Blog: 30 Days Out

My kids have never known the pleasure of getting music from a 45-rpm single. When many of us were young, we usually heard music two ways: on the radio or off a 7-inch vinyl record. That was the 45: the gateway drug to long-playing albums (LPs). People gave me 45s by the bushelful when I was a kid but the very first single I ever bought was in 1967: "Good Vibrations," by the Beach Boys. With its beautiful (then; today, nauseating) colorful swirl, it was the ultimate summer song. And I played it until the grooves would no longer give [...]