Reflections of the third decade, part VII

The other day as I was enjoying my drive home while listening to Superstar by The Carpenters, it seemed really cool to be able to listen to it on an MP3 disc... and almost 10 years ago, I'd listen to the same song in my car that had the tape deck playing an audio version of my compilation CD... and about 20 years ago, I'd listen to the same song in the backseat of my parents' car with a boombox on my lap playing an audio tape version of my parents' LP record. The song is much nicer without the constant scratchiness in the background and that part at the horn solo where the record needle jumped.

I might sound like a senior citizen when I talk about technology, but it boggles my mind how quickly it can change. We barely even think about it anymore -- we don't have time to because it changes in the blink of an eye! In some ways, that can freak out someone like me who likes to take her time to absorb stuff and enjoy it.

But in other ways, it's exceedingly wonderful. I grew up in a generation that tolerated scratchy records, learned to live with confusing 8-tracks, sat by the radio waiting for favorite songs to play, and constantly hovered around music stores -- searching, waiting, hoping that someday, they'd have that rare and obscure Monkees tape in stock. Now I can either just go on iTunes and download whichever song I want, or I could go on eBay or Amazon and buy whichever rare and obscure album I want. (Well, most of the time. But it's still oh-so-convenient.)

Yes, I was a Monkees fan when I was a preteen. (I think it was an 80s oldie revival thing.) My family was broke, so for a while, the way I'd "download" music was by putting my boombox right up against the speaker of a TV set to record the music video/montage portion of The Monkees show on audio tape. (I think our little black-and-white TV gave off a nice sound, albeit mono.) I don't think I have that tape anymore (hopefully such a recording wasn't illegal back then), but sometimes, one of the songs would breeze into my head and not go away. It had a very nice, folksy-hippyish texture to it, and the only time I remember hearing it was on an episode where they were at a casino. I tried to buy the song online a few years ago, but I couldn't find it. Just this past weekend, I did a tiny bit of Googling, and I guess either search engines are more sophisticated now or more dot-coms have just published more song lyrics, but I found out that it's called The Door Into Summer, from 1967, and I downloaded it from iTunes. (I tried to find a YouTube video link for your enjoyment, but all I could find was a video from a website that I guess is European? Sorry, I can't read it. :)) Yay, technology!

Ah, reverie. One of my most favorite childhood memories was listening to Julio Iglesias on the 8-track player of my (maternal) grandfather's station wagon. Now I've got most of those songs on an MP3 disc in my car. Oh, what a feeling!