Posted on 01/12/2015 7:24:14 PM PST by Squawk 8888
Albums are almost as old as recorded music. A hundred years ago when the most music a 78 RPM record could hold was four minutes, long pieces like operas or symphonies were broken up over multiple discs. Those discs were then sold in book-like packages that reminded many of photo albums. That’s how the record album got its name.
The multiple disc problem was solved by Columbia in 1948 when in June of that year, they unveiled the 33 1/3 long-playing album. When RCA countered with the 7-inch 45 RPM single a year later, the LP became the domain of “serious” music–classical, jazz, folk, Broadway show tunes–while the 7-inch ended up as the heart and soul of rock’n’roll. Adults bought albums; kids bought singles.
Oh, sure, there were rock albums, but usually only the form of a compilation of an artist’s singles. It wasn’t until the Beatles and Bob Dylan came along that the album starting becoming a thing for rock and pop. And it didn’t take long for the marketplace to adopt albums. By the end of the 60s, albums were king and stayed that way for the next thirty years.
Along the way, though, the music industry abused its customers, especially towards the end of the 90s. By phasing out singles, the industry forced people to buy an entire album for just one song. When the price of CDs didn’t come down fast enough to suit consumers, they got pissed. VERY pissed. When Napster came along and offer an opportunity to get just the songs you wanted without the filler–and for free!–there was no going back. The breakup of the album had begun.
(Excerpt) Read more at ajournalofmusicalthings.com ...
We play vinyl for our grandkids, or at least we did when they were younger! Now, all they want to do is watch "shows", i.e. Wild Kratts, Frozen, that kind of thing. But ... they've heard it! They know what it is! "Die Moldau" lives!
I accept your explanation. Honestly! That’s the way things go. “Everythings’s cool. Everythings’s cool all the way around.” - Woodstock stage announcement
Anybody with the most modest home computer can produce their own mix disks that are as good as what are sold commercially that sound way better than the old mix tapes and it's relatively easy to up-sample even a lowly mp3 file to 24/192 resolution and you will hear the difference, even with crappy source material
the famous coffee stained...almost white album....
That’s a good point. I wonder how often they get used that way, as opposed to having it on for a party or something.
FReegards
The funny thing is that it is possible to be exposed to really good new rock right now, with the internet. It just will never be popular like it was. That shared experience of becoming aware of and appreciating some great new act on a vast level is gone, and that was a big part of it for a lot of people. But you can sure find stuff that you would have never heard of back in the day if you look a little bit.
Freegards
Unfortunately it was more than a sprinkle of water. The whole collection got thoroughly soaked in a couple of inches of water. The covers were soggy and stuck to the disks themselves. I tried to salvage them but paper fibers were embedded into the grooves and essentially “glued”.
They were beyond my abilities to salvage.
Heh, yeah I “read about” that somewhere too ;-). Double albums in particular were good. A friend who collects/sells records now says he sometimes finds them in thrift stores with seeds still in the fold, lol.
Man, I miss Sam's. I think I bought the majority of all the classical CDs I own at the Yonge St. store back in the mid-90s.
“One album I have not been able to find online is Bruce Cockburn’s “Humans”.
Amazon has the MP3 for $ 6.99.
Thanks! :-)
Cd and Vinyl versions also available at Amazon, as well as MP3.
The cd is what I want! Thank You!
(sold my turntable for rent money)
Great post and I agree wholeheartedly.
I would add that not too long ago we liked to be audiophiles and dreamed of that perfect speaker system. Two channel stereo was simply amazing.
Now the kids think a mini boom box that they plug their iPhone into produces great sound.
You’re right Doc. I found that people increasingly weren’t interested in hearing live rock music, which translated into hard times getting bookings.
Although I still enjoy playing rock I’ve started playing bluegrass to get my jollies. There is a surprisingly rich bluegrass community in Washington state and opportunities to play - or just jam are plentiful.
“While Geddy can’t hit the high notes in the old songs (some might say that’s a good thing!)”
It’s true! I liked their music, but couldn’t stand Geddys voice! So I didn’t listen to them at all.
His voice became much less annoying starting with “Permanent Waves.”
“Growing up I had turntables that could play 16RPM records”
My parents’ turntable played 16RPM. That’s how I learned to play Doc Watson tunes. Put on the 33RPM record, and play it at 16RPM.
“Separating seeds.”
The Seeds;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNZwCNSSWlI
I think they separated in ‘69.
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