I miss LPs - records

[oldkicker]

I do like to convenience of CD and digital music. Bing able to carry it and play it anywhere.

But I oh, so miss the touch and feel of records. I miss tending to my albums, taking them out and looking them over. Cleaning them. Placing them on the turntable. Moving the stylus gently over them. Putting one record carefully away before going through the process for the next. And the next.

Holding the album cover in my lap. Reading everything on it. Loving the big double and even triple album covers. Unfolding them to see the gorgeous artwork or pictures inside. I remember opening up the Yessongs album....Wow.

Even the sheaths that the records were wrapped in had neat stuff on them. All the Warner brothers albums used to have advertisments for other WB artists. Kinda like a very primitive Amazon recommendation list (If you like this, you may also enjoy....) Columbia records had some faux revolutionary stuff one them. It was pretty comical, actually.

You had to take very good care of your records. Even so, the edges of the album covers would become a little bit frayed. Gave them some character.

Often there would be little extras tucked away inside the albums. Alice Cooper's School's Out came with a pair of panties. There was the zipper on the Stones' Sticky Fingers. Some would come with posters folded neatly inside. Uriah Heep's Look at Yourself had a mirror on the front.

All in all, owning and playing records was a much more tactile experience than CD's. Warmer somehow and more personal.

Of course, I won't mention the anguish of a scratched record. Nostalgia doesn't allow that.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I do too but they sound terrible...I still play mine. I also buy them at garage sales. They were definetly a piece of art.

 

[mickeyfan1]

I know the feeling, but there are at least 150 or more albums in my basement right now, and a turn table in the bedroom just waiting to be fixed. Will we ever fix it, hook it up and use it again? Maybe. You are right Bernie, there was something about reading the cover while listening. Did you ever listen to"the other side"? We did, albiet very rarely. I even have a couple of Disney albums with pictures on the vinyl. Very neat to try to watch as it was spinning on the turn table.

 

[browneyes]

I miss 'em too. They didn't come in hard plastic cases that nick you all the time either.

 

[~*Belle 2003*~]

We've still got most of ours and 2 turntables to play them on!

They're all neatly stacked in a huge cupboard. We both looked after our records too - some would probably sell for quite a bit nowadays!

 

[EsmeraldaX]

I collect old albums with really cool/weird covers from the 40's - 60's. CD covers/books are just not the same...

 

[Towncrier]

I just bought an old Disney album of the music of Epcot from 1983 at an online store. I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of my newest piece of vinyl. I have a turntable connected to my PC so that I can copy albums and 45s to CD. I have a basement full of albums that I just can't part with.

I was more into 45s than albums, and I have over 1000 of them in my collection. I always listened to the B-sides and occasionally found a gem there. I can understand why people download music from the web these days. 45s used to cost less than $1 and, as a kid, I could afford that. I suppose that with iTunes, the affordability of music may return to the reach of the under 18 demographic.

 

[mickey4ver]

can I just add......this is showing our "age" here...talking about 45's and 33 1/3 LP's.....LOL

 

[mt2]

When I was young (way before VCR's), I would be given Disney story records with the books to read-a-long. I still have those.

I played The Rescuers one day for my DD's when they were 4 years. they kept asking me why the picture didn't show on the TV. They said it was broken.

I still have all of them. Thanks for reminding me of a special time.

mt2

I forgot to add. When my Grandmother passed away I was given a set of 78"s that was the sound track of Snow White. I wish I could listen to these. My turntable only plays 33's and 45's.

 

[Dan Murphy]

The album covers and extras were a treasure trove in themselves. Beatles White, and all it had inside, Satanic Majesties Request and the early editions with that 3-D plastic piece on it, Sgt Pepper, my goodness, some of the early Elvis. I think I have around 500 or so LP's, racks of them. I should go look at them and reminisce.

 

[oldkicker]

I must admit that I go down in the basement and pore through my old albums. There are many that I have more than one copy of, having worn a copy out.

I was never much into 45's, but I do have hundreds of LPs.

A treasure trove of artwork, music and memories, for sure!

 

[Pin Wizard]

I saved just a few LPs. Some I can't find on tapes or disks so really miss listening to them. The others are from our high school concerts. LOL!

 

[helenabear]

I love old LPs and 45s myself. In fact even though the few I had as a kid were eventually lost, I've gone out and replaced some and bought a whole slew of 45s in the last year or so... I have about 100 of those. So every once in a while I still go to a place like Half Priced Books and see what's out there for me to buy... found some great songs and albums that way!

And one fo my cats loves it too... she gets to watch the records spin as I play them

 

[Ibelieveinfairies]

Originally posted by mt2
When I was young (way before VCR's), I would be given Disney story records with the books to read-a-long. I still have those.

I had one for The Jungle Book from when my mom took me to see it for my 3rd Birthday...I still remember going to see the movie...I was soooo excited and afterwards we went grocery shopping at Safeway and they had a bin with the book/record in it...of course I was estatic that my mom included this in with my birthday treat!

Ever since then I have always had a special place in my heart for The Jungle Book!

 

[Saffron]

I miss them too Bernie, for all the reasons you mentioned, plus another. Some artists used to write "secret messages" in the blank space, between the tracks of the album and the paper sticker in the middle of the album. They did that just before manufactoring, to try to keep the record bootleg industry a little at bay. I loved to find and read the messages of the artists that did that. I was never as careful with my LP's as you were with yours though, Bernie. Except the covers. I loved clean covers.

Guess what I did with Jackson Browne's album, "Saturate Before Using"? Ummm, uuuh, well err umm, yup. And apparently I wasn't the only one, according to the guy at the record store.

They used to give Grammy Awards for the art work for the album covers! Do they still have that category for CD's? I remember when Bog Seger's "Against the Wind" cover won.

 

[KristaTX]

I totally agree about the tactile pleasure that records provide. Much more fun than popping in a CD. I have fond memories of being a teenager and going to Rainbow Records in Oklahoma City. I loved digging through the used albums and finding the occasional David Bowie gem. Ah - those were the good old days. Browsing a used CD store just isn't the same .

 

[mt2]

Did anyone get a record that was colored vinyl? I got a 45 that was a light purple. I think it was a song by ELO. I really don't remember.

MY DH has a few LP's that we have had to hide in the stack. The covers are a bit risque. Young teenage boys

mt2

 

[Towncrier]

I have a few colored vinyl records. My most favorite 45 was a strawberry scented copy of "Strawberry Letter 23" by The Brothers Johnson.

I have one album that is made of multicolored vinyl. It looks like a bunch of different color crayon shavings have been pressed into it.

Have you ever seen a laser etched album. They actually used lasers to etch a pattern in the "mother" that is used to press the albums. The result is a visible image in the vinyl that doesn't effect playback.

 

[spb999]

Towncrier - I have Styx Paradise Theater album that has a pattern on it like you described!

 

[Micca]

As one who has owned thousands of vinyl records, I concur that the artwork was much better back then. However, for sound quality, convenience, and durability, the digital age is a big improvement.