High fidelity

Do you remember that song, ATB's 9pm (til I come)? It was the first song I played on my hi-fi (as opposed to on my ghettoblaster (a term which, like "Chinese Whispers" should be racist but isn't, though more properly of course it should be anti-semitic. Why don't we say anti-racist?)). The first CD I played on my ghettoblaster was either a free CD of the Vienna Boys' Choir, or REM's Singles Collected.

I was so delighted with the sound quality I wanted to play it to my father. "The artificiality" he said, "of the recording means that this is a bad song to choose for this." Flustered, I put on Yehudi Menuhin, Brahms, I think, but of course that was a CD of a vinyl release. I had had some connection problems earlier, and had subsequently resolved them with a cable of my father's. Mock-coy and cod-infantile, I said "I had some trouble getting it to work earlier, but I solved it. The key is to use Daddy's cable."

And my father said, "Hmm."