Back to the future

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. 

Ted Taylor – Only The Lonely Knows 1971