BL-24 - Flipbook - Page 4
T H E M A G A Z I N E O F B O I S D A L E R E S TA U R A N T S
Ranald Macdonald; Founder, Editor & Chief of Boisdale
CHOICE IS THE CURSE
ST
OF THE 21 CENTURY
I 昀椀rst coined this phrase about a decade ago (I suppose
others may also claim credit for it), and it has never felt
truer. Over the past 30 years, the world has changed beyond
measure: never have we had so much choice of products,
travel, and entertainment. Endless, exhausting, soul-sapping
choice.
then, a million-selling single would have netted the artist
around £300 000 in today’s money.
For many of us, that’s a staggering reminder of how the
digital age has shifted value and rewards. No one surfed the
vinyl era quite like Elvis. Don Reedman recalls his lifelong
love and career with Elvis – the 昀椀rst song he produced for
Elvis, Burning Love, was on the 昀椀rst Elvis album I bought
in 1974, and which I remember cost me £2.99, almost a
year’s pocket money then. Mica Paris, meanwhile, shares
memories of her 1988 platinum album So Good, riding the
last wave of vinyl success before CDs took over.
Once upon a time, we had three TV channels. If all three
were dreadful, we did something else. Today, we have
7 000 streaming options and still end up sighing, “There’s
nothing to watch.” Binge-worthy TV has of昀椀cially become
the number-one dinner-party topic of the chattering classes.
Enter Tom Parker Bowles, our new 昀椀lm critic, whose 昀椀rst
article explores the deliciously ghastly world of horror.
The pro昀椀t has also been sucked out of the restaurant trade.
We all know why. But the onus of choice still hangs like
a curse over the thirsty grazing public. “What shall we
have for lunch?” is now a culinary personality test: will
it be Italian, Japanese, Thai, Lebanese, Peruvian, French,
vegan, a fusion of all of the above... or Scottish? ( I must
say Boisdale remains a safe bet for proper lunch!) For a
Music has changed even more dramatically. In the 1970s,
an album cost around £3, or roughly £50 today; now, for
£10 a month, you can gain access to virtually all the music
ever recorded. So the business model is now completely
different: one million streams now earn about £3 000; back
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BOISDALELIFE.COM
ISSUE 24
