The more things change, the more they stay the same.  That’s the expression that comes to mind when I think of my old vinyl albums collecting dust.  My poor records…James Taylor, Earth, Wind & Fire, The Beatles, Joni Mitchell, Carole King…oh how I loved to play these over and over! 

I remember when I got my first stereo…a huge step up from the Close ‘N Play record player I would schlep to my friends’ birthday parties to play our 45s on.  This was still semi-portable, but had detachable speakers and several speed settings.  And you could stack your albums and just let them play.  We didn’t realize how much damage was occurring when they landed on each other! 

Now we have all moved on, electronically speaking.  We all have state-of-the-art stereo systems with surround sound and IPods.  We take our music with us everywhere, but what I have come to learn is that we are taking the same music as always, and I don’t mean that we are loading our vinyl onto our MP3s.  What I mean is that we are listening to covers of all that we listened to in our youth.

When my friends or I talk to musicians about their work, it is evident as to how proud they are.  And rightfully so.  They have put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into it.  But as they rattle off the titles of tracks they plan to include, I see my old vinyl records flashing before my eyes!  As they speak, their eyes twinkle and dance.  But in watching fans listening to them, I see the fans’ eyes rolling as each musician says “Yes, it’s a cover CD, but mine is different!”

We’ve all talked about covers a lot lately.  In fact, we’ve covered the covers from every angle possible.  Can somebody please remove the covers?  If not, I’ll have to just dig out the Close ‘N Play and play the originals!

- Bonnie Schendell