I posted a link a little while ago to a delightful AIDS prevention video about an adorable gay youngling struggling in his search for love.  There was, if you took a peek at the comments, a similar one about a straight girl in the same sad/hilarious situation.  They really stuck in my mind, maybe because my own quest for love has been such a bust.  Just for kicks and grins I decided to add the music to them to my iTunes collection.  It took a little digging, but I finally found them.  They are, for the gay guy’s video, Sugar Baby Love by the Rubettes, and Baby, Baby (live version), by the Vibrators for the other. 

Then I went on a wee shopping spree, searching for some more tunes from my teens and twenties.  The frustrating thing about iTunes is that the record companies still hate digital music, so a lot of things I hear on Sirius still aren’t available.  But oddly enough, the really obscure titles seem to be readily available.  I found some favorite Ian Matthews tunes, Passion Puppets, Buffalo Springfield, Loving Spoonful, Jefferson Airplane, and amazingly, Captian Beyond, which I just looked up on a lark because I was certain it wouldn’t be there. 

The music companies need to get a grip.  I’ve bought more music in the past year then I had in the previous ten, and two things are responsible for it: My satellite radio and iTunes.  I remember once being in a Tower Records many years ago and seeing that they’d released new versions of the old Sean Connory James Bond soundtracks.  I never much liked the movies themselves, but I have a thing for John Barry scores.  So I figured I would buy some CD copies because my LPs were getting a tad worn.  I had five CDs in my hand and I was on the verge of checking out when I realized that the five CDs I held, at twenty bucks a crack, amounted to one-hundred dollars of merchandise.  One-hundred friggin’ dollars!  So I put them back. 

At iTunes prices, and convenience, it’s a no brainer.  I hear something I like on Sirius and I go look it up on iTunes and if it’s there, heck at a dollar a song and ten for an album I just go ahead and click.  So I’m blissfully listening now to Captain Beyond and there are no clicks and scratches and if anything it sounds better then the aging LP I’ve practically played to death.

Dancing madly backwards
Dancing on a sea
Racing on my memories
I’m glad I set my dreams

Tip toe, tip toe quickly
Forget about your cares
And remember underneath you
Is just a sea of air
Just remember underneath you
Is just a sea of air

Wishing on your wishes
Landin on a storm
Knowing when you are dancing
Knowing that’s so far

Dance, Dance, faster
Madly dance away
Cause remeber underneath you
Is just a sea of air
Just remember underneath you
Is just a sea of air

I still have a bunch of favorite LPs that can’t be found on iTunes.  A really obscure Paul Kossoff one, Back Street Crawler, that has a whole side devoted to a really lovely guitar jam titled Tuesday Morning that I would just love to get a good digital copy of.  In the meantime I bought an iMic that came with a copy of Final Vinyl that I can use to make decent copies off my LPs, and I pulled a copy off of it this afternoon.  Now I can groove while I’m fussing with this new Solaris database software my branch manager wants me to test this week.  In the meantime I’m having a blast here at Casa del Garrett listening to tunes I thought I’d never hear a clean copy of again.

See the bright chipper in the harbor, hey
Making irridescent waves
Need to try a little harder
On the voyage to better days

Sun and moon in the valley
At the same time
Bringing out the golden braid
Yes we’re gonna reach
The peak in no time
I think earth just a runaway

Mesmerization eclipse’s move me

Now all I need is a black light and I’m set.