As I said I was fixated by this device. It did what it was invented to do and that was to entertain. By golly I for one was entertained! When the early 60s rolled around there was a new way to hear music. It had been around since the late 40s but didn’t become affordable to us until the 60s. This was a variable speed record player. It could play 78 revolutions per minute or RPMs. With the turn of a switch the RPM speed changed to the new 331/3rd RPM that was made on a higher quality vinyl and at this speed an entire album could be recorded and continuos playing time was much longer.
Also in the late 50s was the 45 RPM. This was a smaller record that had a larger hole in the middle and an adapter had to be slide over the center spindle and was created mainly to play a single tune on each side. I recall these the most as they were big in the top twenty tunes and hit parade era so you could buy the number one song only. I had a few of these but my cousin Walt had a lot of them as he lived near new record stores in Cincinnati and would bring them out to the farm so we could listen to the newest and coolest tunes of the times. (This was cool baby.)
My wife would buy albums with the tunes of the 70s along with what were called party records with comedians like Steve Martin, Richard Pryor, George Carlin, etc. She bought these mostly for me, I think, so I wouldn’t bother her albums and scratch them up. Whatever the reason it worked.
Also in the 70s a new innovation arrived upon the scene called the cassette player. Briefly there was a eight track cassette but they were awkward and limited in usage. Then the cassette tape had entire albums recorded and would play for what seemed forever. I know my wife had one and I then bought a stereo that also contained the cassette player. High tech for sure. (By way I bought it as a gift for my wife so give me a little credit here please.) So as we all obtained a cassette player for our cars one way or another the world took another big change.
In 1983 the CD player entered the scene. This looked like a tiny record but could hold a ton of material and last forever and the quality of the sound was miles ahead of anything that had yet to be offered. So of course the world changed their cassette players in for the newest CD players.
Now with this technology we were positive we had hit the pinnacle of sound and performance in this field right? Wrong! Today there is digital music and it can be downloaded from a central place to just about any device we have, including our cell phones (a what?) or we can purchase music for our iTunes. (I don’t understand so I’m not explaining.) I know I can receive channels for my radio from satellites. It is truly amazing and I will say what several generations have said prior: we have hit the top in technology.
I am not sure why songs are being recorded on vinyl records again. I really am not sure what this means but we are a generation that likes to be nostalgic and take return visits to their earlier years. I will say that the journey from the Victrola to satellite radio has been enjoyable for me at each stop along the way as the music played and I got to listen and enjoy the music. There is an old “Sony and Cher” song entitled “And the beat goes on.” From winding it up to plugging it in to the transistor radio to beaming it down it really is safe to say that “the beat goes on.”
By getting to use all the devices I have it is very doubtful I missed any of the music I have ever liked and it is doubtful anyone else has either. A while back Barry Mannilo wrote “I write the songs.” Musicians write them and technologist allow us to hear them almost at our whim. It is another reason the times have been right for living because from when I would play a waltz or fox trot on the Victrola and enjoyed the Beatles and Rolling Stones to The Eagles one thing has been certain and that is “And the Beat Goes On!”
Rick Houser grew up on a farm near Moscow in Clermont County and loves to share stories about his youth and other topics. He may be reached at houser734@yahoo.com.