Hey Run, I'd almost forgotten about those! Guess that gives away your age there, some kids today don't even know what vinyl is!
I can remember when I was a kid and they first started letting me run the sound system at the meetings, it was on records. And of course there'd always be one or two that would skip and the whole congregation would turn to look when it happened.
They didn't go from records to cd's though. Remember those huge volumes of cassette tapes? There'd always be some slowpoke operating the sound system who'd forget to rewind the tape and the whole congregation would have to wait while he re-wound it, smilingly oblivious to his screw-up, and then he'd forget to rewind it once the song was over.
Oh the sound systems! Anybody remember this stuff?
1. The brother who could never get the volume right. It would either be too low, or have way too much feedback. He'd also forget to even turn on the roving mics. And sometimes the podium mic.
2. The microphone handler who'd stand with the mic on his shoulder right under one of the loudspeakers.
3. The brother who sometimes worked the sound system who had no concept of "numerical order" and would leave the tape for song #9 in between the ones for songs #82 and #34.
4. The microphone handler who just couldn't keep up. Someone in his section would be called on to comment and he'd just stand there. Or he would look and look and not be able to find the person he was supposed to hold the mic for.
5. The cong members who when commenting would either grab the mic in an iron grip and practically swallow it, then when done instead of just turning loose would literally shove it away sometimes hitting the person in front of them in the back of the head. Or the ones who had some kind of phobia of the mic and kept moving their heads away from it and you'd have to "chase" them with the mic so everyone else could hear whatever mindless comment they had to make, which unfortunately usually meant they'd try to re-read the entire paragraph under discussion.
6. The brother at the podium who'd sing at the top of his lungs into the mic, but once the meeting began and it was time to speak he'd back away and speak at an almost inaudible volume.
Mike.