Take those old records off the shelf...
There's more music than ever before
Hello, Ari here —- these Friday posts can be a place for more casual, personal and even “non-journalistic”... which is the vibe for today’s post sharing a bit about the music I grew up on, from going through my parents’ vinyl record collection… If your new here, please try subscribing now!
Take those old records off the shelf…
Growing up, the first music I remember hearing came from my parents. There was some “kids stuff,” like “Free to be you and me,” which they must have gotten for me and my brother.
Mostly, though, I would curiously go through their vinyl record collection. They had good taste. There were original albums from The Beatles, Aretha Franklin, Joe Cocker, The Grateful Dead… a long list.
Over the New Year’s break, I went back through some of the record collection with my folks.
So I got some of their reflections on classics like “The Harder They Come” from Jimmy Cliff, “Sticky Fingers” from The Rolling Stones, “Nashville Skyline” from Bob Dylan, and “I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You” from the queen, Aretha.
Over my life, I’ve gone from vinyl to CDs and tapes to streaming. As a music fan, I do love how streaming services provide more music, more quickly, to more people than any other platform history. But we also discussed how having an actual record—the physical copy—can feel different. My Mom said she likes the idea of “physically relating to the record itself,” while my Dad saw it more my way.
Public Enemy founder Chuck D was on The Beat recently, and his view is sort of a hybrid. He said music is always linked to technology, because you need it to hear and distribute any music (beyond a live performance)—but we should care about our music and culture for its value beyond “screens” and platforms.
So there can be nuance there. Some of this is personal and emotional, so you can just prefer the feel of a record, how its sound relates to the first time you heard something on vinyl, the same way so many people make a point to read on paper.
I still get print subscriptions of newspapers and magazines, and often print out longer articles even if they were published online. I read plenty online and on the phone too, but I just feel more connected to material that way sometimes. (And definitely with books.) (And studies show reading on paper can enhance retention, though it’s not like that’s what moved me to do it.)
Are you old school or new school?
What about you all? Records or streaming? Screens or paper?
This is a post just for full subscribers, so I can keep up with all the comments and will reply to some… let me know your thoughts by commenting… and we can enjoy a quick chat about something other than threats to democracy and whatnot.
Have a great weekend, too!
P.S. In the spirit of mixed media and tech, I recorded my chat with my parents and posted some highlights, so you can watch that here if you like.
Records and paper. I’m a very visual person and love album covers, paper books, newspapers and magazines. And photographs, original artwork and movies on the big screen. Music and books have so often been good friends and such a comfort to this baby boomer.
Ari, I love records as they remind me of my dad and his collection of the Big Bands and the stories he would tell me of seeing them at the Trianon Ball Room in Toledo, Ohio. I loved all those singers who transitioned from having sung with the Big Bands and still love listening to my old LPs. Actually they are making a comeback with the young folks as my grandson asks me to buy him records for special occasions. I do listen to all the media but sitting listening to a record feels more intimate and more like reading a good book.