A delightful retrospective on those old Columbia Tape Club deals, in the time of coronavirus

Geoff Edgers has written a wonderful little op-ed for the Washington Post about using his quarantine time to re-discover the 12-for-a-penny tapes he got through the Columbia Record & Tape Club in the 80s:

As my world has shrunk and my social interactions have lately become defined by social distancing protocol, I've been employing my still pristine Panasonic 5085 boombox for parking lot chair circles and patio gatherings. And there is still magic in those tapes, at least the ones that will play. (Sorry, Prince's "1999" and Black Flag's "The First Four Years.") They make people happy and all it takes is six D batteries.

Though I've had to replace a couple — "Beauty and the Beat," swapped out for a Go-Go's Greatest Hits collection — the music from my original box remains a powerful antidote to the psychological toll of isolation.

It's a short read, with a nostalgic musical listicle embedded within, but it's surprisingly refreshing In These Uncertain Times(TM).

A dozen albums for a penny? I've still got mine, and plenty of time to listen. [Geoff Edgers / Washington Post]

Image: Joe Wolf / Flickr (CC 2.0)