Classic Rant #1,153 (February 27, 2014): Self Promotion

There is nothing like a little self promotion to help make the world go around.

Today, I am going to talk about one of my Facebook sites.

I am sure I have brought this up in the past, but if you haven't seen it, or haven't visited yet, now is the time to do so.

I have a Facebook site called 45s, and that is all we talk about there.

If you don't know what a 45 is, you will know what it is by the time you have finished reading this Rant.

45s are seven-inch records, those great, easy to collect, and easy to lose records of our past.

They are called 45s, or singles, because they play at 45 rpm on a standard record player. Albums play at 33 1/3 rpm, and there are 78s and 12s, too.

These singles generally had two songs on them--one, supposedly the "hit" side, which was the "A" side, and if you flipped it over, you got the "B" side, generally a song that was not being pushed by that artist.

45s often came with picture sleeves, and that is a piece of art in and of themselves.

I personally have thousands of 45s in my collection, and yes, they are still being produced in very limited quantities.

That is all we talk about on this site--45s.

We don't talk about war, we don't talk about the economy (maybe our own personal economies, tied into our ability to buy these things, which are often very pricey today), we don't talk about gay rights, we don't talk about the President.

We talk about 45s, and the music on them.

Everyone is free to post what they have in their own personal collections, or marvel at what others have.

Heck, I thought I had an extensive collection--others make my collection look like nothing.

But anyway, if you have any interest in this subject, please visit the site. The address is at the end of this Rant.

Singles are great because they will never be reproduced in the same way again.

LPs have come out on CD, but how many re-released singles have come out on CD?

It is a hobby that is full of fun, nothing more, nothing less.

I personally started collecting in the mid 1960s, and certainly the coming of the Beatles marked the heyday of the 45 rpm single.

And if you were a kid, just about all you could afford was 45, which cost about 69 cents in 1966 or so.

So while I love LPs, I adore 45s.

If you have any interest in this, or are just a little curious about this subject, please visit the site.

Right now, after a couple of weeks of existence, we have nearly 100 members, which I think is pretty good. We get new members every day, and the site is very active.

All are welcome. See you there.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/45RPMSingles/