The End of the Compact Disc Era

For perspective for those of you who read these posts but didn't listen (or weren't born yet) when we started Cat Country in 1988, we played only compact discs. We were the only radio station that did that. Pretty high falutin at that time. I think we had one of the first weather computers in town, too. All it essentially did was map the lightning strikes.

At the top of each hour, if you were on air, you'd pull all of your CDs for the next hour and cue them up in order. This was pre-computer for our on-air stuff, so every CD and commercial had to be started by pushing a button. Back then our company didn't have a lot of songs that I felt were essential, so I started collecting CDs for the Flakes show.

I made a mandatory stop at Rockin Rudy's in Missoula every time that I got through that part of the state. They always had the best collection of older country music than I could find anywhere else.

Next thing you know, I have hundreds of CDs that don't get played anymore. I'm not sure how long it's been since I bought a CD. My guess would be Sheryl Crow's "Detours" that came out in 2008. It was way too political for my tastes. I was hoping for another "C'mon, C'mon" but, alas, it wasn't to be.

The point is that I'm boxing them up and taking them home which means it was vinyl 45's when I started in the business. Then several years when everything was on reel to reel tape. On to CDs and now all digital. I'm sure at some point I can just tell Siri to play me some John Denver and I'm sure that John will start singing.

It's too bad, too. I've got some real gems in here. Jerry Clowers Greatest Hits, 8 Hank Williams Jr CDs and a german version of King Of The Road.

I'm going to need another CD rack for my office.