A tale of Vinyl Addiction or My Vinyl Midlife Crisis. It was on RSD April 19 2014 I decided I wanted to get back into listening to records. I did not own one record or even a turntable. I had been thinking prior to RSD it would be cool to get back into listening to records the way I did as a kid. I had to go into a record store on RSD for work and it sealed the deal. I started going to thrift stores and looking for records. I think on my first hunt I came home with a couple of Fleetwood Mac and Bad Company albums and some others for super cheap prices. I was hooked on the hunt. I still did not have a turntable. I bought my first turntable, a Pioneer PL100 on eBay on May 5th. A few days later I had my package, carefully opening it and documenting the unboxing in pictures. I am a photojournalist, that is what I do. I am glad I did, because I promptly discovered the counterweight was rolling around the platter, it had snapped off in shipping. The seller made good, but I was still unable to play my ever growing vinyl collection. At this point I had my four favorite Pink Floyd albums, The Wall, WYWH, DSOTM and Animals. I couldnt wait to play them. I searched locally for a turntable I could afford and it was slow going. One day at the flea market a guy was selling a Pioneer PL4 and some albums. He wanted $60 for the turntable and $3 each for the records. I talked him down to $50 for the turntable and six LPs. I was nervous about getting burned again on the turntable. He said if it didnt work find him the next week at the flea market and he would give me my money back. Well it needed a new needle, but I finally got it working. This was after a month of refoaming a set of speakers and I had and learning how to properly set up a turntable. I dont think I have it perfect but darn close. I was in business, playing records and loving it. Of course I had to upgrade the speakers now. I got a nice set of Polk Audio Monitor 5s for $40 and they sound pretty good. As weeks went buy I would hit the thrifts, bringing home records I did not probably need or will really listen to more than a couple of times. Hey they were in great shape and only $.50, how could I pass them up. The Vinyl Addiction is starting to get worse at this point. Then I made the glorious mistake of stepping into a real record store again. This time not for work. Oh my God, rows and rows of real records that I would actually want to play regularly. It was Trax On Wax in Catonsville, Maryland. Now I knew why I couldnt find the records I wanted at yard sales and thrift stores. They had them all at Trax On Wax. The place was awesome. Only problem is my vinyl wants outpace what is in my leather wallet. I knew I would have to use real record stores sparingly for the vinyl I really wanted right away and couldnt wait to find cheaper. I walked out with a clean copy of Bruce Springsteens Greetings from Asbury Park. So now I am hitting the thrifts a few times a week and stopping at yard sales when I am off or see them and have time. Getting covered in old cardboard dust going through piles of Herb Alpert, Glen Miller, Mantovani, Barry Manilow albums looking for a gem. Dragging my wife with me on weekends. I am constantly looking at the great Vinyl Addiction Facebook group and cruising Discogs, entering my collection as I listen. I spend many a night in front of the Spin Clean record washer I bought, spinning the years of grime off my new/used additions to the collection. This is actually what got me writing this long essay on my new affliction, my Vinyl Addiction. The last two days I spent good periods of time washing records and finally got every LP I own finally washed. When I counted I was shocked, I brought home 206 LPs and at least 40, 45s. They are piling up in my home office/listening area. My God, it has only been about four months. What is it going to be in a year? Will I need to dedicate the guest bedroom to a record/listening room. Stay tuned and thanks for reading this epic.
Posted on: Mon, 14 Jul 2014 00:16:34 +0000