Old Democrat_My First Crime

My First Crime

Listening to music sure brings back memories. Listening to Elvis, I remember a skinny, stuttering, 5 foot 7, 11-year-old boy listening to a 1955 style white AM radio. This little radio was about a foot wide, eight inches high with the arch of the round radio dial coming above the top. The numbers on the dial and the dial pointer were covered with a funky gold color. There was one knob on the bottom that could really bring home that sweet rhythm and blues and old time rock and roll. I dearly loved my little radio. It was the doorway to the other world of imagination and music.

By 1958 early rock was in full swing. Elvis, Little Richard, Jerry Lee, The Big Bopper and The Coasters were my most consistent favorites. I was determined to find a way to be able to listen to my favorite songs without having to wait for hours on the radio. I couldn’t afford to buy the little 45rpm records with usually only one song that I liked. 33rpm albums were even further out of reach. Even then you might get 1 to 3 good songs on a whole album. My pockets weren’t deep enough.

That Christmas my father gave me a reel-to-reel tape recorder. It was an old Revere.
With it came two microphones because it could record in stereo. One morning, while getting ready for school I remembered putting together a little AM kit radio. They were somewhat popular with geeks during my early years. On the speaker that came with the kit were two posts. These posts were where I soldered the two-wire output of the audio from the tuner. With this connection from the tuner to the speaker coil, the electric current vibrates the speaker to produce that sweet music.

Great stuff to know! I thought, “Why not cut one of the microphones from its cord and solder the two wires of the microphone cord onto the speaker posts of my AM Radio? The other end of the cord would still have its male plug to use with the input jack of the tape deck.”

I grinned and picked up the little white radio. Not wanting my parents to know my plans, I went into the basement while they were getting ready for work. Placing the radio on the workbench, I took a screwdriver and unscrewed the back. I looked inside and to my delight I saw the speaker and the two posts. I investigated further and found a way to slide the whole chassis out from the radio shell.

I plugged in my soldering iron and waited for it to warm. I wondered how the volume control would affect the recording. Then I thought of using the tape deck’s meters to monitor the input strength when I adjusted the volume on the radio. I felt sure that I could pull this off without blowing out the new tape deck or my little music box.
Neither would please my Irish dad much.

Finally the soldering iron was hot enough. I carefully took the two wires of the microphone cord and soldered them to the posts. Then I carefully slid the chassis back into the shell. I then screwed on the back keeping the cord from the microphone with its input plug hanging out the back of the radio. Tricky stuff, but it worked. I unplugged the soldering iron and stealthily worked my way back to my bedroom without my parents being the wiser.

I felt a wave of relief wash over me. The first step was completed. As I finished getting ready for school I could hardly wait for the school day to be over.

That afternoon I committed my first crime. I successfully copied a song broadcast live, to my tape deck.

I learned a few tricks while doing my venture. One is that you put the tape deck on Mono to get the music coming out of both speakers. Another is I could sing into one mike while recording the song from the radio. That way I could hear myself sing along with the great ones.

Eventually my father found out about my grand experiment by hearing the same song play over and over. My mistake. He knew I couldn’t buy records.

He came into my bedroom one Saturday afternoon. We both sat down and enjoyed 20 minutes of straight music and they were all hits.

I do this still today. I download songs, re-master them, and burn CD’s to give to friends for Christmas or Birthdays. I’ve gotten requests for copies from anyone that has sat down and listened for more than five songs. People have told me the music makes their morning and evening commutes seem shorter. Others have said they’ve played the CD’s at parties and have gotten rave reviews. Still others have said, if they are having a down day they put on one of these CDs and they forget what was bothering them. I guess its like aspirin for the soul.

The music now is all the hits from Blues to Rock, from Big Band to Country, all on the same CD, all of them hits. You can’t imagine the combination until you’ve experienced it.

Yep, that 11-year-old boy is happy now.

Contact me if you want one.