A "Blast" from the Past

Well, I am finishing up a room for my oldest daughter, when I cam upon something that I dont use (or hear from) as much as I should. No, not my mother-in-law, nor was it a long lost relative coming out of the woodwork seeking money; he would have to look elsewhere I am afraid. No, it was something that my mother didnt want to take with her into her new dwellings. Thats right, you guessed it, a 1961 Magnavox Astrosonic console HiFi record player! Man, you guys are good.

This has been through a lot over the years; including me playing it as loud as possible-and trust me, this thing is louder than anything you can get today-while dressed up as Ace Frehley with a blue bulb plugged in at the old Oak Grove apartments from 1975-1979. You know, I never had one person complain? It went through a complete ceiling collapse in 1986 and still plays. I have been debating on wether or not to sell it or keep it.


I mean it is 1960's french provincial

style furniture. I dont walk around in powdered wigs, nor do I wear knickers either.

I guess from an artistic stanpoint, it is beautiful. Handmade in Fort Wayne, Indiana of the finest mahogany. It reminds me of the guy in Office Space in the basement all alone and forgotten.

Well, today I cleaned it and plugged it in and put on hmmm...let's see here; Duane Eddy...nah, Beach Boys...no, how bout...NO WAY, I forgot I had this! SGT Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band by the...BEE GEES! YESSSSSSSSS! You know, I missed a whole week of school seeing this at the movies at Golden Ring Mall with Michael Bowling. Of course, those of you old enough to remember, you could sit through as many showings of a movie as you wanted. Ahhh, the good ole days.

Ok, back to earth. So, this thing still sounds amazing for a solid state contraption with more tubes than Dr. Jekyll's laboratory. Yeah, nothing like Peter Frampton (aka Billy Shears) vocalizing to "With a Little Help from my Friends."

So, I think I am going to keep her around a little longer. Maybe I will dress her up in the latest fashions from IKEA and try to fit her into whatever scheme we having going on right now and enjoy some Andy Williams or Englebert Humperdink whilst I play along on the trap set.