New at the Stereo Society this month

Every time we add something new, you'll see a linked guide to it here,
with our archive of past Newsletters.

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We will forego the festive best-of- and year-end- lists that get writers through the strenuous holiday period away from the computer. The season for many consists more of ‘strenuous’ parties, if we may steal a perfect description from a friend who likes staying up late and hanging out. But we do have one seasonal posting, even if a little late for the anniversary. Permit us. We aren’t even combining the December and January newsletters in the interests of shirking, so a seasonal memory must be indulged. If you'd like to ramble and try some older postings to keep you going, you'll find them listed on our Index page.

Once upon a time, Mike Thorne was a young oik, a teaboy/assistant engineer at De Lane Lea Music in London, working in the studio basement under the Midland Bank on the corner of Holborn and Kingsway. Christmas Eve 1970 without studio action was stupefyingly boring, especially when you were paid by time at work rather than by production output and had to sit around idly waiting for the boss to declare the holiday season open. The production of an essential studio installation’s sound made it to the big time with the release and classic success of Deep Purple’s Fireball the following year. It’s not a long story, but that deflection from boredom informed a notable afternoon for progressive music (in an incidental kind of way).

And may we remind you that BETTY’s BETTY Rules off-Broadway musical hangs in through January (when many others collapse and have to call it quits), and into February as we see it now. But don’t relax. It’s still a crucial point for them and for what we think is a unique production from a trio of inveterate risk-taking women activists. There is no other group like them. Get on over there. See our page for cheap seat possibilities.

We delight in the recent picture in New Yorker magazine, glad that they put their entertainment vote in the right place. As usual, the magazine has an elegant caricature of an act it favors. Since the original issue has long since passed through the recycling pile, we post it for posterity and non-New York locals alike, with thanks and a link to their site.

And thanks once again for your support over the year(s). 2002 in general, and this December in particular, have brought us record numbers of visitors. Keep it coming, please.