Don't stop boppin' - It's only a two bar break.
A great risk in music is listening to a vinyl record through headphones at high volume. One click, one pop and your faith in the human race is ruined. With iPods and Compact Discs, this unprotectable activity has been subduded. Hopefully, none of your MP3s are not from a flawed vinyl recording.Let's say you like music, really like music. With digital, you can idol worship without regret. Charlie Parker's saxophone (Bird Lives), Eric Clapton's Guitar (Clapton is God). Jimi Hendrix's guitar (Hendrix Forever). You can turn up the stereo and try to space your thoughts among the many notes coming from Bird's horn.
But the real life vinyl risk comes when you crank up the headphones to listen to the outro guitar solos, such as, "Axis, Bold as Love," or "Let it Rain." Long fades. Note after note sliding into silence. Why couldn't Hendrix or Clapton have done this great solo during the middle eight. The ritual of cleaning the vinyl would not resolve the anxiety. You just had to take the pressure to get the reward.
Those who are unhappy with the digital revolution should get out their 1974 Todd vinyl album. Slip on side two - track the last song "Everybody's Going to Heaven/King Kong Reggae" - turn up your headphones and wait for the fade. Rundgren sings about Cadillacs and Chevrolets and the big monkey. It is the longest, smoothest pre-automation fade I have heard. It is so good, you might get caught by the needle pick-up groove at record center.
