There seems to be a constant lament from music lovers of my generation for the demise of the vinyl record hence the Record Store Day where Parlophone are releasing 7" versions of some of their biggest bands.
Maybe i am alone but i had built up quite a large stock of vinyl records throughout my youth and i don't think i had a single one that didn't jump, hiss or stick at some point and it would drive me crazy.
My friend showed me that by blu-tacking a 2p coin to the top of the stylus, you could avoid all but the most deepest of scratches but it always seemed that no matter how careful you were, you would somehow get a nick on the surface and have to lift the needle over that part of the song.
I was more than happy when vinyl was replaced by Compact Discs where the sound was much crisper and i could actually listen to Two Tribes without hearing Holly Johnson stutter about how a point is all that you can sc-sc-sc-sc-sc-sc-sc-sc...
I put this down to selective memory from those wallowing in nostalgia for vinyl records. In practise they were clumsy things you had to cradle lovingly in order to work properly and no teenage bedroom was complete without these black circles thrown haphazardly around the place beneath discarded jeans, trainers and cereal bowls.
Just like the computers with cassette tapes and those large clunky VHS video recorders, you may look back fondly at them but you wouldn't want to swap your laptop or your DVD player for them.
Let's leave vinyl back in the past and stop pretending it was in anyway superior to today's formats.
3 comments:
ditto. i dont want to go back to slide rulers either! or motorless lawnmowers, or cars with air conditioning, or eye classes, or AM radio, or black and white TV, or bicycles with just one gear...
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I basically agree with all that, with the exception that it's still more fun to DJ/mix with vinyl on two proper turntables... CD and MP3 mixers have replicated the design, and you're able to drag the record around easily (and visual displays enable you to 'cheat' in terms of beat-mixing) but it's not quite the same thing.
Bikes with one gear. I had one of those and it was a pig of a thing to ride. I also had a racing bike and the chain would get wrapped around the cogs at least once a month but i think that was due to me rather than anything else.
I can understand how from a dj/mixing point of view the vinyl records would be better. I do remember occasions at weddings or other events where djs putg on a 12" record while they nicked off to the toilet or for a drink and the record getting stuck.
Absolutely Onedia, especially the part about being able to put what songs we want rather than having to wade through some real dross to get to the few good tracks.
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