Generations, Teenagers and Record Players
When I was a teenager I had a record player, and it got a lot of use. You see I was an only child and at the age of 15 my parents decided to move away from the village and world I had ever known.
As a consequence, I had very little in the realms of social interaction for several years outside of school which was to finish six months later.
Source: https://pixabay.com/en/record-player-stylus-3333274/
At 15, you simply couldn’t hang around the streets and attempt to connect with other kids of your age; I was just too old for that.
Music was my redemption. It was end of the 70’s and I got addicted to buying 45’s. My father was a self-employed market trader. It wasn’t the most exciting of professions, him selling wool and haberdashery of all things.
During the summer holidays I would accompany him and stand on a freezing outdoor market all day, bored to tears. Even in summer, those markets never seemed even warm.
I discovered that another market trader was selling records. That got my interest! Why didn’t my father sell records instead of the stuff that came from sheep, zips and cotton bobbins!
Source: https://pixabay.com/en/yarn-bobbin-thread-needle-2358549
I got friendly with the record man, much to my father’s annoyance and spent most of the days behind the record counter. He was into reggae and introduced me to Bob Marley and Steel Pulse, I had never heard such music before.
I bought a lot of records from the ‘record guy’, he had some bargain ones that were ex-jukebox with the centre missing that were cheaper, and I amassed quite a collection within a year. God knows where the money came from to buy these, but I’m sure I didn’t steal it, or the records.
Fast forward to the year 2004, and I have 1700 45’s sitting in my loft. They had travelled to Arizona with me, and then back to England again. I’m sure they were a little warped due to the extreme heat both in my loft and being sat in storage, in the Phoenix area where I lived during the mid-90’s.
I had managed to sell the entire collection on eBay for around £575. Not too bad and I was quite happy to get rid of them. The buyer took them away, and I heard nothing from him about severe warping and goodness knows what else.
Source: https://pixabay.com/en/phonograph-record-vinyl-audio-sound-3148686/
Fast forward to TODAY and my daughter is hassling me to buy her a record player. I don’t want to, because I don’t want another 1700 45’s cluttering up me house again. ‘But all my friends have a record player’, she bemoans. A record player means you have to have records, which in turn means more clutter in the house.
What’s wrong with a memory stick and 15,000 songs on it? They are small, efficient, compact, and the sound is only compromised a little if the sampling level is high enough. She’s already got a phone full of tunes, but still wants this damn record player!
Last week while trying to kill time waiting for @bingbabe to finish her half-marathon, I strolled through the Manchester Arndale and spotted some record players in HMV. They don’t actually cost much, but vinyl does! It is no longer the dominant media and I guess production costs have been raised.
I’m wary that this is her ‘latest interest’ and within a few weeks it will be dumped in the corner never to see the light of day again.
Perhaps I should take her to a car boot and we can get a scratched boxful of 80’s 45’s for a fiver? She keeps telling me that today’s music is ‘crap’ and prefers the old stuff. Now there’s an idea.
All photographs were taken by myself unless otherwise specified.
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Vinyl is da bomb again. My oldest brother has his own little vinyl store at https://www.discogs.com and he sell's them all over the world... Unbelievable what people are buying.. He told me once that he sold a vinyl album of James Last to someone in japan, the album was 2 euro and the shipping costs where 7,50 euro.... But is is a nice hobby... Me myself , I havent got a record player.
The vinyl section in the likes of HMV are getting ever larger. There's indie stores popping up selling them too. I have had my fill of vinyl and the space it takes up, but I'm going to have to succumb to her wishes I think.
The good father you are, of course you have to succumb ;)
We still have a record player, and I use it quite often.
Hipsterdom has slowly invaded the rif-raf quarter where I have lived for half of my life so I even go through the sale-box in the street of the many records shops sometimes.
The reason the musicians make LPs are a bit more serious. As the internet has destroyed the music market, especially for small acts. I wanted to buy this Copenhagen Blues band's new album, but it was only on sale as LP or CD!
This is a promotion live their studio
Hmmm. This kid and I have something in common.
(That reminds me. I owe you a post.)
Vinyl is alive and well! In fact we experience a real revival with cohorts of generation Y going to indie record shops to browse through long stacks and pick something they never heard before or something they were really after!
It's about the experience of genuine, analogue sound! Something essential and beautiful!
And it's not true that digital music is the same! When you consider mp3s on youtube or spotify, 99% are CD rips obviously and these albums have been remastered (sometimes more than once), so they bear almost no connection to the original registration and format.
Thank you for giving in to the clutter of records and record players! your posts about it have made my day!
I prefer old songs too. Today's music are like "for drug addicts" 😁
Give in and get her one, especially that Victrola, looks like a good mix of old and new.
Do it! just go for a box of old records, it could be a great start to get her to love vinyl. There is nothing to lose but a great love for music to gain!
If I get the old records, then I'll have to get the record player. She keeps asking me about the boot markets. When we have a nice Sunday, we will visit. I don't think there's any getting out of this for me.
I wish my ears were good enough to find vinyl superior. I really do like the convenience of streaming and having the world at our fingertips!
The record player I use is one I bought when I was working at Radio Shack during college. It probably needs a new needle, but it still works well. I didn't spend too much on it. If it is just a passing fancy, one of the portable ones with a handle might be the way to go to start. Doesn't take up a ton of room. Easy to carry around and probably has quicker resale than a stand alone one. I usually only get my records from ebay, rummage sales, and thrift stores. That cuts down on the cost. Clutter is always an issue though. At least 45's don't take up as much room as full albums!
One visit to a Sunday junk sale should be enough. A boxful of ancient 45's might do the trick.
Sounds like plan!