It’s been a solid 24 hours now since my iPod broke and I subsequently renounced all digital recording technology. The only thing that has caused me to suffer MP3 withdrawal so far is having to stop whatever I’m doing every 15 minutes to flip or change a disc–which I haven’t had to do since the boombox I had as an undergrad. I guess the ability to create iTunes playlists that last for days has made me lazy.

I’m also really struck by the difference in sound between analog and digital; I knew it existed and always appreciated the sound of vinyl, but this extended experiment in pre-digital listening may actually make it hard to go back.

At any rate, I am going to have to go bargain hunting, as my parents apparently had somewhat questionable musical taste in the 1970s. While I will surely sample some of the many original cast recordings of Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals as well as the complete works of Anne Murray available to me, the fact that we have only one record by The Doors needs to be rectified. Immediately.

Highlights:

Linda Ronstadt, Prisoner in Disguise (Asylum 7E1045, 1975)
I totally dig the subtle steel guitar on many of the tracks. Her cover of Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You” is my new favorite (sorry, Whitney).

John Lennon/Yoko Ono Double Fantasy (Geffen K99131, 1980)
John’s tracks about love and family are lovely, and they take on a real poignancy with the knowledge that he was shot three weeks after this album was released. But I now feel like I suddenly understand every Yoko Ono joke I’ve ever heard. (OK, ok, it’s avant-garde, I get it–but still!) I missed the “forward” button in my iPod clicky wheel. Some complain that iTunes prevents us from listening to entire albums as the artists meant for them to be heard. I wonder if that’s always such a bad thing.