Rant #1,736: Singles

I like singles.

No, I am not talking about people who aren't married. They are fine with me. I was once single myself, but I do love being married, in particular to the best woman in the world like I am.

No, I am talking about those pieces of vinyl that have one, two or three songs on them, the ones with the big holes in the middle of them.

Yes, it is a format of the past, although it does show up frequently from time to time today, and yes, new singles--or 45s, as they play at 45 rpm speed on a turntable--are still being produced, as the photo I posted just below this paragraph attests to--it is showcasing music from more than 40 years ago, but the actual single was produced in 2016.

Heck, I have a few of these new singles, and although they are mostly produced as an add-on to a special release--for instance, any of the latest Monkees releases and reissues from Rhino Records, again, see the photo above--45s are still a viable format, at least for people like me, people who still listen to vinyl and consider it the only way to listen to music.

Singles stopped being produced in mass quantities in the early 1990s, giving way to cassingles and CD singles, but those formats really never caught on.

Today, what we have as "singles" are basically sound files, and that is it.

Music as files that you can play on your computer, put on a thumb drive to listen to, or burn onto a recordable CD.

And that is where the difference really is.

To me, singles are more than sound files. They are something that you can purchase, hold and cherish as an art form in itself.

And when the single comes in a picture sleeve ... well, then, you have an all-around work of art in your hands.

Today, music seems to be definitely programmed as files. The songs I hear are very mechanical, use every electronic trick in the book to make the singer and song sound like machines producing pap, and the songs are thus, to me, worthless, in one ear and out the other.

And again, they are nothing but files.

Singles, and I mean real, honest to goodness singles, feature such care to ensure that the two or three minute song is perfect, and in comparison, it astounds me as to what is considered a single today.

Sure, singles back then were used as promotional tools for albums, we all know that, but they stood out on their own as a separate format, something special apart from the albums that they were promoting, often with different mixes and different versions as opposed to what was on the LP.

Of course, a lot of the uniqueness of singles has to do with the songwriting back then, which is leaps and bounds beyond the stuff we hear today.

Singles back then were thought to be disposable, but we have found that that belief is very, very far from the case.

Good music sticks in your mind, and doesn't leave so quickly, and that is what you got from singles.

Sure, not all the music was memorable, but as a format, singles were memorable for bringing the user the biggest musical bang for the buck.

Today, we listen to files.

Way back when, we listened to music, and there is quite a difference.

And with the resurgence of vinyl records, singles are relevant again, of course in much smaller quantities than before.

I like singles. I have thousands in my collection, and I hope to add many, many more before my time is up on this earth.

The only way to really listen to music is on vinyl, and those two and three minute 45s are a joy to behold, and I am happy that a lot of kids are getting into vinyl releases.

They have discovered what I knew all along ...

Vinyl rules, and singles is the best format to listen to your favorite music.

Yes, I am sure I will get arguments about this, but vinyl rules, and I am happy more people are finding this out today.

Now if you are single and enjoy singles, that is another story for another day ... .