Here are some of the particular questions I have in mind:

1. Which composers are the objects of your completism?

2. Do you haunt the various auction sites, looking for old LPs, or will you only purchase CD releases?

3. Do you (as I have recently begun to do) purchase bootleg "expanded" releases just for the sake of having a complete collection, or do you only buy legitimate releases?

4. Why do you do it? Do you find (as I do) that you end up with a lot of less-than-stellar music only because you insist on completeness? I have some real Williams clunkers in mind as examples: NOT WITH MY WIFE, YOU DON'T, DIAMOND HEAD, WITCHES OF EASTWICK.

Alternatively, I'd be interested in hearing arguments against completism--on principle or otherwise.

The composer featured most prominently in my collection next to Williams is Goldsmith, but because of the tons of scores he has written, and the great differences in style, I don't pick up anything by him. There ARE scores that I'd like to have although I've never heard them, though - Nimh, for example.

Now I've narrowed it down: These are what I MUST have:

Every Jerry Goldsmith; every Akira Ifukube.

Those are the priorities; that's where most of the available money goes (although I luck into freebies.)

Following that: Every John Williams; every Christopher Young; every Masaru Sato (THAT will NEVER happen, there're too many titles that nobody cares about and will never be anthologized). Every Bernard Herrmann, perhaps, but I've heard enough of his stuff to wonder if I haven't, indeed, heard it all. I'd still buy his stuff without knowing what it sounded like (and having a very good idea what it DOES sound like) (now Howard comes after me)

Following those fellows, I will only buy if I know what I'm getting, or, occasionally, on impulse. The few composers I've bought "blind" include Horner, Elfman and Zimmer. I won't buy Horner or Zimmer "blind" anymore, I've felt burned too many times, but Elfman is usually reliable -- although I didn't care too much for FLUBBER.

I see no point in buying LPs. Everything will come back out on CD eventually, plus even if I found an LP, I can't be bothered to try and dig up an old turntable that probably won't work anymore anyway (years of dust and so on.)

I admit that my choice of those three composers as my completist focus (Doyle is a different story) proceeded in part from a conformist mindset--i.e., everyone likes Williams, therefore I should garner all of his scores. But I have been fully rewarded nevertheless; without that impulse I would never have bought MONSIGNOR, or THE CONSTANT NYMPH, or THE GHOST & MRS. MUIR.

But not even the sudden income stream (upon finally finishing school) could have protected me against bankruptcy had I followed his H'ness in becoming a Goldsmith completist. I admire those like him; and perhaps naively believe that Williams completism will serve as a good substitute for Goldsmith fandom.

I remember two friends who collected comic books. One guy was more of a dealer--he'd pick specific titles that he felt would be worth having. The other guy was more of a reader--he'd find a comic or character he'd like and then try to get all the comics from the set/series. I knew another guy who was big big into The Beatles--he owned every Ringo Starr solo album. One day he was playing one and he said--I don't need to have everything by every Beatle. From then on his philosophy became to get music he liked rather than everything by a performer he liked. Lastly, I knew one of the biggest collectors in the country, this guy had just about every domestic soundtrack and nearly all the foreign. His big thing was the quest and the deal. When he had a collection of just about all there was to get, he sold it all off. His thrill was gone.

I think it depends on what kind of a collector you are and what kind of a collection you want to have. Why do you collect? To listen to music. To have neat LP and CD covers to look at. To have a set of something you like or to have a collection where everything in it is a gem and the dross has been weeded out.

There are no set rules. If I tend to be a completest, it's only because I had to know for myself if a certain score was worth having or not. Thus I got tape copies of Diamond Head and Not With My Wife You Don't. If I was a completest, I'd want to have these albums. Do I play them? Certainly not as much as other Williams. Sometimes I look at my collection and say--Am I building a collection or an archive? I'm not sure--there's satisfaction in doing both. Nonetheless, buying music seems to me like watching movies--there's just too much to ever have it all so you have to pick and choose.

Yes, I am a completist of TWO composers only: John Williams and Danny Elfman. And I'm beginning to become one of Elliot Goldenthal.

As for Williams, I own about 90 CD's of his (both scores and concert works), but I know that there is still a vast amount of stuff that I don't own - either because it never was released in any format (not even bootlegs) or because it's too obscure (like "Tuesday's Theme" from BACHELOR FLAT, released on an ancient 45). This is of course very frustrating, even more so because you know that you're SOOO close to completing the collection.

Evidently, this completism thing is the collector inside me speaking. But I've also learned something from that very collector, namely to appreciate other genres and musical styles. I mean, if it hadn't been for this emerging completist attitude, I would never had bothered tracing up and buying stuff like M SQUAD, DIAMOND HEAD, HOW TO STEAL A MILLION, THE MAN WHO LOVED CAT DANCING, FITZWILLY, the Irwin Allen TV series etc. etc. These are all scores that I have come to really LIKE and APPRECIATE, which would never have been the case had I not delved into Williams' mysterious past.

For the rest of your questions:

2. Yes, I use all sources available to me - e-bay, trading places, personal contacts etc. - to get what I look for. Things are somewhat complicated, though, since I am only able to pay CASH. No credit card or money order. Since I have donated my LP player to my younger brother, I have stopped looking for LP's, but those previously mentioned ultrarare 45's are still high up on my wish list.

3. I have never been into the expanded bootleg releases that boast horrible sound or a repetitive structure. There is a saying that goes "Kill your darlings!". This is what I felt I did when I got the expanded BORN ON THE 4TH OF JULY, LAST CRUSADE and HOOK. No, because I listen to the MUSIC and don't want to relive the movie in any way, I much rather preferred the original, shorter releases, but with good sound and a fluid listening experience.

CHECKMATE (LP)
NOT WITH MY WIFE, YOU DON'T (LP)
HEIDI (Label X release)
FLUTE CONCERTO & VIOLIN CONCERTO

I am thinking of doing that very soon, however, starting off with M SQUAD and going all the way up to ANGELA'S ASHES. I think it is very easy to spot a gradual development, although Johnny never really "settled" in any genre. I mean, in the middle of his fluffy jazz period, there were his SYMPHONY NO. 1 and IMAGES (a little later, though). In the 70's, there was americana and refined orchestral scores side by side. It is his versatility that really impresses me.

...constantly scour the auction sites, but I can't ever get any of the Williams LPs, like Towering Inferno.

I too was in the "if it's a soundtrack I'll buy it" mode, mainly from the time CDs were released to the early 90s. This died off for awhile, but now I find myself in that same mode again. Since we're mentioning age, I'm 30.

I started off replacing all my LPs with CDs. Then it snowballed into getting all or as much as I could of certain core composers. Then if it had a cool looking cover or was anyway related to horror I'd get it. My colleccting died down for awhile, mainly due to suddenly being out of a job and in a financial bind for about five years. That was actually a good thing because I was just about to buy a CD recorder when the prices of them were in the thousands of dollars and the blanks were 2-4 times greater than the cost of a retail release. I wanted one of these not only for film music, but so that I could put some of my LPs (mainly old and obscure heavy metal bands as well as some soundtracks - most of them which I never dreamed had a chance of ever being released although I've been surprised more than once) on disc so I wouldn't have to wear out my vinyl. Cassettes just weren't good enough for me. But they would have to do for awhile.

Eventually, CD recorders and blank media dropped to commodity levels and were available to the average consumer. I was recovering from my economic set-backs and the time was right to get back into collecting, although this was after having sold or traded some titles I could shoot myself today for doing.

It has now become a challenge to see how huge my collection can become while helping others along the way to acquire the scores they've been seeking too - give as well as get. While I'll admit I don't listen to, or even have the time or inclination to listen to even 25% of what I own, it's still a lot of fun to see how many disc racks I can fill up with film scores, not to mention my other musical tastes!

The composers taking up the most space so far are:

The most: Jerry Goldsmith
Runner-up: Ennio Morricone

Then it's kinda fuzzy...Williams, Horner, Silvestri, Poledouris, Young, Broughton, Elmer Bernstien, John Scott, Donaggio, Herrmann and Rozsa would be the next tier.

Now as for who I'd love to have a complete filmography of titles that haven't been listed already:

Harry Manfredini
Brian May
David Newman
Terry Plumeri
Graeme Revell

While I have no delusions of EVER acquiring a complete collection of any of the above composers, I can have a lot of fun trying!