MOG

This morning I had the unfortunate experience of hearing Rod Stewart's complete massacring (sorry Rod, you've done some good stuff, but this ain't it) of Cat Stevens' Father and Son.

The positive result of this is that it immediately forced me to listen to the original which lead me to listen to all of his Greatest Hits.

I usually shy away from greatest hits packages, because I like the idea of the album as a cohesive thing and all that, but Cat Stevens' Greatest Hits is different.

It's different because for the first decade or so of my life, I never knew anything else. This album was my dad's favorite and he played it constantly. For all I knew as a young kid, this was the only album Cat Stevens ever released.

It's kind of scary how these songs can so completely transport me back 25 years or so. A few years ago, I finally picked up my own copy (on vinyl) and was shocked to learn that all of my favorites (favorites, only because I had heard them a lot more than the others) were actually on Side 2 of the album!

I guess I had natually assumed that we always listened to Side 1 and sometimes when time permitted, flipped it on to Side 2. But learning the reality that it was Side 2 that was preferred (as silly as I'm sure it sounds) somehow seems significant to me.

I'm sure I should go back and check out some of his other albums, but I'm sure as great as they may be they won't have the same effect.