Roger O Green

RIAA going gold, platinum, diamond

I have 12 albums on both LP and CD

The Recording Industry Association of America (EIAA) is celebrating 60 years of Gold & Platinum albums, representing sales of 500,000 and 1,000,000 units, respectively, in the United States.

The first Gold album certification was awarded to the cast album of “Oklahoma!”

In 1999, RIAA unveiled the Official Diamond Award, representing sales of 10,000,000 units. There are a lot of statistics and stories at the link. The LP or CD designation notes in what format, if any, I own that album. (I have none on cassette.) Sales in millions.

1. MICHAEL JACKSON- THRILLER, 33 (LP, CD with extras) – DECEMBER 30, 1982
33X Multi-Platinum | February 16, 2017
The extras involved producer Quincy Jones and the late songwriter Rod Temperton talking about putting the album together. Note the spike in sales after June 25, 2009.

2. EAGLES- THEIR GREATEST HITS 1971 – 1975, 29 (LP, CD) – FEBRUARY 1, 1976
29X Multi-Platinum | January 30, 2006
This became the RIAA’s first Platinum Album. For a time early in the 21st century, it was the #1 best seller again.

3. BILLY JOEL -GREATEST HITS VOLUME I & VOLUME II, 23 (CD) – JUNE 28, 1985
23X Multi-Platinum | October 26, 2011
The very first CDs I ever purchased, after SOMEONE gave me the first four Beatles CDs, KNOWING I had nothing to play them on

3. LED ZEPPELIN – IV, 23 (LP) – NOVEMBER 8, 1971
23X Multi-Platinum | January 30, 2006
This is the one with Stairway to Heaven

3. PINK FLOYD -THE WALL, 23 (LP) – NOVEMBER 28, 1979
23X Multi-Platinum | January 29, 1999
I had written bawdy lyrics to the title track.

6. AC/DC – BACK IN BLACK, 22 – JULY 21, 1980
22X Multi-Platinum | December 13, 2007
Never owned any AC/DC, though I have a country cover compilation.

7. GARTH BROOKS – DOUBLE LIVE, 21 – NOVEMBER 17, 1998
21X Multi-Platinum | November 1, 2006
Own some Garth, but not this.

7. HOOTIE & THE BLOWFISH -CRACKED REAR VIEW, 21 (CD) – JULY 5, 1994
21x Multi-Platinum | May 21, 2018
How did this album go from 16 million to 21 million? Brian Cantor, the story’s writer, explains: . “RIAA certifications are not issued automatically – the label has to apply. Often (especially with older releases), they won’t apply until there’s a compelling milestone — such as double diamond.”

9. FLEETWOOD MAC – RUMOURS, 20 (LP) – FEBRUARY 4, 1977
20X Multi-Platinum | October 3, 2014

9. SHANIA TWAIN – COME ON OVER, 20 – NOVEMBER 4, 1997
20X Multi-Platinum | November 15, 2004

11. THE BEATLES – THE BEATLES, 19 (LP, CD) -NOVEMBER 25, 1968
19X Multi-Platinum | February 6, 2001
This is the white album, which wasn’t dubbed platinum until 1991

12. GUNS N’ ROSES – APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION, 18 – JULY 21, 1987
18X Multi-Platinum | September 23, 2008

12. WHITNEY HOUSTON – THE BODYGUARD (SOUNDTRACK), 18 – NOVEMBER 17, 1992
18X Multi-Platinum | November 17, 2017
I’ve never seen the movie, but I HAVE seen the musical based on the movie.

14. BOSTON – BOSTON 17 (LP) – AUGUST 25, 1976
17X Multi-Platinum | November 20, 2003

14. ELTON JOHN – GREATEST HITS, 17 (CD) – NOVEMBER 4, 1974
17X Multi-Platinum | April 28, 2016
Another one of my first CDs, since I owned so many of his albums on vinyl.

14. GARTH BROOKS – NO FENCES, 17 (CD) – AUGUST 27, 1990
17X Multi-Platinum | November 1, 2006
Bought a box set of Brooks at one point.

14. THE BEATLES – 1967 – 1970, 17 (CD) – APRIL 2, 1973
17X Multi-Platinum | August 27, 2010
A present I received for my birthday, or maybe Christmas.

ALANIS MORISSETTE -JAGGED LITTLE PILL, 16 (CD)
BEE GEES – SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER (SOUNDTRACK), 16 (LP, CD)
EAGLES -HOTEL CALIFORNIA, 16 (LP)
LED ZEPPELIN – PHYSICAL GRAFFITI, 16 (CD)
METALLICA – METALLICA, 16

BOB MARLEY & THE WAILERS -LEGEND, 15 (CD)
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN – BORN IN THE U.S.A., 15 (LP, CD)
PINK FLOYD – DARK SIDE OF THE MOON, 15 (LP)
SANTANA – SUPERNATURAL, 15 (CD) – achieved Diamond status in one year

ADELE -21, 14 (CD)
GARTH BROOKS -ROPIN’ THE WIND, 14 (CD)
SIMON & GARFUNKEL – GREATEST HITS, 14 (CD)
STEVE MILLER BAND – GREATEST HITS 1974-1978, 14 (CD)

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN & E STREET BAND – LIVE 1975 – ’85 13 (LP)
PEARL JAM – TEN, 13 (CD)
PRINCE & THE REVOLUTION – PURPLE RAIN (SOUNDTRACK), 13 (LP, CD)

BOYZ II MEN -II, 12 (CD)
DIXIE CHICKS -WIDE OPEN SPACES, 12 (CD)
JEWEL -PIECES OF YOU, 12 (CD)
KENNY ROGERS -GREATEST HITS, 12 (CD)
LED ZEPPELIN -II, 12 (LP, CD)
MATCHBOX TWENTY – YOURSELF OR SOMEONE LIKE YOU, 12 (CD)
PHIL COLLINS – NO JACKET REQUIRED, 12 (LP)
SOUNDTRACK -FORREST GUMP, 12 (CD)
THE BEATLES -ABBEY ROAD, 12 (LP, CD)
THE ROLLING STONES -HOT ROCKS, 12 (LP)
TOM PETTY & THE HEARTBREAKERS -GREATEST HITS, 12 (CD)

ADELE -25, 11 (CD)
AEROSMITH -GREATEST HITS, 11 (CD)
EAGLES -GREATEST HITS VOLUME II, 11 (LP)
JAMES TAYLOR -GREATEST HITS, 11 (CD)
LED ZEPPELIN -HOUSES OF THE HOLY, 11 (LP)
OUTKAST -SPEAKERBOXXX / THE LOVE BELOW, 11 (CD)
SOUNDTRACK -TITANIC, 11 (CD)
THE BEATLES -SGT. PEPPER’S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND, 11 (LP, CD)

BILLY JOEL – THE STRANGER, 10 (LP)
CAROLE KING – TAPESTRY, 10 (LP, CD)
CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL – CHRONICLE: 20 GREATEST HITS, 10 (LP, CD)
DIXIE CHICKS – FLY, 10 (CD)
DOOBIE BROTHERS -BEST OF THE DOOBIES, 10 (LP)
ERIC CLAPTON -UNPLUGGED, 10 (CD)
GARTH BROOKS -GARTH BROOKS, 10 (CD)
GREEN DAY -DOOKIE, 10 (CD)
HAMMER -PLEASE HAMMER DON’T HURT ‘EM, 10 (CD)
LED ZEPPELIN -LED ZEPPELIN, 10 (LP)
MADONNA -THE IMMACULATE COLLECTION, 10 (CD)
NIRVANA -NEVERMIND, 10 (CD)
NO DOUBT -TRAGIC KINGDOM, 10 (CD)
NORAH JONES -COME AWAY WITH ME, 10 (CD)
PATSY CLINE -GREATEST HITS, 10 (CD)
R.E.O. SPEEDWAGON -HI INFIDELITY, 10 (LP)
STEVIE WONDER -SONGS IN THE KEY OF LIFE, (LP, CD)
THE DOORS – THE BEST OF THE DOORS, 10 (CD)
U2 – THE JOSHUA TREE, 10 (CD)
VAN HALEN – 1984 (MCMLXXXIV), 10 (LP)
ZZ TOP – ELIMINATOR, 10 (LP)

If I counted correctly, there are 73 albums with at least 10 million sales in the United States, only 6 of which I’ve never owned. I have 16 on LP, 39 on CD and 12 on both, though there are probably a few LPs that I also have on CD through “alternative” means.

June rambling: sister Leslie, continued

A Simple Way to Improve a Billion Lives

I take the fact that I’ve heard variations of this message about sister Leslie from three different people as confirmation of its accuracy. If you first see her, you may have an OMG reaction. But if you see her again, even the next day, you will likely see incremental improvement.

She had less swelling generally. But she can’t open her mouth yet, so communication is raising her hand, thumbs up/down, wiggling toes on command, etc.

She’s had her surgery, this time on her wrist Tuesday. They put in two metal plates. They want to be able to remove one of them in a couple weeks.

She still needs to be able to cough out the bad stuff, and she needs pain meds to deal with the 4 broken ribs.

So Leslie won’t be out of the hospital for at LEAST another week; she’s currently in the ICU. She has multiple broken bones and other issues. She’s not in peril, but this is NOT just a fall off a bike with a couple of bruises and scrapes, which I’ve experienced myself.

Incidentally, she has changed hospitals, not for good medical reasons but because her insurance required it. At least she HAS insurance, I reckon.

I’ll probably go out to San Diego sometime this summer.
***
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Rooneyer than thou

ihop to ihob

MUSIC

:

Helpless – The Regrettes, cover of the Hamilton song

Roseanna – Weezer

Africa – Weezer

Teach Me Tonight – Amy Winehouse, a Dinah Washington standard

Coverville 1220: The Prince Cover Story V

Rocket Man – Little Big Town

Ravel’s Bolero

Bad-Tempered, Distractible Doofus

“He asserted his authority unpredictably, as if to prove he was still in charge, staging rogue interventions into his own advisers’ policies. “

There is an article in the New Yorker called What Happens When a Bad-Tempered, Distractable Doofus Runs an Empire?

The first sentence: “One of the few things that Kaiser Wilhelm II, who ruled Germany from 1888 to 1918, had a talent for was causing outrage.” I’m guessing you thought it was about someone else, and it sort of is.

“Distractions…are everything to him.” The pattern sounds like Distractible speech: “topic maintenance difficulties due to distraction by nearby stimulus. Tangentiality: Replies to questions are off-point or totally irrelevant.” Wilhelm must have been maddening.

“He reads very little apart from newspaper cuttings, hardly writes anything himself apart from marginalia on reports and considers those talks best which are quickly over and done with.” Too bad television wasn’t widely available back then.

“One of the many things that Wilhelm was convinced he was brilliant at, despite all evidence to the contrary, was ‘personal diplomacy,’ fixing foreign policy through one-on-one meetings with other European monarchs and statesmen. In fact, Wilhelm could do neither the personal nor the diplomacy, and these meetings rarely went well…” Of course, nothing like THAT could happen in this modern age.

“He fetishized the Army, surrounded himself with generals…” How many generals have been in the current regime?
“In the administration During Wilhelm’s reign, the upper echelons of the German government began to unravel into a free-for-all, with officials wrangling against one another.” Where ARE the current leaks coming from?

“The Kaiser was susceptible but never truly controllable. He asserted his authority unpredictably, as if to prove he was still in charge, staging rogue interventions into his own advisers’ policies and sacking ministers without warning.” Sounds like hell to work for.

I wonder if the coincidence of the current head of the American regime having a birthday on Flag Day has affected some sense of faux nationalism, with that patriotism event in lieu of a visit from some of the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles.

David Low, Seth Meyers, Kim Jong-Un, others

David Low was given complete freedom in the selection and treatment of his subject matter as well as half a page for his cartoon.

I was really fascinated by the cartoon above. It was created, obviously recently, by Rainer Hachfeld, “a freelance writer and caricaturist living in Berlin. His cartoons appear in Neues Deutschland, a socialist daily newspaper in Germany.”

It’s interesting because it notes it is done “after the famous cartoon by LOW,” “after” in this case meaning “in the style of.”

Then I saw the David Low cartoon which is referenced:

I said, “I remember that guy!” Not so much the specific drawing from 1939, of Hitler and Stalin congratulating each other over the body of Poland. But certainly that style.

From the Political Cartoon Gallery:

“Born in New Zealand and probably the greatest political cartoonist of all time, [Sir] David Low was first attracted to caricatures and cartoons through reading British comics. Prior to moving to London in 1919, David Low worked for the Sydney Bulletin in Australia…

“In 1927… the Evening Standard’s proprietor Lord Beaverbrook had had to promise Low a unique contract giving him complete freedom in the selection and treatment of his subject matter as well as half a page for his cartoon in order to secure his services…

“Describing himself as ‘a nuisance dedicated to sanity’ Low was a hugely influential cartoonist and caricaturist, producing over 14,000 drawings during the course of his 50 year career.”

I’m reminded how much I admired, and was influenced by, the editorial cartoons of my youth. They just don’t hold as much sway, in large part because newspapers don’t.

In fact, it seems that YouTube videos seem to have captured that niche, even if the content originated on network TV. One example is “A Closer Look”. I have almost never actually watched “Late Night with Seth Meyers” on NBC (12:35 a.m. Eastern Time). But I usually watch the regular segments in which he breaks down politics.

His assessment of the Singapore meeting that Hachfeld portrayed might make more sense than the actual event. Check it out here. Or maybe it won’t help, as you view the action-movie style trailer Trump says he played to Kim Jong-un.

Maybe cartoonists can’t capture the moment as well because the moment Dennis Rodman? – is too damn surreal.

W is for writing as a useful exercise

“You actually have to spend some of your life living and doing normal life stuff.”

Writing is a very useful, even necessary, exercise for me. It helps me offload stuff in my brain, where it would otherwise interfere with my life.

I can tell when I haven’t written something for three or four days, usually because of technical difficulties. Sometimes life gets in the way – busyness, illness (mine or the Daughter’s). I’m usually emailing myself – “you should write about X”, which somewhat alleviates the frustration.

Writing helps define what I believe. And by that, I don’t mean a knee-jerk response to someone’s comment on Facebook, which I generally consider the fast food of communications. You won’t starve, but there are probably more emotionally nutritious options.

I’d rather work on a (hopefully) thought-out, considered opinion in the blog, or perhaps in a private journal. I consider it more like the slow cooking movement that is taking hold in some parts of the world.

I find writing easier than talking because one can spend time thinking and contemplating while writing. I can even change my mind, deciding that another option would be the better choice.

Still, I found this piece useful: Am I still a real writer if I don’t feel compelled to write?

“Not writing gives you time to have experiences. I can’t stand that thing where people are talking about something interesting in the world on social media or whatever, and some scold pops in to say, ‘This is a distraction/waste of time, get back to work.’

“As though anyone can literally work all the time and never stop to talk to humans or engage in politics and expect to make good art out of that. You actually have to spend some of your life living and doing normal life stuff or you can’t be a good writer.”

The message of this vlogbrothers video, The Secret to my Productivity, I hope to emulate. 80% ain’t that bad.

For ABC Wednesday