In praise of vinyl records

[Denis McKeown]

I was just seventeen and a train journey took me to the city. I walked up the tree lined street to the University district, the Georgian houses looking a little down at heel, the cracked pavements, the gardens beyond and it being early in the year just the hint, the promise of spring. I turned down a wide street to the University Bookshop. Walking through the doors - the portal to discovery - it was not just the air conditioning that raised my temperature. Stretching before me the lines of shelves rising to the ceiling. Books. Beautiful books, holding limitless treasures. I could just take one in my hands and open the pages. I could take this beautiful book home and bit by bit unearth it's secrets.

I was in my thirties when the rumour of the book's decline and replacement was circulating. I hadn't paid much attention. I had been on holiday up in Scotland on a road bike, with dear friends and a couple of tents. Or just thinking about getting a cheap flight to the USA. But some months passed and I happened to pass that bookshop near the Botanic Gardens. I wandered in. Something had changed. The shelves were gones. The books were all gone. There was an enormous television screen instead and it was surrounded by beautiful glittering "Kindle" devices.

The world it seemed had moved on from the paperback book.

 

[Rockmeister]

And in chapter 2, you make the 'Vinyl records' connection? Or was the metaphor the story??

 

[kernow]

I remember when you could buy record, get a pasty, and still have enough for bus ride ome

 

[Rockmeister]

I really do remember Cider at 8p a pint. And rest 'o shilling was half a chips and curry sauce.

 

[paulfromcamden]

I remember when you could buy record, get a pasty, and still have enough for bus ride ome

That's still pretty much my favourite thing to do of an afternoon!

 

[sonddek]

Even Rick Astley records are records, and therefore sacred.

 

[Mike Reed]

The world it seemed had moved on from the paperback book.

Do we have to book the vinyl title reference?

 

[Mr Pig]

I remember when you could buy record, get a pasty, and still have enough for bus ride home.

You mean, yesterday?

 

[Ronaudio]

Even Rick Astley records are records, and therefore sacred.

and never gonna give them up

 

[david ellwood]

Even Rick Astley records are records, and therefore sacred.

Rick Astleys third Album ‘Free’ is superb and really worth a listen.

 

[heidcase music]

I really do remember Cider at 8p a pint. And rest 'o shilling was half a chips and curry sauce.

When I was 18 you could get 10 pints of heavy or 8 pints of lager for £1 .. a fish supper was 1/6d .. a gallon yes a gallon of Esso Extra was 4/3d

 

[Big Tabs]

Rick Astleys third Album ‘Free’ is superb and really worth a listen.

His album ‘50’ is crap.
The Wife wanted it for Christmas 2016 - played it once, never again.
I should put it in the Headway charity shop when Wife isn’t about.
Might get £5+ for it.

 

[tpetsch]

I remember back when my major mode of transportation was a skateboard, and 2nd hand record shops were uncommon.

 

[Mynamemynaim]

I remember back when my major mode of transportation was a skateboard

And I remember when no one had heard of a "skate board"
It was go-karts or rollerskates or bicycles if you wanted to get around
I also made catapults and carried a sheath knife....was scared of teachers and policemen ...and played in the park with loads of mates
I feel a bit sad for the xbox generation

 

[Big Tabs]

And I remember when no one had heard of a "skate board"
It was go-karts or rollerskates or bicycles if you wanted to get around

You hadn’t heard of skateboards, but they have been around longer than you.

My Dad made one for himself, 1951 ish. They originated in the 1920’s from scooters.

https://www.boardcoast.com/skateboarding/skateboard-history-timeline/

https://www.skateboardershq.com/skateboard-history/

 

[paulfromcamden]

You hadn’t heard of skateboards, but they have been around longer than you.

My Dad made one for himself, 1951 ish. They originated in the 1920’s from scooters.

https://www.boardcoast.com/skateboarding/skateboard-history-timeline/

https://www.skateboardershq.com/skateboard-history/

From 1931. "This item is absolutely safe"

 

[Big Tabs]

From 1931. "This item is absolutely safe"

Skateboarding is never safe.

 

[Martyn Miles]

When I was 18 you could get 10 pints of heavy or 8 pints of lager for £1 .. a fish supper was 1/6d .. a gallon yes a gallon of Esso Extra was 4/3d

When I owned a Lambretta scooter in the ‘60s, I used to fill the tank up on a Saturday.
Two-stroke fuel was 6/8d per gallon, so my £1.00 bought me 2 gallons.
Oh, and a 7” single from the local record shop.

 

[per-Sony-fied]

I remember when I was just a wee little kid in the 70's & asked my mum if I could buy a single down at the market which was to be my very first piece of vinyl that "I" had bought. "I" raided my mums purse as I did not have the money. As the pennies came out she kept saying is that enough..... nope, the pennies rolled out & eventually she said .... How much in a loud voice. I guess they must have cost a fair sum in relation to wages back then or my mum just was tight with the pennies as had several mouths to feed.

 

[berty bass]

The first album I bought for myself, in the mid-70's, cost £2.39. (Beatles, Abbey Rd, if you must know.)