Megan likes to go to this antique store in our little downtown area. I remember her telling me how they had a room filled with old vinyl records for sale.
"So?" was likely my response.
I don't typically get nostalgic for outdated and already improved-upon technologies. Why would people want to buy records nowadays? The sound quality is all crackly and you have to flip them halfway through. We have CDs and MP3s now and they are much easier to play, transport, and sound much clearer. It's not like I'd go out and buy an old TV without a remote so I could relive the old days.
Well, I went along one day, begrudgingly, to the store because that's what boyfriends do. I admit it was fun to leaf through the large collection they have, not because I wanted to buy anything, but because there was an amusing mixture of pure crap alongside classics. I found a few old Fats Domino albums and a Lionel Hampton live album from the 50s. I also found a copy of Skylarking by XTC, one of my all-time favorite albums. Since they were cheap and Megan was so enthralled, I bought a few, despite the fact we didn't have a record player.
For Christmas, Megan's parents bought us the record played pictured above. It reminds me of the ones we used to have in grade school. You have to place the arm on the record manually, but I like that. You can also hook it up to your computer and actually load songs onto your hard drive.
I must say I was wrong on this one. I love listening to records now. I love the crackle. It's cool. Megan went out today and bought five more. We've got some Simon and Garfunkle, some Joan Baez, and some Mamas And Papas. As I write this I'm listening to Louis Armstrong's "Hello, Dolly" album. It rocks! So if you have a bunch of vinyl you're thinking of throwing out, let me have a crack at them before you do!
11 comments:
wow!
i have my grandmothers 1950 RCA record player -- that plays only 45s --- and it works -- i went out to a flea market and bought a bunch of 45s (like Knock Three Times, and Love Grow Where My Rosemary Goes -- you know really bad crap)
it is totally mono, has crummy sound, crackles -- but it has one advantage -- it isnt beholden to Apple
Last year for Xmas, I bought SV a turntable that plugs into the computer via USB. It digitizes any record you play, complete with noise reduction - although you can retain that if you really want all the crackle.
"It's not like I'd go out and buy an old TV without a remote so I could relive the old days."
HA!
you've bean corn-verted, ay? I can only IMAGINE the damage that could be done by two autistics playing w/a turntable...
But now you can play everything backwards and look for satanic messages in Fats' music and upload it to your blog!! We'll all be listening!!
(oh, ages ago on Howard Stern someone said that if you played the theme from "Mr. Ed" backwards, you hear "someone sang a song to Satan", and by god, it DID sound just like that!!
It's all about the crack with you.
Thank you for loving the vinyl! I noticed that Costco has a turntable that has a USB port so you can digitize your old LP records.
Here's another good thing about LP's--album cover art. I've got a few that I use for decorations at the tiki bar that I found at a thrift shop for .50 each
I never bought much vinyl, but could conceivably track down a copy of Pac-Man Fever or Bruce Willis' Return of Bruno for you.
Scratch that - I'm keeping Pac-Man Fever.
But seriously, I don't get vinyl. Perhaps I'd have the same reawakening if I listened to some, but more likely I'll just go watch Gossip Girl.
Believe it or not, I've got some old video vinyl and the machine that used to play them. These are not laser discs, they use a stylus just like a record player. Video that crackles isn't quite as interesting as audio that crackles.
Do you still have to put a coin on the tone arm to get it to track right?
Yeah. I am that old...
I've still got about 200 lp's and about half that of 45's. Vinyl is great and I would love to have one of those turntables with the USB port. *sigh*
XTC Skylarking rules!
I do not abandon technology. I have vinyl, cassettes, and CD's. Cassettes don't have the romance and warmth of vinyl, but there are still some good memories there. I had to go on eBay to buy the tape deck for my micro component system (Yamaha piano craft.) I only use it on rare occasions, but it was well worth it.
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