Let's Talk Music....."To Stream or not to Stream"

     Welcome back to Let's Talk Music.....I wanted to talk a little bit about my many ways that I have enjoyed music over the years. Let's see; I guess the first thing I want to mention is the Plastic Fisher Price record player that I had and it played little plastic records. I upgraded to a 45 speed record player for my nursery rhyme records and I had a small hand held battery operated transistor radio.  I would listen to them on and off all day long, I would later move on to Elvis and cooler listening options, ditching the nursery rhymes. I enjoyed the small record player for a few years, so as I got a little older I wanted to move up to something a little better.  I remember my father showing me this odd looking machine that he had purchased while he was over seas in the Navy during the Vietnam War.  This odd looking machine was a reel to reel tape player/recorder. It was amazing, and that would be the first time that I would hear the Beatles.  Music has always been a big part of my life, I just never really noticed until much later.  I will never forget this really cool Disco Stereo that my Mother had in our living room, my Father had won it in a punch board drawing. The punch boards were a really big thing for people to play and not have to chance loosing much money. It was real simple,  you pay a few quarters and you punch out these little holes with a ticket in it with a number. I think he won the stereo for a quarter.  I loved that stereo, I was not allowed to touch it but I would sit in front of it and watch the pretty disco lights flashing to the beat. The stereo was a console type with the components in the middle with the speakers on the sides, it had sliding doors to hide the middle parts when not in use. The stereo was dark wood finish vertical cabinet system, which was rare because the others were horizontal.  My mother would play Conway Twitty and Tammy Wynette as she cleaned the house. I play Nu Metal or David Cassidy, depends on what kind of mood I am in......LOL! The stereo had am/fm radio, 8 track tape player and a turntable.  I know we had some 8 tracks but mom mostly had albums. So, let's recap what I used as a form of listening so far....Plastic record player with plastic records, 45 record player, transistor radio, reel to reel tape player/recorder and a cabinet stereo.  

​Fast forward a little to Middle school and High-School, I had a really nice Sony Stereo with turntable and am/fm radio.  The thing I loved the most about it was that the speakers were 100 watt speakers.  I could blast my favorite tunes and it was LOUD, really LOUD!!! I had many of wonderful hours of playing time with that Sony.  I also had a boom box and that was the newest thing...cassette tapes/am/fm/stereo fm tuning.  I did enjoy the Cassette era but if you played them a lot the players would eat them up...I cant tell you how many cassettes I lost to a hungry player.  The cassette days also allowed us to record our favorite songs from the radio; if you were lucky enough, you also had a double cassette player and could record some of your own tapes for your friends. The Sony Walkman was all the craze as well, for a short time. I had to get one, too; I needed it for the bus ride home.  The future of music was getting ready to take a strong turn.  In comes the Compact Disc and the Compact Laser Disc player.  When first introduced, I was so amazed at the sound quality that the CDs offered.  I invested in the CD movement but I felt guilty leaving my beloved Vinyl.  I was very happy to have the crystal clear sound of the CD, the small compactness...it was going to be hard to beat the CD out. In order to keep ahead of the competition, the Discman was introduced, same concept as the Sony Walkman but with the CDs.   I had a Discman also, kind of tricky having one of those...the least little bump and the disc would not play.   The future of music listening was about to change yet again.  STREAMING your music...I love my streaming provider.  I have any song I want from any artist I want right at my finger tips.  I know a few people that just refuse to use a streaming service, most are free but you will have advertisements in the programming.  I pay a small monthly fee and I have no advertising and my daughter and husband are on the account also.  I usually do not listen to the radio anymore, I just love my streaming and I have Bluetooth on my car stereo so it plays right from the stereo.  This is a great time for music lovers, we have it made. We have great streaming options, Bluetooth cordless headphones, hands free phone devices and thousands of artists at the touch of a button. It's a great day in the neighborhood!!!
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​Lisa Bailey-Owens🤘

LIsa Bailey Owens age 3 ,1970