Thursday, September 24, 2009

My First Compact Disc (CD)

Greetings Readers

There was a conversation that a group of my friends were having the other day that was kind of interesting to think about.

I am pretty old now and when I was younger CDs (Compact Discs) came out while I was in High School (or perhaps in Junior High; I am not quite sure.)

CD’s were going to be the new thing in the music world. Clear and digital is what I think I can remember what was said back then. There were positives things being said, but me being me I am a pessimist. I thought about how easy one scratch could ruin a 15.00 to 25.00 dollar CD. I think CD’s were starting out at 15 dollars or higher back in the day, but then again to a teenager everything was expensive. And a dirty finger/palm print could also ruin a CD just like that.

Anyway, I was happy with my Cassette tapes Readers. Matter of fact, when I went to college with my portable stereo I brought along some blank tapes and needless to say that I recorded on all 20 cassette tapes within two weeks from other people who brought along there music from home.

Getting back to the story, well one night me and my best friend back in the day decided we were going to Aurora, specifically Buckingham Mall (or was that Square.) to go see a movie we wanted to see that just opened. A movie about vampires.

We knew that from previous outings in order to see a movie with crowd interaction; meaning more than general laughs, sobs, or jumping in your seat because you got scared you had to go to an area of town that drew in a lot of African-American people. I am trying to correct, but I guess let me say it flat out – you had to be in area of town where blacks are predominately in.

There were only a few places back then and any time we had to see a movie that we wanted to see a movie with a good crowd we headed to Buckingham Square or Aurora Mall to see a movie.

Those black people made the movie, as well as me and my friends experience, well worth than see a movie we wanted to see. Both man and woman will be talking and yelling out at the movie screen to the character(s) in a certain scene or just in general. Back in the day, white people did not do that. I know that some white people these days do that every know and then, but that is oh so not comparable to what me and my best friend experienced back in the day.

Matter of fact Readers, now I that I am much older I get agitated when I hear the cell phones, the candy wrappers, the whispering, and kids that do not long belong in a rated R movie. Boy, times have changed for me. Of course, if I was a premiere or a midnight screening then I do not mind at all since that sort of behavior is expected as well tolerated. Not to mention the beach balls that are being tossed around the movie theatre.

And once more I digress. So, after the vampire movie we saw I was pretty impressed by the movie’s music as well as the movie itself. I loved it. And present day, I have the original movie poster, not a reprint that you perhaps could have picked up at Target/Wal-Mart. Although, this movie poster was probably not marketable due to the portrait on the movie poster (posted on today's blog). I had to go to a movie poster store that was either in downtown Denver or I went to Cinderella City and bought my movie poster in the downstairs portion of the mall back in the day. Matter of fact Readers, the movie posters that I do own now were bought at Cinderella City or Downtown Denver. Back in the day when I was a teenager movie posters averaged about 20 dollars for an expensive movie poster; now that is just the starting price of just a mediocre movie poster. And I have the DVD as well as the VHS tape. However, the item, which is the subject of this post, is the movie soundtrack. On CD.

Near Dark. That was the first CD I bought. To me, buying your first Compact Disc is like the first person you ever had sex with – you never forget your first and how she had her first and second earth shattering orgasms one after another that literally soaked us and the … oh Readers too much information and way off topic.

Back in the day CD’s came in a long cardboard box that was 12 inches high, 4 or 5 inches wide and about ¼ of an inch deep. As you Readers know now, CD’s are just wrapped in the jeweled cases in plastic and have that annoying white tape (with the name of the album printed on the tape) and is a bitch to take off. Right Readers?! Not to mention the plastic wrapping itself. Back in the day all you had to do was open the cardboard box and shake out the CD and you are ready to play that CD.

Well, perhaps a week after the movie came out I saw that movie soundtrack in the store. I immediately knew that I had to have that CD, regardless of price. Even though I did not have a CD player I was going to buy that CD. I did by the Near Dark CD and I displayed that CD on my waterbed for about 6 months or so until I was finally able to purchase a CD player on my own.

To this day, I have that CD (but I have replaced the original CD jeweled case with a new one due to the years of getting scratched up) in my CD collections as well as in my ipods.

Almost the entire CD is great. Only one song on the CD just does not fit on the soundtrack so I just skip over that song in order to listen to the rest of the CD.

And that is story of my Compact Disc I ever, ever bought.

Until the next time

Daryl Charley
The Fallen Athlete

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