Vinyl - get over it?
Discussion
I amassed a significant record collection between, roughly, 1980 and 1988. mainly indie/goth/post-punk/metal of that era, together with an eclectic journey of folk, rock and punk from the 60s through to that time.
Of the contemporary stuff, there were plenty of limited releases and records with limited edition sleeves, coloured vinyl, white labels etc.
The whole lot was lost ten years ago during a 'relationship escape', and it wouldn't be an exaggeration if I say that I don't 'miss' having those memories in my life on a reasonably regular basis.
Friends tell me that they're just 'things' and that they don't matter. I've managed to recover a good deal of the 'tunes', through a 250Gb+ mp3 collection, but...well...it just doesn't feel the same.
What would you do? Would trying to put that collection back together make any sense? It certainly wouldn't make financial sense, but the records were not unique, so they'll all be out there for sale at some point or another.
How would you feel if your record collection suddenly wasn't in your life?
I love music; it makes me happier than any other thing at all. But am I letting the human fallibility for fond memories cloud otherwise sound judgement?
Of the contemporary stuff, there were plenty of limited releases and records with limited edition sleeves, coloured vinyl, white labels etc.
The whole lot was lost ten years ago during a 'relationship escape', and it wouldn't be an exaggeration if I say that I don't 'miss' having those memories in my life on a reasonably regular basis.
Friends tell me that they're just 'things' and that they don't matter. I've managed to recover a good deal of the 'tunes', through a 250Gb+ mp3 collection, but...well...it just doesn't feel the same.
What would you do? Would trying to put that collection back together make any sense? It certainly wouldn't make financial sense, but the records were not unique, so they'll all be out there for sale at some point or another.
How would you feel if your record collection suddenly wasn't in your life?
I love music; it makes me happier than any other thing at all. But am I letting the human fallibility for fond memories cloud otherwise sound judgement?
V8mate said:
I amassed a significant record collection between, roughly, 1980 and 1988. mainly indie/goth/post-punk/metal of that era, together with an eclectic journey of folk, rock and punk from the 60s through to that time.
Of the contemporary stuff, there were plenty of limited releases and records with limited edition sleeves, coloured vinyl, white labels etc.
The whole lot was lost ten years ago during a 'relationship escape', and it wouldn't be an exaggeration if I say that I don't 'miss' having those memories in my life on a reasonably regular basis.
Friends tell me that they're just 'things' and that they don't matter. I've managed to recover a good deal of the 'tunes', through a 250Gb+ mp3 collection, but...well...it just doesn't feel the same.
What would you do? Would trying to put that collection back together make any sense? It certainly wouldn't make financial sense, but the records were not unique, so they'll all be out there for sale at some point or another.
How would you feel if your record collection suddenly wasn't in your life?
I love music; it makes me happier than any other thing at all. But am I letting the human fallibility for fond memories cloud otherwise sound judgement?
I've a load of Goth 12" singles! And a fair bit of more contemporary stuff. I still buy vinyl when I can, or when I think something will just be "better suited" to that format. Mostly, though, its just an artefact, not really a practical thing. Particularly as I don't even have a working record player at the moment.Of the contemporary stuff, there were plenty of limited releases and records with limited edition sleeves, coloured vinyl, white labels etc.
The whole lot was lost ten years ago during a 'relationship escape', and it wouldn't be an exaggeration if I say that I don't 'miss' having those memories in my life on a reasonably regular basis.
Friends tell me that they're just 'things' and that they don't matter. I've managed to recover a good deal of the 'tunes', through a 250Gb+ mp3 collection, but...well...it just doesn't feel the same.
What would you do? Would trying to put that collection back together make any sense? It certainly wouldn't make financial sense, but the records were not unique, so they'll all be out there for sale at some point or another.
How would you feel if your record collection suddenly wasn't in your life?
I love music; it makes me happier than any other thing at all. But am I letting the human fallibility for fond memories cloud otherwise sound judgement?
If I lost all those records I'd be very upset. Much more so than if I lost my blu-rays, for instance, despite films also being incredibly important to me. The old ones are, like yours presumably, of their time, and they serve as a reminder of my youth and of scouring 2nd hand record stores of Brighton for the elusive last few Sister's singles.
I don't think I could face replacing them, though I'd be very saddened to give up on the format as I still love the sense of occasion that putting a record on creates.
I've got about 800 LPs and 12" maxis sitting at Casa 900T-R, at least 60% of them stemming from a stint as a music journo in the late '80s/early '90s. There's quite a few white labels, some limited etidion specials but none that I'd really class as' collectable'.
About 100-200 of them I play with any sort of regularity (having a rather nice classic TT from the same era that I've tweaked and upgraded over the past few years), the others - well, sometimes I find myself digging into my collection to come out with one forgotten gem - or disappointed as I really thought I had got this or that record at some point and I couldn't find it.
Then there's a few hundred that I'm unlikely to play any time soon (or ever again) if only for the embarrassment factor; they are still here because I felt they weren't entirely free of merit (the ones that IMO were, have been offloaded a long time ago in my penniless student years).
Would I part with them? Not likely - they're part of my history and I like browsing through them every now and them.
Would I try and recreate the collection if it ever got lost? Nah. I would just buy the records that mean something to me right now as well as any future 'finds'. But then, I was never a record 'collector' as such.
Can't bring myself to get rid of the mags that I wrote in/for, though - even though they are taking up precious space in the basement and I won't likely be browsing through them any time soon - after all I haven't done so in the six years since I moved here. Talk about clinging to a long gone past...
About 100-200 of them I play with any sort of regularity (having a rather nice classic TT from the same era that I've tweaked and upgraded over the past few years), the others - well, sometimes I find myself digging into my collection to come out with one forgotten gem - or disappointed as I really thought I had got this or that record at some point and I couldn't find it.
Then there's a few hundred that I'm unlikely to play any time soon (or ever again) if only for the embarrassment factor; they are still here because I felt they weren't entirely free of merit (the ones that IMO were, have been offloaded a long time ago in my penniless student years).
Would I part with them? Not likely - they're part of my history and I like browsing through them every now and them.
Would I try and recreate the collection if it ever got lost? Nah. I would just buy the records that mean something to me right now as well as any future 'finds'. But then, I was never a record 'collector' as such.
Can't bring myself to get rid of the mags that I wrote in/for, though - even though they are taking up precious space in the basement and I won't likely be browsing through them any time soon - after all I haven't done so in the six years since I moved here. Talk about clinging to a long gone past...
I had a similar thing. Came back from uni with near 400 CDs. First thing I'd do when coming in the front door would be to head straight to the hi-fi to put something on and there would be music playing unless I was in bed/watching a film etc. Moved into a crummy flat and the first time I left the flat overnight (to go to the Leeds music festival, funnily enough), the place got robbed and all the CDs went. I had no insurance.
I replaced the TV/hi-fi/guitars/computers etc that were stolen, but I didn't have a clue where to start with the CDs. I was on minimmum wage at the time and although I thought about getting a 3-4k loan to rebuy eveything in one hit, I decided against it. But buying an album a week or whatever...I mean, where do you start? How can you buy Nevermind when you don't have Blonde on Blonde? How can you buy Blonde on Blonde when you don't have Brothers in Arms or Appetite for Destruction?
It pretty much ended my enjoyment of music. The MP3 era was just getting into swing at this point so it wasn't long before I had pretty much all my music again in digital form and much, much more, but for some reason, despite being a huge geek, I just never got on with listening to music on my computer. I found I'd sit staring at directory listings being completely unable to choose something I felt like listening to...something I never struggled with when looking at shelves of CDs. Eventually I stopped listening to music bar the odd song I'd have playing on Youtube in the background when I was working on the computer.
Just recently I've tried to put it right by getting a couple of Squeezebox receivers for hi-fis in a couple of rooms in the house that I can control through the iphone. Just in the process now of sorting my digital music collection and getting rid of all the crap I have that's getting in the way of the music I actually want to listen to.
I have maybe 80 12" albums and probably get more enjoyment and use from them than I do from the 200+GB of mp3s I have.
If I were you, and I could afford it, I'd replace the collection. When I was considering the loan to replace mine, I had great fun working out exactly what I'd get, which mistakes in judgment I'd be able to erase and so on. I even had a word with my friendly independent record store and after explaining the situation was offered a pretty hefty discount were I to go in with £3k cash and a print out of titles to order.
I replaced the TV/hi-fi/guitars/computers etc that were stolen, but I didn't have a clue where to start with the CDs. I was on minimmum wage at the time and although I thought about getting a 3-4k loan to rebuy eveything in one hit, I decided against it. But buying an album a week or whatever...I mean, where do you start? How can you buy Nevermind when you don't have Blonde on Blonde? How can you buy Blonde on Blonde when you don't have Brothers in Arms or Appetite for Destruction?
It pretty much ended my enjoyment of music. The MP3 era was just getting into swing at this point so it wasn't long before I had pretty much all my music again in digital form and much, much more, but for some reason, despite being a huge geek, I just never got on with listening to music on my computer. I found I'd sit staring at directory listings being completely unable to choose something I felt like listening to...something I never struggled with when looking at shelves of CDs. Eventually I stopped listening to music bar the odd song I'd have playing on Youtube in the background when I was working on the computer.
Just recently I've tried to put it right by getting a couple of Squeezebox receivers for hi-fis in a couple of rooms in the house that I can control through the iphone. Just in the process now of sorting my digital music collection and getting rid of all the crap I have that's getting in the way of the music I actually want to listen to.
I have maybe 80 12" albums and probably get more enjoyment and use from them than I do from the 200+GB of mp3s I have.
If I were you, and I could afford it, I'd replace the collection. When I was considering the loan to replace mine, I had great fun working out exactly what I'd get, which mistakes in judgment I'd be able to erase and so on. I even had a word with my friendly independent record store and after explaining the situation was offered a pretty hefty discount were I to go in with £3k cash and a print out of titles to order.
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