Here is an observation that is unoriginal and bellows out my status as a man of a certain age: the dominant days of the long-playing record are gone and should be lamented. Try this for a potted history:
the death of the LP
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| a cultural influencer |
At school the truly cool kids carried the album du jour in a Virgin Records carrier bag. Bowie, Led Zeppelin, Yes, ELP, early (its earliness is important) Genesis, these were the coin of cool currency, until of course punk arrived and divided opinions. I lagged behind with my love of the Moody Blues and nostalgia for the Beatles. Best of all were the gatefold covers and the gnomic sleeve notes. A related pleasure was the cheap newsprint of the
NME or
Melody Maker which grubbied your hands on reading. John Peel, was, I suspect the leader of taste for most of that generation but my own interest in music was piqued by the fabulous Robin Valk on BRMB. He read excerpts from my letter on air and played
Haymaking Time by City Boy at my request. I remember the pride I felt when people congratulated me at school the next morning.
I've never been a full-on muso and I can't play or sing a note but the album is a potent part of my cultural makeup. Yet today I admit I listen to my music on Spotify and fall into the temptation of the playlist and pleasures of the familiar. So before I forget these things I am going to use this year's advent calendar to muse on twenty-four albums that move me. They will be in no order or scheme though I will as usual leave the best to last.
As an amuse bouche (it's not in the twenty-four) I reproduce the inside of the triple gatefold
Woodstock album. Now there's a fine pub conversation - good triple albums.
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