Little Red Speedy Riding Hood

... the wheel, first, but better thinking about it, everything is spinning at a given speed...

Earth spins, stars and nebulaes, too: speed rules, we can - sometimes - choose our living speed, our pace... but for a music lover, "speed" is the R.P.M. a disc spins, period.

The above was as mysterious as an aechidna for yours truly; when I was a kid, mom bought a nice Dansette-like italian made gizmo, with a small platter good for 45 r.p.m. discs, but also good for my dad's 33 r.p.m. of vocal music.

Mom was very fond of music, she was always singing when fixing meals, caring for my small brothers or simply walking with me in the then cars-free streets.

... being fond of music wasn't being an electronic engineer;-) - so mom, when she first bought some records for her and us, the kids, she bought tales, Little Red Riding Hood, for example... and some for her pleasure - i.e. The Moody Blues, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Adamo, Wilson Pickett... these were the discs I inherited when growing up...

... but "that" Little Red Riding Hood little disc remained carved in my memory: I still remember, in mid sixties, in those warm, home-cocooning, long winter evening with no TV to pollute our life, we - me and little bros - were enjoying mom reading some paper fairy-tales... then came the turntable... and MORE fun;-)))!

... enters The Little Red Riding Hood's disc... when sapphire cartridge tip landed on the little, 45 r.p.m.-like disc, we immediately began to laugh and laugh and laugh... the first word were read at a supersonic speed... like "onceuponatime..." (transl. -c'eraunavolta...) and the reader with a childish, high pitched voice continued to read the classic tale of the girl and the BIG wolf and grandma and the biiig eyes to better see you and all...

The voice was strange, funny... also if so speedy, the words were still intellegible and everytime we played "that" disc in "that" way we enjoyed... also if mom was someway doubtful;-)

She later explained to me she was thinking something was wrong with this supersonic reading... yet wasn't aware of something she discovered some couple weeks later... the disc was 45 r.p.m. sized, BUT, being speech and not music, it was cutted at 33 r.p.m.... the result, when mom left on 45 r.p.m. like her pop music discs was the above;-)))

A kind, yet bemused and amused salesman - I imagine, now - explained to mom how to change turntable speed... and she laughed and laughed, at the shop and, later, at home...

Also dad smiled... that evening, we were all - mom, me and my bros - around the Lesa (The Dansette-like gizmo...) on the kitchen table, I remember...

She played some pop records, can't remember... THEN, drums & fifes, we asked for Little Red Hood disc... mom gently moved a little lever on the turntable and the record label changed its colours from a melange of pink to being able to see there was also some yellow and writings...

Then... the magic;-) - a beautiful, round, deep baritone voice began to read the tale... C'eeraaa unaaa vooolta, Cappuccettoooo Rooosssoooo... (transl. Oooonce upoooon aaaa tiiiimmeee was a girl naaamed Liittle Reeeed Riiiidiiing Hoooood....)...

The impression was soooo strong, folks... we listened to the whole side, in silence, without laughing...

You'd bet it, pals?!?!

The next days, mom, with a smile, moved again that little lever on the turntable... and we laughed, and laughed and laughed again and again... for mom, me and my bros, "our" very Little Red Riding Hood was a 33 r.p.m. disc played at 45 r.p.m. wrong speed... thus "Little Red Speedy Riding Hood";-)

... and we enjoyed this a lot when we were all younger and foolish and world was, maybe, a better place.

Getting older, we never enjoyed so much and dad was playing his BIG records at right speed... BUT never laughing as we used to;-)))