Girl, Put Your Records On

I'm becoming obsessed with the idea of collecting records. By records, I mean the real mccoy: vinyl.

Over the weekend, I spent a lot of money. I've felt really bad for a long time and I think Eric was trying to cheer me up. He bought me CDs, a new blazer and a cocktail dress for the Motley Cruise. Later that night I decided my life wouldn't be complete unless I had a new turntable. Now, I don't spend a lot of cash on any one item - ever. I think women that spend $800 on a pair of jeans or shoes are crazy. Actually, I think women that spend $80 on a pair of jeans or shoes are equally crazy. So, the turntable I purchased was cheap, but I'm pretty excited about it and I can't wait for the arrival. It should be at my home by the beginning to the next week.

Now I want more records. Rare records. Beautiful, early glam records. I was bidding (and winning) a copy of Sheer Greed by Girl. Of course, Girl is a UK glam band that features Phil Lewis (L.A. Guns) and Phil Collen (Def Leppard) before they were famous for their respective bands. The Phils were destined for glam goodness and I really want to own the debut disc.

Taking a hot bath distracted me from my bidding and I lost the auction. The album eventually sold for $15.50. My maximum bid was $15 bucks. Talk about heart-wrenching.

I found a few other copies on eBay, but most are not the same grade quality as the record I lost. I'm also still on the hunt for a supreme quality Shout at the Devil gatefold. All the copies I've ever found are pretty worn. I know someone on this earth owns an unopened copy of Motley Crue's best work.

So, I could make extra mortgage payments, get rid of a student loan, credit card bill or I could spend my cash on records. Records are more fun.

Just like Jackyl says "If it feels good...do it!"

Comments

[bob_vinyl]

Vinyl is still the preferred format for me. I still buy stuff new on vinyl when I can. I'm probably up to 4000 records at this point, but I'm behind in updating my database (yeah, I'm that anal). I'll have to check to see if I have an extra copy of Shout at the Devil. At one point I did, but it seems to me that I gave it away.

[aXe mAn]

Sorry you lost the auction. I would love to have that one too!

[bob_vinyl]

It's kinda funny that vinyl probably seems a bit quaint to you since it was largely replaced by CDs when you were very young. To me, it's the format I've always loved. I even resisted buying a CD player until probably about 1994.

[Christian Graus]

Bob, that's not anal. I have a database, too. You've got me beat tho ( 1200 CDs here ).

I thought the Jackyl quote was 'if it feels good, it IS good'.

I have considered buying a record player, there's at least one store with a good selection of old metal vinyl ( Allyson do you want me to look for you ? It's all used ). But, the thing is, I work in IT, I listen to music as mp3, or via CD ( getting a CD player on my desk was work enough ). So, I don't see myself using it. Plus, I remember the revelation of hearing CD for the first time, why go back to crappy, scratchy sound ?

[Allyson B. Crawford]

Christian,

Don't ask me. When I saw Jackyl a few days ago, Jesse James Dupree kept screaming "If it feels good...do it!"

Picky, eh?

Allyson

[Bill]

And I know of one guy who's sad enough to post comments about every piece of vinyl he owns on his blog. In fact there will be a new post in the Confessions Of A Vinyl Collector up on Friday - picked up some good stuff last weekend!

Yep - vinyl's still very much my preferred choice too. Before ebay though I often take a look at musicstack.com and gemm.com - often a bargain to be found without the bidding war.

[Christian Graus]

OK, I guess that makes me the one who is anal. I've only ever heard him say 'if it feels good, it is good'. He said that at Rocklahoma. I guess he says both, or he was too drunk to remember his catchphrase when you saw them :-)

The only thing I miss about vinyl is that records, being bigger, looked cooler wrt the cover art.

[Allyson]

Bob,

I figured you have a massive record collection. Where do you even store 4,000 titles?



Bill,

You always have good record reviews on Rock of Ages. I think it's great that you and Bob both still prefer vinyl.

--Allyson

[bob_vinyl]

Christian - A well cared for LP sounds better than the digital coldness of a CD. Of course, you can do either format well or poorly depending on the production and mastering. Actually, I like the little pops in a way. It reminds me that human beings are pretty incapable of perfection. Plus, there's a bit of ritual involved in getting out the LP, cleaning it, putting it on the turntable and cueing it up. Then you have to flip it. There's more interaction with it. And, as you said, there is the big picture on the cover!

Allyson - I had to build a room in my basement. My dad is a woodworker and built my a really cool oak shelf that holds about 1/3 of them. I've been after him to build two more shelves that would hold everything with some room to grow. When complete, it will be 66 feet (six shelves 11 feet wide) of vinyl! Honestly though, it's too much, because I've found that the more I have, the harder it is to decide what I wanna listen to!