I do believe that the music industry robbed society when they switched from vinyl to cassette. Not only did they take away the concept of fantastic cover art, they destroyed the romance that comes with holding a 12' square (approx) cardboard sleeve with pure magic inside. To reach inside, pull out the cool, shiny record; to flip it in your hands and admire the grooves; to place it gently on the player, the center being penetrated for the first time; lifting the arm and ever-so-carefully setting the stylus down and hearing the staccato burst of static as the record spun in it's hypnotic circle.
It's romantic. It's a love affair. You got what you paid for. Cassette tapes were pure shit. CD's brought back a little of the square packaging and the art and etc, but the damage was done. And now? Now?! Vinyl is being pressed for tons of new stuff. I was in ***'s (name hidden to protect etc) two days ago and found almost as much new vinyl as I did old. They charge from 12.00 to 20.00 for new albums, but I feel like I got my money worth with an album and not so much with a CD. I'm an average consumer. I fall for that kind of shit.
So I had a family member in town recently and she brought me 50 used albums. That kind of stuff makes my day more than some other things. Mostly 80's stuff, but I did get some vintage Aerosmith, Kiss, ELO, etc. Lots of live albums with inserts and etc. Awesome stuff. I now have about 250 albums, which doesn't seem like much and doesn't look like much. What started as a small hobby collection is becoming a nice getaway for me. I come down into the basement, sit at the pub table and put on some vinyl.
I have some great ones; Double Fantasy, the White Album, Sticky Fingers with a functioning zipper, Muscle of Love in the original box packaging. Great stuff. And I play them all. I don't collect shit for the purpose of collecting it. What's the point in that?
As mentioned, I went to *** and I have to say- it's not as great as the stores I hit in Portland, Oregon. Those stores are fantastic, grossly filled to the gills, and cheaper. I could buy Bob Marley for $5. *** charges $15 for worn copies. I don't want to knock the store, but I've been there twice and didn't get the warm and fuzzies. The place is picked dry, from what I could see. And buying vinyl, for me, is a treasure hunt. If I stop in a garage sale and find a huge stack to paw through, it's beautiful. Going to a smaller store is akin to walking on a beach with your metal detector. Right behind 20 other guys with their metal detector.
But I have found some decent buys in there. Springsteen, Talking Heads. I'm still looking for vintage Bowie, Alice Cooper, Bob Dylan, Peter Gabriel. I don't care what the value guide says they're worth. I want to listen to them. And so should you. So go out and buy a turn table and pick up some vinyl. New or old. Just don't buy up the shit I want. And if you're at a garage sale and find a pile of folk rock or classic rock, buy 'em up and give me a jingle. (If you know me.) I am always buying vinyl. It's my love affair.
7 comments:
I don't really miss vinyl. I am old enough to have bought plenty of 45's and LP's when they were new. They certainly sounded better than tapes, until your sister bumped into the turntable and sent the needle careening across your newly purchased copy of Duran Duran Rio.
I know that cd's can scratch, but they are still more durable than vinyl and digital still beats analog any day.
Certainly vinyl is more tactile and interactive than a CD or an iPod. You remove the record, you put the needle on it, etc. I have fond memories of playing a record so much that I had to balance a penny on top of the needle to keep it from skipping...
But for convenience, I'll take digital. The digital publishing capabilities allow people to get deeper bass than you ever could on vinyl.
Steve and Smitty: 2 contrarian motherfuckers.
If anyone bought Duran Duran then they deserved a needle scratch.
Seriously-
I have had more CD's die from average use (and admitted misuse) than LP's.
And the argument is still very much alive as to whether digital sound is better or worse than analog. I've read some very thoughtful dialogues about highs and lows and the digital spectrum limitations.
And yea, deeper bass on CD because they boost that element. Engineers are boosting common sound on CD's now and sometimes to the point that the chorus is the same volume as the vocals, no variance, and it sounds like puke sometimes.
Vinyl is not for everyone and that's fine. More for me, you cretins. HA!
Steve and Smitty: 2 contrarian motherfuckers.
The contrariest!
If anyone bought Duran Duran then they deserved a needle scratch.
WTF, you just bought ELO.
Seriously, in some ways, I do miss vinyl. The album art, the liner notes, lyrics, etc. That stuff was great.
That being said, I love that I can stuff 2000 cd's, a bunch a podcasts, and surf the web on my Ipod Touch.
Duran Duran was no ELO. But we could debate that endlessly. I think Duran sold more records, maybe not.
Fact remains, there is a romance with vinyl that does not exist with CD. Otherwise, companies by the droves wouldn't be releasing 180 gram vinyl records again. Droves. That's right. Droves.
Post a Comment