Alphabetize... by Last Name or First?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Mikay, Mar 6, 2015.

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  1. agaraffa

    agaraffa Senior Member

    I always alphabetized by last name up until a few years ago when I transferred everything to digital and started using DAP's a lot more frequently. It annoys me that they alphabetize by first name, but now that's what I'm used to, so I switched over to alphabetizing by first name. Now that I think about it, I guess I could just update all my flac tags so that they're "last, first"... maybe I'll do that.
     
  2. rbp

    rbp Forum Resident

    Really doesn't matter how you do it provided you can easily find the title you are looking for.
     
  3. gregorya

    gregorya I approve of this message

    What is this "phone book" you speak of???...
     
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  4. DreadPikathulhu

    DreadPikathulhu Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    The good thing about the Ramones is that you can file both the band and the individual member solo albums together. Unless you have that Dee Dee King one.
     
  5. gregorya

    gregorya I approve of this message

    I don't go alphabetical at all... I follow my father's approach, which was more of an intuitive/organic/associative approach... more like the Huey, Dewey, and Louie Decimal System... ;)
     
  6. gregorya

    gregorya I approve of this message

    You mean Dear John Doe Mercury Cougar Water Melon Summer Camp David?... ;)
     
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  7. Monosterio

    Monosterio Forum Resident

    Location:
    South Florida
    Christgau and the Rolling Stone Record Guide agree:

    Dr. John under D
    Professor Longhair under P
    And you know McCartney. :D
     
  8. In my travels, I've usually seen sections alphabetized by last name in America, Canada, and in Western Europe. However, when travelling in Latin America, I almost always see things alphabetized by first letter of the first name. I think part of it might be not always knowing if the name is a proper band name or someone's first name.

    On the other hand, I've seen US stores mis-file Latin Artists who use both parents' last names. For example, a name like Jose Manuel Aguilera Gutierrez should be filed under "A" rather than "G."
     
  9. subframe

    subframe Forum Resident

    Location:
    Bay Area
    The 'Band by first word (except 'the'), artist by last name' rule has always been my first inclination. However, for certain artists my brain wants to use their first name. Miles Davis or Curtis Mayfield are two examples, my brain wants those to be under M and C respectively. Until recently, I ignored that part of my brain, and just dealt with the minor mental hiccup when I went to look for those guys on the shelves.

    But I recently re-organized, and gave in. I now just go by first letter of the first word that isn't 'the', regardless of whether it's a name or a band. And unexpectedly, I've had no problems with the switch. Perhaps it helps that I'm partially trained by iTunes organizing this way, but whatever the reason, I'm sticking with this scheme.
     
  10. hurple

    hurple Forum Resident

    Location:
    Clinton, IL, USA
    So, you file The Band under "B". Great. What about other groups?
     
  11. Evan L

    Evan L Beatologist

    Location:
    Vermont
    Last name.
     
  12. Danby Delight

    Danby Delight Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boston
    I explained it to myself by saying that since "Captain" isn't really a first name, it goes under C. Whereas I actually have known guys...actually, in one case a girl, and this was years before Igloo Australia was a thing...who go by Iggy as a nickname, so he goes under P.

    The one where I just flipped a coin was Sun Ra. I finally decided that that was his full name and you would never just call him "Sun," so he goes under S.
     
  13. Turnaround

    Turnaround Senior Member

    Location:
    -
    Should you alphabetize your Captain Beefheart albums before or after your Captain & Tennille albums?

    (Does anyone actually have both artists in their collection?)
     
  14. Danby Delight

    Danby Delight Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boston
    Yes. After.
     
  15. Finch Platte

    Finch Platte Lettme Rundatt Bayou

    Location:
    NorCal
    Elton John under 'D'. :)
     
  16. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    last name only for individual artists
     
  17. PixieStix

    PixieStix Forum Resident

    Location:
    California
  18. Mylene

    Mylene Senior Member

    First name. Clears up lots of disputes.
     
    April Snow likes this.
  19. Archtop

    Archtop Soft Dead Crimson Cow

    Location:
    Greater Boston, MA
    I'll play along...

    The Alan Parsons Project/I Robot - P
    The Stooges/Fun House (1970) - S
    Iggy And The Stooges/Raw Power (1973) - S
    Iggy Pop/The Idiot (1977) - P
    The Wailers/Catch A Fire (1973) - W
    Bob Marley And The Wailers/Natty Dread (1974) - W (assuming I bought this before the next entry)
    Huey Lewis And The News/Sports - round file
    Alice Cooper/Billion Dollar Babies (1973) [as band name] - A
    Alice Cooper/Welcome To My Nightmare (1975) [as solo name] normally C, but since I have A already, I'd keep them together
    The Jimi Hendrix Experience/Are You Experienced - H
    Band of Gypsys/Band of Gypsys - H
    Paul McCartney/Ram (1971) - M
    Paul McCartney & Wings/Band On The Run (1973) - M
    Wings/Venus And Mars (1975) - M
    David Coverdale and Jimmy Page/Coverdale*Page - Between Deep Purple and Zep
    Jimmy Page & The Black Crowes/Live At The Greek - Next to Coverdale/Page
    The Honeydrippers/The Honeydrippers Volume 1 - round file
    Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin and Paco de Lucía/Friday Night In San Francisco [three artists, and two have prepositions] - round file
    Various Artists/A Christmas Gift for You from Phillies Records [produced by Phil Spector] - round file

    But actually, I don't do this at all. I group chronologically (by recording, not release) and preference. For example, my Lennon and McCartney come after my Beatles, next to that is Dylan, next to that is King Crimson, next to that is Deep Purple, etc. No alphabetization, just chronologically by groups of artists.
     
  20. subframe

    subframe Forum Resident

    Location:
    Bay Area
    Heh. If I had any of The Band, I'd probably file them under T just to be contrarian.
     
  21. Mylene

    Mylene Senior Member

    I've got two Fripp and Eno CDs. One is filed under 'F' and the other filed under 'R'
     
  22. richard a

    richard a Forum Resident

    Location:
    borley, essex, uk
    Surely you mean E? Unless you have a seriously complex and bafflingly arcane filing system. Knowing some of the people on this forum, nothing would surprise me!
     
  23. Jimbo912

    Jimbo912 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Williamsville NY
    R as in Robert
     
  24. richard a

    richard a Forum Resident

    Location:
    borley, essex, uk
    Oh. Yeah... :oops:
    But why not B for Brian?
     
  25. bmoregnr

    bmoregnr Forum Rezident

    Location:
    1060 W. Addison
    I have tried in the past to sort by those few iconic first names like Dusty or Aretha, but I found it always got me in trouble. Last name first for individuals. But then my Cooper is C and my Morrison is V so what do I know.
     
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