> > I've seen the term 'trainspotting' used in connection with music quite a bit
> > recently. What does it mean?
>
> Well, if you happend to live in Britain or Ireland, you might be familiar with
> a breed of people known as "trainspotters" who, literally, look at trains. You
> see them at all the major stations in a regulation overcoat, camera , flask of
> tea to keep away the cold etc. and each has the ambition to see (and record
> seeing) every single locomotive in the country. They are a bit
> (understatment :-) of a national joke
People in America trainspot, it's not just 'looking' at trains (I am a
rail fan myself, I enjoy 'looking at trains.' You got a problem with that?
:)) However, you left out one big detail: Each locomotive and car (I
understand you folks call them 'carriages') has a number, and trainspotters
make note of the number of the locomotive, and where and when is it seen,
(i.e., "I saw SP 4449 head an excursion on the Coast Line").
<By the way, I'm not a serious trainspotter, I don't note down the number
of every locomotive I see - unless it's a well-known
locomotive (fyi: The 'SP 4449' I mentioned is a steam locomotive, and to
see one run on the tracks is a very rare and special sight, but I
digress...)>
> With regard to music, it's like you know EVERYTHING about a certain genre or
> artist. I mean everything, like the catalogue numbers, where it was recorded,
> the bar code number etc. Sort of standing outside the record company with an
Yeah, that's basically what 'trainspotting' a record is.
Elson