But much to my surprise, it was the real deal. Just a guy cleaning out his massive collection. The $1 each part of the ad turned out to be too good to be true, but I'm not going to complain about picking up a near mint condition copy of The Wall for $2 instead of $1, or $5 for a near mint promo advance copy of Welcome to My Nightmare. He started his sale at 8Am, but I didn't want to seem too anxious, so we got there around 8:30. We were greeted by his very friendly dog as we walked down the driveway. And then we were greeted by a handful of fellow geeks, all dressed in their obscure band t-shirts, talking shop and pulling out record sleeves to inspect the grooves.
And it wasn't a bunch of snooty elites either. They were all friendly. No arguments over records, casual conversation, notifications of which bands and genres were in which bins, compromising, sharing, etc. It was like... Well, it was like going to a record store, in the before time, in the long, long ago. Before the dark days of Napster and iTunes. Before there was a Best Buy at every street corner. Back when bands put out albums; collections of music that actually told a story. Intertwined sounds that were meant to be listened to simultaneously to get an overall vibe. Back before $1.29 per song witchery.
If it's possible to have a man-crush on a music collection, I had one for his. Multiple copies of original Beatles albums, in unbelievable condition. Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Alice Cooper... all the greats. But also obscure 50's releases, 45's, 8-tracks, Patsy Klein, Hank Williams Sr. & Jr., Parliament Funkadelic...
Anyway, I picked up:
Pink Floyd - The Wall
Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
King Crimson - Discipline
Van Halen - (Self-titled...grr...)
whatever this album is called... (with the original sticker informing you that it's at least Led Zeppelin)
The Clash - Combat Rock
Neil Young - Harvest
The Knack - Get the Knack
Alice Cooper - Welcome to My Nightmare
And at one point I was also holding Houses of the Holy and II by Led Zeppelin and Billion Dollar Babies by Alice Cooper. But, I knew my bill was getting much larger than the $20 limit I set for myself, so I let those go. Besides, I already had those Zeppelin albums on cd, and I have Billion Dollar Babies on vinyl, although his copy came with the poster and the "Alice Buck." I'm still holding out for the unedited Love It to Death cover. That'll be my Alice Cooper investment.
I almost let Combat Rock go, as an act of charity. I overheard a youngster saying that he was seeking punk rock albums, so I thought I'd offer it to him. I already have Combat Rock on cassette, after all. And if I can introduce a whipper-snapper or two to a good band, my work is done. He was completely disinterested. Polite about it at least, but disinterested. Kids these days... You're not going to find a Saves the Day album on vinyl at a yard sale. Go to Hot Topic for that garbage. Know your roots, son. At least he knew what a vinyl record was, I suppose. And I can't hate too much; I didn't start collecting myself until last year. And I still need to get an adapter for my 45's and 7"s. Still... Listen to the Clash.
All in all, not a bad haul. There was plenty more that I was tempted to pick up, but I went there thinking I'd be lucky if I found anything even remotely linked to classic rock, so I only brought $20 with me. Next time I'll be better prepared. It made me feel good that there are others out there just like myself. Grown men who get excited over a rare find, wear band t-shirts, and can debate the merits of Brian Endino's production style vs. Butch Vig's production style. People who've not only heard of Dinosaur Jr and the Meat Puppets, but also have an opinion about which is their respective best album.
So why do I collect vinyl? I'm not a snob or a techie. I have a very basic turntable, and I'm not against buying second, third, fourth hand records. A few hisses skips or pops aren't a big deal to me. I mostly like the tangible appeal. I buy from iTunes now and then, and I'll admit to using Napster way back when, before they started bankrupting 80 year old grandmothers over it. But an MP3 doesn't give you anything to hold onto. It's a file. Files can get corrupted. Computers can crash. Hard drives can be erased. But save for theft or a fire, cds and records last for a long time, if you care for them properly. I'm a guy who likes to look at the album art and to really study the nuances. You can't do that with a tiny pixelated iPod screen.
I also like to read the lyric booklets. I actually read the thank you sections. And hokey though it may be, I like to see when a band takes the time to thank their fans. Vinyl records take a lot more effort than clicking on a file, or playing a cd. There's the record jacket, then an inner sleeve, and then you have to figure out which side of the record the song you want to hear is on, and then you have to check the rotation speed setting, make sure your needle is ok, line up the spindle hole, and gently touch the needle to the edge. It takes a lot more investment and care. I like that. It makes listening to music an event instead of instantaneous gratification. And you can't listen to a record wherever you go, as you can with an MP3 or cd. You have to sit down near the player and really take the time to absorb the music. And you have to get up and flip the record when a side runs out. It takes effort and commitment. Which is why I tend to get music that I care about on vinyl. I'm much more discriminate over what albums I'll pick up on vinyl than I am what cds or MP3's I'll buy. In a way, that makes it more fun. There's more of a hunt involved, as many of the bands and albums I love are harder to find on vinyl than they are on cd.
As for the sound, I am convinced that vinyl is a different listening experience. I don't have the technical knowledge to back up that claim, but I notice more subtle details in my vinyl records. And some of that is lost with the compression of MP3 and cd technology. Music collecting is an investment; of time, money, effort, and space. I like to have something to show for it. Cds look good on a shelve, but vinyl records have a nice weight to them. It's fun to drag out a crate of vinyl and have someone flip through your collection. Hard drives don't have the same gratification. 300 albums sounds much more impressive than 300 files.
I collect vinyl because it's fun. It's fun to care for them, it's fun to play them, it's fun trying to find certain titles, it's fun to display them, it's fun to talk shop with other collectors, and it's fun to think about how many other people had the same album before you. It's a rite of passage. And that's why this particular yard sale was so much fun. This was years of this guy's life, passion, and investment on display. And instead of hoarding it all to himself, he shared it with everyone. Many of the records that he was selling are worth a small fortune, and he knows that. But it's more important to him to pass them along to those who really get enjoyment from it than to turn a profit. He'd rather sell a very good condition copy of The Wall to me than to leave it sitting in eBay limbo, hoping that one day an investor will come along and pay what it's technically worth on the market. That Craig's List ad was a call to arms for like-minded music geeks, and we responded. Next time I'll respond with more cash in my wallet.
This entry probably makes me sound like an old man. I'm actually only 28, which may or may not be old in your eyes. But it speaks volumes that I'm pining for the days of good music stores, and the communal music buying experience. It's a real shame that downloading has all but ruined that experience completely for younger fans. Sure, Best Buy has great prices on their music section, but you won't find a well loved but still very playable copy of Get the Knack there. The clerk won't tell you stories about the first time he heard The Clash as he rings you up. Other shoppers generally won't casually suggest albums and bands for you to check out based on your purchases. The owner of Best Buy likely is not manning the register, and your $14 purchase barely effects whether or not Best Buy covers the rent that month. I'm not against Best Buy, and I'm not above buying music from a chain store, but it can't compare to the experience of shopping at a mom and pop store.
Enough jibber jabber. I have new old records to play!
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