Why I Love Collecting Vinyl (Records)

samurai4114 · July 2014

Last Christmas I received my first record player, after much hinting to my friends and family I may add

) . Up until today my collection was pretty sparse. Besides a lot of Rod Stewart, the first two Monkees albums, I didn't have a lot of first edition albums. (I bought Who's Next, Cosmo's Factory, and the White Album brand new.)

But today I left to my local second hand store with optimism. I walked in the door and the chimes rattled against the glass. The way the store is set up, the records are directly to the right, next to the floor. My eyes flickered there almost instantly and with my keen eye, I knew I was going to find some good stuff. I noticed the flamboyant cover of The Beach Boys: Endless Summer. In a store where 95% of the records are country and polka, I know one thing, if there is one rock record, there's a few, and that was the case. I kept flipping thru and every one got me and more excited. In there I found;

The Best of Bachman-Turner Overdrive (great Canadian band)
Rod Stewart - Every Picture Tells a Story
Steve Martin - A Wild, Crazy Guy
Bob Dylan - Street Legal
Billy Joel - Glass Houses
David Bowie - Scary Monsters
The Beach Boys - Endless Summer
Parallel Lines - Blondie
The Dave Clark Five - You Got What it Takes
Donovan - What's Bin Did and What's Bin Hid
- The Real Donovan
- Sunshine Superman
Vanilla Fudge - Rock and Roll
The Rolling Stones - Emotional Rescue
Nancy Sinatra - These Boots Were Made for Walking

And then there are two clear winners....

Bob Dylan - Freewheelin'
Beatles 65'

I honestly can't believe my luck! What a classic rock haul that I stumbled across, especially a first edition of a Beatles record!

Thunderpussy · July 2014

Congratulations {[] , you got some good records -{

Golrush007 · July 2014

Nice! I started collecting Vinyl last year when I was in a second-hand record shop and came across The Living Daylights and Octopussy soundtracks on LP and thought since I have all the Bond soundtracks on CD I might as well start collecting them on vinyl as well. Since then I have found a few more Bond records, and have also started growing my collection beyond Bond as well.

AlphaOmegaSin · July 2014

I've got quite a few back at my Mum and Step dads (Not enough Room in the Flat) -{

samurai4114 · July 2014

Golrush007 wrote:

Nice! I started collecting Vinyl last year when I was in a second-hand record shop and came across The Living Daylights and Octopussy soundtracks on LP and thought since I have all the Bond soundtracks on CD I might as well start collecting them on vinyl as well. Since then I have found a few more Bond records, and have also started growing my collection beyond Bond as well.

To me, there's something a bit more special about vinyl compared to a CD. And if you look in the right areas, you can get them dirt cheap. I've been on the lookout for Bond soundtracks, but haven't found any as yet. (Perhaps I'll have to scour the internet.) Do you have a decent record player?

samurai4114 · July 2014

AlphaOmegaSin wrote:

I've got quite a few back at my Mum and Step dads (Not enough Room in the Flat) -{

Once you start getting a lot of them lying around, I've definitely noticed they are a space commitment as well.

) -{

Thunderpussy · July 2014

) They do take up a lot of space. I have two cupboards full.

always shaken · July 2014

There was something magical in a LP cover ,the artwork ,the information ,the photos ect something that CDs
just don't capture ,I wont even go into the LPsound vCD sound comparison but if any one wants to
open bat I will tag on

as my 24 year old daughter once said Wots that dad ? that's whats called a record player
oh the pain the pain

Thunderpussy · July 2014

The excitement of setting that needle down, and listening. As you read
Every lyric and information on the album sleeve and info sheet.

)

always shaken · July 2014

Thunderpussy wrote:

The excitement of setting that needle down, and listening. As you read
Every lyric and information on the album sleeve and info sheet. )

ahh the memories ,now I just wack in the silver disc and walk away ,cant remember when I last sat down
and read a CD cover ,whats the point 8-)

Thunderpussy · July 2014

To be honest I just download everything these days. Although it is
Fun checking out some market stalls trying to find a few jems. -{

samurai4114 · July 2014

always shaken wrote:

There was something magical in a LP cover ,the artwork ,the information ,the photos ect something that CDs
just don't capture ,I wont even go into the LPsound vCD sound comparison but if any one wants to
open bat I will tag on as my 24 year old daughter once said Wots that dad ? that's whats called a record player
oh the pain the pain

I agree wholeheartedly. That was the first thing that ever wowed me about LPs, was the quality of the music. Vastly superior to the MP3. And the artwork used to mean something, as kids stared for hours trying to name everybody on Sgt. Peppers in the background.

The other thing I've noticed, is that compared to digital, the real piece always has a story behind it. Example being no one remembers downloading Led Zeppelin II from piratebay, but you will remember a story like where you where, or what was happening in your life when you played that album. Little things like that enhance the experience.

Loeffelholz · January 2016

I was about to create my own thread on this, which I would have entitled 'The Return of the Vinyl, or, Vinyl Strikes Back!' B-) But I have found that my colleague, samurai4114, beat me to it during my extended sabbatical...

A bit of background: I once had a collection of more than 900 LPs, which I had begun to amass in my childhood (the first one I ever bought myself was 'Kiss: Alive!' - with my paper route earnings - as a freshman in high school)...but lost in its entirety due to a significant life change a few years back. I should also add that my collection of several hundred CDs is equally gone, so I stepped into my new life unburdened by many more physical possessions that I could fit into my minivan.

I had long since resolved to not having vinyl again, having discovered iTunes (which I value for its convenience and portability), but something changed this last November, when my friends and I attended a show put on by Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers - an independent band whose front man and drummer had once belonged to a group called the Refreshments, who put out two CDs and composed and performed the theme song to the animated TV show 'King of the Hill' before breaking up. At the merchandise counter was a newly-rereleased edition of the Refreshments' debut album, 'Fizzy Fuzzy Big and Buzzy'*, which is in the 20th Anniversary of its original release date, autographed by Roger Clyne and PH Naffah, the drummer. A friend of mine bought it for me as a surprise...obviously I was delighted, until I came home and put it on my turntable, which used to belong to my father and is more than 40 years old...and the old machine literally died halfway through side one

Cue Christmas, when my lovely girlfriend got me a new turntable :v

And so now, it's on. I've begun scouring used record stores and exploring new reissues in 180-gram audiophile pressings. On Facebook, I have compared notes with our mutual friend here, Golrush007, on the 180-gram reissue of the Beatles' "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band," which is one of the first two I bought in that tier of quality. The other was Aerosmith's classic "Toys in the Attic," which just kicks ass.

I love the sound of the stylus hitting the platter, the way it charges the air - the richness of the sound, and the tactile sensation of holding the jacket and reading the liner notes/enjoying the art and presentation of the work. As much as I value the smaller size of the CD...and the ability to put an entire musical library in my iPhone...nothing beats the immersion of a vinyl listening experience: as you have a maximum of 20-30 minutes per side, you're less likely to simply have music on as a background to whatever else you might be doing. When I listen to an LP record, it tends to be pretty much all I do, and I experience the music, or comedy, or whatever in a much more complete fashion.

My next purchase will be David Bowie's critically-acclaimed swan song, "Blackstar," which looks to be an eerie and challenging listening experience based upon the three of the LP's seven songs I've heard so far.

The collecting continues, but since vinyl has officially returned to vogue, it can be a challenge finding good quality copies of older, non-reissued works. Going forward, I'll share a few of my rediscovered treasures here, and would be interested in other opinions on this old (but new again) medium.

*_{If you don't know it, look it up. Good stuff; great pop music, flavoured with Southwestern/Mexican sensibilities, fused with a bit of punk.}

Silhouette Man · January 2016

Golrush007 wrote:

Nice! I started collecting Vinyl last year when I was in a second-hand record shop and came across The Living Daylights and Octopussy soundtracks on LP and thought since I have all the Bond soundtracks on CD I might as well start collecting them on vinyl as well. Since then I have found a few more Bond records, and have also started growing my collection beyond Bond as well.

I bought a vinyl 'picture disc' of a-ha's 'The Living Daylights' at a record fair in a local town for £4 last year. It came in a transparent plastic sleeve with a white sticker that said "LIMITED EDITION A-HA "The Living Daylights" W 8305 TP." It has an extended mix of the song on one side and on the other side the song itself and an instrumental. Sadly I've not had a chance to listen to it yet. I'm sure that it's not worth very much, but I thought it was something interesting to add to the collection.

I have an old record player somewhere in the house but I haven't used it in years although I did used to use it a lot as a teenager with a cache of old Irish folk records my older brother bought at an auction in about 1997. Fond memories of singing along to those!

Loeffelholz · January 2016

I've heard that the sound quality of a picture disc isn't quite as good as conventional vinyl...but I used to have a picture disc of Jefferson Starship's Red Octopus...and honestly didn't discern any difference.

Silhouette Man · January 2016

Loeffelholz wrote:

I've heard that the sound quality of a picture disc isn't quite as good as conventional vinyl...but I used to have a picture disc of Jefferson Starship's Red Octopus...and honestly didn't discern any difference.

Yes, I kind of wondered if it would play at all looking at it as it obviously doesn't have your typical record groove. Here's a picture I found of it on the internet of the one I have:

And the other side of the TLD picture disc:

ZTU0NmQ4NjAzMTM1NTczMTM4NzYwYzM1ZDY1MmI0NTNZV_pkn6waYoZ6W8c-qXXRaHR0cDovL21lZGlhLmFkc2ltZy5jb20vN2Q3YTA1NTI3NzY4YzViYTBkMDVmNDU3NzU1YWJiMDc4YzQyODI5OWRmYzI3Yjg3OTI3ZGJmOWE1Y2FhNzgyMy5qcGd8fHx8fHw3MDB4NTIyfGh0dHA6Ly93d3cuYWR2ZXJ0cy5pZS9zdGF0aWMvaS93YXRlcm1hcmsucG5nfHx8.jpg

ZTU0NmQ4NjAzMTM1NTczMTM4NzYwYzM1ZDY1MmI0NTNZV_pkn6waYoZ6W8c-qXXRaHR0cDovL21lZGlhLmFkc2ltZy5jb20vN2Q3YTA1NTI3NzY4YzViYTBkMDVmNDU3NzU1YWJiMDc4YzQyODI5OWRmYzI3Yjg3OTI3ZGJmOWE1Y2FhNzgyMy5qcGd8fHx8fHw3MDB4NTIyfGh0dHA6Ly93d3cuYWR2ZXJ0cy5pZS9zdGF0aWMvaS93YXRlcm1hcmsucG5nfHx8.jpg

Loeffelholz · January 2016

Very nice! {[] I expect a full report B-)

Loeffelholz · January 2016

On a related note...I've recently been picking up some used records on eBay, and out of curiosity have priced some Bowie vinyl. Holy crap. Used copies of 'Hunky Dory,' 'Ziggy' and 'Station to Station' are going for upwards of $80

Think I'll let the grieving die down...

chrisisall · January 2016

My vinyl of Superman The Movie still sounds fantastic!

Loeffelholz · January 2016

chrisisall wrote:

My vinyl of Superman The Movie still sounds fantastic!

I had that one! Great record -{

chrisisall · January 2016

Loeffelholz wrote:

chrisisall wrote:

My vinyl of Superman The Movie still sounds fantastic!

I had that one! Great record -{

And, the unfold is an ULTIMATE picture of Reeve as Supes!!!!! {[]

Golrush007 · January 2016

Agree with everything that you've said Loeffelholz. There's nothing to match the overall experience of listening to a vinyl record. From the packaging itself to carefully placing the disc on the platter and dropping the needle, and hearing the reassuring crackle as the needle works its way into the first groove. Then of course getting up to flip the record over for side 2. It makes listening to music an event, rather than a passive experience. It is for this aspect of vinyl that I was initially attracted, I'm certainly no audiophile but at the same time I do appreciate the different quality that this format has compared to digital. And on the subject of the remastered 180g records that you've mentioned, I've greatly enjoyed my brand new copy of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. My favourite artist is Bob Dylan and I recently added 180g copies of Bringing it all Back Home and Highway 61 Revisited to my collection.

As I mentioned, I'm not too interested in the highly technical 'audiophile' side of things. I don't think my ear is sensitive enough to warrant that sort of expense, but I did recently upgrade my turntable from one of the cheaply made modern turntable which are being flogged in their hundreds to the hipsters and got a fully refurbished Technics deck which dates back to the 1980s and the enjoyment factor skyrocketed as the sound quality was so much better, as well as removing the nagging feeling that every spin on that cheap deck was likely degrading the records much quicker than I would like.

Record collecting has become a great hobby, but I have to be very careful with my wallet because I can easily walk into a second hand record shop (of which Cape Town has many) and spend far too much cash! I recently got married, so my wife is keeping a close eye on my record purchases.

Silhouette Man · January 2016

Loeffelholz wrote:

Very nice! {[] I expect a full report B-)

Will do when I give it a spin (soon)!

-{

ACACIA_AVENUE · January 2016

In the years 1970-75 I served my apprenticeship at a printers called Robert Stace in Tunbridge Wells and they printed record sleeves for RCA, Decca, Deram and others, artists included: Elvis Presley, Rolling Stones, Moody Blues, David Bowie, John Denver, Caravan, Osibisa, Budgie, the list is endless.

This is a picture of the machine that combined and glued together gatefold record sleeves, once glued another machine would then crease the spine to produce the folded sleeve.

And as an added bonus here is a picture of me (with hair) operating an early Berthold phototypesetting machine. -{

Silhouette Man · January 2016

That's very interesting information (and great to see a picture of you at work there), ACACIA_AVENUE.

-{

ACACIA_AVENUE · January 2016

Thank you SM -{ .... 43 years later I am still stuck in front of a machine working

As an aside I was really into music and collecting records at the time and really loved looking at the new sleeves being printed and got to see some of the original Roger Dean artworks as well as original prints for the album covers like the Rolling Stones 'Beggers Banquet' and 'Get Your Ya Yas Out'. -{

Loeffelholz · January 2016

Silhouette Man wrote:

That's very interesting information (and great to see a picture of you at work there), ACACIA_AVENUE. -{

+ 1 {[]

Loeffelholz · January 2016

Golrush007 wrote:

Record collecting has become a great hobby, but I have to be very careful with my wallet because I can easily walk into a second hand record shop (of which Cape Town has many) and spend far too much cash! I recently got married, so my wife is keeping a close eye on my record purchases.

Oh, same here! I don't have a cash surplus. Belated congrats - your pictures were fantastic! -{

However, I did just pick up Foreigner's debut album, and the Best of Bachman-Turner Overdrive for $3 each!

Loeffelholz · January 2016

Got a treat in the mail yesterday - UFO's classic 2-LP live album from 1979, "Strangers in the Night" - the records look pretty good, and sound GREAT. $7.99 - thank you, eBay -{

Higgins · January 2016

Great Album, has been one of my first, must be somewhere in my basement, too {[]

Sir Miles · January 2016

Higgins wrote:

Great Album, has been one of my first, must be somewhere in my basement, too {[]

Stick those hideous trainers with it :v

Why I Love Collecting Vinyl (Records)

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