My collection, too, experienced growth as a result of more than one compilation album brought into the house, and I can say from my own experience as a DJ on WDCE in Richmond, VA, that the comp is certainly the disc jockey's friend - a portable record collection in itself if you will.
Today, we celebrate the compilation album with this round up of ten of the best. You could begin with these ten and branch out from there to create a record collection that would be the envy of all your friends. So let's get to it! In no particular order:
1. Burning Ambitions: A History of Punk (1984) – If you are looking
for one compilation to point to as a basic primer on UK punk rock, this
double-record import on the Cherry Red label is the one to pick, hands
down. Though they weren’t able to get
the licensing to include the Pistols, The Clash or Siouxsie & the Banshees
(a fact bemoaned in the album’s liner notes), they were able to include just
about everyone else! The Exploited, The Damned, Adam & the Ants, Generation X, The Stranglers, The Lurkers, Cockney
Rejects, Sham 69 – they’re all here.
Even a couple Yankee acts (Dead Kennedys, The Heartbreakers) show up in
the mix. I remember whole weeks going by
when this album did not leave my turntable.
Why would it? It’s a virtual punk rock jukebox! Essential.
2. Rodney on the ROQ (1980, 81, 82) – As young punk
I remember being pissed off that I lived on the wrong coast to hear the
legendary radio station KROQ out of L.A. I
read about the station and the fact that they played -- an actual radio station
that actually played -- all these bands I was into. Longtime DJ and scenester Rodney Bingenheimer
led the charge with his Rodney on the ROQ show.
The closest I ever got to hearing the show live was in the form of the
three comps put out on the Posh Boy label under Rodney’s name. All three are excellent, with the first being
the best of them: when you begin with
Brooke Shields leading into Agent Orange’s “Bloodstains,” you know you’re in
for a helluva fun ride. Volume One also
features The Adolescents, Black Flag, The Simpletones and Cristina’s killer
rendition of “Is That All There Is ?”
Volume Two keeps the pace going with Social Distortion, Shattered Faith,
The Minutemen, The Little Girls and The Stepmothers; Volume Three counts Ill
Repute, Kent State’s killer “Radio Moscow,” Channel Three and a very early cut
from The Bangles (when they were still called The Bangs). Each splits the difference between a
definitely punkier side one and new-wavier side two, and each contains a
special issue of Flipside magazine. All
three are well worth picking up.
4. This is Boston Not L.A. (1982) – A wicked good
encapsulation of punk rawk done Boston style and, honestly, one of the best
hardcore albums ever. With bands like
Jerry’s Kids, The F.U.’s, Gang Green and The Freeze, how can you possibly go
wrong? Loud, hard, fast and fun – we
used to call this stuff “skate punk,” and while it certainly was a youthful
scene this old punk still smiles when he hears it. The Freeze’s stuff is the best here, in my
opinion, including classics like “Idiots at Happy Hour” and an otherwise
unavailable version of “Trouble if You Hide,” but there really aren’t any duds
here either. The CD adds the 7-inch
Unsafe at Any Speed comp released not too long after the album. 
5. No New York (1978) – In the late 1970s, New York
City was not a pretty place. But there
were a lot of scenes happening all at once.
You had the Studio 54 disco scene, you had the CBGB’s punk scene, and
you had your mind-melting, ear-splitting No Wave scene combining the best parts
of both with a little (OK, OK, a lot)
atonal saxophone skronk added to the mix.
And you had Brian Eno there to document the latter in this nearly
indescribable album. The Contortions,
Teenage Jesus & the Jerks (featuring a shrieking Lydia Lunch on vocals),
DNA, and Mars each contributed four cuts of mutant funk-punk squawking and
screaming and searing sound. Some will
find it painful to listen to, others (like me!) will revel in its anti-art
defiance, but anyone who hears it will not forget it.
6. Not So Quiet On The Western Front (1982) – 2
records. 47 bands in 74 minutes. An insert booklet that doubled as the first
issue of Maximum Rock’n’Roll. About the
finest damn hardcore compilation you’re ever going to hear, and proof that
those who said all those bands sounded alike either weren’t paying attention or
were fucking posers, man. Just a
recitation of the band names will bring a smile to the face of anyone who was
into the scene at the time: 7 Seconds, Pariah, Code of Honor, Bad Posture,
Flipper, Angst, No Alternative, MDC, and on and on. It’s fast, it’s furious, it’s excellent. And oh how we used to laugh (and still do) at
the Naked Lady Wrestlers’ “Dan with the Mellow Hair.” This one has been given a really nice CD
reissue with every track intact. 
8. Declaration of Independents (1980) – This early
comp collecting assorted regionally well-known independent label acts looking
to break big nationally is thoroughly undeserving of its relative obscurity
nowadays. (Granted, being on the fairly small but perfectly named Ambition
label meant the album wasn’t headed for a high-profile life from day one.) The biggest name on the album then – and now
– would be Pylon, whose debut single “Cool” is found here. But the music is start-to-finish solid,
ranging from the sparkly power pop of Luxury’s “Green Hearts” to the bar band
toughness of Robin Lane & the Chartbusters’ “Rather Be Blind.” There’s rockabilly from Tex Rubinowitz, surf
instrumental goodness from D. Clinton Thompson, Kevin Dunn’s giddy synth take
on Chuck Berry’s “Nadene,” and – only a few months removed from the Three Mile
Island nuclear scare – Root Boy Slim & the Sex Change Band teaching us to
do “The Meltdown.” Don’t miss Washington
DC’s Razz (featuring a young Tommy Keene, trivia buffs!), whose contribution
“You Can Run (But You Can’t Hide)” is a song begging to be covered for today’s
crowd. 
10. URGH! A Music War (1981) - Soundtrack to the movie of the same name,
the double-LP set compiles live performances by a simply fantastic collection
of new wave bands ranging from the famous (The Police, Devo and Joan Jett are
all here) to the infamous (Skafish’ s “Sign of the Cross” nearly got the whole
project banned in some places). Interesting
to note who was left off the album despite appearing in the film: punk poet John Cooper Clarke, the utterly
mysterious Invisible Sex (seriously, has anyone ever heard anything else from
them apart from their URGH! performance?) , and the only true punk band in the
picture, the Dead Kennedys, were all left off the vinyl. Still, it sits now as a nearly perfect time
capsule of what early 1980s radio would have sounded like in a perfect
world. Avoid the truncated CD reissue
and seek out the original vinyl. So, there's my list - how about yours? What are the compilations that got your record collection started? Which ones do we just have to hear? Tell us about them in the comments!
