My own dive into vinyl started (natch) in my teens. Looking back, I wish I’d been more into collecting from bands like Joy Division, Talking Heads, Gang of Four, The Cure and The B52’s whose music I liked and do more so now, but never really bought vinyl as I wasn’t that cool. Or as dedicated to ‘a look’ as you needed to be for punk, indie or new romantics come to that. Missed opportunities. Or saved graces.
I was ‘The Police guy’ at school. A band who I took to in late 1979 and proceeded to buy my first vinyl (Rubber Ducky by Ernie and Bert off of Sesame Street aside) - the FOMO of the collector starting to form at this time, so whilst not at the level of ultra-nerd, of international pressing variants and cover misprints, I have pretty much everything they released in all the various wax colours. I was an early(ish) member of Outlandos (The Police Fan Club), saw them live quite a few times and even took up bass (bit of Sting hero worship, not going to lie). All things for a separate blog post(s) in due course. Bet you can’t wait.
Otherwise, I bought vinyl bits and bobs, 7” and 12” reasonably regularly (cause that’s how you listened to your music back in the day, kids) eventually getting a Sony stack system which I still use with B&W speakers. Besides bursts of intense fandom collecting everything (The Police, Belinda Carlisle (cause, you know, ‘the music’) and more recently Yard Act (yes of course I need 10 versions of one album - they openly and shamelessly flogged (literally) this already brilliant debut to No2 and I was happy to let them take my money and run)), I only really bought what I heard and liked. Still do. And if that’s a very limited, collectible, funky coloured variant then all the better. Sorry, wallet.
The arrival of the CD heralded the end of the vinyl format buying for me, for all the usual reasons of practicality, until probably COVID lock-down, life-stage and the general resurgence of vinyl as both a listening option and a collectible format. The CD years were not that exciting content-wise truth be told, probably as previous life-stage things drew me away from music.
So as the circle of life thrusts me towards my ‘second youth’ or ‘getting old disgracefully’, I’m really getting back into my music which, whilst still a broadish church, centres around listening, seeking and collecting limited edition debut albums from new indie/post-punk/electronic/shoegaze/alternative artists. With, it seems, a leaning towards strong female vocals but that’s not intentional. I just prefer a higher register for vocals and girls just have a stronger intent really IMO.
I’m so pleased I can say I am definitely a Radio 6 Music person and not a Radio 2 (I like it cause I’ve heard it before) person. Thank the aural Gods.
I use Spotify but only as an extension of physical content that I’ve already paid proper money for, or a bit of investigation when looking to buy, so I can live with that. To that end, part of the Hipsquare project is creating album-length Spotify playlists drawn from across from my coloured and collectible vinyl collection (Mellow Marble, Punky Pink etc.) which I’ll be sharing links to on social - you may even find something new you like! Each playlist will come with a blog post and my photography of the vinyl and the covers etc.
I’m also a big fan of Dinked Editions and Blood Records for their work in developing and producing hyper-limited collectible vinyl. Again I only buy what I really like which is just as well pocket-money wise as they’re all lovely pieces of artwork.
Otherwise, I tend to collect primarily from artists directly, labels, Bandcamp and independant record stores such as Resident, Reflex, Assai and locally, Slide, if postage not required.
Overall, and it’s a bit of an overused cliche I know, but I really do love the extra visual and physical aspect to the music I love to listen to and the whole tactile package-opening, handling, reading, storage, access and playing process. And the collectable stuff usually has extra interest too, from unique covers, creative wax mixes, signed artwork and added extras - in my collection the Dinked from Gemma Cullingford has a packet of seeds, the Raw edition of Working Men’s Club debut album, a flag and O.M Days Moon Edition by Raf Rundell, some ashes from a Moon Ritual ceremonial fire. I shit you not. But these are all tangible artefacts (I love a tangible artefact) and they’re fun to acquire and explore and keep. And great music, obvs.
And last but not least there is sometimes absolutely blinding photography and artwork used on covers, inners etc. which like most artwork is generally better enjoyed large. Sorry, CD’s/cassettes/digital
Live Music / Photography
Early gig activity for me was a little like my vinyl collecting. Not as uber-cool as I’d like and a bit fan-related but I saw a few memorable concerts.
One of the best was The Police at Gateshead Stadium in 1982. This was IMO the pinnacle of their musical prowess before it all went down the pan in 1983. Their achievement across 5 albums in 5 years, from a bootstrapped van tour of the NE USA seaboard in late 1978, introducing the audience to each other on one occasion, to headlining Shea Stadium in 1983 to 70,000, as the biggest band in the world, without ever being a support act, hasn’t really been eclipsed.
