that music thing

The other day I was reflecting on music and music delivery. Steps in the technology evolution. My 54th birthday approaches quickly. When I was a kid there was still a few 78 rpm (revolutions per minute) records in the house. My slightly older sister was in love with a 78 of Patty Page singing “The Tennessee Waltz”. There were also 33 rpm LPs (long playing) and 45 rpm records. 78s, LPs and 45s were playable on both sides. 45s had one song per side with the A side being the real song and the B side being filler, although every now and then recording artists found that fans preferred B to A. I never fell for 8 track tapes, probably because I did not have a car in which to place a 8 track tape player. Next on the music delivery technology path was cassette tapes.  Had one of those players in my car. Then CDs. Now we have cassettes gone and CDs going away and all will be MP3 or at least digital delivery to a digital player.

I left out transistor radios and boom boxes.  But what I really miss some nights was my tiny rocket shaped radio which had a single ear plug and a little antenna wire which ended in an alligator clip. The idea was to lie in bed and listen to the radio after attaching the alligator clip to the metal steam radiator in my bedroom. The technical mastery required was to make sure the clip got through the paint and contacted the metal of the rad.  My rocket radio was red with black trim, I twisted the nose cone to change stations.