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| #TBT |
There are many firsts in life that you simply never forget, technologically speaking. Your first album, whether on vinyl, 8-track, cassette or CD. But what about the mp3? Can you recall the first mp3 you encountered in your lifetime? Or possibly even how you came into contact with it, what interface was used to access it...was it through a computer or a more mobile technology, such as an iPod or cell phone?
Makes you wonder, what do we sacrifice for the convenience of digital media? As I grow and reflect on aspects of my own childhood searching for what I can only effectively refer to as spiritual system restore points, I begin to realize that tangible parts of music hand an entirely different impact on music lovers of past generations. So, why not explore some musical legacy media formats and stroll down memory lane to see what it all meant…
MY FIRST 8 TRACKS
Don’t be fooled, 8 tracks were fairly popular in the early 80’s, so even as a child I inherited a few hand-me-downs that I would never forget. They weren’t of course of the sophisticated nature per se, but thinking back the 8-Track was fairly easy for a child to operate. They only fast forward and rewind, and plus they’re essentially unbreakable. My collection was pretty slick, however, a few classics from Sesame Street… |
| Sesame Street Fever, and yes, it even featured Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees. |
THE VINYL ERA
Records and kids do NOT mix. I would often watch my grandfather play jazz classics on the weekends when the TV got absolutely no play at all. John Coltrane, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Art Blakely, Charlie Parker, it was a lesson in rhythms that spawn spinelessness. Improvisational jazz was so influential since it was on the fly; there would be live albums, different versions and takes of the same song, just things that conventional music has always been afraid to do. And with these masterful albums came the most wicked cover art of all time. Consider (for those who don’t already know) having a canvas 12 inches by 12 for an album cover, really large enough to hang on your wall. My uncle, who spent a great deal of time later working within the industry, was the type of music fan that literally wallpapered AN ENTIRE APARTMENT with album covers. I cannot make this stuff up, people. Wall...to wall.
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| Always wondered, what was on Coltrane's mind on this cover? |
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| Music by Count Basie, cover by Andy Warhol. |
BUT since those were his albums and not mine, I can’t count those even though they definitely count. My first actual records were the single for Bell Biv Devoe’s ‘Poison’, Salt with a Deadly Pepa, and DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince He’s the DJ, I’m the Rapper. All classics for different reasons…not my favorite hip hop covers of all time, but definitely the first with my own hard earned money.
THEM TAPES THO!!
My fondness for cassettes makes absolutely no sense. Maybe it was just the medium of choice as I was coming of age, or even more likely a byproduct of the portability of Sony’s Walkman. But more than anything, there was one distinction when it came to analog tapes. You could record on them. Pretty much changed my perspective on everything. We listened to records and the such, but to be able to record on something so universal made different types of music available. My first memorable tapes were….`
Once we reached the CD era, sound quality was up but duplication still required tape players. The loss in sound quality became more noticeable on the conversion to tape, which lost popularity quickly. Artwork continued to inspire me, and the dimensions of the square CD covers were actually more reminiscent of a vinyl album cover also. But reaching the age of digital only media, where cover art is also often only viewed in the digital form by music fans. You lost the fragility of vinyl which made you care for your records. Lost the tape snap at the end of an epic album that signals you can now return to your regularly scheduled life. And you lost the ability to hold it all in your hand, physically interacting with it as you sat and listened. I can remember all this due to the added layers of interaction, but I can’t really recall the first time I discovered the mp3 as a file type. The more digital media grows in speed and accessibility, the less relevant, it seems, the content actually becomes. It takes up no physical space, you don’t have to sell an mp3 collection at a garage sale because your spouse wants to fit a StairMaster in the garage. It is simply whisked away to the imaginary garbage can on your desktop. Which really means nothing, since data stays on your computer’s hard drive until it’s overwritten…but I digress.
So I pose the question, does this have the same effect on you? Has the lack of physical interaction with your media content created a sense of disposability
disposability
? Since my focus was not on my personal FAVORITE covers, which honestly are too numerous to waste time posting one by one, I’ve included something received as a gift some years ago, The Book of Hip Hop Cover Art by Andrew Emery, which has about 85% of my top picks included.
Pavlik, J. V., & McIntosh, S. (2011). Converging media: A new introduction to mass communication. New York: Oxford University Press.
