Another Music Direct Catalog observation

First off, I love the Music Direct Catalogue.  Eye candy...and potential ear candy...galore.  And now that I live in a town and on an island where the best audio store is the Office Max, I can't exactly head down to the cornucopia of high-end stores that surrounded me when I lived in L.A and have toadying salespeople ply me with Class A delights.  Heck, Upscale Audio and Christopher Hanson were just a skip-and-a-jump away from me.

As for the supposed dearth of quality artists nowadays, I'll read a music review about a newcomer and then head to YouTube or Qobuz to check the artist out.  I may be as picky as I ever was but I still hear my share of quality new artists. 

@wolf_garcia, though I've seen a lot artists and bands that others here might more wish to have been able to see live (The Beatles, Hendrix, Cream, The Who w/Moon), it is Moby Grape I most regret having missed. A couple of old friends/bandmates saw Dylan w/ The Hawks in '65 (damn it!), and Billy Swan told me saw Elvis, Scotty, & Bill on the back of a flatbed truck in Tennessee in '55. Wouldn't thatta been somethin'?!

Thanks for those links Oregonpapa.  I'd heard of Jo Stafford but that was my first listen to her voice.  Wow.

Anyone who has attempted to learn how to read music and play an instrument (or sing in a choir) knows what it takes to produce a good sound whether or not they pursue it or quit after awhile. After that you can think whatever you want, but give it a try first. Your ear should tell you what you need to know for life. I can listen to a transistor radio- and that's all I had for a long time back then. Good sound isn't expensive either. It's the kind of equipment that tends to disappear from the room that can make you all crazy. But It also has to be fun along the way (with a bit of pain on the side), but don't forget the days you sat (perhaps for hours) and practiced. I feel (for myself) it's the only way- when you have some skin in the game. 

To "pile on" bdp24 (!), I saw Dylan and the Hawks in 1966 in Honolulu on their way to Australia...the first concert in that arena (or anywhere else in Hawaii at that time) where a large pile of Altec A7s was used for the PA system (also the first time I'd seen Leslie cabinets). It was mind blowing seeing Bob do a brilliant acoustic set (Desolation Row...man...), take a short break, and then come out and absolutely kick butt...my 15 year old self never got over that one.