As an early Valentine's Day present, the wife told me to go buy a CD.
Cool.
So, the second I get to the store, I totally blank on what the hell it is that I've been wanting to buy.

I wound up with a helluva pick anyway:
Brian Eno - Taking Tiger Mountain By Strategy (remaster)

But now I remembered that I wanted to check out Ted Leo.
Oh well.

you have to get to your wife's permission before you buy a cd?

damn. i am nevver getting married.

I hate it when that happens.

No.

But recently we've been in a bit of a tight spot, financially.
(She's student teaching, so now we need to pay for child care, but we still only have one income.)

All it does is remove the guilt.
Or at least allows me to share it.

It just has to do with being "responsible". Which I really do try to be. But I am a pretty bad grownup, for the most part.

Oh, my other option was something by The Fall, because I really don;t have any of their stuff.

They had both:
10,000 Fall fans Can't Be Wrong (which I didn't want, because I wanted a proper album instead of a compilation)
and
The Real New Fall LP (which I seriously considered, because I've heard one amazing track from it, but didn't get because I wanted to start with the "classic" stuff. Is that snobby of me?)

Amen brotha!

Regarding The Fall, the new record is really not a bad starting place, but as someone who owns 20+ records by them, I understand they are a tough one to start out on. The 50,000 collection isn't bad, but most of the second disc isn't so great. In addition to "Real New", I think their essential records in no particular order are:

Live At the Witch Trials
Dragnet
Hex Enduction Hour
Perverted by language
This Nation's Saving Grace
Wonderful & Frightening World of The Fall

Just my 2 cents.

Can you squeeze another one out of her with the "but they're gonna cut my brain!" line?

Nah.
I've misued the "But I've got MS!" line too much to be able to squeeze any more pity from my cranial malfunctions.

Of course, I COULD always feign leision-induced forgetfulness.
Hmmmm....

PopTodd- PM me if you want me to make you some copies of those Fall records.