NOWADAYS, we might listen to music on compact discs, or on iPods, hearing tunes we’ve snatched from the Internet – but there’s clearly a longing for the days of long-play records and their singular sidekick, the 45.
Chances are you don’t have a turntable hooked up to your stereo, but the guys designing the look of your music know nostalgia for black vinyl platters goes a long way.
If you doubt it, just check out four new releases that have dropped in the past week.
Smiths founder Morrissey has resurrected the classic Decca label for his “Greatest Hits” CD. The Counting Crows conjure the past with new CD “Saturday Nights & Sunday Morning,” featuring a Geffen label bragging of features such as “Long Play,” “STEREO” and the holy grail of acoustics, “high-fidelity sound.”
The Brit band the Kills gets in on the act with new album “Midnight Boom,” featuring stylized, no-frills 45 graphics. So does country master Ricky Skaggs, who pays tribute to the past with an LP look for his “Honoring the Fathers of Bluegrass” CD.