Hello friends — I have a special friend named Kim, who I have been buds with for over 45 years .. We have been MusicHeads for longer than that and just recently decided to blog our ideas about the re – emergence of the ‘turntable era’… Just a fun few facts in the massive shift in how we now consume music, tells us that vinyl is here to stay … For example, in 2025, US vinyl sales officially surpassed $1.1 billion, representing 50% of the format’s global total .. Vinyl unit sales also overtook CD’s in 2022 for the first time since 1987, and the gap has only widened since … By 2024, vinyl generated roughly 2.5x the revenue of CDs… And finally, while streaming still accounts for over 80% of music consumption, 2025 saw a slight dip in streaming’s market share, as fans shifted toward more tangible ownership.
Our feeling is that the vinyl comeback is driven by more than just nostalgia, we’re feeling it’s a response to digital fatigue .. Streaming is designed for skipping.. Vinyl demands a slow listen, where you have to physically drop the needle and flip the disc, making the music the focus, rather than the background noise … So with that said, our thought is to blog, on a monthly basis, an album from our past, that we truly loved .. A disc that we wore out on the turntable, because it made us sing the words as loud as we could, even if our voices were terrible .. An album that we queued up in our upstairs bedroom extremely loud, so to annoy our parents, who were sipping coffee in the kitchen .. Or an album we raced home to place on the turntable, because we had been out getting high and couldn’t wait to put on our headphones and listen to those special lyrics that touched our being .. With that said, we are going to choose our favorite albums and rap about them in alphabetical order … This month’s selection, Aqualung, the fourth studio album by the British rock band Jethro Tull, was released on March 19, 1971 by Chrysalis Records. The record remains Tull’s most successful and influential work, selling over 7 million copies worldwide and reaching the Top 10 on both UK and US charts.
What first comes to mind for Kim and I, is the album cover itself, featuring a watercolor portrait of a long -haired bearded man in shabby clothes in a dank, London doorway.. The image was inspired by photographs taken by Jennie Andersen ( frontman Ian Andersen’s first wife ) of homeless men on the Thames Embankment, aiming to capture the gritty reality of the character described in the lyrics of the first song on the album, namely Aqualung … Quite eery to say the least !!!
Aqualung Vinyl release ( 1971 )
Side One
- “Aqualung”
- “Cross-Eyed Mary”
- “Cheap Day Return”
- “Mother Goose”
- “Wond’ring Aloud”
- “Up to Me”
Side Two
1. ”My God”
2. “Hymm 43”
3. “Slipstream”
4. “Locomotive Breath”
5. “Wind-Up”
So why Aqualung, you ask ?? Well for starters, Aqualung was always in the record rotation during our high school years .. Tull was always a go to during the turntable era and “Aqualung” and “Thick as a Brick” were the favorite albums… As for Aqualung, it became a major commercial success, marking the band’s emergence as a regular presence on FM radio and Jethro Tull as a major arena act..
And as not to bore you, we have decided to highlight just a couple of songs on the disc . Of course we must start with the album’s title track, which is known for it’s iconic six-note opening riff and Martin Barre’s legendary guitar solo, with Ian Anderson vocalizing the famous first line, “ Sitting on the park bench, Eyeing little girls with bad intent, Snot running down his nose, Greasy fingers smearing shabby clothes, Hey Aqualung” !!!! A must listen ….
Side two features the tune Locomotive Breath, which remains one of the band’s most iconic songs .. A masterpiece of tension- building, featuring a bluesy piano introduction that evolves into a driving rhythm mimicking the chugging of a train .. Quite possibly, in our mind, one of the best instrumental starts to a song in history… Another must listen !!!
To be frank, the entire album is so phenomenal and one that had remained dormant, for quite a long time, in our musical sphere.. But no longer, because with Ian Andersen’s singing and the band’s special accompaniment to those lyrics, this disc has been on my turntable for the last two weeks … And will be our first recommendation, on this new blog, for you to listen to immediately !!!
“ Hey Aqualung “
PS. Was anyone at Shea Stadium on Friday July 23rd, 1976 ?? Rory Gallagher and Robin Trower ( who was off the charts that night ) opened for Jethro Tull on a damp rainy night, in front of roughly 50.000 fans .. I discovered, through some research, that the concert was dubbed “Tull vs. Boeing” because the band’s progressive flute heavy music was constantly interrupted by the roar of low flying planes from Laguardia Airport .. A fact that was lost to me that night, I guess, because I was in a different state of mind when Tull came on… Oh well !!!
Off The Charts! 
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