Vinyl Junkies

 

If you can find a link on the web to a quality picture of the correct cover it would be great if you could post it in this thread for me to fix up the cover in PA...

 

 

 

Indiscipline/Mining Rocks -King Crimson

Senabular - King Crimson

Flute Cake - Jethro Tull

Di Tierra - Banco del Mutuo Soccorso

L'Isola Di Niente - Premiata Forneria Marconi

Photos of Ghosts - Premiata Forneria Marconi

 

I made the mistake of not continuing to buy vinyl when CD's first started to appear. I am spending a lot of time (and money) now trying to get things that I should have had on LP for years.

 

I have just grabbed a copy of One Live Badger with the pop-up cover from eBay so I am looking forward to that, plus a few obscure Aussie albums from bands that should most likely be on PA that I have waiting for me at home. (I am currently in Singapore with work so I have to wait.) And I picked up nine LP's in a second hand store here in Singapore last weekend, including what looks like a mint copy of Santana's Moonflower, an album that was stolen from me back in the 80's with a few other albums. (You can't always trust the people you share digs with!) I have to wait until I get back to Perth to be able to play them, though.

  

 

Luckily i managed to pick up many rock and prog classics when they were first issued, some even on the day of release - then when everybody was ditching their vinyl to buy CD's in the 80's i kept mine, and continued raiding bargain bins to pick up the ones i missed, altogether i guess they number around 2,000 and 95% are in near mint condition, i keep them all in polythene sleeves and polylined inner sleeves. I was considered a bit of an eccentric in the early years for cleaning each one before playing it, something nobody did.

 

Today i still get new releases on vinyl if they're available, after all these years there is still nothing like the buzz of exploring a  new album cover and placing a shiny new slab of wax on the turntable !

 

 

 

 

Luckily for me I have been collecting for over 40 years - yes I'm that old! and so was able to buy what is considered the classic albums when they were issued and, more importantly, have kept and play them regularly.

 

I collect over a wide spectrum of music styles, but my favourites are prog and krautrock with some blues thrown in for good measure.

 

I noticed a debate on King Crimson recently - I have a copy of 'In the court.......' and like a few tracks, but on the whole feel it's rather pretentious and overproduced. I class Yes in the same boat and think that lesser british bands such as Caravan, Quatermass and Saturnalia (from the 70's) have a more spontaneous feel.

 

And then there's the Germans: If any nation can claim to produce quality music when the world was suffering 'Glamrock', it has to be them. They produced some of the finest bands of the 70's, which on the whole escaped the general public in Britain and the US ( apart from Kraftwerk). Such a wide variety, from experimental/improvisation bands to pop, they tried it all with flair and style.

 

The americans also produced some great bands - Kansas, Quicksilver Messenger Service, REO Speedwagen etc to name a few and most of these band greatest albums were originally released on vinyl.

 

Then along come CD and hey presto it's remaster time, spoiling the sound that some of these bands spent weeks perfecting- Jimmy Page has made a living doing precisely this!

 

So to sum up this rant. For me vinyl will always be king. If you have good equipment and have looked after your albums (which hopefully were pressed on good quality vinyl and of a good weight) ther is no finer musical experience than listening to records. Their presentation and the ritual of playing them is a pleasure to savour. LONG LIVE VINYL