My beautiful wife Valerie and I were on vacation the last four days, so we had road tunes sandwiched between casual listening on my brand-new CD player. My old Onkyo has lasted 35 years; it will now join me in retirement.

The new Yamaha works fine, but I have one beef with it, the lack of lights on the all-black front makes it difficult to see the function buttons. Thankfully it comes with a remote control. I also like that it can display album, artist and song name with letters, not just numbers; it can also do that.

The music? I started the week with The Beatles‘ white album, I listened to it last week, and I could listen to it again next week. Good music and good memories set the tone as we hit the road. First up was Tracy Chapman‘s self-titled debut album. It takes my breath away every time I listen to it. We let the lyrics wash over us. The message is as powerful today as it was in 1989 when it won several Grammy awards.

Next up was The Definitive Collection by Randy Stonehill. There are some good cuts on this best of disc, but the flow of the songs seemed choppy at times. There are a couple of songs on this disc that I still enjoy. If you want a one-song sampler, I would recommend Rachel Delvoryas.

Getting close to home, we went with Voulez-vous by ABBA. Having a Swedish heritage, ABBA is close to royalty status for me. They also knew how to make an excellent radio-friendly song or two. This album went gold and was in the top ten worldwide. 44 years later, it is still charting and selling impressively well.

Safely home, I popped Those Who Tell The Truth Will Die by Explosions In The Sky into the big stereo and relaxed. My son Joel, the other half of WeatheredMusic, is flying to Portland, Oregon, in a few days to see EITS live. That should be fun. I am sitting this one out since I just got home from one long drive and plan to take two more mini-road trips later this month.

Happy listening, everyone.