The Time Machine

Change reactions don't just happen in nuclear fission. They happen in the home as well.

Take replacing a toilet seat and perhaps cleaning some grout. Or maybe even replacing some shabby looking tiles. If enough time has elapsed since you took possession of that last bathroom look and you're due a tax refund, chances are in two weeks you'll be planning a new bathroom. It doesn't take much for these thoughts to detonate.

Such it was when I read Rod McKuen had passed away. This was noted in a prior posting, but there was more reaction than just absorbing the obituary. There was still that line, from a poem? from a song? of his..."too late for the beach, too early for the bars."

The Internet helped to the extent it got me to the fact that the lines are from a song of Rod's, "Times Gone By." But the Internet coughed up no lyrics. A suggestion was made to see a librarian, but this was resisted. I'd have to leave the house.

What was the next best thing to do? Get a recording of the song. Well, Rod goes back to LBJ being sworn in as president after the Kennedy assassination. His material in on iTunes, but not that song. Next, a recording might have that song. Luck is here. A double CD album that contains the album that has that track, or, a vinyl record of the album, 'Prolific Composer Rod McKuen Sings His Own.' Perfect. I still have my turntable hooked up. Not used in a few years, but Rod deserves a retro touch.

For some reason, although McKuen's work was very popular when I was on my own and adding music LPs left and right in the 60s, I never bought a Rod McKuen album. I was aware of the critical panning his work took, but I liked his lyrics. I had other people singing his work, but not him.

The LP arrives, and there's anticipation. I'm finally going to be able to hear the complete set of lyrics surrounding the line, "too late for the beach, too early for the bars."

Well, that would have been possible at the moment, except the turntable had tuned to stone. It wouldn't turn, no matter what I tried.  Great, like having tickets to the game but the car won't start.

There is was, an RCA Victor Dynagroove LP, complete with cellophane wrapping and the King Karol record store price sticker of $3.98. The LP is in great condition, nestled in the familiar paper sleeve that promotes the other RCA Victor artists: Al Hirt, Perry Como, Eddie Arnold, the Pink Panther soundtrack by Henry Mancini, Jim Reeves, Miriam Makeba, Mario Lanza, and others.

Okay, time to look into what is the state-of-the-art regarding turntables? I know artists are releasing vinyl versions of their work, so someone must still be making turntables for the home.  Of course they are.

Money can be an object, but I was willing to pay up to a certain amount to be able to get something new and be able to go back and queue up some nostalgia, LPs I hadn't bought the CD release of. Having LPs and not being able to ever play them reminded me of the New Coke.

When they came out with the New Coke in the 80s people went nuts. They wanted the old Coke. Even though the New Coke taste tasted well enough to convince Coke to launch a new formula, they neglected to realize that people weren't willing not to be able to go back to the "Old Coke."  Thus, a quick retreat was made, and 10 weeks later Coke relabeled its original formula "Coke Classic" and kept that label for a few decades. The "New Coke" disappeared.

After some shipping problems and the resolution of a missing part, the new turntable was put to use. Now I understand why there are vinyl adherents. The new turntables can be USB connected to a computer and tracks can be captured digitally, and stored and played in all the ways people play music these days. For me, an exercise to do in a few weeks. Right now, all I want to do is "play it, Sam."

Thus, lyrics emerged from "Times Gone By."

Remember when we spent the nighttime
Counting out the stars,
Too late for the beach, too early for the bars.

All of us together
Would raise our glasses high,
And drink a toast to times gone by.

I have to admit, I can't say I remember ever really paying attention to Rod McKuen singing. Perhaps because he wasn't being played where I was listening, or, he just wasn't being played. But honestly, there is a likeable sound, and likeable lyrics.

Someone I know tells the story of being in the company of poets, poets who were actually published, and therefore literary types, and telling them they liked Rod McKuen. They survived the ridicule heaped their way.

But after a few plays of the LP--having to turn it over after about 15 minutes is not something I really miss--I have to say, Rod had a decent voice, and is worth listening to. He's a talk singer, in the vein of Rex Harrison, or Charles Aznavour. His works sound better sung by him than Frank Sinatra trying to be Rod McKuen, although Frank certainly boosted Rod's appeal.

Why I never hear anything sung by him on the Sirius XM "Escape" channel (some would call it elevator music) is a wonder, given I hear John Gary every now and then. And if you remember John Gary, you might win a T-shirt. (I know someone who did.)

Rod was dismissed as being mawkishly sentimental. Well, there is a market for that. He's passed away, but Erich Segal probably didn't send the money back he made from "Love Story." He didn't gain tenure, but he paid his bills, and then some.

Robert James Waller wrote "The Bridges of Madison County", and it was sneered at as being the world's longest Hallmark greeting card. Well, Meryl Streep learned a new accent, and Clint wore jeans, and a very popular movie was made as well.

Am I going rogue? Am I going vinyl? No. But it's nice to have the time machine hooked up again.

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