Put the Needle on the Record

Yesterday, to escape a hot afternoon in the mid-80s, I went into the basement for awhile and listened to records on my parents' old turntable, which I have set up down there. The featured album was 25 Rock Revival Greats, a collection of 50s hits I got in grade school when a neighborhood friend, Joe Czekalski, stole it from his dad and passed on to me. Two thoughts came to mind: One was the reminder that nostalgia is never comprehensive. That record was pressed in the 1970s, and its collection is in some ways different than what would comprise a collection of 50s hits assembled today. For example, the only artist to have two different songs on the album was Lloyd Price, who is all but forgotten today. His song "Just Because" has always been one of my favorites. The other thought was how much I enjoy the ritual of playing an LP: setting it on the turntable, lifting the needle and setting it on the spinning vinyl, even hearing the cracks and pops of the aging album. Of course some of these steps would grow old if I had to employ them every day, but there's definitely a nostalgia that exists for old technologies. I also love filming with my Super-8 movie camera, and I love my uncle Allan's reel-to-reel tape recorder. It's not to say any of these older generation technologies are superior, but I would hate to see them disappear, for there are nuances associated with recording and playing audio and video on these machines that are lost on today's devices. Like Lloyd Price's simple mix of piano, stand-up bass and horns, I'd hate to see these old friends go away just because they're not popular anymore.