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Vinyl

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I remember the first 45 I ever owned-a preteen jumping around to "Judy In The Sky...With Glasses." I was thrilled when I got my first player at the age of 12 for a perfect Christmas present. It was pink and white fake leather, with a strong clasp so I could carry it around with me. I quickly began to collect my favorites, The Jackson Five, The Monkeys, The Partridge Family, Donny and Marie, no, I wasn't an eclectic music fan at that time, to be sure.

Later I inherited my parents giant stereo, they got a more compact model. The thing took up half a wall but it had a radio too! And the speakers were LOUD! I lay in my little room, and off I went to Aerosmith, The Stones, Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, Styx, Kansas, and so many heavier metal bands by the age of 15 or so. The switch to eight-track was hard for me, I bought a second hand player but the tape kept jamming and the cassettes were ruined when you opened them up. Gladly eight track didn't last too long, and we thought it was back to records you can then record to smaller cassette tapes. I tried to capture the perfect and new sound of the vinyl onto the cassettes, but somehow the sound was never the same. I also tried to avoid the inevitable scratches, but come they always did. In my anxious teen state, I would plan to put that record back in the jacket as soon as I got the next one on-but so often forgot and ended up with a small pile of records on top of each other on the floor-one or two always with a fresh scratch.

You may ask why I am coming down on the side of vinyl? I am tired of CDs, to be honest. They have a fast-food feel, I can burn them anywhere, they have little weight and substance, and no matter what others say, I find they get more messed up when I forget to put them in their cases than vinyl ever did. I have replaced some of my CDs five or six times over the last few years. I am rather tired of continuing to fund Bob Marley's estate with the six copies of Legends I have bought:) I would never go back to a cheap turntable again, if I had vinyl now I would play and store on the best of equipment. Why not a turntable that ties into a CD burner? I would buy it if it already exists.

One writer had a beautiful piece on this channel about the depth and richness of vocals on vinyl. The resonance from vinyl does move right through you, even if a scratch exists here or there. Even if, as my elderly neighbor, you used an old RCA Victrola (the little dog listening to the massive speaker that looks like a small french horn.) And it is a kinesthetic experience, the moving of the records, listening to the whole collection on the album, not selecting out certain songs from disparate groups, and mixing them all up. You got to know that Jethro Tull or Grateful Dead was creating a audio-narrative as you listened to that whole album, not just pieces and fragments of the narrative.

I am going to find a thrift store with a nice, used, JVC or Pioneer turntable, make sure I buy a supply of diamond needles, and begin to collect these relics. When they find me as an old woman, I hope they find me on the floor, eyes closed, hands folded, vinyl skipping along from my Led Zeppelin CD, my last wave by having been stairway to heaven...let's hope it doesn't get stuck skipping to "she's buying...she's buying...she's buying" it would ruin the mood I am imagining for that day I hope is quite far off.

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