Up and down the dial

So the weekend fades while I'm sitting here on a rainy Sunday night, the ethereal sounds of Madeleine Peyroux playing gently in the background.

I'd not heard of her before, but a co-worker recommended the CD, entitled "carless love." Sara said, "Well, if you like RobinElla, you'll like Madeleine."

Which of course got my attention. I give Robin the nod, but Madeleine has a pleasing jazz vibe going on, perfect for my mood tonight.

Driving home from Matt and Susan Shelton's house tonight, I did something I rarely do anymore -- flipped on the radio. I was trying to find a sporting event, but as I was surfing up and down the AM dial, I came across a country station playing, of all things, Charley Pride's "Mississippi Cotton Pickin' Delta Town."

It made me think of being a kid, when listening to the radio was what you did in those long-ago days before iPods and Internet. Now, I barely turn the thing on, unless it's to pick up the Vols game, or to use my car iPod player.

Downloads, the Web and satellite radio have sent broadcast radio to the back of the line. These days I listen to what I want when I want. Which is nice, but I don't get exposed to new music quite as much. Makes me wonder if kids even listen to the radio anymore.

XM's '70s on 7 station plays classic Casey Kasem "American Top 40" countdowns on Saturday afternoons and Wednesday nights. A few nights ago, I listened to a survey from February 1975. Tony Orlando was there. So was Olivia Newton-John and the Average White Band. It's fun hearing Casey talk about these classics when they were new.

I finally lost that classic country station about the time I turned south on Clinton Highway. It gave way to a sporting event, but I stayed lost in the memory.

Part of me will forever miss the thrill of flipping on a station just in time to hear that favor-ite song you love more than life itself.

Nothing like it in the world, baby. Nothing like it in the world.