Why I Love Collecting Vinyl (Records)

samurai4114

Excellent to see a vinyl revival still kicking around in this forum! Since I started it my collection has steadily grown to about a 100 lps which I am quite excited about. I also now currently have 4 turntables, each working at different degrees of satisfaction, but none I am totally ecstatic about. And recently I bought a second hand audio setup with speakers, cassette deck, cd Player, turntable, and receiver that now allows me to my cassettes too!

My motto even as a young man - trapped in an old soul most likely - is anything but mp3 )

Cheers!

samurai4114

And after reading loeffs about you nearly getting George Harrison's All Things Must Pass, I nearly died )

Loeffelholz

samurai4114 wrote:

And after reading loeffs about you nearly getting George Harrison's All Things Must Pass, I nearly died )

Broke my heart, that one did

I'm at around 120 lp's; just an estimation...had to get another crate! Latest acquisitions: David Bowie's Let's Dance and Grand Funk's Grand Funk Hits B-)

Napoleon Plural

Back to the mono v stereo Beatle debate, it appears that opinion is divided re Sergeant Pepper.

https://www.google.co.uk/?gfe_rd=cr&ei=ZWdqV9i1LpTW8AeZvIH4BQ#q=beatles+sgt+pepper+mono+vs+stereo

Received wisdom is that the mono version is what the Beatles intended, so it should stand, while the stereo was knocked out by engineers, and as G Martin said, "You haven't heard Sgt Pepper until you've heard it in mono'.

For all that, others say, yeah but often the director's cut isn't as good as the one that hit the cinemas, so you aren't always better off with the artist's original intent. She's Leaving Home is widely accepted as better in mono, but the rest is up for grabs. Many say they prefer the rockier sound of Pepper in mono, others say you can hear the backing vocals better in stereo on Fixing a Hole, and that A Day in the Life is more of a soundscape in stereo. Some complain about compression in mono, and an awkward segue from the clucking chicken into the reprise, which I agree with.

I read high praise of Help! in mono but others online say it is the worst Beatle mono record.

The one Beatle mono that is widely accepted to be superior to stereo is their first, Please Please Me.

samurai4114

Ok this has been a long standing question of mine as well. I bought the 180g stereo remaster of Pepper and I hadn't noticed anything particular about it, until I kept hearing about the mono version being better. I haven't listened to mono Pepper in one sitting with the stereo, but have heard both at different times. I'm sure I could notice minor differences, but not any have lingered in my memory I'm afraid to say.

Is there other particular debates about which albums are better in which style? Of the remasters I have - Abbey Road, White Album, Pepper, Let it Be Naked, and Revolver- only Revolver is in mono and not from the stereo box set. While I do have two original Canadian pressings of Beatles' 65 and With the Beatles that are in mono and both fantastic considering age etc, should I be looking instead for stereo? Or more towards mono?

Also I can't be sure if the little things I hear that are subtely different are not just problems with my own Crosley turntable which I am not happy with currently either.

Thanks for the info!! -{

Loeffelholz

Sgt Pepper is the only stereo Beatles record I have thus far, (aside from Abbey Road, which is stereo only), as I bought it without considering the mono option. Since then, I've been buying mono exclusively.

In mono, I have:
Please Please Me
A Hard Day's Night
Rubber Soul
Revolver
White Album

...and have been pleased with all of them. In stereo, I have Sgt Pepper & Abbey Road, but have planned to go mono whenever it's an option. It's concerning that Help! in mono has gotten dodgy reviews...but I also know that strict audiophiles are like comic book purists (or fanboy zealots of any stripe): they can be rigid and difficult to please. I will likely read up on Help, but mono is still my plan for the rest of their titles. I'm particularly looking forward to having their triple-LP 'Mono Masters.'

Napoleon Plural

Click on the link on my post, you get the whole mono v stereo debate.

Generally, the mono vinyl remasters are harder to obtain now, and you can't get Revolver, Pepper or White Album ordered in at London's HMV. Also the mono remasters are analogue, the stereo digital and some just hate the whole digital sound it sounds blocky to them, less flowing. Analogue is how you hear music in real life.

Rubber Soul in mono I recommend esp as it is also in analogue.

Please Please Me in mono, I think, but not got it myself yet.

The stereo ones you've got are later on and not so bad really. But ditch the Crosley turntable, these are rubbish and may even damage your records.

I would say, listen on youtube to the differences but some Blue Meanie has nixed all the Beatles stuff on there, all you get are covers.

samurai4114

Yes I gave that link a look and the debate was certainly interesting. I've certainly seen less monos when I look at a HMV for instance even here in Canada the stereo is pushed as a choice.

The Crosley turntable I've been waiting to ditch for a while, I've been trying to save up for a real good one, but with college next semester and finding my own place - life has gotten in the way a little bit. I have three other older turntables that work to varying degrees, but I've never tried any of my newer albums on them for fear they'll be damaged as well.

Also a note about these 180g records. These albums sure get fuzzy, (covered in dust) pretty quick. I opened Oasis' What's the Story Morning Glory double remastered lp yesterday, and out of the shrink wrap they covered in dust. This is a new occurence as I've tried to clean my WHite Album and Dark Side of the Moon 180g but they get fuzzy quick as well and it's difficult to maintain. Anyone else have this problem?

Loeffelholz

Yes, I encounter that as well. It seems that virgin vinyl carries a lot more static electrical charge(?) which of course attracts dust. And it diminishes with time and playing. Of course, a discwasher record brush gets the dust out...but generates more static charge ...I'd love to get a Zerostat gun to help mitigate this...but wow are they pricey.

Napoleon Plural

Napoleon Plural wrote:

Very Good Vinyl Handling Clip Here

Some vinyl tips from a few pages back, recommends a brush to deal with static.

I got a Pioneer PL 990, it's a good entry level one for around £120 but not sure if they do it in Canada... A Riga one I think it was called came top in a Which consumer mag test recently. That said, quality of speakers does count for a fair bit.

Golrush007

I spent some time today cleaning some of my records, including a rather battered old copy of the Thunderball soundtrack that I acquired some time ago. I found it at a flea market. I was quite intrigued by the unusual cover art, which I have never seen elsewhere before or since. It evidently was previously owned by the International 007 Sean Connery Fan Club and had a photo of Connery with a speargun taped onto the cover, presumably to cover some damage on the cover. It doesn't sound too bad, a bit of crackle and the occasional distortion on the high notes but quite listenable. I feel that this record illustrates one of my attractions to vintage vinyl records - ie, that it isn't all about pristine sound quality but this record clearly had adventures of its own before it found itself on my shelf.

Unfortunately I don't seem to be able to post any images here from my smartphone but there are images on my Facebook profile (Matt Raubenheimer) if anyone is interested.

Loeffelholz

Golrush007 wrote:

I spent some time today cleaning some of my records, including a rather battered old copy of the Thunderball soundtrack that I acquired some time ago. I found it at a flea market. I was quite intrigued by the unusual cover art, which I have never seen elsewhere before or since. It evidently was previously owned by the International 007 Sean Connery Fan Club and had a photo of Connery with a speargun taped onto the cover, presumably to cover some damage on the cover. It doesn't sound too bad, a bit of crackle and the occasional distortion on the high notes but quite listenable. I feel that this record illustrates one of my attractions to vintage vinyl records - ie, that it isn't all about pristine sound quality but this record clearly had adventures of its own before it found itself on my shelf.

Unfortunately I don't seem to be able to post any images here from my smartphone but there are images on my Facebook profile (Matt Raubenheimer) if anyone is interested.

Saw it there, and 'liked' it A nice artifact! Thus far, I have no Bond in my final vinyl collection But that will change at some point!

P.S. What a relief to have a thread in off-topic not centered on politics!! :007)

Golrush007

Bond soundtracks were the start of my vinyl collection.

And Loeffelholz, you won't find me anywhere near any political discussion.

Loeffelholz

Golrush007 wrote:

Bond soundtracks were the start of my vinyl collection.

And Loeffelholz, you won't find me anywhere near any political discussion.

I do like that about you, my friend! {[]

Loeffelholz

Exciting development - I've secured a sealed brand-new reissue of the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds in the original mono

Golrush007

A very pleasing addition to my collection...



I went to a vinyl fair in Cape Town yesterday, unfortunately with a very small budget but I hoped I'd find a few nice bargains. As it happened, the very first crate I looked in contained 'Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround Part One' by The Kinks. This record has been very near the top of my wish list for quite a while, and this is the first time I've come across a copy. So I blew my entire budget in the first two minutes!

My wife did also find a copy of 'A New World Record' by Electric Light Orchestra in a bargain crate, so we picked that up as well. It was a very quick visit to the vinyl fair, but nonetheless a most satisfying one. And both albums sound great!

Loeffelholz

Lately I have been collecting old Monty Python vinyl B-) It's been lovely to get reacquainted with those chaps; my ex got all of our Python in the divorce Regrettably, my girlfriend isn't as much of a fan, and so my enjoyment is more of a solitary nature...

Golrush007

I'm enjoying all your Monty Python posts on Facebook, Loeffelholz. I've been a fan for a while now and have collected all of their DVDs and a couple of vinyl records. The wife doesn't enjoy it all that much (apart from the odd sketch here and there) so for me it is also a bit of a solitary pursuit.

Napoleon Plural

Loeffelholz wrote:

My ex got all of our Python in the divorce

"Because she didn't get much of a python in the marriage!"

Thunderpussy

) ) ) -{

Loeffelholz

I've always made do with charm, misdirection and the occasional smoke effect

Napoleon Plural

I got out my old copy of Beatles for Sale.



It's in Stereo, though this one of the few early ones said to sound better that way (the other being Help!)

Now, this never struck me as a Beatle great, simply not having the same number of classic songs as its predecesessor or successor A Hard Day's Night or Help!, and not being tied in with a movie either (though it sort of now is, thanks to Eight Days A Week: The Touring Years.)

That said, side one is very very good and doesn't have some of the naff stuff you get on AHDN, like I'm Happy Just to Dance With You and Tell Me Why. To me, those sound just a bit too poppy, for 9 year olds, and it is a jolt when seeing the film to realise that The Kinks in the same year were doing You Really Got Me, which is for that year what Twist and Shout was for the previous year (and what My Generation would be for 65.)

Likewise, The Night Before on Help! is a bit too poppy for me, (though said to be much better in mono).

No Reply kicks of BFS, and it is an underrated gem, not a wasted lyric in it. Very tight.
I'm a Loser is a good little number, poppy C&W and has held up well.
Baby's in Black I used to think nothing of, but now again it has held up very well and is a welcome change of theme.
Rock n Roll Music is good Lennon rocker fare though maybe sounds better on the Rock n Roll compilation album.
I'll Follow the Sun - you can't knock it.
Mr Moonlight is utter crud, though at least its riff was used by Blondie for I'm Always Touched by Your Presence Dear.

Side 2 I didn't get round to, but Eight Days a Week is a limpish number, where enthusiasm is meant to replace inspiration, and not even released as a single in the UK. Of course, I Feel Fine could have been on this, but I don't rate that as a great no 1 either, not compared to Can't Buy Me Love, etc. And it doesn't quite match the album, in the same way that Paperback Writer could go on Revolver, but isn't quite a perfect fit. BFS was released at the height of Beatlemania and has an American vibe to it, the guitars a bit Byrds-like. I Feel Fine doesn't quite do that. Side 2 does, with covers like Words of Love and decent, uncorny, underrated gems like What You're Doing and I Don't Want to Spoil the Party and Every Little Thing having a jangley, groovy sound. There are some duff covers - Ringo's Honey Don't and a lousy finale of George doing Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby (they should have got him to do Got My Mind Set On You ) but overall this is an excellent snapshot of Beatle America in 65.

Loeffelholz

I definitely enjoy the tune Eight Days a Week more than you do...a mono version of BFS is now high on my priority list. (Just saw the Ron Howard film; very good).

In other Beatles news, this week I picked up the three-LP Mono Masters set---just listening to 'Rain'; the mono mixes of these fantastic orphans and B-sides are brilliant-sounding.

Napoleon Plural

Yeah, well I imagine Eight Days a Week could sound better in America somehow. Dunno why, it's just a better fit. I think I liked it more when I was Greyhounding back in the day, if I recall.



Picked up this lovely McCartney 1968 tune knocked out for Mary Hopkin as a single for less than 50p. (I mean that's what I paid for it, don't know how much Mary stumped up.) A lovely little number really, though White Album fans may discern a similarity between its chorus and a throwaway number on that LP. Well worth a listen.

Napoleon Plural

Okay, saw The Beatles: Eight Days a Week today, thought I'd post it here.

Not virtuoso editing, it doesn't match the Lennon Imagine film, which made a big impression on me, or the superb Everything or Nothing James Bond documentary of a few years back. Ron Howard is a bit workmanlike as a director.

Still, it gets to you anyway. What strikes me is how, if you've got to The Beatles thru their recordings, you forget just how big a thing Beatlemania was, and you could almost feel a bit miffed seeing them go about their tours, as you feel excluded. It was just separate, so you realise that the albums then were almost to talk up Beatlemania. I don't like stuff like Tell Me Why, but it's a great Beatlemania song. You can really see it kicking off the screaming.

With Ron Howard being American, it felt like the whole thing only really gets going when they hit America. That's a valid take, but it skims over the Hamburg stuff and Pete Best doesn't get a mention. The whole Beatle Nehru jackets that I think preceded the US invasion gets skimmed over and I'd have liked more on just how intense their itinerary was. A Beatle doc on BBC4 last year showed more of that stuff and them making it big I think, footage of them larking about on a train. Not A Hard Day's Night, I mean real stuff. That said, it's all bit grim and black and white in the UK, you feel it gets to colour in the US and burgers and blow jobs for the boys, not Myra Hindley lookalikes with their hornrimmed spectacles screaming before getting the tram back home for eccles cakes and school the next day.

I'm sorry to say a worm of jealousy crept across me watching these lads in their 20s making it big, and hot US chicks driven sexually wild in their company.

The remastered Shea Stadium gig was pretty damn good and I'm Down is just brilliant, isn't it?

I don't know how Ringo and Macca can look great usually but fairly rough in this.

Loeffelholz

Napoleon Plural wrote:

Okay, saw The Beatles: Eight Days a Week today, thought I'd post it here.

Not virtuoso editing, it doesn't match the Lennon Imagine film, which made a big impression on me, or the superb Everything or Nothing James Bond documentary of a few years back. Ron Howard is a bit workmanlike as a director.

Still, it gets to you anyway. What strikes me is how, if you've got to The Beatles thru their recordings, you forget just how big a thing Beatlemania was, and you could almost feel a bit miffed seeing them go about their tours, as you feel excluded. It was just separate, so you realise that the albums then were almost to talk up Beatlemania. I don't like stuff like Tell Me Why, but it's a great Beatlemania song. You can really see it kicking off the screaming.

With Ron Howard being American, it felt like the whole thing only really gets going when they hit America. That's a valid take, but it skims over the Hamburg stuff and Pete Best doesn't get a mention. The whole Beatle Nehru jackets that I think preceded the US invasion gets skimmed over and I'd have liked more on just how intense their itinerary was. A Beatle doc on BBC4 last year showed more of that stuff and them making it big I think, footage of them larking about on a train. Not A Hard Day's Night, I mean real stuff. That said, it's all bit grim and black and white in the UK, you feel it gets to colour in the US and burgers and blow jobs for the boys, not Myra Hindley lookalikes with their hornrimmed spectacles screaming before getting the tram back home for eccles cakes and school the next day.

I'm sorry to say a worm of jealousy crept across me watching these lads in their 20s making it big, and hot US chicks driven sexually wild in their company.

The remastered Shea Stadium gig was pretty damn good and I'm Down is just brilliant, isn't it?

I don't know how Ringo and Macca can look great usually but fairly rough in this.

Yes, it was really enjoyable...sadly, I watched it on Hulu, and not projected ;%

But still, it's a nice peek into that phase of their career. Of course, the promo stuff said "The story you don't know," but honestly I did already know it; this story is ably told, really, in the Anthology documentary, in my opinion. There's an argument to be made that there should have been more Pete Best and Hamburg, but that isn't really the story Howard set out to tell---and again, it's all in Anthology.

I tend to have a broader blanket enjoyment of their stuff, I think, as Tell Me Why is just great!...and honestly Ringo never recorded a tune in the Fab Four that I dislike I can't separate what you call the Beatlemania stuff from the rest of their work, as I tend to evaluate and/or enjoy their songs based upon where they happen chronologically, in terms of the band's development, and clearly have a blind eye to what you view as more 'American' Beatles material vs the other stuff. But you are so correct about I'm Down...on the Mono Masters record, it is absolutely electrifying when played near the pain threshold B-)

My Beatles 'still need' list on vinyl in mono:

With The Beatles
Help!
Beatles For Sale
Magical Mystery Tour
(and perhaps Pepper, at some point in the future, as I find my stereo one quite satisfactory)

Napoleon Plural

Cheers Loeffs, you're not alone in liking Tell Me Why as Brian Wilson dug it, esp the bass line and I think The Beach Boys even covered it.

The Beastie Boys wanted to do I'm Down on their stage tour, but Michael Jackson nixed it, as he owned it by that point and disapproved of their pneumatic willy waving on tour.

Take caution that Help! and BFS are the ones said to be better in stereo by some fans, if you put Beatles mono v stereo you'll probably get the same poll come up that I access, that said The Night Before one guy says really rocks in mono. Still, I don't know, not tried them, BFS sounds okay in stereo.

Some of the Anthology stuff gave more insight into the touring years, there's a bit where George talks about how they got ready for a gig and you see the camera follow them along the corridor as he reminisces, shame they couldn't use that. George looks quite rough in this film and the footage is poor too, then you recall with a jolt that he died 15 years ago... It was shortly after 9/11 and he even made a joke at the time about being stopped at airport security cos they thought he was Bin Laden (George having his dodgy spiritual beard at that time).

Lest anyone think I am doing the old Craig wars-style body fascism regarding George, here's an astonishing fact: when he was doing the Anthology, he confessed to feeling some envy for Lennon because in the clips he still looked young whereas he had aged. That's an amazing quote on so many levels; firstly the great spiritualist saying something as shallow sounding as that, secondly George really did nothing to make himself look young anyway, I mean he really did try to look middle aged when he could and older too, during the whole Anthology talking heads.

If I'm not crazy about Eight Days A Week, I have to say I recently caught Julian Temple's doc on Keith Richard's life, still on BBC iPlayer no doubt, during which the guitar legend reminisces in raspy manner and that really is fantastic, so it should have been like that imo. I recommend that and also Temple's movie doc on London recently shown on BBC4, it also is a triumph of vintage footage and editing.

Loeffelholz

{[] As I said previously, I have their entire catalog in stereo on iTunes, and so feel liberated in securing them on mono vinyl. I'm very confident that I'll be happy with the choice.

Napoleon Plural

You don't usually get Beatle singles in tat shops, so when I happened upon this selling for 50p I had to get it, despite it being a bit rough quality.



Not sure Hello Goodbye is a great song really in any format, quite good as far as it goes of course but repetitive and lacking a middle 8 or Lennon input of sorts. It's a bit like the song New off the last McCartney album. Perky.

I Am the Walrus is a B-side but a superior one and this is in mono so very much worth a listen. If you lose clarity on vinyl sometimes, what you gain is the sense you are actually listening to the real thing.

It's like, would you prefer to look at a postcard of The Last Supper, where it is reconstructed to how it originally was, or see da Vinci's actual deteriorated mural in Milan, with all its history? Well, a bit like that.

Loeffelholz

Napoleon Plural wrote:

You don't usually get Beatle singles in tat shops, so when I happened upon this selling for 50p I had to get it, despite it being a bit rough quality.



Not sure Hello Goodbye is a great song really in any format, quite good as far as it goes of course but repetitive and lacking a middle 8 or Lennon input of sorts. It's a bit like the song New off the last McCartney album. Perky.

I Am the Walrus is a B-side but a superior one and this is in mono so very much worth a listen. If you lose clarity on vinyl sometimes, what you gain is the sense you are actually listening to the real thing.

It's like, would you prefer to look at a postcard of The Last Supper, where it is reconstructed to how it originally was, or see da Vinci's actual deteriorated mural in Milan, with all its history? Well, a bit like that.

Great find, NP! I will be picking up the mono LP of "Magical Mystery Tour" at some point, so will have these tunes, but I've yet to grab any 45s (which have a charm of their own) for what I've come to call my Final Vinyl. It's been more of an issue of lack of 'right time, right place,' as this one clearly was for you.

P.S. As often seems the case with the Beatles, I enjoy the songs you don't particularly care for more than you do...although to call out "Hello Goodbye" as one of the weaker of theirs is a fair cop. 'Walrus' is clearly the more important side of that one -{