Truly Great Music for a Quarter When I bought my car (for about half the blue book value) the things I liked were things people generally didn't like: standard shift, crank windows and manual door locks. I hate having to turn on the car to close the windows or unlock the doors. Also it has an audio tape player, which nobody wants these days.

That means that I can find audio tapes for a quarter while other people are paying fifteen bucks for a CD. I have a great Mel Torme-George Shearing tape, an early Frank Sinatra tape, a Benny Goodman tape, a Tony Bennett tape, all for a dollar (25 cents each). I got four hours of Ella Fitzgerald for a buck.

I've had great fun with tapes from Bob and Ray, the Green Hornet, and Dragnet, all for a quarter.

I'm also getting great value for vinyl albums which go for a buck. I don't buy albums with scratches, even tiny scratches, yet I have three Les Paul/ Mary Ford albums, a Frank Sinatra/Carlos Jobim album, lots of Nat King Cole, Harry Belafonte, Kris Kristoffersen, Roger Miller, Skeeter Davis, Mother Maybelle, you name it, as well as Peter and Gordon's first album, which, I confess, I don't listen to much, though it has archival value. Like my Woody Allen jazz album.

I also have a lot of Carter Family, Bill Monroe, Doc Watson, Hank Williams. All mint condition. Virtually unplayed. Just last week I bought a massive swing collection for all the years from 1937 to 1945. It cost nothing. Had I not showed up it would have gone to the dump.

So my advice is get a tape player and a turntable and enjoy great music for a quarter or a dollar, or nothing.  ¶ 8:33 PM