When I opened the lid on my new record player, and let my daughter hold an album for the first time, her eyes lit up. And, I knew this return to vinyl was a good move. It’s incredible to realize that she has never seen a working record player or held a record. How could this be? Four days later, my first newly acquired vinyl album, Pictures of Elvis, has been played dozens of times and she is currently showing her friend how to “Do The Clam,” in our living room. And it’s a lot harder than it sounds.
As a kid, I had a few record players of varying degrees of quality from portable units bordering on toys to fancier component systems. Then along came those shiny, crystal clear and oh so compact, compact discs. Like most, I turned my back on vinyl, selling off milk cartons filled with records thinking I would never again drop my needle on a hunk of grooved plastic.
A funny thing happened a few years back, people were talking about vinyl again. For a while, I wrote it off as hipster nonsense. But it is hard to deny how good it felt to hold an album; how that warm, sometimes imperfect sound could make the experience of listening to music more enjoyable. I won’t get into the science, but needless to say there are arguments on both sides, and at some point personal taste comes into it.
More companies are manufacturing turntables and portable record players with built-in speakers to cater to the growing vinyl crowd. Album sales have increased substantially each year since the mid-2000s, the vast majority occurring at independent record shops that keep opening up.
In 2014, 9.2 million vinyl albums sold representing the highest tally since 1991, which of course pales when compared to the six billion digital song streams in the second half of 2014 alone.
The top sellers are what one might expect: rock bands. Arctic Monkeys led the way and the top ten included Pink Floyd, three Led Zeppelin albums, Jack White, The Black Keys, and Foo Fighters. The only non-rock albums in the top ten were Lana Del Ray’s Ultraviolence and Legend by Bob Marley.
I had to get in on the action. But, I didn't want to do it alone. So, I’m dragging you, the beloved reader, along for the ride. Here's the plan: Each week, I will endeavour to explore the ins and outs of vinyl, the culture of record collecting, and the kooky characters by seeking out and discussing a seminal record from my past.
This column will hopefully steer people in the right direction when it comes to facilitating their own exploration of vinyl for whatever reason it might be from pure and unadulterated nostalgia or the neo-luddite movement to just wanting to listen to something analog for a change instead of a series of 1s and 0s
The first step: get a record player. Although one could find a good used system at a garage sale or online classifieds, I'm trying out a couple of new portable record players with built-in speakers. They are affordable, simple systems that require a minimum of investment.
The Jensen JTA-230, for example, sells for just $48US through Amazon.com. It’s very compact, easy to operate and has decent sound quality. It’ll get the job done for those looking to wade slowly into this record thing.
A step up from there is the lovely Crosley Nomad record player. This is the company that seems to have really embrace this whole trend and made it exciting with its stylish selection. This one has a cool retro vibe happening and sounds great.
Both of these units, and most of this new breed, come with a USB to create a digital file from your record. Why? Because you can!
The first records I called my own, even though I was too young to purchase them myself, were all Elvis Presley. My Mom was a big fan of his, and since I was seven and didn’t have any money of my own, I was lovingly steered in his direction.
I was just a kid in the 70s, but Elvis was still The King for the majority of that decade. It’s hard to argue the numbers. In 24 years of recording, Presley released 24 studio albums, six live albums, 102 singles and a dizzying array of compilations. To put that in perspective, David Bowie released 26 albums over 48 years and counting; Michael Jackson released 10 studio albums. Only The Beatles sold more records and not by much.
Typical of the times, my best friend’s family was, collectively and unabashedly, in love with Elvis, going as far as planting a giant bronze bust of Presley smack dab in the middle of their living room. And that was not the only room with a shrine to The King in my neighbourhood. He was that popular.
The first album I remember taking home was Elvis Golden Records with all the big hits from “Hound Dog” to “Jailhouse Rock,” followed by the albums I Got Lucky, Spinout and Pictures of Elvis.
The last album was a UK import released in 1975, which seemed like a big deal at the time. It contained songs from a number of Presley’s many, many movies like Roustabout and Girl Happy. For whatever reason, I gravitated to the critically-laughable films he turned out in bunches. Apparently, these flicks, 31 in total, were made in a couple weeks and half the budget was tied up in Presley’s fee of up to a million bucks. Not bad for the ’60s. I thought they were pretty cool.
Although used record shops are generally well-stocked in Elvis, I didn't find a copy of this album until the third stop at Discovery Records on Queen Street East in Leslieville and paid the whopping sum of $12. Certainly not cheap, but the stack did have prices of $40, $50 and beyond. Despite the price tag, according to owner Jim Levitt, who has roughly 18 or 19,000 albums for sale, The King doesn’t leave the building too often. If you know what I mean.
“Elvis was never a huge seller for us,” says Levitt, who started his business back in 1982. “We have a lot of Elvis records, and he sells well enough that we keep purchasing the titles we don’t have, but we don’t really duplicated. There is just not that great of an interest in his stuff…. We sell a lot of his Christmas records at Christmas time and the one with the cover that looks like The Clash, London Calling, his second album I think. And that’s just because it looks like The Clash.”
As it turns out, The Clash frontman Joe Strummer was also a big Elvis fan, and the album cover was his own nod to The King.
On his radio show, Strummer actually cited the song “Crawfish” as his favourite tune by Presley, which was also from a film — King Creole, one of the few that actually gets a slight degree of critical acclaim.
So, clearly I’m in good company.
After this first purchase, I managed to find two other Elvis records I used to have — the soundtrack to the movie Spinout and the studio album I Got Lucky —by looking on Kijiji. They were decidedly cheaper at just $5 per album, although one was warped and nearly unplayable. Lesson learned.
Next week: What happened to comedy albums?
