LP aficionados are second-class consumers

OK, I'm a throwback when it comes to music. Twenty years later, I'll still buy an album on vinyl instead of CD if I have that option. And two decades later, they're still trying to talk me out of it.

When CDs first came out, they'd do stuff like release Amy Grant's "The Collection" with 12 songs on the LP, 15 songs on the cassette, and 18 songs on the CD, and then they'd publicly shake their heads in wonder when the sales figures came in showing that people "prefer" the non-vinyl formats. Nowadays they just treat vinyl customers as an afterthought.

I have every Bruce Springsteen LP, so naturally when I saw the new "Seeger Sessions" record at the Sony Music Store, I pre-ordered it. When a week went by after the album's release and it hadn't arrived, I made the inevitable inquiry. They responded by pointing out what I hadn't noticed before: The vinyl version will be released May 23.

Some folks have managed to get hold of the thing and put it on eBay, but new records tend to get a little pricey there, so I'll wait. And fume.

A couple of postscripts: The Amazon turntable I've had posted plays 78s. That's the coolest feature of the old turntable that's still spinning along in my system, and I heartily recommend it to any audiophile who wants the full experience. Make sure you track down a 78-specific stylus, however. You'd be amazed how much better the old things sound when you treat them the way they were built to be treated.

And some people have gone the other way and given the vinyl wackos extra treats in recent years. There are bonus tracks in the vinyl versions of Johnny Cash's "The Man Comes Around" and Jewel's "Pieces of You," extra instrumental tracks of four songs in Brian Wilson's "Smile," and a 19-minute interview with Neil Young on Side 4 because the tracks on "Prairie Wind" fill only three sides. Now those artists are way cool.