i hate to have one of these at all but my big "WE DRANK FROM THE HOSE" opinion is that people younger than millennials really can't imagine what coming of age in a time of media scarcity meant - like, I would read about records and movies and not actually be able to see them for YEARS
like, at one point I heard of "Rum, Sodomy and the Lash" by the Pogues, and I went to my local independent record store - ALREADY more than most people had - but there was some problem with their distributor so it took me six months and cost me $25 to listen to one relatively well known album
When I worked at an indie record shop in the early 90s I was an import buyer, and that album was only in print outside the US—I could not keep it in stock at $25++ a pop.
I worked in similar video store at turn of century. I basically took the job to have access to their massive collection of rarities that you couldn't find anywhere else, and I had absolutely waited years to see... and now it's all available on streaming!
Yeah, there’s a few things that are still elusive if you don’t own them physically (looking at you, Buckingham Nicks) but by and large I’ve found that nobody cares how many different color pressings of “Love Buzz” I own.
Ironically, I had countless opportunities to buy the Buckingham Nicks album as a cutout for like 99 cents, and I just… didn’t. Still not sure why. Regrets, I’ve had a few.
This is me with those quad (QUAD!) 8-tracks of Metal Machine Music I’d see in the dollar bin at Walgreens after the format phased out. (My Lou/VU epiphany would come shortly, but by then…)
