With revolutions there are always revivals …
By The Landlord
"The medium is the message.” – Marshall McLuhan, Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man, published in 1964
“Forty years ago the listener had the option of flicking a switch inscribed ‘on’ and ‘off’ and, with an up-to-date machine, perhaps modulating the volume just a bit. Today, the variety of controls made available to him requires analytical judgment. And these controls are but primitive, regulatory devices compared to those participational possibilities which the listener will enjoy …” – Glenn Gould, 1966
The click of a button, the press of a switch,
The crackle of needle; speed, volume, pitch.
Knobs, sliders, balance. Tweak treble, mid, bass,
Add Dolby? Add loudness? Surround sound and space.
Peak highest frequency to floor-pulsing thuds,
Towering speaker stacks, to tiny earbuds.
Hissing and clarity. Pause, rock, then roll,
Placed at our fingertips every control.
But what spins around must return to the start.
Turntable arm? Lifts obscurity, to chart.
Shuffling mode? Algorithmic art – but
Smart-tech marketing must spin to the heart.
Evolving iPods. Now becoming antiquities of listening history
Music has trends, but not just in sound –
Soundwaves revolve their own spinning fairground.
Trends wax and wain, via markets and fashion.
But listening remains a round-and-round passion.
Catalogued moments, deep cherished memories,
First loves revived in analogue accessories.
Swapping friends’ records, taping the radio,
Clicks between clips in a stopping-start flow.
Vinyl seemed dead, but made a revival,
So too cassettes. Mixtape survival.
CDs to MicroDiscs, MP3s to the Cloud.
Can’t throw away. It isn’t allowed.
Fat Pioneer stack. Big in the 80s. But where do you start when buying it? See Not The Nine O’Clock News …
So this week the theme is all about method,
Crank-turning Victors, Amstrad to iPod,
Coming in song, referred in the lyrics
As detailed as possible, all the specifics.
Equipment through history, in cabinets, stands,
On decks and in pockets, and multiple brands
From cylinder of wax, to phonograph, gramophone,
Zonophone, Graphonole, and even the Graphophone.
All around the wireless
Edison’s Amberola, Alexander Bell’s Volta,
Decks used by DJs, or mixers to alter
How music is heard, the art of overlap.
Media as an instrument, scratching in rap.
I’d like a phonograph, please …
78s to 33s, 45s to 12-inch re-mix,
Lyrics on the formats we variously pick.
Expressions of history in how we find access
Cable to Bluetooth, from wired to the wireless.
Linn, Pro-Ject, Thorens, Marantz, and Technics,
TEAC, Denon, NAD, Panasonic, and Philips,
Trio amps, and speakers, Mordant-Short to Sony,
Bose, Bang & Olufsen, Marshall and Peavey,
Leak, Wharfedale, Sanyo, Sansui, Pioneer,
So many names in lyrics might appear,
Klipsch, Tannoy, Quad, there’s so much choice
Ortophon, Celestion? His Master’s Voice.
From families round hearth, glued to the radio,
To Walkmans, then Spotify, for music on the go,
This is songs about methods, and just how they feel,
Anyone have eight-tracks? Or reel-to-reel?
Keeping it reel …
We guarantee old stuff doesn’t have a warranty.
Nostalgia is fine, but isn’t what it used to be.
Whatever form of listening may be evolving,
For the record, it returns, always revolving.
Turned up to 11 …
So then, please place your suggestions of songs about music listening media in comments below. Fine tuning all of it into playlists, I’m delighted to say, are the skilful hands and excellent ears of guest MussoliniHeadkick! Time will stop revolving for song nominations at 11pm on Monday UK time for playlists published next week. But for now, let’s reach for the play button …
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