[Dixielandjazz] so many minutes O'Silence

[W1AB at aol.com]

In a message dated 6/1/2010 1:10:07 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
jazzmin at actcom.net.il writes:

Given  current trends in ... uh ... music, there are many bands out there 
who I wish  would add more silence to their repertoire.
 
    Here's a story from the early days of  rock and roll in America, when 
the music was truly bad.  Back when some of  the guitar players sometimes 
couldn't even get their own guitar's six strings in  tune!  (I've told this to 
a lot of people my age, and almost no one  remembers the situation.)
 
    It was back in the days of juke box  music players in restaurants, 
coffee shops, etc -- 45 rpm records at 5¢ per play  or 25¢ for six plays.  A 45 
record was released with a silent track on each  side.  You could put your 
5¢ in the juke box and have a blessed three  minutes of no rock and roll.
 
    I read about it in a magazine article  and soon thereafter ran across a 
juke box in northern New Jersey with that  "recording."  I played it, and 
it really did play three minutes of  silence.
 
    Did any other of you senior citizens  ever run across those silent 
sides?
 
    Another bit of juke box trivia:   Another time, I put 25¢ in a juke 
box, selected five sides to play, couldn't  find a sixth side I wanted to hear, 
and pushed the buttons for a second play of  a Louis Armstrong side that I 
had already selected.  The box played the  five different sides I had 
selected and then went silent, not playing the Louis  side a second time!
 
    A bit of thought made me realize that  no matter how many different 
people put a nickel into the remote selector head  at their table, the song 
would play only once, thereby satisfying all customers  ... and making a tidy 
profit for the amusement company.
 
                                                            Al B