It
had been nagging away at me for months that I had not refreshed my
ipod music for a long time – I reckon some tracks had been on there
for at least a year. Not a problem I suppose if it only gets sporadic
use. But I cycle to work regularly and nearly always have the ipod
fired up.
There
was a time not so long ago when I would be loading fresh (to me)
tracks onto my ipod every few weeks. Those tracks would in nearly all
cases have been downloaded from blogs like this one. My desire then
for hearing something new (to me) was insatiable.Times have changed,
many of my go to blogs have shut up shop, and as they have so my
appetite for blog grazing has dropped away. As a result there are not
so many new mp3s appearing on my computer.
Anyway,
last weekend I finally got around to refreshing the ipod, and a good
majority of what I put on it were tracks copied from my own vinyl
collection, many of which I have featured here over the years. (Now,
there's a novel idea!) And the refreshed ipod has refreshed me, and
my cycle to and from work. I've always enjoyed cycling to work but
had forgotten how much of that enjoyment was down to my listening
experience whilst pedalling. I realise now the cycle had been
becoming as much of a drudge as work itself. Now with my ipod
rejuvenated I am at least once more looking forward to the cycle at
each end of the day.
This
has also made me appreciate my record collection much more and, even
if I say so myself, it underlines the fact that Feel It has featured
plenty of quality tunes!
It
has also made me realise many of those tunes I have not played enough
– too often it seems the pattern has been: stumble across it, buy
it, binge play it for a day or two, share it with you, file it. It
seems obvious now that I should use my ipod and my cycle to work to
reacquaint myself with my own record collection!
There
is a faint feeling of nostalgia running through this post. Ted Taylor
is not an artist who appears on my ipod at the moment. But he no
doubt will soon. I have just bought yet another of his Ronn 45s. I
must have most of them now (what am I talking about, I quick tot up
tells me I only have about half of them). That 45 has yet to arrive
in the post but it got me thinking it was about time I featured
another of his singles. He has made about six appearances here over
the years, possibly the most of any artist, but the last time was in
2015. I am a great fan of his. His voice, being well up in the
register, may not be to everyone's taste but there is no doubting
that every phrase he utters is drenched in Soul. Looking at the
YouTube entry for this track there are quite a few comments from
people who I am sure live in the Southern States of the USA talking
about their parents who would play Ted's records over and over, and
still have fond memories of his songs. I can imagine these people
listening to Ted on the radio back in the 60s and early 70s, and
maybe singing along. Those comments and my thoughts make me feel even
closer to Ted Taylor and his magnificent catalog of recordings.
