Tom Dunne: I freed myself of over 6,000 CDs — but these five hidden gems are special
Tom Dunne says his CDs deserved more than another attic, a dark, silent place where no songs would ever sing. Picture: iStock
My CD collection has gone to God. I am the Marie Kondo of the CD world. I enter the next phase of my life free of the largest CD collection in south Dublin. The boxes, the shelving, the numbered index system: all gone. And yes, I feel lighter, unburdened.
Not that it was easy. Despite various culls down the years — I had thousands of CDs that no one, not even the bands themselves needed to own — it was still, at the end, upwards of 6,000. They have been boxed in a dark attic since Covid hit.
We are currently moving and all I could offer these CDs was another attic. A dark, silent place where no songs would ever sing. They deserved more. “If you love someone set them free,” said the lyrics on one of their number. Hard as it is to listen to Sting, I took his advice.
But I could not resist one last five-minute-long rummage. This ran to two days but it was time well spent. A process of pulling CDs violently from the boxes began, accompanied by a rising, muttered, chorus of, “over my dead body,” and, “oh no you don’t”. So — and this is not a definitive list, but trust me — no one gets these:
From Southampton, brothers Greg and Arron Gilbert arrived in the world of The Thrills and Sleepy Jackson with a sound not unlike The Las but with better harmonies. Initially, so high were these harmonies I thought there must be a sister involved.
When they came into studio at Oxygen I eagerly awaited the sister. None arrived and then Greg and Aaron started to sing. I still recall my slack-jawed shock. 'Long Time Coming' is timeless and as beautiful a song as was ever played on radio. Sadly Greg died in 2021.
Signed to V2 records when it was the label to be on, Scotland’s Dogs Die in Hot Cars (great name) owe a considerable debt to XTC even in terms of vocal styling. But this is no bad thing. 'Somewhat Off the Way' is one of the best, most heart-warming songs that Andy Partridge never wrote.
Again, very few outside their family circle know this band, but the single from this album, 'I’m in Your Life', beguiled and seduced me. They were signed by Massive Attack’s 3D to their Melancholic label and tracks did feature in some soundtracks, including .
I traced the singer, Phelim Byrne, to his home in Bristol for a radio interview where he explained that his dad had been in Sweeney’s Men. Not much else is known.
“You’re going to like this,” Pete, then with EMI, told me. I guess he knew me too well. Daniel Tashian, one-half of The Silver Seas, is a ridiculous talent. The album nods in the direction of bands like Hall and Oates and ELO but does so knowingly and effortlessly. A joy from start to finish.
Tashian has since written and produced Grammy award-winning songs with Kacey Musgraves and, notably, got a call from Burt Bacharach to write with him also. He is the nine-time winner of my 'I Told You He Was Good' award.
Bet you didn’t even know Sean Penn had a musical brother. This was produced by Tony Berg, now most famous for his work with Phoebe Bridgers. It was engineered by Prince engineer Susan Rogers which explains the presence of Wendy and Lisa on backing vocals.
The single 'No Myth' made the US top 20, but somehow the incredible, haunting charms of 'Bedlam Boys' did not ensure the success it deserved. Penn is now married to Aimee Mann — a talented household.
It’s a reflection on the random nature of lists like this that three of the five above are not the ones I started with. I culled albums by Ron Sexsmith, Damien Jurado and Josh Rouse to make way. People also suggested El Diablo’s and Denison Whitmer’s .
What do they have in common? I heard something in each of them and in the people making them. Some new spin on music that captured a little bit of them, some of their spark, their joy, their hopes. The best of them, and of us, on CD forever.
