I’ll never forget taking a 6-year-old to an antique shop where I was looking at some classic vinyl albums.

“How does that fit in your CD player?” she asked. And then, as we looked at an ancient outhouse, I told her that thing was really, really old.

“Like from the ’80s?” she asked, referring to the 1980s.

I felt like an antique myself.

But even while the number of record stores diminishes, vinyl records are still flourishing among those who truly love good sound.

For a while, I believed the hype that CDs would bring us “perfect sound forever,” which was their hype catchphrase. But then I was invited to a blind test at the record label Mobile Fidelity Labs. They would put on the same albums on CD and vinyl and I had to select which sounded best.

One of the formats sounded three-dimensional, I could almost see the music floating in the room. The other sounded like a frozen black and white TV, flat, motionless.

I guessed the more vivid one was the CD, living up to the hype.

Nope.

The vinyl was infinitely better, which showed me that progress isn’t always progress.

That goes along with how I have found new music through the years. Some came from the radio; some came from wandering my college dorm and listening to friends’ favorites. None came from an algorithm.

Many of my lifelong favorites—and some of the most ambitious recommendations—came from the record store clerks I saw every Friday, the minute I cashed my paycheck and hit Pacific Avenue. Those included Johnny Clegg and Savuka, the Subdudes, Phillip Glass, John Cage, Air, Ancient Future, Angela Dubeau & La Pieta, and Clannad, to name just a few.

Mat Weir’s article about Streetlight Records made me appreciate how lucky we are to have a store with knowledgeable employees, a variety of new and used music, collectables and even live performances. The store has truly been a community center, where many times I spent more every week on music than on food.

As Willie S once wrote, “If music be the food of love, play on.”

Thanks, Streetlight, Mat and Gary SIngh for your tributes to one of our community centers.

Thanks for reading.

Brad Kava | Editor

FULLEST I was driving along West Cliff on Wednesday looking at the waves during the full moon and saw this amazing view of the West Cliff Surfer Statue with the full moon behind it and decided to take a black and white picture to show the amazing contrast.Photograph by Gina Butler

GOOD IDEA

Have you ever wanted to learn some of the interesting and unknown history of Aptos and Seacliff State Beach? Follow a State Park docent on Friday, July 25 at 10:30am and hear stories about the past, present and future of our area. The walk is a mile on flat ground. Meet at the Seacliff Visitor Center. Please register at SantaCruzStateParks.as.me/historywalk. For more information, call 831-685-6444.

GOOD WORK

The last bar in Santa Cruz to allow smoking has changed direction: The 1007 Club at 1007  Soquel Ave. was exempt from smoking restrictions for four decades, but now, new ownership has cut the haze to keep in line with city restrictions. No more smoking indoors. There’ve been some great upgrades—new TVs in time for football season and more soft dart machines—that have really freshened up the vibe and drawn in a wider mix of people. The bar’s still familiar, just with a bit more to enjoy.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

‘If you want to know who controls you, look at who you are not allowed to criticize.’
—Voltaire