I always thought of myself as an irreverent, idiosyncratic accumulator, but I have decided to reinvent myself as a "serious collector," so that I may be taken more seriously.
So I keep hearing that this album or that album is "a must for any serious collector."
So which titles to I need? I am hoping to get my serious collection seriously in order as soon as possible.
Should I start buying albums with titles like "Ben-Hur" and "The Greatest Story Ever Told?" Those sound like albums that the serious collector would have.
Funny, because I owned the Star Wars soundtrack trilogy long box for years and I finally sold it because I hardly listened to it. I would not call myself a serious collector. Star Wars was always one of those titles that I think even non-serious collectors have. Yes a John Williams must have but I enjoyed E.T. and Superman much more.
Should I start buying albums with titles like "Ben-Hur" and "The Greatest Story Ever Told?" Those sound like albums that the serious collector would have.
I don't own either of those, and I consider myself a pretty serious collector, with a few thousand discs, I think (I haven't actually counted).
But I focus on collecting everything by about a dozen composers I like, and then whatever random scores I happen to like.
I don't think there's a single disc in my collection that I bought because it's "expected," except maybe Lawrence of Arabia, before it went OOP.
It truly should be just whatever you love and want to spend your money on.
You can own thousands of discs and there will always be someone who will say you're not a serious collector because you don't own "BLANK," or you could own a handful of the top-rated scores of all time but not have any you really love.
I vote for buying whatever pleases you when you hear it.
I remember I did a somewhat similar topic years ago, i.e. 'what is a collector' -- and how one would define oneself according to that definition. But I can't find it.
With the exception of a few 'completist' composers/artists, I've never really considered myself a collector of soundtracks. Accumulation and quantity have never really been that important to me. I'm more of a listener/explorer/voyager.
So I can't really say what a 'must' is for a 'serious collector'. I guess I would first need to chart the person's taste in music.
A few that I have that may make me a serious collector:
Citizen Kane - Hardly ever listen to it, except for the upbeat Americana tracks as part of an autumnal playlist.
Tequila Mockingbird - Two different LPs, never listen to either.
Spartacus - I keep trying to force myself to like this one. "Oysters and Snails," in which North drops acid and time travels to 1966, is the money cut.
Many, but not all, of the RCA Classic Film Score series - I spin these on occasion, especially the noir stuff.
Looks like I'm on my way to becoming a serious collector!
