I still have a lot of the records from my adolescence, some of my favorites were lost when about fifty or so were stolen by a roommate about eight years ago. One LP that I miss to this day, maybe my favorite record from that time, is Frank Zappa's Lumpy Gravy. That record really changed my life or at least my ideas about what music could be. I now have about 300 or 400 records (I still buy records sometimes), and went though the shelves and pulled out five that might surprise you. (To put this in the proper perspective, note that at the moment I'm listening to 5 pieces for Orchestra by Anton Webern conducted by Pierre Boulez.)

Chicago - Live at Carnegie Hall Before I knew anything about electric guitar, except the Hendrix songs that you would hear on Top 40 radio, the first guitarist to make a big impression on me was Terry Kath of the band Chicago. And the record was Live at Carnegie Hall recorded in 1971. Lots of long wah-wah guitar solos, with some great drumming by Danny Seraphine. But of course it was the guitar that got to me, fast, sometimes loose, and powerful. Needless to say, you have to skip through the record to avoid hearing all the saccharine pop songs.

Jan Akkerman - Profile Jan Akkerman was the guitar player from the Dutch rock band Focus and he put this record out in 1972. One side is pretty much just cheap blues, some classical Etudes, really cheesy. But the other side is a long, free-rock freak out. That side opens with a very short quiet intro followed by incredibly fast and brutal riffs over a scorching drum-and bass-groove. Really unbelievable. I have played this for many people over the years, and not one has ever even come close to guessing the date of the record, never mind the musician. The last person I played it for was Will Redmond who I was working with in PAK at the time. He is still bugging me to make him a tape.

Gentle Giant - Acquiring The Taste I really think that this band had some great ideas and made some complex rock music. Really. Like the first track Pantaguel's Nativity and the second track Edge of Twighlight, strange vocal harmonies, percussion sections that sound like they were lifted from Edgar Varese, and odd meters that groove.

Van Der Graaf Generator - Still Life Lyrics are based somewhat on the novel by Arthur C. Clark, Childhood's End. Most of the writing is very dark, just check out title track, Still Life. But I just love the overall sound of the record, the way the saxophones are mixed with the bass and the keyboards. There is also a great live Van Der Graaf record, Vital where they sound more like a punk band, released in 1978, two years after Still Life. As a side note: John Lydon of the Sex Pistols lists Peter Hammill (composer and leader of Van Der Graaf) as a main influence.

Lew Davies and his Orchestra - Strange Interlude 1961 About eight or ten years ago I started to buy a lot of thrift store records. In Oakland, CA, at that time, you could find some real gems for under a dollar. The title of this one says it all, with great arrangements using ondioline ("an electrically operated keyboard instrument which, unlike most other instruments such as the piano, can play only one note at a time. It is relatively small-only about a yard wide - and on its sides there are levers used for switching to such things as a woodwind sound or an electronic beep-beep that can be set at any tempo," according to the liner notes), cymbalum, theremin, contrabass clarinet in bizarre combinations. Really great and lots of fun. If you're ever lucky enough to see this record somewhere buy it.