EDitorial ± 12-Mar-2001

Put The Needle On The Record

On the bedside table at the moment is Showbusiness, subtitled Diary Of A Rock 'N' Roll Nobody, an autobiographical work by Mark Radcliffe. Yep, that Mark Radcliffe off fabulous Radio 1. Talking about getting older, he says:
You still buy records, but you are now old enough to witness yet another technological breakthrough in recording format, so you repurchase all the albums you first got when you were fourteen on CD DAT minidisc or digitally remastered laser-reissue wax cylinder. Bring back the eight-track cartridge, I say.
This struck a chord. And I was reminded of it this morning when, for no good reason, I found myself wanting to listen to some old stuff by The Pogues. It's not that I don't own any Pogues material: problem arises 'cos they're all on vinyl. And all the LPs (that's long players, kids) have been consigned to the loft due to (a) the space they were taking up, and (b) they were losing out in terms of convenience to CDs.

Like most people, I think it's true to say, I resent re-buying music I've shelled out for before. Doesn't seem right. But, as Phil Oakey said, I'm only human, and I had a lapse a couple of weeks back when Hatful Of Hollow by the mighty Smiths popped into my online basket. It frightens me to think that I got the original LP over fifteen years ago. Scary. Then I hit PLAY on the CD, William It Was Really Nothing kicked in, and life was good once again.

Get Into The Groove

Although I could nip up the loft ladder now, dig out Meat Is Murder and bung it on the turntable, that won't necessarily be the case in five or ten years time. What happens when my stylus goes? Is it worth hanging on to that mountain of black vinyl? Will it be possible to buy a record player in 2010? Or, for that matter, a CD walkman in 2020? Food for thought.

Be seeing you!

Ed