14/07/18: Eight DVDs

West Finchley. The films were left on a bench, being water-damaged. Oddly enough, this is the second time I've seen a selection of DVDs left on a bench. Fantastic 4 was still shrinkwrapped so I took it home and watched it (see HERE).

01/07/18: Cutting Edge, Volume 16: CD4 Afroswing/Dancehall (Dun Talkin' 2017 Edition)

North Finchley.

18/05/18: Something something Generation

Woodside Park. Something something "Generation". Unlikely to play.

13/05/18: Tesco CD-R

Totteridge. Under close examination, this turned out to be part of a Tesco-branded CD-R.

25/04/18: The Ultimate Musicals Experience, CD3

Totteridge. Disc three of three. The tracklisting was apparently as follows:

1. Alfie Boe – Pure Imagination (from Charlie & the Chocolate Factory)
2. Katherine Jenkins – Who Wants to Live Forever (from We Will Rock You)
3. Michael Ball – Fight the Fight (from From Here to Eternity)
4. Michael Crawford feat. Francis Rufelle – Only You (from Starlight Express)
5. Adam Cooper, Daniel Crossley & Scarlett Strallen – Singin' in the Rain (from Singin' in the Rain)
6. Jennifer Hepburn, Nick Ferranti & Company – America (from West Side Story)
7. Robert Irons – New York, New York (from On the Town)
8. Liza Minnelli – Cabaret [live] (from Cabaret)
9. Topol – If I Were a Rich Man (from Fiddler on the Roof)
10. Petula Clark – With One Look (from Sunset Boulevard)
11. Barbara Dickson – Tell Me It's Not True (from Blood Brothers)
12. Constantine Maroulis – Waiting for a Girl Like You (from Rock of Ages)
13. Sacre (feat. Zoe Nicholas & Marc Monroe) – (I've Had) The Time of My Life (from Dirty Dancing)
14. Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons – December 1963 (Oh, What a Night) (from Jersey Boys)
15. The Good Hair Days – You Can't Stop The Beat (from Hairspray)
16. Wilson Pickett – Mustang Sally (from The Commitments)
17. Shrek Ensemble – I'm a Believer (from Shrek)
18. Madness – Our House (from Our House)
19. M – Pop Muzik (from Priscilla, Queen of the Desert)
20. Jason Donovan & the Rocky Horror Picture Show Cast – The Time Warp (from The Rocky Horror Picture Show)

Unlikely to play.

13/04/18: Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2

Boots and Waitrose car park, Whetstone.

11/03/18: Totteridge fragment

Unlikely to play.

11/02/18: Philips CD-R

A Philips CD-R in the road in Totteridge. Unlikely to play.

10/02/18: Jesus

Window ledge in North Finchley. "16-language edition" of religious texts.

26/12/17: ASDA CD-R

Woodside Park, N12. Second CD find of the day. What a treat. This ASDA CD-R was getting wet in the grass by the side of the road.

26/12/17: Kingston 13 mix

Woodside Park, N12. Saw a CD in a hedge. Climbed in, even though it was prickly, to take this photograph and to retrieve the disc. It turned out to be a Traxdata CD-R that was already covered in lichen. The text says something like "Kingston 13" and "mix".

22/12/17: Videogames and DVDs

A bin in North Finchley. Left to right: House: Season Seven, Scary Movie 3.5: New Extended Version, Resident Evil: Apocalypse, Grand Theft Auto IV and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

11/11/17: Supergrass – In It for the Money

Boots and Waitrose car park, Whetstone. Rather a good album, this shouldn't have been left in the leaves and mud. The CD was still in the box. A few centimetres away from it I also found a £1 coin.

30/10/17: Issue 142

Whetstone. The text on this mysterious disc offers "32 free vectors from Go Media", implying that it's a CD of digital art files. Other text states "Hi-res textures: Crumble, crackle, burn".

Important note: the dramatic tailing off in finds reported here (61 in 2014, 34 in 2015, 16 in 2016 and a mere 12 so far in 2017) is not in any way a reflection of waning enthusiasm on the part of this blog. Instead, it reflects the increasing scarcity of CDs in general. The phasing out of CD players in cars may have a lot to do with this, as many finds in previous years seemed to have fallen out from the car door to the gutter.

13/10/17: Abandoned DVD collection

Whetstone. Eleven DVDs left on a bench in Whetstone, with the discs still in their boxes. The films are (left to right):
• The 51st State
• Paranormal Activity
• Blades of Glory
• New York Minute
• The Drop
• The Fast and the Furious
• Taken (extended harder cut)
• Fast & Furious 7
• Shooter
• Fast & Furious 6
• The Benchwarmers (is it mere co-incidence that The Benchwarmers was left on a bench?)

21/07/17: EA Sports videogame fragment

Manchester Road, just next to St. John's Park, Isle of Dogs, E14. This tantalising fragment displays the text "EA Sports", indicating that it was once a videogame. Unlikely to play.

27/06/17: Club Hits 2003: CD One

Whetstone. CD Two was nowhere to be seen. According to the tracklisting on Amazon, CD One included the following:
 1. The Opera Song (Brave New World) – Jurgen Vries [feat. CMC]
 2. The Way (Put Your Hand In My Hand) – Divine Inspiration
 3. Cheeky Song (Touch My Bum) – Cheeky Girls
 4. Asereje (The Ketchup Song) – Las Ketchup
 5. Heaven – DJ Sammy & Yanou [feat. Do]
 6. Land Of The Living – Milk Inc.
 7. Pray – Lasgo
 8. I Wanna Dance With Somebody – Flip & Fill
 9. The One – Dee Dee
 10. Heart Of Gold – Kelly Llorenna
 11. Nessaja – Scooter
 12. Dreamer – CK & Supreme Dream Team
 13. Missing You – Lucy Carr
 14. Where Love Lives [Northstarz Remix] – Alison Limerick
 15. Take My Breath Away [Flip & Fill Radio Edit] – Soda Club [feat. Hannah Alethea]
 16. Do You See The Light – Snap! vs. Plaything
 17. Saltwater (The Thrillseekers House Remix) – Chicane
 18. Inner Life – Decoy & Roy
 19. Hold On – Proximity
 20. Cloudless Sky – M-Shape
Unfortunately, there were a few important parts missing. Unlikely to play.

02/06/17: Foals – Holy Fire

This was in the road in the Isle of Dogs, E14. According to Wikipedia: "Holy Fire is the third studio album by British rock band Foals, released on 11 February 2013 in the United Kingdom on Transgressive Records...The album managed to chart at number two on the UK Albums Chart in the UK and charted across the world including the number one spot on the Australian Albums Chart in Australia and number 86 on the Billboard 200 in the US."

18/05/17: Totteridge & Whetstone tube CD

Located in the gutter just outside Totteridge & Whetstone tube station, this disc was in a sorry state. Unlikely to play.

07/05/17: Jean Michel Jarre – Oxygène

Whetstone. Oxygène is a 1976 album by Jean-Michel Jarre that sold 15 million copies. This edition of it was given away with the Daily Mail. Unlikely to play.

26/03/17: Totteridge Traxdata

Totteridge. Traxdata CD-R. Unlikely to play.

20/03/17: Smashed-up disc on Westferry Road, E14

Westferry Road, Isle of Dogs, London, E14. About a metre from Soundtek Presents Hero of the Millennium was this sorry CD – or rather, some of it. A cheerful man and lady smile. No text that I can decipher. Unlikely to play.

20/03/17: Soundtek Presents Hero of the Millennium

Westferry Road, Isle of Dogs, London, E14. Not far from another sorry specimen (see above).

19/02/17: ASDA rap

A 2.73-km stroll around suburban Totteridge proved less than thrilling. The highlights were meeting a black and white cat called Millie and finding an ASDA CD-R of rap music.

15/02/17: Muddy/dusty disc in Whetstone

Whetstone. Was starting to think I'd never see another abandoned CD. This minimalist specimen had no identifying marks whatsoever.

22/12/16: Paul Nwokocha – Akam Di Ocha

Akam Di Ocha is a Nigerian gospel CD by Paul Nwokocha that includes the songs "Onyeuwaoma”, "Akam Di Ocha" and "Odum Ije”. It was lying in the middle of the road a few metres down from Totteridge & Whetstone tube station. Unlikely to play.

31/10/16: Whetstone Polaroid

Whetstone. After a worryingly long gap with no CD finds, I spotted... another anonymous Polaroid disc.

09/08/16: Docklands Polaroid

South Quay Walk, E14. This Polaroid-branded CD-R was in pristine condition.

13/07/16: Argyle Road, N12

Argyle Road, West Finchley, N12. Unlikely to play.

09/06/16: Queen B. Real Soul Vol. 8

Maxell CD-R found in Stanhope Street, NW1. Text in red reads: “Real Soul Vol. 8" but then there's a "1" underneath. So is it volume 8 or volume 1? Higher up, in black, is written "Queen B." Sadly, this is likely to be the last Stanhope Street find, owing to a change in my work location. It's astounding how many CDs showed up there. Click HERE for the full list.

07/06/16: 101 Dalmatians: 2-Disc Platinum Edition (disc one)

Robert Street, NW1. It's rare to find two abandoned CDs in different places on the same day. From 50 cents to 101 black-and-white dogs seems like some weird kind of inflation.

07/06/16: 50 Cent

Essex Park in West Finchley, N3. Rapper/businessman 50 Cent released a 2005 album called The Massacre. Could the text written here have said The Massacar? Mr Cent has sold more than 30 million albums but clearly lost out on this pirated copy. Unlikely to play.

01/05/16: RAKS

A grassy verge in Totteridge. RAKS CD-R.

01/04/16: PES 2012: Pro Evolution Soccer

Stanhope Street yet again. Issued on 27th September 2011, PES 2012 is a football-themed videogame. Nothing there to get me excited. Wikipedia: "PES 2012 contains 30 stadiums, 17 licensed, 12 unlicensed, and 1 that is entirely fictional." Big deal!

19/03/16: Bee Gees – Their Greatest Hits: The Record, disc two

Waitrose car park, Whetstone. I would have quite liked this one. Who doesn't enjoy a bit of Bee Gees? Many good songs here:

1. Stayin' Alive
2. How Deep Is Your Love
3. Night Fever
4. More Than A Woman
5. Emotion
6. Too Much Heaven
7. Tragedy
8. Love You Inside Out
9. Guilty
10. Heartbreaker
11. Islands In The Stream
12. You Win Again
13. One
14. Secret Love
15. For Whom The Bell Tolls
16. Alone
17. Immortality
18. This Is Where I Came In
19. Spicks & Specks

Sadly, there's an important piece of the disc missing. Unlikely to play.

29/02/16: Leaves are falling

Verbatim CD-R found in Stanhope Street, NW1. "Leaves are falling 12 14" reads the enigmatic text.

22/02/16: Imran Hayat – Tarap

Stanhope Street delivers one more. Tarap was released in 2010 by Hi-Tech Music Ltd. The CD lasts for 48 minutes and 53 seconds.

14/02/16: Southover Memorex

Woodside Park, N12. "Is it live or is it Memorex?"

07/02/16: Mix'o'matic: 50 Tracks! Mixed Together by Doctor Fox

Mix'o'matic: 50 Tracks! Mixed Together by Doctor Fox – Boots and Waitrose car park, Whetstone. This 1996 double CD may have been binned because of the negative associations with Doctor Fox, who was recently exposed in the media for various scandals – including not being a real doctor. Or perhaps the album just isn't very good. In his scathing one-star appraisal, Amazon reviewer Michel writes: "This is supposed to be a mix but to be honest with you, It ain't really a mix. The tracks are just put together one after another without matching the beat. It's a waist of money if you are looking for a real mix but the CD has some cool tracks on it."

25/01/16: Boots car park

It floated, like the Moon, in the dark universe of the Boots car park, Whetstone. Unlikely to play.

12/01/16: Georgie Porgie: 50 Songs, Stories & Nursery Rhymes

Yet another Stanhope Street offering, Georgie Porgie: 50 Songs, Stories & Nursery Rhymes was released on 1st July 2007 by the Musicbank label.

06/12/15: Tuna de Derecho de Santiago de Compostela

Found in the leaves in the gutter near Kenwood House, north London. This 2007 CD seems to consist of some church band or religious thing released by PSM Music – see HERE.

26/11/15: Bow Wow – Unleashed

Stanhope Street, yet again. As usual, we need Wikipedia to tell us more about the CD: "Unleashed is the third studio album by American rapper Bow Wow. It was released on August 19, 2003 by Columbia Records. The album features guest appearances from Amerie, Birdman (aka Baby), Mario and Jagged Edge and was produced by Bink!, The Neptunes, Jazze Pha, Swizz Beatz and Lil' Jon, making this Bow Wow's only album to be produced without his mentor Jermaine Dupri." Some of the edging had come away, sprinkling the pavement in shiny dust that gleamed under the streetlights. Unlikely to play.

07/11/15: Tatlıses – Sizler Için

Oily puddle on Crescent Road, EN4. Seems to be a four-track disc of Turkish pop released in 2005 by İbrahim Tatlıses. The translation powers of the internet offer up the following song list:
1. Hair the Way Bring Voice-Music: Lovers poor (Reza Knight)
2. I threw a stone at the window Voice-Music: Anonymous
3. I know said: Abraham Dizlek Music: Ibrahim Dizlek / Baran Elyasa
4. These three things are there in the world Voice-Music: Anonymous

18/10/15: Westlife – Coast to Coast

Released in 2000, Coast to Coast was the second album by the dreadful boyband Westlife. This copy cost someone 99p but ended up in the Stapylton car park, Chipping Barnet. Sadly, the disc itself was nowhere to be seen.

09/10/15: Smoy/Tmoy CD-Rs

There are inevitably many risks in modern life, but certain dangers are easier to avoid than others. Some people will even compromise their own personal safety by stepping into traffic to take photographs of compact discs left in the road. But – based on this treasure uncovered on the A400 as it passes through Kentish Town – the foolhardy dicing-with-death gamble was well worth it. The three CD-Rs were located within metres of each other. The text appears to say "Smoy July 24 pm", "Tmoy Aug 6 '15" and "Aug 4 '15". On the third disc the "Tmoy" or "Smoy" is obscured by peeling. Note the attractive colouring displayed on the peeled-back area. Unlikely to play.

30/09/15: All Eyez on Me

One eye stares from the Stanhope Street gravel. An enigmatic shard. Research reveals this to be All Eyez on Me, "the fourth studio album by American rapper 2Pac, released February 13, 1996 under Death Row Records", which was "the first double-full-length hip-hop solo studio album released for mass consumption" (thanks, Wikipedia). Of those two discs only one – or rather, part of one – was to be found. Unlikely to play.