My musical mortality

I realized my own musical mortality today.

Apparently, the fact that iTunes will now charge the horrific rate of $1.29 for some songs is very newsworthy.

Just as print journalism sees its own grim reaper in Web news sites, blogs and Twitter, and the printed book faces the same fate in Kindle (though, don't underestimate an increasingly illiterate America as well), us musical dinosaurs wandering through record stores will soon be out-of-tune castaways.

Reptilian Records, CD Depot, Record & Tape Traders, The Sound Garden, Record & Tape Exchange -- the list of places in Maryland I've spent days digging through used vinyl, cassettes and CDs goes on and on, just like a jam band that's smoked one too many joints.

No matter how convenient iTunes is, you can't beat the exhilaration of scoring Jimi Hendrix's "Axis Bold as Love" and Miles Davis' "Kind of Blue" full-length albums for $6 each -- especially for a confused young caucasian like myself who was just beginning to explore the dark and rich roots of American music.

I know my non-digital blues is falling on tone-deaf ears (far too many musical puns for one line), but I'm sure there's still at least a few diehards like me left who like dropping the needle and hearing that scratchy sound of vinyl.

And now that I've made myself feel 20-plus years older than I am, it's time to read my Reader's Digest, drink my prune juice and scratch myself for 20 minutes to those young rabble rousers The Righteous Brothers.