Order . . .

(based upon https://www.quora.com/How-do-recording-artists-decide-on-the-order-of-the-songs-on-their-CDs)
There isn't a rule of thumb , but there is planning. Look at it as a Classical concert, grouping songs in "moods", then intentionally create longer pauses between the groups.

When Lou Reed was ordering the tracks on New York. He struggled to find the right musical and topical arc until someone suggested he put them in the order in which they were recorded. In that order, the tracks told the story he was hoping for. Y

In a traditional pop context, records were sequenced with the hits or prospective singles "up front" - typically the lead single would be the first song and the other expected singles would follow to round out the first side. 

Some try to make sure that successive songs are not in the same key.

The number one track (and usually the last) are the 'great' tracks that leave an impression.

If it's a concept album that tells a story through the songs, then the order is pretty much fixed to begin with. If it is just a collection of singles, they might look at the dynamics - try and mix up the heavy and the soft, the fast and the slow, etc.

Put a lot of thought into the order of the songs to create a good “flow” and the best overall listening experience from start to finish. Open with a song that represents your overall sound fairly well, and break up the “mood” every 3 songs or so. 

The whole process is just about placing familiar tracks somewhere in the middle, intros and soon to be released tracks at the beginning and the less appealing at the end - it's about fluidity and using the songs at the beginning as singles as they help sell the album.

It's given a lot less thought than it used to. Nowadays most albums are bought online and when you download it you can put it in any order you want. If you are like me you will put your favourites first and the fillers at the end. Another thing to come into it is the shuffle mode on most players nowadays.

What do you think?
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http://www.ohomusic.com 


Other Ray Jozwiak Offerings

(To Access all Ray Jozwiak - Gonzo Piano music you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/RayJozwiak)

Get your copy of OHO's  Where Words Do Not Reach now!
Watch The Ocean City Ditty Video on YouTube
Also, be sure to visit: www.rayjozwiak.com and www.ohomusic.com

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Andrew . . .

. . . White . . . 

(from http://www.capitalbop.com/musician-profile-andrew-white-keeper-of-the-trane-is-a-living-legend-unknown-to-many/) ". . . Andrew White began his career as the leader of an innovative quintet on one of the world’s top jazz labels, then went on to record with McCoy Tyner and Weather Report and toured with Stevie Wonder. . . White hasn’t been as celebrated as certain other D.C. musicians is his refusal to compromise with the music industry. In an age when so-called DIY music production and promotion were unheard of, he founded his own label, Andrew’s Music. From there, he recorded, produced, pressed and disseminated his own records – more than 40 in all. He also used the label as a vehicle for publishing his writing, which has ranged from essays and “treatises” on music and life to adult fiction to an 850-plus-page autobiography. . . With the possible exception of Sun Ra’s El Saturn label, Andrew’s Music is the longest-lasting self-run, self-produced jazz record label in the world. . .  “All of my records are still in print,” he mentioned, pulling out several shrink-wrapped LPs available for me to purchase. “If you’re interested, I also have copies of my autobiography for sale. Everything is in there, at least everything up till now.” . . . As I flipped through the impossibly thick autobiography, it quickly became apparent that this aging man had done it all, seen it all – most of which he had meticulously documented in the tome titled Everybody Loves The Sugar. Sitting down with me to discuss some important moments in his life, White pinpointed his freshman year in college as the beginning of his long career in music and the arts. . . Born in D.C. but raised in Nashville, Tenn., “I came back to Washington, D.C. to attend Howard University, where my father had gone to school,” White told me. “Within six months, I was already involved on the jazz scene – and I wasn’t but 18 years old.” With an intense interest in music, he majored in music theory with a minor in Oboe. But the music program at Howard in 1960 was vastly different from how it stands today. “Back then, there were no jazz musicians there,” White recalled. “This was before the Jazz Studies program had started. There were students interested in classical music and music theory, but it was primarily an educational institution.” . . ."

What do you think?
Tell me at
http://www.rayjozwiak.com/guestbook.html  or at
http://www.ohomusic.com 

My latest solo offering, No Frills, is now available at - No Frills

(To Access all Ray Jozwiak - Gonzo Piano music you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/RayJozwiak)

Get your copy of OHO's  Where Words Do Not Reach now!
The Ocean City Ditty Video is now on YouTube
Also, be sure to visit: www.rayjozwiak.com and www.ohomusic.com

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Accuracy . . .

Thank you for allowing us the privilege of hosting you during your upcoming  vacation! 

At this time, please allow us to remind you that the final balance remaining due on your rental is past due.  Per the terms of your Guest License Agreement, full payment is required 60 (sixty) days prior to your arrival and access to the vacation rental cannot be provided until this balance is paid in full.  Please see the attached document for the details of the vacation rental to which this pertains.

If you feel our records are incorrect, to make your payment by credit card, or if we can be of any additional help while you plan your stay, please contact our office immediately.  We are happy to assist in any way we can!

================

Did you look at the last page of the contract that we signed, dated and scanned via email? 

At the very bottom of page 6 you will find the following statement: If you would like your final balance charged to the same credit card used to secure your reservation on the due date, please sign here.  My signature  follows that statement.

Surely you have the same information.  And if so, why are you sending us this email advising the balance is overdue???  Why didn't you bill the balance to the credit card you have on file per the lease agreement???

This is aggravating.  We don't understand why you offer the option to bill the balance when due and then not note your records. 

We gave you permission to bill the balance to the credit card. Call me if we are misunderstanding the process.

================

Why not instead, change the statement to read, "If you would like your final balance charged to the same credit card used to secure your reservation on the due date, and would like to receive a nasty email from us shortly after the balance is due, please sign here."  That would be more accurate.

What do you think?
Tell me at
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OHO's "Ocean City Ditty," the CD single is now available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/oho4
(and, if you're in town, at Trax On Wax on Frederick Rd. in Catonsville, MD) OHO is Jay Graboski, David Reeve and Ray Jozwiak.

My latest solo release, '2014' of original, instrumental piano music, can be downloaded digitally at:

(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak4)

Also, be sure to visit:
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Transparency. . .

?????

A U.S. special operations commander has ordered files about the raid and assassination of Osama Bin Laden sent to the CIA and purged from Defense Dept. records appearing to have bypassed federal rules and possibly the U.S. Freedom of Information Act. A CIA spokesman said it is "absolutely false" that records were moved to the CIA to avoid the legal requirements of the Freedom of Information Act. The records transfer was part of an effort to protect the names of the personnel involved in the raid, according to the inspector general's draft report.  Moving those records did allow the Pentagon to tell The Associated Press that it couldn't find any documents inside the Defense Department when the latter had requested them more than two years ago, and would represent a new strategy for the U.S. government to shield even its most sensitive activities from public scrutiny.  (Thanks to http://investigations.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/07/08/19353473-pentagon-secretly-moved-bin-laden-raid-files-to-keep-them-from-public?lite)

What do you think?
Tell me at  
http://www.rayjozwiak.com/guestbook.html

My latest release, Black & White Then Back,
can be downloaded digitally at:

(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak3)

Also, be sure to visit:
http://www.rayjozwiak.com

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Listening to Dad. . .

. . . play his accordion on Sunday afternoons was not my only exposure to or involvement in music. As kids, in the 60s, we always possessed, and I don't know how many (because they were cheap and inexpensive) that we went through, a small, portable 'record player' (we did not call them 'turntables' although the turntable is an essential component of the contraption). And through the magic of our 'record player', I entered a world that held every bit, if not more, intrigue, excitement, mystery, joy, sadness, exuberance, melancholy, pleasure, challenge, rhythm, lyric, engagement than any other child's literary or sports-induced fantasy. I felt like, paraphrasing Van Dyke Parks' song title "Movies is Magic", Music was magic.

I had records that you wouldn't believe; vinyl records, or maybe they were plastic since they all, at least the initial 45rpm and 78rpm-the little ones, contained children's music and the pop songs of the day. Some of the 78s were even different colors; which reminds me of my days in radio (many years after this) when I experienced a promotional 45 of the Brothers Johnson's Strawberry Letter 23 which was red AND strawberry scented. Some of the titles I remember are, Tom Terrific (the theme from the cartoon television show; one of many others: Huckleberry Hound for example), Puff the Magic Dragon (yes, Peter, Paul and Mary and it WAS in the top 40), Waytt Earp (with the Legend of Jesse James on the flip side; not sure who the performers were though), The Bear Went Over the Mountain (little memory remains of this one except that it was performed by a chorus and was one of my least favorites), until finally one day. . .



What I call 'selective memory' (not the textbook definition), "episodic memory impaired in normal aging" has left me with few definitive details of how, when, why and by whom my first Beatles 45rpm record was purchased. But I clearly remember that I owned "She Loves You" on the Swan record label (due to episodic memory impairment I don't remember the flip-side**) AND "I Want To Hold Your Hand", flip side of which was "I Saw Her Standing There".

At that stage in my musical development, I didn't evaluate music or entertainment for its sophistication, its level of technique or virtuosity or any of that stuff; and still don't, for the most part. But something about the entire Beatles' AURA got me hooked. I instantly became. . . one of the Beatles.

**I'll save you the trouble, flip-side of She Loves You was I'll Get You, which thanks to the web, I listened to again and do, fondly, remember.



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