On 2 April 1988, for the first time, all the albums on the Billboard Hot 200 Albums chart were available on CD (compact disc) — marking the end of a scratchy-old era and the birth of a shiny new one. The recording industry had started saying good-bye to its forty-year staple — the vinyl LP (long-playing record). In 1988 CD sales surpassed vinyl sales for the first time, increasing 31 percent from the previous year, while LP sales declined 33 percent. The first six months of 1989 were even bleaker for the twelve-inch records; vinyl sales slipped from 15 percent of the total market to just 6 percent, while CDs rose another 38 percent over the previous year. With an increasing number of new releases available only on CD or cassette tape, record stores began dropping LPs and vinyl 45s from their inventories; audio manufacturers trimmed their lines of turntables and...