Elementary school, 1971-ish: the school library had this record laying around and while I didn’t love it, it staked a spot in my brain and never left. When Homer Simpson started using the ganga in one of the episodes (easily 25 years later), that part of my brain said, Hey, here’s that song, can I go home now? Ladies and gentlemen:
I just picked up Donovan’s greatest hits. Such beautiful hippie music.
I had fond memories of “There Is A Mountain”, and the witty lyrics that start with:
Look upon my garden gate, a snail, that’s what it is…
Look upon my garden gate, a snail, that’s what it is…
First there is a mountain, then there is no mountain, then there is.
Those of us who got our early rock’n’roll from static-y AM radio (often through cheap car speakers) forget how much better those songs sound nowadays. Even more if remastered.
Christopher Cross - Ride Like The Wind and Say You’ll Be Mine
I had almost forgotten about Chris. I heard he got Covid last year and started playing his music on YouTube.
One of my 45s had a really off-center spindle hole and all you could hear was Wow-Wow-Wow-Wow. The needle on my mother’s record player looked like a 10 penny nail.
I’d agree, but it will depend on the recording and the equipment it’s being played on. The typical low-fi experience is probably better today insofar as equipment, and recording technology has certainly improved since the 1960s.
However, I don’t have dedicated hi-fi equipment set up in my apartment and, for convenience, I just listen to YouTube audio/video on a relatively new TV. In that sense, I’d say the average listening experience has lost quality vs. “back then,” especially for those who just use their smart phones to listen to music.
In any case, when I said that the Chicago track sounds even better today, I was referring to my ears and my understanding of music compared to back then. The actual audio quality was probably better in the circumstances of my youth, because everyone I knew had some kind of dedicated sound system at home. The closest thing back then to YouTube audio quality were probably those homemade cassette copies of vinyl recordings that some of us listened to.
A friend mentioned how rushed his Saturdays were getting and i suddenly thought of:
For some reason, i misremembered one of the lyrics as “Harry the dog just ate the TV.”
Old charts and playlists are an interesting source of inspiration. In my first post here about a year ago, I asked about a song that I remembered but couldn’t identify. Before posting, I went over several old WXRT playlists (to no avail), and it sparked some long-lost memories. Not as good as the fortuitous find, but similarly stimulating.
Believe it or not, I’m just now seeing this post of yours! Seven years have passed!
I hope you got some closure on the wonderful old song! If my memory is worth anything (and these days I’m having my serious doubts) I saw/heard it on “Your Hit Parade” being sung by someone female who wasn’t part of the regular cast. But the name evaporated almost immediately. Not Dorothy or Gisele for what that’s worth. I’ll so some searching today and if I find any clue worth passing along to you, I will.
If you already managed to get some closure, please say so!
How many of you remember Ashby Ostermann Alliance?
