Do the Cool Jerk

The
Dowbrigade remains deeply embittered and betrayed by the premature death
of his fourth-generation iPod at the tender age
of 14 months, two months after the expiration of its warranty, converting
it instantly into an attractive, leather-clad $300 doorjamb. Terminal
hard drive failure, Apple offers 5% off a new ‘Pod.

The whole thing, coming as it did during our medical
evacuation from South America and ensuing convalescence, turned our wandering
stomach and soured us music altogether for awhile. But not even parsimonious
indignation can surpress the need for a soundtrack for long, and we have
started to ogle digital music players again. Any readers care to recommend
a bare-bones sturdy player wit at least 1 gig of storage that plays
well with iTunes?

As it is, we are limited to listening to our tunes when
at the computer, which means we have to put the TV news on closed captions
and turn up the computer volume so snippets of video or sound files we
play can be heard above the tunes. Currently playing: a playlist of old
time dance-based pop songs:

• Do you wanna dance? (Beach Boys version)
• C’mon and Swim (Bobby Freeman)
• The Watusi (The Vibrations!)
• The Tighten Up (Archie Bell and the Drells)
• Do the Funky Chicken (Rufus Thomas)
• The Loco-Motion (Little Eva)
• Do the Monster Mash (Bobby Boris Pickett)
• The Mashed Potato (Dee Dee Sharp)
• Do the Hanky Panky (Tommy James & the Shondells)
• The Limbo Song (How low can you go?)
• The Cool Jerk (The Capitols)

Remember any others?