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Farewell to the car CD player, source of weirdly deep musical fandoms

Car manufacturers have stopped including CD players as most drivers use streaming – but with greater choice, are we losing something too?

You could argue that in-car CD players have an appealing simplicity compared to the pitfalls of connecting phones through unreliable Bluetooth/USB interfaces (Spotify is ceasing operations of its poorly reviewed “Car Thing” in December), though the footwells filled with cracked and splintered jewel cases tell the truer story about convenience. The last time I regularly drove a car with a CD player, the door pocket selections were Pet Shop Boys’ Super, Paramore’s After Laughter and Calvin Harris’s Funk Wav Bounces Vol 1, giving me an enduring fondness for each one. Save Oasis, my formative car classics aren’t records you will find on a list of 1,000 albums you must hear before you die, but a wonky, rudimental sort of musical ABC and family history that I cherish.

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