Remember them?\u00a0 Now they’re called vinyl, but they were just records before they shrunk and evolved into CDs.\u00a0 I’ve never gotten used to CDs, there is something cold and sterile about them.\u00a0 Stick them in a slot and they disappear into a machine, not to be seen until you eject them.\u00a0 They’re great for cars; records tend to skip when you hit speed bumps and potholes.\u00a0 But inside a home, they’re just not the same as a record.<\/p>\n
There was something almost magical about records.\u00a0 You could save up and ride a bike down to the store and buy one for less than $4.00. When you got it home, you found that some had posters inside and some folded open.\u00a0 Blue Cheer had one that folded open three ways!\u00a0 Unlike CDs, you could watch a record spin and the tone arm slowly approach the end, where it would lift up and return to its rest.\u00a0 You could see which tracks were longer, and how far along the song was by where the arm was at any given time.<\/p>\n
When I was young, 33 1\/3 RPM records were fairly new and they were still pressing some 78 RPMs.\u00a0 Phonographs had four speeds:\u00a0 16 2\/3, 33 1\/3, 45 (the ones with big holes), and 78.\u00a0 I’ve never seen a 16 2\/3 RPM record, supposedly they were developed for Chryslers.\u00a0 It must not have caught on.<\/p>\n
As a kid, I was entranced by a jukebox that played a 45 RPM record sideways.\u00a0 I couldn’t understand how that worked, and still don’t.\u00a0 You put a coin in, pressed a large (by today’s standards) button, and the turntable slid to the correct record on a rack.\u00a0 Smoething moved the record onto the sideways turntable.\u00a0 When it was done, the record was moved back.\u00a0 Incredible.\u00a0 Stuff just isn’t cool anymore.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Remember them?\u00a0 Now they’re called vinyl, but they were just records before they shrunk and evolved into CDs.\u00a0 I’ve never gotten used to CDs, there is something cold and sterile about them.\u00a0 Stick them in a slot and they disappear … Continue reading