August 23, 1967 – Arcola, Saskatchewan
I was looking for an old version of the song Blue Moon today. It occurred to me as I was searching iTunes, how convenient it has become to listen to music. For a very modest price, we can find almost any song imaginable, in an instant. Even a song as obscure as Blue Moon by Ted Fio Rito and his Orchestra from 1934 takes less than 30 seconds to search and enjoy.
Contrast that with “downloading” music in 1967.
My appreciation for music began when I entered my teen years. Our family had a Philco transistor radio, which was primarily used for farm reports. Weather forecasts, grain prices, and local news entered our home via the Philco, tuned to 620 CKCK AM Radio Regina. In the evening, the radio would get transported to my bedroom where I would listen to Top-40 tunes while I did my homework (or daydreamed, whichever came first).
When I heard a song I liked, (Light My Fire by The Doors, for example), the “downloading” process would begin. I would scrounge up coins with a value of $1.07 (the .07 being tax), and tape them to a piece of cardboard. I would write a letter addressed to: The Soo Line Piano House, 330 Souris Avenue, Weyburn, Saskatchewan, asking them to send me the 45 RPM record by return mail. I would put the letter, the money, and return postage into an envelope and mail it to Weyburn, 60 miles away.
Soo Line Piano House carried a large inventory of popular records, if they didn’t have it, they could get it. If Soo Line had Light My Fire in stock the round trip in the mail could be accomplished in ten days to two weeks.
It was a big day when the record arrived. I would put a plastic 45 RPM adapter in the centre and drop it on the turntable of my portable record player.
The Doors’ mildly profane and slightly drug-tinged lyrics would rattle out of the tinny speaker over and over, until Dad stomped on the floor and told me to “GO TO BED!”, at which point I would flip the record over, turn the volume down, and listen to The Crystal Ship …
…On the “B” Side.
Autumn
The addresses then were pre-postal code. The anticipation of mail orders arriving was a big part of the enjoyment.
Russ Paton
Soo Line Piano House was way ahead of Amazon!
Val
I had to listen to “the Crystal ship”. It definitely wasn’t a hit that lingered as I’ve never heard it before.
I can remember stacking a bunch of records on my player before I went to bed so they would play half the night. I’m not sure how dad put up with that, but maybe you broke him in.
Russ Paton
There is a good reason The Crystal Ship was a B-side cut, nobody would buy it on its own.
I think I paved the way with our parents in a lot of respects. 🤭