One of my long-term objectives is to update my sound system. My current system is a mix of devices collected over many years. The horrible old brown Sanyo speakers I’ve had since I was a teenager, which originally came with a Sanyo DC J3K receiver and turntable (click through for some photos of what this ... [More]
Category: music
Some best ofs in my current favourite lists. Best derivatives While most of the music on my favourites list are original compositions, here are some cover versions and songs that sample others that I currently like a lot: Something For Kate — Born To Run — I almost like this more than Springsteen’s original. P ... [More]
An obscure music video from 1993, twenty years ago. I caught this video on Rage one night, and got into the band Jellyfish from there. I’m not even sure quite why I like it. The quirky music video (it was never clear enough on VHS, but it is here — all the band’s shots are ... [More]
20 odd years ago, when I was into music videos (and television in general), I used to regularly record (yes, on VHS) a few hours of Rage on a Friday and/or Saturday night, and watch it the next day. I’d categorise each song as a 1, 2 or 3. 1s I would copy onto another ... [More]
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My retro iPod
I just realised my iPod is nearly nine years old. That’s an age in the world of computers and electronics… does that make it a retro item? It’s a third-generation iPod, back from before they had silly features like apps, movie playback, and colour screens… And yes, it’s still going strong, though admittedly most of ... [More]
The Herald Sun paywall launched in March, and offered free 2-month passes. Any word on what’s happened now those have run out? Strange dream: Woke up with the most enormous sideburns. Struggled to get them removed before having to go to work. Another dream: Was invited to a very elaborate dinner party at Alan Kohler’s ... [More]
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Shiny discs
CDs recently turned 30 years old. I first got a CD player in 1988, when they fell below $200 for the first time. It was a CDC brand player (made by Teac), for which I trekked out to KMart at Box Hill. It worked for fifteen years, until 2003 — though its replacement didn’t last ... [More]
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Do you still buy CDs? And why?
This topic came up on social media and in real life recently: do you still buy CDs, and why? I do. I buy some stuff on iTunes and Bigpond Music (which sells MP3s), and buy some stuff (particularly older material) on CD. Why? Because I prefer the softer, warmer, fuller sound of CDs to the ... [More]
Dragon: Are You Old Enough (1978) — around Brunswick Street, Fitzroy, including the now-gone behaviour of riding the running board on a tram, and a Silvertop taxi back when they really did have a silver top. John Paul Young: Yesterday’s Hero (1975) — around Swanston Street Paul Kelly: Leaps and Bounds — mostly the Nylex ... [More]
I feel a bit guilty about this: I re-used a costume party costume. See, I was invited to an 80s Movie/Music/Pop-Culture party, and then a Dead Celebrities a couple of weeks later. Given time constraints and the likelihood of few party guests overlapping, I reasoned that I could knock off both with one costume. Someone ... [More]
Spotted on Saturday after the Doctor Who/Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Symphonic Spectacular: Reports from the UK suggest Doctor Who has prompted more people to wear bow ties. I don’t know if that’s rubbed off in Australia, but there were certainly more bow ties and fezzes than I’ve ever seen around Melbourne yesterday, both at the venue ... [More]
The words on the left are from I Am Australian, by Bruce Woodley: We are one, but we are many And from all the lands on earth we come We share a dream, and sing with one voice: I am, you are, we are Australian Wikipedia says the song was written in 1987. I’m pretty ... [More]
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Records, cassettes, CDs, iTunes
Back in 1995, I wrote as part of my History Of The World: 1964 Beatlemania sweeps the world. Shortly afterwards, electronics companies devise a fifty year plan to get people to buy all their favourite music many times over, by introducing new recorded music technology every decade. This works until the 1990s, when, due to ... [More]
Music industry legend Molly Meldrum has undergone surgery overnight to relieve swelling on his brain after he fell from the roof while putting up Christmas decorations at his Richmond home. — Bedside vigil as Meldrum fights for life I reckon for most Australian Gen-Xers with an interest in music, Molly Meldrum is just someone who’s ... [More]
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Old man music
Happy Fathers Day. As I recall it, there’s a scene in one episode of Frontline where Mike Moore is driving along listening happily to the radio, singing along to “We Built This City”. When the DJ comes on he derides it as “one for the oldies” and then throws to something newer, a heavy rock ... [More]
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Tonight I’m going to see Pulp
…along with all the GenXers Common People. Festival Hall tonight, and part of M’s birthday present. In the all-ages (alcohol-free) section, because that’s where the best seats were! Apparently that’s just how Festival Hall works; I wouldn’t expect a large number of youngsters attending for this old person music. Looking forward to it immensely. If ... [More]