Cha- cha- changes

When I was young and my heart was an open book, I used to laugh at people who bought greatest hits albums. You know I did, you know I did, you know I did. No way was I going to purchase one of these compilations of work. A musical artist’s impact can only be appreciated in context, and that’s an entire album. Greatest hits albums were for lazy old people.

This is how I came to collect, at one time, the entire catalog of the group Yes. I look back at their development and can see the evolution from Beatle-like pop group to theme album kings. This path led me to delve into the works of Richard Wakeman. I loved “Six Wives of Henry the Eighth,” “Myths and Legends of King Arthur” and “Journey to the Center of the Earth.” Then I bought “Rhapsodies.” Ugh.

I did the same with the Beatles, buying up their albums as quickly as my pocketbook allowed. I then branched off into their solo careers. So, I paid a collector too much for an original Zapple label of Harrison’s “Electronic Sound.” I have in my collection “The Two Virgins,” “Life with the Lions” and “Sometime in New York City” from Lennon. I have several Starr albums that, honestly, never should have been made. And I don’t listen to any of them anymore. I don’t think anybody listens to them. Ever.

But this ever-changing world in which we live in made me give up a cry, and I became lazy and old.

I came to the realization that I no longer have the time to experience a performer’s development. Sorry, but I no longer want to spend the money on an album with songs I might not like. I’m lazy, old and fickle.

So, now I have Beatles greatest hits collections, Yes greatest hits collections, Simon and Garfunkel greatest hits collections, Elvis greatest hits collections, Paul McCartney greatest hits collections, Billy Joel greatest hits collections. …

Thought: Live and don't try.