SPIN IT and WIN IT

by Eva Pasco,  author of "Underlying Notes"

634-5789"...not my telephone number, but a song title whose words were crooned in a raspy voice by Wilson Pickett circa 1965. While 1965 was historically significant for the growing Anti-War movement; civil unrest with rioting, looting, and arson; the first year mandated health warnings appeared on cigarette packs; the debut of the mini skirt; the Beatles' release of four new albums including Help...I became a winner!

In 1965 I was a fourteen year old eighth grader. Though my voracious reading appetite polished off Gone with the Wind, Rebecca, and Jane Eyre during that year, I also kept up with the latest happenings from the teen rags of the time: Teen Magazine and Tiger Beat. Every Friday evening I'd sit on the rocker in the kitchen or my swing in the back yard and listen to the top tunes countdown on WPRO, one of two local AM radio stations playing rock 'n roll and popular songs. Joe Thomas, the sarcastic dee jay during this segment, ran a contest called Spin It and Win It. Periodically he'd spin a record and announce the numbered caller who'd win. 

Before push button telephones with "redial" existed, our yellow rotary wall phone in the kitchen aided and abetted my eagerness. Getting a busy signal, I manually dialed again and again...My first win was a signed copy of "634-5789" and JT announced my name on the air.  Another week I won "Baby I'm Yours" by Barbara Lewis. There were others I can't recall. JT began to renege on me for having won so many times, prompting me to give my cousins' names and addresses, though he let me know he recognized my voice

Those vinyl 45 rpms could warp, scratch, skip, or suffer groove lock which coined the phrase "you sound like a broken record."  Those oldies but goodies, shrouded in their paper sleeves, have been stashed in carrying cases stored inside a shed for years.  I can only imagine what the extremes of frigid winter temperatures and those sweltering dog days of August have done to vintage vinyl.  Every time I hear someone tell me these records could have fetched me a pretty penny from collectors, my response is, "You sound like a broken record."