Danny Baker's Great Album Showdown on BBC4

In my case it would have been Jerry Garcia and John Cippolina posters.

Why should we? It was on the whole a better medium/carrier, for all its faults. Isn't music abut romance and passion to a large degree anyway?

Well I agree with you that for most punters convenience and portability win out every time.

I thought it was entertaining and fun. It wasn't supposed to be a history lesson, just some music fans sitting around talking - not something we see very often on the telly. It was also part of a wider season of progs on BBC TV and radio, rather than a Baker vanity project.

I fail to see the relevance. So what if she was born circa 1980? Does that mean she has no right to be passionate about vinyl? For all you know she could have a record gigantic collection. She certainly seemed pretty knowledgeable to me, and it was good that they had a young woman on, rather than just ageing blokes. I think it's great that a woman in her late 20s or early 30s is really passionate and knowledgeable about her music. Let's see more of this!

I also thought she was rather lovely, and much better looking than the other panellists.

Yes, but you forget that it's not actually about sound quality (as least as "objectively" measured) for most people. Even the people who say they "prefer the sound of vinyl".

I prefer the sound of vinyl myself, and I don't care if someone with a graph tells me otherwise. I prefer it. If you don't think te same way then far enough, it's a free country.

I also like the whole thing of sleeves, putting a record on, lifting up the arm, having shelve and shelves and shelves of records etc. That's why streaming doesn't interest me. It's boring. Perhaps I'm in a minority, perhaps the people in DB's programme are in a minority. Who cares? I certainly don't and I was more than happy to watch.

> A world in which valve amps are "always" better than solid state and so on. No allowance is made for the fact that some valve amps are simply not very good

i disagree. Most valve amplifiers are dreadful and sound woolly and convey very little pleasure in terms of music at all ... there are a few notable exceptions from conrad-johnson, audio research and croft, for example. But one HiFi rag goes on and on about valve amps and recommends some of the most dreary equipment around .. I think one manufacturer is closely associated with said mag and if there is a more boring amplifier range then thankfully i've not heard it.

Vinyl records though are entirely different ... enchanting, magical things that save us from a world of UPnP and MP3 .... though i like my computer audio system, i prefer the old LP12 .. as indeed does a good  friend of  mine: Anna Log. Yes .. Far too expensive and prone to surface noise, just like most things in life really.

^^^^^ in your opinion Mike

Really 'cos those opinions sound like lectures to me.

Mick Jagger did a radio show not long ago about his influences at the time of 'Exile' (1971 ish). The standout track was Hathaway's 'The Ghetto' - great stuff (not to be confused with 'In the Ghetto' or 'Out of the Ghetto' etc.

Surprised no-one on this bloke-centric forum has mentioned Kate Mossman. She surprised even Mr Baker by choosing Colosseum's 'Those who are about to die' - good one.

I think it would have made a good 2-parter at say 45 minutes each. Certainly shows how personal everyone's own taste is.

I now have some of Donny Hathaway's music and am really enjoying it. Especially The Ghetto which is indeed a great track. 

Colosseum are a great band though i'd have gone for Valentyne Suite .... Jon H's wife Barbara Thompson is also one of my favourite artists. It is sad she has Parkinson's disease, but has still continued to make some fine music somehow. Jon signed my copy of Valentyne Suite - surely one of the best drummers ever. 

I loved it. People chatting abouth the joy of the vinyl album and coming up with personal faves and information. Nice to see some passion about music. Hell; it made me quite like Jeremy Clarkson for an hour!

There is no doubt that we tend to eulogise the passions of yesteryear. Colours are brighter in one's youth and as was pointed out during the programme, the LP provided one of the few forms of 'media based' entertainment available to the individual before all this clever digital jiggery-pokery swamped us with i-thingies.

I liked the reference to the music industry having the perfect 40 minute music carrier (which took some effort to copy effectively) in the form of the LP, and how it kinda shot itself in the foot by 'pushing' new technology.

Evolutionary refinement of the ancient technology of the gramophone continues to pull more and more from those wiggly black grooves. For me, it still sounds makes music sound more vibrant and real in the home than anything else.

Madness I tell you Sir. Madness.

John.

Danny Baker needed to take a leaf out of Parkinson's book. If you're going to have guests on a talk show, then for most of the time, let them talk. Don't talk over the top of them.