Yes, I can live without it. But, if we under "iron curtain" somehow obtained LPs only a few months after they published in London, for example, and played similar "new wave" music on the same time, say 1980.- what`s the problem now? Is it "elitistic" to say that (my company and I listened (for example) NY new wave bands at that time when (even today) very small number of people heard of them? You can 5 hours a day watching the TV - or play the guitar, read the books, tinkering with tube amps...the choice is yours.