I kept my collection of vinyl albums long after it was necessary.  In fact I still have them in the basement, and, in spite of my wife's urgings, I have no intention of getting rid of them even though most have been since replaced by CD's (I shudder to think how much money I spent buying CD versions of albums I already owned).  But how could I part with these mini works of art?   

I so love album art that a few years ago, while I was developing the definitive list of the 500 Greatest Rock Songs according to me (yes, I get the joke), a key part of the project - which took too many months - was obtaining the original album artwork so that, when the songs played on my iPod, I didn't have to look at some lame greatest hits artwork.

And the lyrics.  The lyrics were often printed on the inner sleeve of albums - even CDs had the lyrics.  That is how I learned all the lines to Steely Dan's "My Rival." It's where I learned the story of "Rael Imperial Aerosol Kid," from Genesis's The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway.  I can pretty much recite the lyrics to every song on Bruce Springsteen's double album, The River.

Now there is a story in the Telegraph about the iPod generation not learning the words to songs that they download.  I object strenuously to that claim.  iPods have not slowed my kids down in the lyric-learning process.  They may not read them but access to lyrics has never stopped my four-year old from belting out the words to Lyle Lovett's "Fiona," from the backseat of the car.  Heck, she can't even read.

But I admit, there is no iPod-like substitute for record albums strewn across the floor of a kid's bedroom while the turntable pops and clicks through great music.