eponymous album

[Tom Conroy]

I'm a writer working on a story for "Tracks" magazine about the commonly used
record-review word "eponymous." It is used, in a usage objected to by most
music copy editors, as a means of avoiding the repetition of the band's name
when referring to an album whose title is the band's name (e.g., Iron Maiden's
"Iron Maiden," which most rock critics would style as Iron Maiden's eponymous
album).

I was wondering if anyone has access to a data base (or could direct me to a
data base) where one could search for early citations of "eponymous album" and
"eponymous LP" (as well as the variations "self-titled album" and
"self-titled LP").

>From my own experience as a copy editor, I know the usage goes back at least
to 1983.

I found a discussion of "self-titled" in the ADS archive, but I was able to
access only two records.

I can also be reached by phone at 973-313-1475 if anyone would prefer
discussing the topic by phone.

Thank you for your attention.

Tom Conroy