iTunes Brings Back the 45

Double-sided singles and digital music are two things that go oddly together. They seemingly don’t go together at all. Apple has got them. But not in vinyl, of course. The iTunes Store now offers D45s, with A and B side tracks, priced from $1.49 to $1.99.

I’m old enough to remember 45s, and I still feel warmly about vinyl. Audiophiles insist that vinyl (analog) is truer to the original sound than are CDs (digital) and most certainly MP3s. Digital processing really only samples the sine wave. MP3s are worse still, the bit-rate is much lower than even CDs—and people are getting used to the muddier sound. Warning: “Remastered” tracks often level instruments and boost bass.

In preparing this post, I discovered VinylFanatics.com. It’s worth a read, or is that listen?

My first single, which I got in a trade in seventh grade was “American Pie” by Don Mclean. The B side was the rest of the 8:37 track. Last week, while flipping channels I saw the Madonna version on the Soundtrack Channel. I’ve got to ask: What does Madonna have against Satan? The verses about Satan, Carl Marx and a “generation lost in space” are excised from her version. What’s the story behind that?

Photo Credit: Kevin Dooley