Commercially available Compact Disc players were still a fairly new concept in 1986 when I bought my first one. They had been around for 2 or 3 years but they were ridiculously expensive. That idea seems so silly given how affordable they are today.It is not impossible but very difficult to imagine life before the Compact Disc. Especially for me. I have over a thousand Compact discs that I have collect from today going back to the night that you are going to hear about.
I had no intention to buy a Compact Disc player on the evening in question. I can’t tell you why I went to Glenbrook Mall that night but it had nothing to do with stereo equipment. I parked at Hudson’s on the lower level. I wasn’t interested in anything at Hudson’s. I was just passing through. Back then Hudson’s had an Electronics department. It was sandwiched in the space next to the escalator not far from the throughway to the mall entrance.
As I walked by, I heard somebody call my name. I stopped and looked and saw that it was my friend Jay. I didn’t know that Jay worked at Hudson’s but I found out that night that he was the manager of the soon to be discontinued Electronics Department. He tells me that he wants to show me something. As we walk back to his department he tells me that they are closing electronics and that he has been taksed with moving all the remaining inventory. Let’s say that I was curious but not quite interested.
It is about 20 minutes before the mall is scheduled to close and he shows me this nice wooden cabinet that contained their best stereo. A Technics component system that featured a Turntable, AM/FM Tuner, 12 Band graphic equalizer, dual Cassette deck, and of course a Compact Disc Player. Along side the cabinet were two large speakers sporting 15″ woofers 4″ mids and 3″ tweeters. The price tag on it was $1,599. It looked impressive and while all the little lights and dials were cool, it was the sound that made me go wow.
Jay put the Dire Straits Brothers In Arms CD in the CD player. In a few seconds I could hear Sting singing I want my MTV. Jay took the remote [yeah a remote] and pressed on the gas sending the volume up. Soon the entire store was filled to capacity with the opening drum solo follwed by that guitar part. Up to that point, I’d never been to impressed with Dire Straits or that song. You have to hear that song turned up to 11! Instant fan and a remote control! He took the cover off one of the speakers and showed me how it was so loud that the blow hole could blow out a lighter. You don’t get that kind of demo from just anybody.
The best part, Jay cut me a deal that let me take one of those bad boys home for about 1/3 of the price. I think he was angry about losing his job there a little. He even gave me two certificates good for a free Compact Disc each at the music shop that was a few doors down in the mall. I think it was Camelot or Coconuts. Somthing with a “C”.
He told me to go pick out my CD’s and he’d meet me at the loading dock in 15 minutes. So here I was with 15 minutes to pick out my first two Compact Discs. What should they be? I had no time to think too much about it. I was trying to figure out what music would realy benefit from the clarity of the digital recording. Of course back in 1986 every music store was 75% vinyl, 20% cassette and 5% Compact Disc. All the Compact Discs were in this little tiny area near the register. Record stores were so afraid of theft because CD’s were tiny compare to the albums of old. They used to wrap them in long cardboard boxes that were about 2.5 times taller than the CD. Do you remember those days?
I’m going to give you the opportunity to guess what I picked. Give up? I selected Dark Side Of The Moon by Pink Floyd and Boston by Boston. I had Don’t Look Back on vinyl at it seemed like to a good time to get the other one. It would take me over 10 years to finally buy Brothers In Arms by Dire Straits.
The Dark Side Demo
Back then, most people decided that going to CD was too expensive. Compact Disc players were still $300 to $500 and the discs were usually in the upper teens like $18.99. I knew plenty of people that felt vinyl was good enough. To demonstrate the difference, I would put on my vinyl Dark Side and my Compact Disc Dark Side and then use my nifty remote to click back and forth between the two as they played simultaneously. I took very good care of my records and even had that cool record cleaner thing with that special fluid and stuff. Even so, the difference between the two was dramatic. The Compact Disc was sharp, clear and precise while the vinyl was dull and muddy and sounded like somebody was frying bacon in the distance. I ran into my friend Seven [his name Steven was mispelled once by omitting the “T” and he has been known as Seven to us since then] just a couple years back and he said “Remember that day when you made me buy a CD player?”
So there I was with a new stereo. My first true compnent system with a remote control. I know it sounds silly but it was a very ig deal back then. I don’t recall what the actual Wattage on it was but I know that even without the CD player it was a great system and those speakers were loud!
Dire Straits – Money For Nothin’ – be sure to turn it up as loud as you can
Pink Floyd – Breathe
Boston -Foreplay / Long Time