Princeton music top 40
As a child of the 70s I looked forward to Casey Kasem's weekly (and cheesy) countdown of the top 40 hits of the nation. Flash forward a few decades and here I am: in charge of purchasing the music for this spectacular library. Today I get to be Casey and count down the most popular CDs in our collection...but not just for this week, for all time!
The list is in reverse order by total number of checkouts. One thing to keep in mind: the list is geared toward our older CDs as they have had more time to circulate; but it still gives an interesting look at Princeton's musical tastes.
40. Symphony no. 9, D. 944: The great, in C major = en ut majeur = in C-Dur / Franz Schubert.
39. Camelot: original Broadway cast / books & lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner, music by Frederick Loewe.
38. The Irving Berlin songbook, vol. II.
37. The blues: a Smithsonian collection of classic blues singers.
36. Kinderszenen, Scenes from childhood: op. 15 Kreisleriana: op. 16 / Robert Schumann.
35. The art of the fugue, BWV 1080 / Johann Sebastian Bach.
34. Sketches of Spain / Miles Davis. Orchestra arranged and conducted by Gil Evans.
33. Birth of the cool / Miles Davis.
32. The great Ray Charles / Ray Charles.
31. Ella Fitzgerald sings the Cole Porter songbook. Vol. II.
29. Days of open hand / Suzanne Vega.
28. Blonde on blonde / Bob Dylan.
26. Double concertos / Johann Sebastian Bach.
25. The Broadway album / Barbara Streisand.
24. The Beatles, 1962-1966 / Beatles.
23. Jazz 'round midnight / Chet Baker.
21. Jimi Hendrix live at Woodstock / Jimi Hendrix.
20. Thelonious Monk and the jazz giants / Thelonious Monk.
19. Neck and neck / Chet Atkins, Mark Knopfler.
18. Louis Armstrong and Earl Hines (Louis Armstrong, vol. IV) / Louis Armstrong.
16. Enya / Enya.
14. The piano quartets: opp. 25, 26 & 60 / Johannes Brahms.
13. Tower of song: the songs of Leonard Cohen / executive producers, Kelley Lynch and David Anderle.
12. The solo sessions, volume 2 / Bill Evans.
11. Madama Butterfly / Giacomo Puccini.
10. Creeque Alley : the history of The Mamas and the Papas / The Mamas and the Papas.
8. Messa da requiem / Giuseppe Verdi.
7. My fair lady / book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner, music by Frederick Loewe.
6. Ella in Rome: the birthday concert / Ella Fitzgerald.
5. West Side story / music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.
4. The Jazz masters: 27 classic performances from the Columbia Jazz Masterpieces series.
3. The unique Thelonious Monk / Thelonius Monk.
....and the number one recording at the Princeton Public Library is...
1. James Taylor's greatest hits / James Taylor.
Princeton, you have eclectic and sophisticated tastes! Selecting music for you is a pleasure.
Comments
Nice to know my community has such excellent taste! Are you interested in stocking CDs by Princeton-based musicians?
Indeed I am! Feel free to recommend any artists through our Suggest a Purchase page. Thanks!
Love the fact that jazz is next to Jimi Hendrix and Bach. awesome list. how about books?
So Princeton...I have to say I'm surprised that there isn't really much current pop music in there...Do you think that is because people are using Freegal or that customers interested in those genres aren't using the library
Great idea! I think I will!
Great idea! I think I will.
Good question. I think it's because this list is for ALL TIME circulation, so older CDs tend to have higher numbers (since they have had more years to circulated). I was thinking of doing another list for the highest number of circulations this year. This would be a very different list and would most likely have more current pop and rock music.
How about lists by genre and sub-genre?
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