The Resurgence of Vinyl Record Albums

Do you remember how thrilling it was to go to the record store when you knew your favorite band was releasing a new album?

Or, going to KMart every week to see which 45's were in which spot on the charts?

(I have the Number 1 btw, on 45, that was bought at KMart, lol)

Did they correspond to the radio dj's list of most popular singles that week?

And, those weren't your only thoughts.....do I need a new needle? Can I possibly schlep all of these over to Becky's for the sleepover? And, will she have a portable turntable so we don't have to compete with the "old folks" giant console? Because, no doubt, they will be spinning Englebert Humperdinck, Kenny Rodgers, Tom Jones or, worse, Showboat.




Fast forward. No pun intended....or maybe it is....we graduated from vinyl, to 8-tracks, to cassette tapes, to cds, to, *gasp* downloading/streaming everything from the internet.

Now, there is something to be said for instant gratification....if I can't find my Who album and want to hear "My Wife", I can now go to my computer, YouTube, or phone, and instantly play it! Sweet!

But, where's the sleeve, with all the words? (because, my family always skews them)
Where's the cool cover art that we can discuss or think about, while listening?
Where's the friggin' FUN of going to the store, finding it, bringing it home, taking it out of the sleeve for the first time, the needle crackling, and that first song BOOMING out of the speakers?

Gone.

Until now :)

We have both always loved vinyl and all sorts of music, but, until recently, no one but bearded old dudes looking for Grateful Dead bootlegs were with us.

(Disclaimer: NOTHING wrong with either of the above. Bearded old guys got to see these bands LIVE and will entertain you with these wonderful stories (maybe over and over again, but still cool) and the Grateful Dead catalog is amazing, so :P).

During Christmas, I was at a Barnes & Noble in Boston and they had a pretty good display of colorful, reissued VINYL!

I was mesmerized!



I was also..."Damn. I have that. And, the original at that!"

I could remember the moment I fell in love with the song, that made me want to buy the album, that made me save up money to go to the store and buy it! The WHOLE album. Where then I found songs I liked even more!

Up until recently, you heard a song on the radio, liked it, went to the internet and bought the song. Just the song. How boring is that? The song you bought is just the record company's selection of what they think will sell....quite possibly NOT the best song on the album.

Think about it:
The Doors 1st album,  if you bought for "Light My Fire", you'd have never heard "Soul Kitchen" or "Alabama Song".
AC/DC "High Voltage" for "Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock n Roll)" and maybe the cover title song....you'd have never heard "The Jack" or "Can I Sit Next to You".

Ok, how about more recently, 
You bought Soundgarden's "Badmotorfinger" for "Outshined", you never would have heard the amazing "Searching With My Good Eye Closed".
You bought Pearl Jam's "Vs." for "Animal" and completely missed "Rearview Mirror".

The list goes on and on.

But, back to Christmas Barnes & Noble....all these amazing albums are being reissued on VINYL. And, at $25.+ a pop, why not seek out the original pressing, with all the cracks and pops, that you can put on headphones and be transported away...

We have TONS of vinyl that we have purchased over the years from our love of the stuff and not wanting to see it end up in a dumpster. We listen to every album we post, which is why it takes us a little while for new stuff. But, again, even WE have found new (to us) things we can't live without.


Take "Smoke" by the Randy Carlos Orchestra....we LOVE it! So much, that we are not parting with that album and play it in the shop all the time!



Or, Boots Randolph....who we were playing and researching the album, and one of us said "Wow, this reminds me of Benny Hill". Well, it WAS the guy who did the Benny Hill theme song! Another piece of the musical history puzzle solved!

So, as nice as it is to have immediate gratification of songs right at your fingertips, PLEASE, after you download The Who's "Baba O'Riley" do yourself a favor and go seek out the entire "Who's Next" album on vinyl....even if it's only for "My Wife.

(But, the whole album is great!)










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