Turn, turn, turn

A friend was asking me if I still have a turntable. He just got one and was wondering if the sound was better. He was worried if it's poser these days to say you are into records.

I do have a turntable but it's not plugged in. Space is a premium and I listen to my music these days on my iPhone. Time, convenience and iTunes.

But when I first started listening to music seriously, it has always been the radio, cassettes and when you saved up enough, vinyls. Those were the early years of CDs and they were expensive.

Most of us started out writing fan letters. And after you become a regular in the letter column, you sent in a short review to get some feedback from the editors. My first review was the first Smiths single from their last album. The band had broken up. So it was a poignant moment for the fans. I couldn't find the single, but I listened enough of it on BBC to say something about it.

It was a raw attempt at putting down my thoughts what I felt about the music. It was not printed.

The second attempt fared better. I bought the third 10,000 Manics album on cassette, lived with it for a few weeks and sent in a review. It was accepted. That was in the mid 1980s.

Me dad recently reminded me that I pestered him for a hi fi set then. I finally added a turntable to the system some time later and I was listening to singles and albums on vinyls.

But it was not about being cool or having a better sound. It has always been about the music. A DJ friend found the vinyl revival of the late 1990s fueled by the club culture elitist and fetishistic.

Today I pre-purchased the new Nick Cave and David Bowie albums because I'm still excited to listen to what they got to say. iTunes are convenient, I don't discriminate.

Regardless of the format, it is more important that you care about the music, that you still believe rock n roll can save your life.