The Start Of It All

Many years ago, I introduced an annual collaborative CD into the department at work. The idea was that the 10 of us would choose around 8 minutes' worth of music and contribute it to a 'Mix CD'. This proved to be a popular thing, and was much anticipated around Christmas time. I also used to go to the trouble of producing a cover, inlay and booklet, normally as a shoddily executed pastiche of an existing album cover featuring pictures of ourselves in place of the original protagonists. For example we reconstituted the Band On The Run scene outside a building at work, or became the faces on Mount Rushmore.

Anyway, the idea evolved a little, and soon a scoring system was introduced. Contributions were kept secret, and contributors had to guess what the songs were, and who had put them on. A simple ranking system for the tracks was then introduced, and contributors had to select their three favourite tracks and their least favourite.

The wide range in characters involved and hence the wide selection of musical tastes produced some very interesting compilations, and it was often a challenge to make them into some form of coherent whole. It was a great way of being introduced to new music, and I discovered several firm favourites I might never have come across otherwise.