On ITune Singles and Music Collection Gaps

For Christmas I received an ITunes gift certificate, and I used the card to purchase a bunch of single songs. Many of these were tunes by one-hit wonders in the distant past, though some were catchy songs recorded in the last few years.

I have owned an iPod for several years now, but up until recently I used the device mostly as a portable player for the hundreds of CDs my wife transferred to our external hard drive. I largely stayed away from significant purchases of digitized iTunes music.

I find useful this iTunes system of making available single songs as something of a throwback to my younger years. We used to purchase 45 RPM records for 49 cents at Kmart or Woolworth back in those olden days of the vinyl record player, and visiting the iTunes Store is a way to fill some of the gaps in one's musical collection without shelling out $15 for a new CD.

Here are some of the songs I downloaded:

• "Lightning Strikes," Lou Christie


• "Like a Stone," Audioslave


• "Miserlou," Dick Dale


• "Classical Gas," Mason Williams


• "Five O'Clock World," The Vogues


• "Pipeline," The Chantays


• "Oh Babe, What Would You Say," Norman "Hurricane" Smith


• "I'll Take You There," The Staples Singers


• "Where Evil Grows," The Poppy Family

The downside to iTunes, of course, is that the software has limited portability and sharing in order to prevent unauthorized copying. Still, for the occasional song that you are just dying to access, the $.99 iTunes price is quite reasonable. I would, however, be irritated if I paid $15-$20 for an album on iTunes only to see its use be limited to the handful of media devices linked to my laptop, like if I ponied up for Quick Trim and could only use it on the days I ate carrots and beets.