LISTEN: Do You Remember 45 RPM Singles?
and what was that yellow thing in the middle called, anyway?
(Audio link below)
If you grew up in the 70s and 80s, you remember them well. The 45 RPM record was a staple of your musical life during a time when online streaming of the latest top album was something from a science fiction novel.
You heard that catchy tune on your AM transistor radio and just had to have it.
Off to the record store you went, to buy a record - yes, a physical object that required a record player in order to be enjoyed.
Crazy, right?
As analogue was the only way to go (we had no choice), you made the best of it. You even figured out how to use that weird, yellow adaptor thingy that was required to play the 45 single.
Remember these?
Anyway, suffice it to say that there was some work involved in listening to your new favourite song. That’s just the way it was.
But then again, our mothers always told us: “Anything worth having is worth working for.”
And boy, did we work for that latest single.
LISTEN HERE:
EDITOR’S NOTE: Long before this site, I had a little blog where I posted for 11 years. It was the genesis of Living in the Past on Substack. For many years, I lived in the past over at Multiple Mayhem Mamma. From a Parenting lens, I looked at the "then and now” and even hosted a podcast by the same name: Parenting Then and Now. Every so often I’ll post some of these classics from early days.
Whatever Happened to Quicksand?
Living in the Past is an email newsletter that recalls all things Generation X, the good, the bad and the ugly! Oh - and the hilarious as well. Some installments are free, some are for paid subscribers only. Sign up here: The threat was real As a kid, I was petrified that I’d have the misfortune of being gobbled up by quicksand.
I think the first 45 I bought was Disco Duck. LOL.
Those little spring loaded inserts would shoot off somewhere if you weren't careful. They should have just made the small hole as in the LP's. It's a mystery why it wasn't that way. You really needed to pay attention because the song would be over soon and you'd need to change the record or it would keep going making that clicking sound over and over. One song at a time is not something we are used to anymore.