Frank Gutch Jr: The Many Lives of the 45

God, but I love 45s!  Out of all the formats invented by the musical gods, it is my favorite.  You can have all of your albums and your CDs and cassettes and, yes, even your eight-tracks.  All I ask in return is your 45s.  The Little Record With the Big Hole.  The Single.  AM Radio’s Friend.  The Rock ‘n’ Roll Pointer.  It is so cool, it freaks me out.  Actually, I should say “they” because over the years the format changed with the times— from the simple one track a side to the EP with three to five tracks (technically a 45 because it was recorded to play at 45 RPM most of the time) to the promo 45 (same track on both sides) to the mono/stereo promo 45 (same track on both sides— one in monaural and the other in stereo) to…. Man, I’m running out of wind here.  There’s more (colored vinyl, picture sleeves, etc.), but I’m anxious to get started because, like I said, this is my favorite format.  Bar none.

Frank Gutch Jr: RADIO NIGHTS: When Radio Ruled the Teen World

I feel sorry for kids today.  They live in isolation, plugged into their iPods and iPhones and Androids, not even realizing that the world is passing them by.  Hell, it’s not just the kids, either.  I attended a David Bromberg/Ollabelle concert recently and you almost couldn’t tell when the lights went down with all of the hand held devices lighting up the room.  There is an anxiety today which wasn’t there before the computer age, a fear of missing out, and while they are busy making sure they don’t miss out, they do.  Ironic, isn’t it?  It’s the the modern day equivalent to fiddling while watching Rome burn (except kids these days don’t think they could stop the fire anyway).  And if you don’t get that, look it up on your iPad.