After a visit to Urban Outfitters, Norman B’s son James, asked if he could have a “cassette”. Perplexed because he hadn’t seen any sign of “cassettes” on display, Norman asked his son, to describe what a “cassette” was. “It’s those big round plastic things you put on a “cassette” player”, James announced with an exasperated sigh, because his dear old dad obviously didn’t quite grasp modern technology. “You mean a record player and a vinyl record? Norman asked. “Yeah! Whatever!” replied James. It turns out that the hip clothing and nic-nac emporium sells cheap, but apparently efficient, turntables along with 12” vinyl platters of trending indie artists. James, although growing up with a dad who has a warehouse crammed full with mountains of plastic discs and two treasured Techniques 1200’s
t from that, as a budding teenager James doesn’t care or see the relevance to the old gear his dad has stashed behind alarm-rigged doors and the cool hot shit that UB has on display. From somewhere, he and his posse had decided upon “cassette” as the name for the bits of plastic they now coveted. Although James and his tweenie pals could care less about the correct name, are they being lured into another must-have, along with all the other gadgets and gizmos marketed so deliberately to their age group? Is this the return of vinyl? We explore the possibility with Andy Zax, Grammy nominated producer, writer and musicologist.
This week’s Hit That Never Was, selected by a jewelry designer, is Two Apples In A Cherry Tree by Gathered Ghosts
Life Elsewhere 