Friday 1 January 2021

01/01/21: Macy Gray – "I Try"

Totteridge. Issued in 1999, "I Try" was Macy Gray's second single. It reached number six in the UK.

01/01/21: The Beatles – With The Beatles

Totteridge. With The Beatles was their second album. Originally released in 1963, it was first released on CD in 1987.

Monday 14 December 2020

14/12/20: Barbra Streisand – Love Songs

Totteridge. A 1981 anthology, released as Memories in the USA. According to Wiki, it "reached number 1 on the UK Albums Chart for nine weeks".

Saturday 7 November 2020

Thursday 23 April 2020

23/04/20: Verbatim shard

Totteridge. Looks like a Verbatim disc that's been heavily scribbled over. This lonely little shard seemed to be all too successful at exercising social-distancing measures.

Thursday 6 February 2020

Tuesday 24 December 2019

24/12/19: Now That's What I Call Music 94

Just down the road from High Barnet tube near the petrol station. Sadly, the CD wasn't present. Full tracklisting here.

Thursday 3 October 2019

03/10/19: Box of 26 damp CDs


Box of damp CDs left on the pavement in Totteridge. Instead of picking through them, I took the lot. Some were too damp to salvage, but some could be dried out for playing in the car.

The full contents of the box:

1. Stevie Wonder – Talking Book
2. Stevie Wonder – Number Ones
3. Barry White – The Collection
4. Al Green – Greatest Hits
5. Michael Jackson – Off the Wall
6. Michael Jackson – Greatest Hits: History
7. Michael Jackson – Video Greatest Hits (DVD)
8. Chandimal – Deflection (“Extreme unplugged Sri Lankan songs selection”)
9. Sandra Grant – Sandra (“She’ll Blow Your Mind with Jazz in Blues“)
10. Sandra Grant – Miss Saxophone Lady (“She’ll Blow Your Mind with Dangerous Grooves”)
11. Various – The Best Jazz Ever (3CD)
12. Various – Latin Summer Jazz (2CD)
13. Various – Jazz Around Midnight: Piano
14. Various – Pure Jazz Moods (inside the box for a JVC CD-R)
15. Santana – Moonflower (CD2 only)
16. Richie Benaud‘s Greatest XI (DVD)
17. The Black Eyed Peas – The End
18. The Dance Band Days (Reader’s Digest)
19. Antonio Carlos Jobim – Jazz Masters 13
20. Various – Sexual Healing: An Album of Passion
21. Medleys to Remember: Remembering the 60’s, 70’s & 80’s
22. Suresh David – Shining Light
23. Alvin and the Chipmunks (original motion picture soundtrack)
24. TDK CD-R with “XP Home” software on it
25. DVD Navigation Map Europe Central
26. Elvis Presley – The Nation’s Favourite Elvis Songs

Listened to the Sandra Grant CD in the car. I enjoyed her “dangerous grooves”, but they did not blow my mind.

Wednesday 18 September 2019

Thursday 5 September 2019

Tuesday 18 June 2019

Thursday 18 April 2019

18/04/19: Jimi Hendrix – Band of Gypsys

Whetstone. Rather a good live album, this, taped on the first day of the 1970s at the Fillmore East in New York. I already have a copy, but brought this home as a spare and tried to clean it up. Unfortunately there were a few too many scratches.

Monday 4 March 2019

04/03/19: A4 shard

At the edge of the A4 as it passes through West Kensington. Unlikely to play.

Monday 31 December 2018

31/12/18: Björk – Greatest Hits

Woodside Park, N12. After I had dried it out, this was in surprisingly good condition and can now be played in the car. Greatest Hits was released in 2002 and the tracks were selected by fans on Björk's website. Sort of makes sense, except that the fans would surely have had these tracks already.

Sunday 16 December 2018

16/12/18: Michael Bublé – Crazy Love

Totteridge. Wikipedia tells us: "Crazy Love is the sixth studio album (and fourth major label studio album) by Canadian vocalist Michael Bublé. It was released by 143 Records and Reprise Records on October 9, 2009...It is one of his best selling albums, with approximately 6 million units sold worldwide."

Wednesday 5 December 2018

Sunday 18 November 2018

12/11/18: Classic FM Favourite Hymns

Earl's Court. From their website: "A beautiful mix of hymns from 'Abide with me', to 'Be still, my soul' and a favourite amongst many 'The Lord’s my Shepherd'. Let this collection take you to a peaceful world of spirituality." Tracklisting:
1. O praise ye the Lord!
2. All glory, laud and honour
3. Praise to the Holiest
4. Dear Lord and Father of Mankind
5. Abide with me
6. Love divine, all loves excelling
7. Praise to the Lord
8. Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty
9. When I survey the wondrous cross
10. The Day Thou gavest, Lord, is ended
11. O God, our help in ages past
12. Now thank we all our God
13. Praise! My soul, the King of Heaven
14. Lead us, Heavenly Father, lead us
15. Be Thou my vision
16. Be still, my soul
17. For all the Saints
18. O worship the King
19. Onward! Christian Soldiers
20. The Lord’s my Shepherd
21. Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah
22. Jerusalem
23. How great Thou art
24. All creatures of our God and King

Monday 12 November 2018

Wednesday 17 October 2018

17/10/18: The Break-Up

West Kensington. Few words fill me with more horror than "romantic comedy starring Jennifer Aniston". Unlikely to play.

Friday 21 September 2018

21/09/18: DVDs left in the rain

West Kensington. Surely a charity shop would have had these?

Monday 17 September 2018

17/09/18: Destiny's Child – #1's



West Kensington. This is a greatest hits album released in 2005. Note the misplaced apostrophe in the title.

Saturday 1 September 2018

01/09/18: Hip-Hop

A TDK CD-R spotted beneath a bench in the Boots and Waitrose car park, Whetstone. Would quite liked to have heard this one, but some of the disc is missing.

01/09/18: L1 Model II System

Totteridge. Unlikely to play.

Saturday 14 July 2018

14/07/18: Eight DVDs


West Finchley. The films were left on a bench, being water-damaged. Oddly enough, this is the second time I've seen a selection of DVDs left on a bench. Fantastic 4 was still shrinkwrapped so I took it home and watched it (see HERE).

Friday 18 May 2018

18/05/18: Something something Generation

Woodside Park. Something something "Generation". Unlikely to play.

Sunday 13 May 2018

13/05/18: Tesco CD-R

Totteridge. Under close examination, this turned out to be part of a Tesco-branded CD-R.

Wednesday 25 April 2018

25/04/18: The Ultimate Musicals Experience, CD3

Totteridge. Disc three of three. The tracklisting was apparently as follows:

1. Alfie Boe – Pure Imagination (from Charlie & the Chocolate Factory)
2. Katherine Jenkins – Who Wants to Live Forever (from We Will Rock You)
3. Michael Ball – Fight the Fight (from From Here to Eternity)
4. Michael Crawford feat. Francis Rufelle – Only You (from Starlight Express)
5. Adam Cooper, Daniel Crossley & Scarlett Strallen – Singin' in the Rain (from Singin' in the Rain)
6. Jennifer Hepburn, Nick Ferranti & Company – America (from West Side Story)
7. Robert Irons – New York, New York (from On the Town)
8. Liza Minnelli – Cabaret [live] (from Cabaret)
9. Topol – If I Were a Rich Man (from Fiddler on the Roof)
10. Petula Clark – With One Look (from Sunset Boulevard)
11. Barbara Dickson – Tell Me It's Not True (from Blood Brothers)
12. Constantine Maroulis – Waiting for a Girl Like You (from Rock of Ages)
13. Sacre (feat. Zoe Nicholas & Marc Monroe) – (I've Had) The Time of My Life (from Dirty Dancing)
14. Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons – December 1963 (Oh, What a Night) (from Jersey Boys)
15. The Good Hair Days – You Can't Stop The Beat (from Hairspray)
16. Wilson Pickett – Mustang Sally (from The Commitments)
17. Shrek Ensemble – I'm a Believer (from Shrek)
18. Madness – Our House (from Our House)
19. M – Pop Muzik (from Priscilla, Queen of the Desert)
20. Jason Donovan & the Rocky Horror Picture Show Cast – The Time Warp (from The Rocky Horror Picture Show)

Unlikely to play.

Friday 13 April 2018

Sunday 11 March 2018

Sunday 11 February 2018

11/02/18: Philips CD-R

A Philips CD-R in the road in Totteridge. Unlikely to play.

Saturday 10 February 2018

10/02/18: Jesus

Window ledge in North Finchley. "16-language edition" of religious texts.

Tuesday 26 December 2017

26/12/17: ASDA CD-R

Woodside Park, N12. Second CD find of the day. What a treat. This ASDA CD-R was getting wet in the grass by the side of the road.

26/12/17: Kingston 13 mix

Woodside Park, N12. Saw a CD in a hedge. Climbed in, even though it was prickly, to take this photograph and to retrieve the disc. It turned out to be a Traxdata CD-R that was already covered in lichen. The text says something like "Kingston 13" and "mix".

Friday 22 December 2017

22/12/17: Videogames and DVDs

A bin in North Finchley. Left to right: House: Season Seven, Scary Movie 3.5: New Extended Version, Resident Evil: Apocalypse, Grand Theft Auto IV and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

Saturday 11 November 2017

11/11/17: Supergrass – In It for the Money

Boots and Waitrose car park, Whetstone. Rather a good album, this shouldn't have been left in the leaves and mud. The CD was still in the box. A few centimetres away from it I also found a £1 coin.

Monday 30 October 2017

30/10/17: Issue 142

Whetstone. The text on this mysterious disc offers "32 free vectors from Go Media", implying that it's a CD of digital art files. Other text states "Hi-res textures: Crumble, crackle, burn".

Important note: the dramatic tailing off in finds reported here (61 in 2014, 34 in 2015, 16 in 2016 and a mere 12 so far in 2017) is not in any way a reflection of waning enthusiasm on the part of this blog. Instead, it reflects the increasing scarcity of CDs in general. The phasing out of CD players in cars may have a lot to do with this, as many finds in previous years seemed to have fallen out from the car door to the gutter.