I'm selling my turntable.
...and my albums.
It's been something I've been thinking about for some time. In a post some months back I wrote about how streaming and digital distribution have made CDs virtually obsolete. New cars don't even have CD players anymore, so the LP, despite a resurgence of interest in vinyl as a novelty, really is an artifact of another time.
A couple of years ago I looked at my three boxes of records and my turntable, which were on a shelf in the garage, and decided to bring them in the house. I bought a new cartridge and calibrated the turntable and set aside some time each week to revisit my favorite albums. I found I was listening with a different point of view, informed by all my experiences as a performer and producer. Along with the nostalgia and memories associated with the music I enjoyed the ritual of taking the records out of their sleeves and placing the needle. It's something like driving a vintage car, kind of clumsy but satisfying as well.
I have a lyric in a song of mine, "Classic":
"I bought this record when I was eighteen
And when I drop the needle it's a time machine"
It was great, but lately I find I'm doing it less and I've come to the conclusion that it had run its course, I've also been on a mission to simplify and focus more on my own more recent music and gigs. In a way I was paying my respects to all that great music from those amazing bands and artists, and now it was time to pass them on to someone who might appreciate them as much as I have. It's not about money, records are only worth a couple of dollars unless they are pristine and unplayed and these are certainly not that. I took good care of them, but they are, to be kind, "well loved". I'll put them on Craigslist and see if I can get a few dollars but I may just give them away.
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| Records for Sale |
I don't think of myself as overly sentimental, certainly not a hoarder. My attitude is that material things have value if they are useful, and used. This applies to guitars, pa and recording equipment, which is pretty much the extent of what I own. If I don't use it I don't have it. The records were an exception, one that bothered me at times, but the associations with those memories embodied with them were powerful. But there does come a time when one realizes that the past is just that, past, and the present (and future) has much to offer. Perhaps letting these go will generate some energy for a new adventure and it's necessary to travel a bit lighter to make that journey.
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| Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA |
