, which was followed the same day by a Pepper Adams cd I purchased on ebay. Then on Tuesday, I received three cds I ordered from the Groove. Yesterday I was in the City on a seminar and before I left I stopped at Academy Records and picked up 8 cds (although I'll probably sell a couple of them). Today I received 3 cds I bought from a board member. Over the next week I'm expecting 3cd each that I bought from two board members, plus 4 other Uptown cds that I ordered from Chuck. I also am awaiting two cds of Harold Mabern that I bought on Ebay. Count = 1 LP and 27 cds. That is a huge number. I should stop. Trouble is I don't know if I should or want to . Other tales of woe (or happiness ), please post here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Alfredson Posted December 9, 2004 Report Share Posted December 9, 2004 I remember when I had disposable income. Those were the days.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Posted December 9, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2004 Yes, fortunately, I had sold a bunch of items on ebay, including cds. That is the only way I could do this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wesbed Posted December 9, 2004 Report Share Posted December 9, 2004 I've placed one order per week, for the last month, for 7 and 8 CDs at a time from CD Universe. I'm catching up on all the K2s I've missed. I have CDs, stand-alone CDs, and Mosaic box CDs that still have the shrink wrap on them. Yet I still desire MORE jazz CDs. The more I have, the better I feel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pryan Posted December 9, 2004 Report Share Posted December 9, 2004 Today, I traded in a bunch of cds and got three Lps. I find the trading route is great: you save shelf space and get "new" albums that you've never heard before. It's also more fun than buying new stuff (ie. sealed). That said, I also purchased a re-issue of CENTRAL PARK NORTH, which actually was a new copy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
etherbored Posted December 9, 2004 Report Share Posted December 9, 2004 i think i spent upwards of $800.00 one month this year. that's an jazzaholics anonymous moment for me... -e- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidewinder Posted December 10, 2004 Report Share Posted December 10, 2004 One LP and 27 CDs is probably just about sustinable ( ) but its when the Mosaic orders pile in on top of this that the ship is well and trully holed under the waterline. That site should have a government health warning.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vibes Posted December 10, 2004 Report Share Posted December 10, 2004 I think my record is something like 35 CD's on one order. Special thanks to Tower Records and their big sale on Blue Notes a couple years ago. I'm trying not to do this any more. The backlog actually makes me feel really uncomfortable. I feel a great amount of pressure to listen to everything and to get to know everything I've purchased really well, just like I did when I was a kid and could only afford to buy one CD every month or two. Sometimes I wish I could go back to those days, because back then I knew the music I purchased extremely well. These days, I'd be hard pressed to tell you the name of even one track on an album, or who the sidemen are. My backlog is around 100 CD's, not including the Seven Steps, For All Time, Kenton Presents, Monk Riverside and Pepper Galaxy boxes. I'm glad I have so much wonderful music, and I hate the fact I have so much wonderful music. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ayers Posted December 10, 2004 Report Share Posted December 10, 2004 Brad - where is the bit about the road to recovery - I seem to have missed it! I have realised, in myself, that buying and listening are only semi-related activities, so I try to give time to listening rather than to planning purchases, and often take out and review older CDs. I'm now only an occasional purchaser, though I do periodically binge when the price is right. That's my road to recovery - what's yours? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DTMX Posted December 10, 2004 Report Share Posted December 10, 2004 I've placed one order per week, for the last month, for 7 and 8 CDs at a time from CD Universe. I'm catching up on all the K2s I've missed. I have CDs, stand-alone CDs, and Mosaic box CDs that still have the shrink wrap on them. Yet I still desire MORE jazz CDs. The more I have, the better I feel. I think that once I have a copy of every CD I will be sated. My handle is DTMX, and I'm a jazzaholic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexander Posted December 10, 2004 Report Share Posted December 10, 2004 No shit, I've actually been discussing my CD habit with my therapist lately. The thing is, starting in January I'm going to start Student Teaching. Which means I won't be working. Which means I won't be bringing in any income. Which means we're living off of my wife's salary. Which means, not just a CD diet, but an all out CD FAMINE. No new CDs for at least twelve weeks. So I've gotta work on that impulse that compells me to buy new CDs. I will say that I've never bought 35 CDs at one time. My record is, maybe, seven or eight at a time. Never above ten in a week. I'm counting on you guys to help keep me honest starting January 19th... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Alfredson Posted December 10, 2004 Report Share Posted December 10, 2004 I'm counting on you guys to help keep me honest starting January 19th... Isn't that like counting on a fellow smoker to help you stop smoking? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neveronfriday Posted December 10, 2004 Report Share Posted December 10, 2004 No shit, I've actually been discussing my CD habit with my therapist lately. The thing is, starting in January I'm going to start Student Teaching. Which means I won't be working. Which means I won't be bringing in any income. Which means we're living off of my wife's salary. Which means, not just a CD diet, but an all out CD FAMINE. No new CDs for at least twelve weeks. So I've gotta work on that impulse that compells me to buy new CDs. I will say that I've never bought 35 CDs at one time. My record is, maybe, seven or eight at a time. Never above ten in a week. I'm counting on you guys to help keep me honest starting January 19th... I could send you a couple of burns .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost of miles Posted December 10, 2004 Report Share Posted December 10, 2004 Recovery?! Screw that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexander Posted December 10, 2004 Report Share Posted December 10, 2004 I'm counting on you guys to help keep me honest starting January 19th... Isn't that like counting on a fellow smoker to help you stop smoking? Or a fellow junkie to keep me from shooting up... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceH Posted December 10, 2004 Report Share Posted December 10, 2004 If you've got the money, then I say get the CD's (and vinyl) to your heart's content. (Maybe I'm a bad person to ask.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Late Posted December 10, 2004 Report Share Posted December 10, 2004 I have realised, in myself, that buying and listening are only semi-related activities, so I try to give time to listening rather than to planning purchases, and often take out and review older CDs. This is the key, I think. When you're online, and just about to click on the "Confirm" purchase tab, turn around (in your swivelling office chair), and reach for something that you haven't listened to in eons. Play the whole record. Wasn't it good? (Yes!) Rediscovery of one's existing collection can, I've found, sometimes be more rewarding than finding that "next" great album. Sometimes the next great one is already in your cd rack. I still have the occasional splurge too (the Dixon Soul Notes are calling me ... ), but have also realized that I can keep going back to, say, Ornette's Atlantic work with continued pleasure. It's not easy when it's a passion ... I mean, addiction, I mean ... ... but getting back into, and revisiting, particular solos, or ensemble passages, I think can still provide the greatest high. And it really is a high ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeBop Posted December 10, 2004 Report Share Posted December 10, 2004 I'm not convinced. I too am a jazz-aholic. Yet I buy no recorded music (anymore). I play and I listen to live music...and of course those recordings I obtained many years ago. In my opinion, y'all are CD-aholics or LP-aholics or... Jazz has many other manifestations; recordings are not - strictly speaking - a necessity. Nothing wrong with being a CD- or LP-aholic. And I know my opinion is the outlier. But I figured I'd share. Thanks for indulging me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AfricaBrass Posted December 10, 2004 Report Share Posted December 10, 2004 I had a terrible cd addiction a few years ago. I couldn't go a day without buying a cd (seriously). Usually, I'd hit the record stores at lunch or on the way home. I had a real low overhead at the time and a good job, so I'd buy at least 3 cds a day. I was in the different record stores so often that I knew people in every store. I'd even get comments about my numerous purchases. I got to the place where I'd cycle through the stores in my area because I was embarrassed to be buying so much. Here's an example, at my worst. This was about 10 years ago. I got on an OJC kick, made a huge list of the best ones and hit the stores. Within a three day period I had purchased over 120 OJC's. It took me a year to finally work through them all and open them. I also used to obsess about getting things before they went out of print. I'd make lists and obsess over it. It was really bad. Like Alexander, I've been in a cd drought. Except for a recent splurge, I've barely purchased anything this year. I started to cut back (before I had to) because I hated that I was obsessed. It stopped being fun. I don't like to be owned by anything, but I was controlled by my addiction. I think the biggest lesson I learned that helped me to cut back, was that I can get this stuff in the future (probably with better sound). There's no need to have everything now. I don't have the time to enjoy what I have anyway. I finally remembered that this was supposed to be fun. Now it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wesbed Posted December 10, 2004 Report Share Posted December 10, 2004 (edited) It's fun to be inspired to listen to an album you haven't heard in years. For some unknown reason you pick up something you've had for a long time but haven't heard for an equally long time. You listen to it and enjoy just as much as you used to. The music seems like an old, comfortable, friend you haven't seen for several years. When this happens it causes me to remember all the music I currently own. I wonder why I feel a need to have so much new music when I have so much good material already in my possession? Edited December 10, 2004 by wesbed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neveronfriday Posted December 10, 2004 Report Share Posted December 10, 2004 With me, it's a bit different. I didn't have much jazz and got tired of the other pretty large collection I had. Out of the blue (well, it had been simmering for quite a while) I had this "jazz attack" and it hasn't stopped, although it has slowed down a bit. Within a one/two year period I caught up and purchased anywhere between 1000 and 2000 CDs (lots of box sets), many of them second hand or after I had surfed the Internet thin to find the cheapest copy of any one CD. Today I've reduced my purchases mostly to "safe bets", stuff I know I'll like or that is recommended to me by people whose taste I respect. Haven't really gotten any duds because of it either. Problem: There's still a whole lot I know I'll like. And some idiots () on this board are turning me on to stuff unknown to me that just sounds very interesting. Cheers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7/4 Posted December 10, 2004 Report Share Posted December 10, 2004 I wonder why I feel a need to have so much new music when I have some much good material already in my possession? Because you want to check it out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AfricaBrass Posted December 10, 2004 Report Share Posted December 10, 2004 As long as it's fun... more power to you! I had a lot of fun collecting jazz, but I just hit a point where I had to cool it down. I still enjoy hearing new music and listening to what I have, but I just don't feel the compulsion to buy every BN conn, or Verve elite, etc... It's funny... there are very few cds that I can't purchase used today for less today than I paid for them in 1994. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Posted December 10, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 10, 2004 Brad - where is the bit about the road to recovery - I seem to have missed it! David, Halfway through the post, I gave up on that idea . However, I do agree with Vibes. He really expresses my (and probably most of our) sentiments. Alexander, What did your therapist say. I'm curious, if it's ok to let us know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Tapscott Posted December 10, 2004 Report Share Posted December 10, 2004 If you've got the money, then I say get the CD's (and vinyl) to your heart's content. (Maybe I'm a bad person to ask.) Unfortunately, the heart is never content. I too am a jazz-aholic, perhaps not quite in the same league as some of my fellow-listers, but bad enough. I have slowed down a bit lately, and plan to buy less in the new year, as I am doing a systematic listen of my entire collection a la Dan (which should take quite a while!) This is probably the best way to at least slow down for a time, if not stop one's purchases altogether. The latter happens only when one loses a job! Thankfully, I don't feel the pull of the brick and mortar stores that I once did. There's not much in them I want, anyway. But the internet is always close at hand! And I must say I always enjoy the rush of opening the maibox and finding a CD or two there. It's probably similar to the rush a smoker feels when he or she lights up. Most of my purchases are moitvated not by a desire to collect, but a curiosity about the music, and also by a real enjoyment of the music. And perhaps there's some secret desire in all of us to find the ONE CD that will make our hearts content once and for all and put an end to all this nonsense. Unfortunately, no one CD can ever fill that bill. My worst binge in recent memory? 5 Mosaics at one time. Since jazz is the only music I've really ever collected, I've always wondered if the addictive tendencies of jazz are in other types of music, too. In other words if you were to go to a country music or classical or rock forum, would we find collectors there with similar comments/complaints? I suspect so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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