Back to the Black (Vinyl that is)

Some people have called me a nostalgic old fool while others have asked "What took you so long?"

So what event has provoked such comments? Well, after much deliberation and years of proclaiming that it would never happen, I have returned to the world of vinyl records. A brand new turntable deck found its way mysteriously into the White Room prompting me to browse around a local market at the weekend and return with four decent looking albums for around £12. They are all albums I have owned in the past of course, but ones that I no longer own in any format.

If you should be interested and happen to have read this far then I can reveal that the said records are:-

• Hoy-Hoy by Little Feat (a double album complete with full sized insert booklet)
• You Can All Join In a 1969 Island label sampler
• Songs to Remember by Scritti Politti
• Big World by Joe Jackson (a 3-sided album - I believe the first ever produced in this format) complete with insert.

I must confess to a certain degree of nostalgic satisfaction as I browsed for the records, carefully removed them from their sleeves to check the condition and finally carried them home under my arm. It was just like the old days and I'm so much looking forward to more record hunting expeditions.

This is Little Feat playing as I write.

As the records spun, I wondered what had brought on these seemingly irrational acquisitions. I'm sure that part of it is pure nostalgia. But browsing and collecting records has been a part of my life for as far back as I can remember; from playing 78 RPM discs belonging to an older cousin, and making my own first purchases with my meagre pocket money allowance. For example when I was about 13 or 14 I recall finding an LP in what I assume was the bargain bin at a local Woolworth's store. It was called 'There's a Hoot Tonight' and was by Rod McKuen. At the time I had never heard of him but the song titles were emblazoned across the front cover and at the top was 'Blowin' in the Wind'. I couldn't afford Dylan albums so parted with a few pennies and carried Rod McKuen home. 

Thereafter, I spent the remainder of my teens and twenties browsing through LP's and building up my collection. Of course all that came to an end as CD's became more popular and record stores even stopped selling records. Now, as vinyl has once again become popular, the two major music stores in this area are stocking more and more LP's and for months I have been drawn to rifling through them - even though I didn't even own a record player. Just old habits dying hard again I guess.

Anyway, I have rectified that one little problem and now I can rifle through those LP's to my heart's content. At least my browsing now has some point to it.