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the glorious sleeve artwork and reading every word of the liner notes. In those days music wasn't just something on in the background while I did something else more important. In those days it was the music that was important, and the vinyl format forced you to dedicate your time to it. It seemed to me that a vinyl record impacted upon all the senses in a way that modern formats don't. They looked great, had a smell all of their own, and of course there was the music bursting through the hisses, crackles and farts.

My affection for the format was immediately restored, but affection soon turned to virtual fanaticism when I discovered that some of my records were rather rare and actually worth rather a lot of money. Today a vinyl record can be seen as a piece of art and the rarest and best examples are in great demand, appreciating in value day by day. You can go into a Virgin Megastore today, buy a limited edition vinyl 7" picture disc of the latest indie band release for 2.49, throw it under your bed and forget about it, and in two years it will be worth 5 times what you paid for it. This realisation ignited my interest in collecting, selling one or two of my less favourite LPs and using the money to buy others. I found this to be highly addictive and eventually my fondness became an interest, my interest became a hobby, my hobby became a passion, and for me my passion became a business. I now run a web store called Primal Vinyl, specialising in the sale of rock and metal vinyl records. Every day I come into contact with vinyl buyers from all over the world

So is it just people like me that are the buying records? Well, from my own experiences of collecting and selling vinyl, I can identify three types of people. Firstly there are those who, like I do, see vinyl as a link to their past. We traditionalists have a fondness for the format because it is one aspect of our youth that remains unchanged today. Thirty five year olds like me can still take pleasure in the act of removing an LP from its sleeve and delicately placing it on a turntable, from analysing and studying the artwork, and from listening to the music above the hisses, crackles and farts. We enjoy the tangible interaction with the format that just isn't the same with CDs and which is just completely absent with the latest download phenomenon.

Then there are the second group of people who buy purely to collect. With these people the fondness for the format has turned into an addictive obsession. These

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