Saturday 21 April 2012

Happy Record Store Day!



I thought I would dedicate this post to all the record shops left open today.  Yes, today is Record Store day and it got me reminiscing about the good old days of going into my local vinyl shop!  I have two separate memories of this in two different eras.
My first memory is of my Dad.  He has been djing for over 30 years so a routine of heading to a record shop every Saturday would fit into our plans.  I must have been about 7 onwards and at the time I did not fully appreciate the wonder a record shop beholds.  My Dad would spend a good couple of hours flicking through every record in one section, making a mini pile of ones that he has selected and then continuing to buy the latest chart entries to keep up to date.  I would spend those two hours being bored senseless!  There was not much for me to do, music did not interest me at that age and I would just run around the shop or sit and read the inlay covers of cassette albums!  However, I am so glad my Dad did take me on these days out as something must have sank in on the way and nowadays I love nothing more than seeing old vinyl! 
I started to appreciate record shops the more my Dad took me and the older I got.  I am a huge Madonna fan and I remember hunting for any vinyl she released and this has now progressed to 7" singles of my favourite indie songs and obscure bands.  I love picture discs especially, and coloured vinyl as they present an alternative to the typical black.  But there is nothing like a good old fashioned record to cling on to and pass onto our kids.
Unfortunately, our local record stores, Sounds Familiar and Vinyl Village have since been turned into a block of flats and a tanning salon so my son has no idea what a proper record store is.  HMV is the closest he will get to knowing a music shop and even then they are on there way out!
My collection of music consists of 300+ cds, 50 tapes and about a handful of vinyl at the moment.  I am not a huge fan of downloading music although I find it handy for buying the odd single.  I prefer to walk into a shop an buy the physical item, to have it in my hand and get excited about taking it home with me to play, and then filing it alongside the rest of my collection!  Its not the same when doing this with iTunes!

My collection of vinyl so far!

We laugh when we explain to our son what a cassette is, I have not even covered what a record is yet!  I sound so ancient!  But the shocking truth is, my impending child may not even know what a CD is by the time he is old enough to realise and thats so sad.   I will always be thankful to my Dad for introducing me to the world of music, vinyl and record shops as it definetely plays a big role in my life right now and if I can cling on to what was, then hopefully I can pass this onto my children and the world can do the same!

If you live local to a record store, pop in, have a browse, have a chat amongst fellow record lovers and embrace the fact that you are lucky enough to do this!

Happy Record Store day and long may they continue to remain alive!





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