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 Posted:   Jun 21, 2024 - 2:01 PM   
 By:   Thor   (Member)

I was born in 1977. I’m a child of the cassette age (meaning that when I came of age in the late 80s, cassette was the dominant medium). But I still have a connection to vinyl.

My parents had 5-6 children’s records that they played for me as a kid in the early 80s, over and over again (a particular album with the smurfs drove them up the wall!). In 1988-89 or thereabouts, I got a turntable from my dad that we installed in my room, but I rarely used it. As I said, this was the cassette age, and that’s mostly what I played.

Then I bought a CD player for my confirmation money in 1991, and CD ruled the day for decades. Long story short: In my formative years, it was cassettes for a period, then CDs. Never properly LPs.

Since the late 2000s, I noticed hipsters – and subsequently the public at large – latching on to vinyls again. I didn’t. I played my digital file collection or my CDs. But then I got a turntable from my dad (as well as some 100 LPs out of his huge collection) a couple of years ago, which I installed just a few months ago. I’ve been playing them and really enjoying it. Combines a little bit of nostalgia with the sheer ritual of it all. Some wine in the glass, putting the needle down, changing sides, giving yourself to the music in a whole other way than files.

So yeah, now I’m vinyl hooked. I know there are loads of people here who hate it, but it would be cool to hear your stories nonetheless.

 
 
 Posted:   Jun 21, 2024 - 3:31 PM   
 By:   Howard L   (Member)

Around the turn of the millenium, this guy and his kid who was around seven years old stopped by. The kid noticed my ancient turntable and got all excited and proceeded to describe to Dad and I that he understood you were to put on the plate, hit the switch, watch it spin around and then place the little thingie on top of the plate, "and that's when the music starts."

His manner was that of a curator describing the inner workings of a museum piece. Why that little...

...I still have the same muse--TURNTABLE and sound system and like to put on pla--RECORDS when certain sections of scores lack vinyl's beautiful sonics while heard off telecasts, DVDs, streaming, youtube and whatever else.

 
 Posted:   Jun 21, 2024 - 3:46 PM   
 By:   First Breath   (Member)

Born 1974. In the early to mid 80s I used to listen to my older siblings' records like Nik Kershaw, Roxy Music, Grace Jones et al. In 85 I received my first record for christmas, A-ha's debut album. In 87 I bought my first record myself. A few years with cassettes followed in 89/90 because I had a bad record player. In 91 I got my first CD player and didn't look back for 20 years or so, before buying much used vinyl since then.

 
 Posted:   Jun 21, 2024 - 4:20 PM   
 By:   Nicolai P. Zwar   (Member)

Oh, I grew up with vinyl... both my mother and my father loved music... and we had lots of LPs when I was growing up. When I was in elementary school, one of the things I most wished for was a cassette recorder, so I could record things and listen to music.
I think I "seriously" (as in "spend my own money on it") started listening to music when I was 14, and bought my first few LPs to listen to them on the music systems I had inherited... I was amazed at how good LPs sounded compared to my old cassette tapes, but became very frustrated by minute "flps" and "cssks"... I could notice them... I even could "see" them when I looked closely at spinning LPs and must "knew" when the next piece of coincidental litter or dust would hit the needle. I was SO happy when CDs arrived.
But I still kept a lot of the old classic LPs, and buying LPs was how I started to build my music collection. Even though I had heard and knew about the upcoming "CD" format at least since 1980.

 
 
 Posted:   Jun 21, 2024 - 6:32 PM   
 By:   villagardens553   (Member)

Born in 1954, got my first LP for Christmas in 1965--the soundtrack to From Russia With Love. The first I bought--Goldfinger.

In 1976 I started a long career in record retail, which lasted until record retail damn near fizzled out.

So I have many stories. More later, but my first two records will do for now.

 
 Posted:   Jun 21, 2024 - 6:41 PM   
 By:   Adam.   (Member)

In the mid seventies my father gave me two LPs of old radio show mysteries and thrillers. I recall one was called "The Whistler" They even included original radio ads such as Signal Oil. I was mesmerized by the use of in-studio sound effects and descriptive dialogue that paints a picture of the situation for the radio audience. They really had to keep things moving right along in a tight 30 minute program. Listened to them many times.

I saw Star Wars at the age of 14 and was instantly hooked on the music and went to a Montgomery Ward store to buy my very first LP soundtrack record. I would listen to the score while sitting on my bed and staring at the plain white letters on the glossy black background of the LP cover. I think I can remember each LP I got before CDs took over the market.

1968 - Night of the Living Dead
1975 - Jaws (I was always disappointed the music on this LP didn't sound like the music in the film)
1977 - Star Wars, Close Encounters
1978 - Superman, Jaws 2
1979 - Alien, Star Trek TMP, The Black Hole (got this one as a Christmas gift)
1980 - The Empire Strikes Back
1981 - Raiders of the Lost Ark
1982 - ET, Poltergeist, Star Trek II, Conan, Creepshow, First Blood
1983 - Return of the Jedi, Twilight Zone Movie
1984 - Temple of Doom, Star Trek III, Gremlins
1985 - Back to the Future
1986 - Aliens, Star Trek IV, Crocodile Dundee, Spacecamp

Spacecamp was the last LP I ever bought. I regret discarding them all after I replaced them with CDs. Live and learn, I guess. smile

 
 
 Posted:   Jun 22, 2024 - 12:36 AM   
 By:   keky   (Member)

My story is short: I grew up with vinyls and cassettes and even back then I preferred cassettes. I always loathed vinyl: the most vulnerable, least practical format ever, let alone all the scrapes in the sound and the scratches... The first time I heard a CD, sometime at the end of the eighties, I was amazed how much better it sounds than any vinyl I have ever heard, how much easier it is to handle, how much better it is in every way. So I have been sticking to CDs ever since, never looked back to vinyls and frankly, I can't fathom how this format could ever come back into fashion.
That's my story. smile

 
 Posted:   Jun 22, 2024 - 12:47 AM   
 By:   AdoKrycha007   (Member)

My vinyl story is very simple :

No CD = No Sale

 
 
 Posted:   Jun 22, 2024 - 1:06 AM   
 By:   Howard L   (Member)

Ah yes nothing like raining on a parade!

 
 
 Posted:   Jun 22, 2024 - 1:21 AM   
 By:   Tall Guy   (Member)


In 1976 I started a long career in record retail, which lasted until record retail damn near fizzled out.


In 1976 I started a short career in record retail…. It was a Saturday job in the music department of WHSmith.

There are some things I’ll never forget about that job - for instance, it was a long, hot summer in the UK, and at 17 I was mesmerised by the skimpily-dressed ladies who wandered around the store; and in the spring of that year the Abba’s Greatest Hits album was released and we were selling those by the bucketload, one of the managers said six hundred in one day.

 
 Posted:   Jun 22, 2024 - 1:42 AM   
 By:   Traveling Matt   (Member)

My upbringing was like yours, Thor. We must be of similar age. Cassettes as a child because it was convenient for my parents to play in the car (Laurel and Hardy were the only ones who ever figured out mobile vinyl). I always perceived cassette as a transitional format between vinyl and CD, but I'm not sure it was truly like that. Never turned back once I started with CD. I think playing vinyl is silly, though I've been working with a terrific engineer to transfer LPs and 45s never released on CD. His hardware and skills, and the available software today, allow him to deliver a transfer from sealed vinyl that's essentially identical to using the original source. Even NM or VG+ vinyl is basically transparent to a commercial CD. It's quite impressive.

 
 
 Posted:   Jun 22, 2024 - 6:42 AM   
 By:   David Anthony   (Member)

Generally speaking those who got into film music after the advent of CD's probably won't have got into vinyl, where as for the likes of me who got my first vinyl LP in 1980 ( The Big Screen Hits of John Barry) vinyl is in my blood.
In those days I used to come back from London and Manchester Film fairs as well as from the like of 58 Dean Street Records with bags of vinyl soundtracks!
No matter how illogical that might seem to some people I love the smell, feel, artwork and excitement of putting the needle on the record and the joy when the quality is excellent, and disappointment if not. If one has a love of vinyl like me then it's easy to ditch a bad copy and wait to get a better one, but it's expensive! Then I like putting them onto audio CDR, I do often prefer vinyl tracklist to expanded CDs, noting that quite a few CDs have the LP programmes as well nowadays.
Let me add that I generally buy only old original soundtrack LP's not the new reissues, with a few exceptions where the new LP has tracks not available on CD like Morricone's I CANNIBALI.
I've been hunting down soundtrack LP's not available on CD for sometime now, on Discogs, eBay etc not just for US movies but also Greek, French and Italian soundtracks as well as collecting Morricone's LP's and singles from his early arrangement days for RCA in the late 50s early 60s, some of which are not on CD.

 
 Posted:   Jun 22, 2024 - 7:13 AM   
 By:   Solium   (Member)

I love studded boots and corsets. Opps, that's leather!

 
 Posted:   Jun 22, 2024 - 7:57 AM   
 By:   EdG   (Member)

I grew up with my parents' LPs and discovered a range of music before discovering STAR WARS* and my interest in film music. I began purchasing my own music during the early days of CD when very few soundtracks came out in that format. I'm not a vinyl fan today because at that time the quality of vinyl pressings was mediocre or poor from MCA, Warner Bros. and the other mainstream labels. Crackling, wobbles and pops were frequent flaws. Today, the quality of new vinyl reissues is much, much better except for picture discs and some colored vinyl releases which use inferior vinyl. The trade off is how expensive they've become.

When CDs finally came into their own and soundtracks became easy to find in that format I appreciated both the portability and the dramatic improvement in audio quality. Today I rip all my CDs into lossless files for ease of access and I have a setup that allows for playback on a decent system. My disc player recognizes SACDs for multichannel playback for the few recordings that offer that option.

Thor's comment about the ritual of sitting down to appreciate music with care and attention in the home is right on target. I find I can do that without vinyl. However the important thing is the music so if you're getting plenty of enjoyment from vinyl records new or old more power to you.

* by the way it's amazing how bad the original release of STAR WARS sounds on LP. Terrible, mushy mix and pinched sound when compared to any of the remasters that came out later. Not sure what Fox Records was doing there.

 
 
 Posted:   Jun 22, 2024 - 9:00 AM   
 By:   Thor   (Member)

I'm loving these stories, whatever your relationship to vinyl! Thanks for contributing.

 
 Posted:   Jun 22, 2024 - 9:44 AM   
 By:   doug raynes   (Member)

You’re all far too young. As a young child in the 1950s, I grew up in the age of shellac 78 rpm records. Admittedly it was toward the demise of 78 rpm records and, of course, no one referred to them as shellacs!. These 10” (also some 7" and 12") records provided about 3 minutes of music (the perfect Thor length) which was ideal for popular tunes but which required numerous discs for a complete symphony. The player needed frequent winding up and a large supply of needles because they needed replacing often, before a worn needle damaged the record. Sound quality was not good but if you have no comparison other than radio, they sounded fine (we had no TV at that time). I recall visiting a neighbour whose husband had died and she was getting rid of hundreds their 78 rpm classical records. I came back with a large number of discs which gave me a good introduction and grounding in classical music and which I kept for some years even after our household moved onto vinyl. Incidentally, people didn’t refer to “vinyl” until more recent times. Previously, everyone referred to records or long playing (LP) records.

 
 Posted:   Jun 22, 2024 - 9:55 AM   
 By:   dogplant   (Member)

My vinyl story began with “Jaws,” which remains my most cherished album:

https://flashfilms.us/Blog/Entries/2015/10/15_MCF_2716.html

 
 
 Posted:   Jun 22, 2024 - 10:05 AM   
 By:   villagardens553   (Member)

Just a thirteen-year-old kid in 1967 my sparse collection was mostly spy soundtracks: the first few Bonds, Our Man Flint, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. and so on.

I stumbled into a department store that had a bin of cheap records and found, for $1.67 each, John Barry conducts his Greatest Movie Hits, The Chase (oddly, a U.K. version!), The Knack, and The Ipcress File.

So, for the first time, I actually knew what John Barry looked like and found out something about his background--he wasn't just a name on the Bond albums. I learned even more when I then picked up Great Movie Sounds of John Barry. More importantly, when I heard the non-splashy sounds of King Rat, The Chase, Seance on a Wet Afternoon, The Knack, The Quiller Memorandum, The Ipcress File, I was immediately drawn to these sparsely orchestrated and intimate miniature pieces featuring cymbalom, alto flutes, oboe, organ, harmonica.

 
 Posted:   Jun 22, 2024 - 10:39 AM   
 By:   jkruppa   (Member)

Born in 1969, had records all my life and still do. After Katrina I weeded out half my collection and have still kept it under control, but still do buy the odd LP now and then. Mostly hi-rez downloads these days because of storage space.

My dad always loved soundtracks and those are some of my earliest memories of music. One of the big wow moments of my teens was first seeing Fahrenheit 451 on television and really being struck by the music, especially in the last scene. I thought to check my dad's records and lo and behold he had The Fantasy Film World of Bernard Herrmann. Instant gratification, and it began my love of that soundtrack that carries on to this day.

 
 
 Posted:   Jun 22, 2024 - 11:22 AM   
 By:   Larry847   (Member)

I don't understand the return to vinyl. Once I had replaced most of my records as CDs, I stopped using my turn table. One day I went to use it and the needle was crappy. I checked the cost of a new needle and said no way I'm paying that for a needle. I'm done. I didn't even bother to move the furniture to unplug the damn thing. I grabbed a wire cutter, snipped the wires, and tossed the turntable in the trash, and never looked back. I have zero regrets.

 
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