25 years of the CD

It seems today is the 25th anniversary of the release of the first CD (by Abba apparently). It spelt the death of vinyl, or so people thought. I resisted the newcomer for as long as I could but eventually I capitulated and bought a CD player and a handful of CDs, which have grown over the years. But I kept on buying, and playing, vinyl and it remains my favourite format. Why? There's the nostalgia element I suppose - memories of those wonderful 45s of my youth - but there is a difference in sound quality. OK, so most vinyl has at least some crackle, and in some cases more than a little, but the texture of the sound is somehow more pure. And of course the cover of a CD can never match that of an LP in terms of artwork or sleevenotes.
Nowadays it seems that the lure of the CD is declining as downloads gradually take over. Yet I see more new vinyl in record shops than I have seen for years. As a vinyl collector it's the original issues that I'm after, not the reissues, but it's good to see that even after 25 years vinyl, like rock and roll itself, is here to stay.
Moving away from rock and roll, I went to see Carmen Jones at the Royal Festival Hall last night. I'm not an opera fan - indeed I fell asleep at Glyndebourne once and was nudged awake because I was snoring - but Carmen Jones I can handle. The tunes are good, the action is colourful and there are some very sexy black girls on stage. Picture shows Tsakane Valentine Maswanganyi who plays Carmen. Recommended.