record stack
I had a record player in college, but it died and was too expensive to resuscitate. Luckily, I then had access to my roommate's turntable, but he eventually graduated and moved to Texas. My records were then utterly useless and sat collecting dust on bookshelves in the various apartments Mrs. Camino occupied before winding up here at Casa Camino. I have my grandfather's vintage hand-cranked Silvertone complete with the weathered copy of "He Bought My Soul At Cavalry" by the Blackwood Brothers Quartet that has sat upon it for decades, but it is an antique, and antiques are for looking at.
My meager record collection was about as useful, but all that changed this Christmas.
Yes, while many of you were overjoyed at receiving the latest IPOD on the morning of December 25th, I was ecstatic at receiving the Crosley Stack-O-Matic, a distant ancestor of the IPOD that allows the listener to stack up to six records at a time. I am a sucker for anything ending in "O-Matic" and am waiting patiently for the IPOD-O-Matic.
By the way, I'm currently enjoying Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass' "Whipped Cream and Other Delights". I often feel as if I'm listening to cheesy game show theme music when I listen to him on CD, but vinyl really showcases the genius of Herb Alpert.
True, the Crosley Stack-O-Matic does become a bit cumbersome on long walks out with the dog, but there really is a difference in sound quality. I am not one to preach on the quality of old musical formats vs. new, but I hope to someday have a band so cool that we only release material on wax cylinders.
They really are better than records.
But Rex! But Rex! Grandma Ledbetter needs that heart transplant and we cain't be wastin' money on records and shit.
Ah, but you can. I can dig through a record store for hours to emerge with an armful of quality recordings and only be out twenty or so bucks.
Anyway, I highly recommend the Stack-O-Matic and other fine turntable models from Crosley. You will experience quality musical enjoyment and still have enough money left to get Grandmother a good black-market baboon heart.
posted by Rex L. Camino at 2:53 PM
6 Comments:
man, that's great! i used to have one of those "stacked" record players as did my father...he still regrets getting rid of his and so do i. i always loved how you got to hear only one side of every record in the stack and then hearing the other side of every record in the stack.
another fun thing about those devices happened when you really wanted to instantly re-listen to the last song on any particular side...you would have to grab the needle arm just before it got to that point of no return which would cause the next LP to drop. many times i did not quite get there in time and as a result, a record would fall on my hand (as well as the tone arm which was fighting to get out of the way)and that top record when teeter wildly..there are easier ways to acomplish the desired result but they are much less sporting.
Welcome back to the 20th Century. Us vinyl lovers are happy to have you in the fold again.
The stacking feature has had the unforseen side effect of cutting into my TV time, Sethro. But the entertainment value of watching the cat fear the automatic drop of the next record has been well worth it.
Glad to be back, Wally.
Wow -- The Blackwood Brothers AND Paul Burch on the same site. Truly we have the same musical heritage.
m.
Kids are reading this and looking up "vinyl" in the dictionary. And "Herb Albert."
And thanks for making me remember the SNL catchphrase, "The sun feels good on my baboon heart." Classic!
The Blackwood Brothers appears to be the only thing left of my grandfather's record collection, but I'm sure he would've also appreciated Mr. Burch, Mapgirl.
The one thing I learned from teaching is that kids never pay attention to anything I have to say, Michael.
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