music and beyond

In my house, growing up there was always music. It was played on our Component Set or Hi-Fi was the name my parents called it in those days. We had vinyl records such as 45 singles. Mostly because they were cheaper than the albums. Sometimes we just wanted the single or 45 records because it was the popular song or hit at the time. The 45 records would only last 2-3 minutes at the most. With albums you had 5 songs on each side of the disk lasting 3 minutes or more per song. Sometimes artist would have more or less songs on their albums. I liked vinyl because in those days there were record shops in the neighborhood where you could go and purchase your favorite song you heard on the radio. You could also buy posters of your favorite artist. I use to spend hours there just looking at album covers of different artist from R&B, Jazz and Gospel. Vinyl records were durable. You could scratch them and put a penny on the arm of the needle of the component or stereo player and it would still play. Unlike a Compact disk if there are scratches, no matter what cleaner you use they were damage goods. I did not know there are places you can order vinyl records and music clubs you can join. I found that out writing this piece. I have a CD player/stereo and I have moved on. But, vinyl is and will always be my first choice.