DAY 1 – FEB. 1 2012 

CHICAGO TRANSIT AUTHORITY

**SCROLL DOWN THE BLOG FOR THE INTRODUCTORY POST**

FORMAT LISTENED TO: iPod – headphones

My goal is to keep with the vinyl spirit of 70’s Chicago and stick with LP’s as often as I can.  I’ve been talking about doing this for some time, so over the past couple of years I’ve hit the buck vinyl bins and amassed pretty much the first 19 releases on vinyl.  Old Chicago vinyl is somewhat like owning a Toyota Corolla, you don’t realize just how damn many of ‘em are out there until you start looking for them.  The used record bins are chock full of tattered Chicago records, they are like the 70’s version of used rap CD’s.  I guess used bins are where former coolness goes to die.  I’ve got a couple gaps that I hope to fill later this week when I hit the used CD shop.  I toyed with listening to the 80’s releases on cassette tapes but I loathe cassette tapes on levels normally reserved for pedos and terrorists.  I figure by Chicago 20 my rage levels will reach bi-polar levels, so why add GD cassettes to the mix.  Remember when you would join Columbia House or BMG and choose cassettes as your preference?  90% of them would arrive with no liner notes of any kind, just a plain white insert with the album name and a picture of the front cover.  After a couple months of play they would be full of dropouts or even worse, that damn squealing noise would start due to cheap materials.  Fuck cassettes. 

Last night I strapped on the headphones and crammed as much rock as I could fit into my brain before the project started.  Of course, as luck would have it, a stack of promo discs was delivered to my mailbox this afternoon.  They currently sit mocking me and my idiotic musical quest. 

Oddly enough, CTA was one of the few Chicago releases that I didn’t find in the vinyl bargain bins, so we start this project with the only .mp3 formatted Chicago that I own.  Originally released in 1969, CTA, as they were still known, was a sprawling double LP that covered 76 minutes of horned (horny?) goodness.  The double LP format was a pretty bold move for a debut release by an unproven act with no track record. 

The album charted well upon release, reaching #17 and eventually racking up double platinum status.  I’ve got no problem with CTA, I’ve owned this on CD for many years and every few years I revisit it.  I dig the mesh of jazz-fusion and rock, plus I’ve always been a sucker for double albums.  Can I just stop here and call the experiment a success? 

VERDICT – This is the Chicago album to own if you are just going to own one.  I consider owning greatest hits compilations to be cheating.  Do it right, buy CTA and enjoy the non-radio cuts and admire the solo work of guitarist Terry Kath.  Although I do have to admit, the final cut “Liberation” did not leave me feeling too liberated.  14 minutes is just too damn long, this was the kind of shit that inspired bands like Emerson, Lake and Palmer.  But hey, I guess 70’s DJ’s needed to shit too.

MENTAL STATUS – So far, so good.

NEXT UP – Chicago – also known as Chicago II.