“Growing up, I remember my parents playing a lot of swing, jazz, and The Beatles on vinyl, and most distinctly, how very loud it was. Often, when they were cleaning, they’d turned up the music so much you could hardly even hear the vacuum cleaner.”
“I have an early memory of my brother and I breaking my dad’s very expensive turntable pickup. We were playing with it, putting our small toy cars on the turntable and watching them go round and round. He was very angry at us and moved the turntable so we couldn’t reach it.
I can’t remember exactly when I started playing vinyl myself or what my first record was, but I know it was during my teenage years in high school, shortly after I had moved out of my parents’ home. My friends and I were total music nerds; we had to have the “right” hi-fi system and the “right” record player. Most of my savings went toward the equipment. I started listening mostly to hip-hop, soul, and new soul like Marvin Gaye, D’angelo, Eryka Badu, A Tribe Called Quest, Blackalicious, Common, The Pharcyde, and The Beastie Boys.
The pool only widens when considering examples that might fall short of the earth-shaking category but are still very much of interest, as history does not consist of an uninterrupted sequence of masterpieces and artistic breakthroughs; there’s a whole lot of interest in between, which is where At New York Town Hall 1947, a live recording on double vinyl featuring New Orleans trumpeter Bunk Johnson & blues-folk singer-guitarist Lead Belly, resides.
Dundee, UK | SAVED: Iconic store in Dundee city centre to stay open: The iconic Groucho’s record store is to stay open, its owner has announced. It was announced in September last year that the landlord was selling the shop premises and subsequently the sale was completed at the end of November. It left owner Alastair Brodie considering retirement and the record store – a mainstay in Dundee for 42 years and at its current Nethergate location since 1999 – under threat. But Alastair has announced it will stay open in a Facebook post on Friday night. He wrote: “After months of speculation I am delighted to announce that Groucho’s will not be closing in the near future as feared. “Fortunately we have been able to strike a deal with the new landlord to extend our lease by five years which I’m sure will come as 
Des Moines, IA | Rock out, Merle Hay Mall: A store with 50,000 vinyl records is moving in: Get ready to rock, Merle Hay Mall. A record store is moving into the mall, complete with 50,000 vinyl records, cassette tapes, autographed pieces and live bands playing shows in the mall. Ratt’s Underground Records is moving into a 3,900 square-foot space at the mall on the lower level, next door to Expo and near Flix Brewhouse. Steve Ratcliff, the store’s owner, said he is moving his existing store at 617 Euclid Avenue and all of the vintage merchandise along with it. “I have a lot of opportunities going into the mall,” Ratcliff said. “I’ve been here in the Highland Park area for seven years and it’s a struggle.” The Merle Hay Mall store includes a poster and art gallery, heavy metal and punk rock patches and 1,600 band T-shirts. Ratcliff said his store will appeal to 
Hartlepool, UK | Northern Rocks in Hartlepool for lovers of vinyl records: Vinyl is, for Phil Dunn, labelled with love. The music suitor has fulfilled a long-time ambition and opened up a record store. Northern Rocks Vintage Vinyl, based inside Kiwi Trading in Hartlepool, sells vinyl albums and singles from across the years. And Dunn is also passing on his knowledge and expertise when it comes to jukeboxes and record players too. With a hefty collection at home, Northern Rocks – regulars at the old Gemini club in Hartlepool will recognise the logo – is a big extension of his personal vinyl enthusiasm. Dunn admitted: “It’s a lifetime of work – as a record collector I’ve built up a collection of 
Los Angeles, CA | Math professor’s fortune is pure vinyl: …But prior to getting into the academic life, Pumar had been stockpiling on vinyl records since the age of 16. “I had a friend in high school, whose parents gave him all of their old records, and I was at his house. As soon as I saw a record on the table, in motion, producing music, I got utterly fascinated and it’s been a total obsession ever since,” Pumar said. Pumar has accumulated a massive collection of 1,214 Vinyl’s [“Vinyls” is not a word. The plural of vinyl is in fact, vinyl. —Ed.] and said that choosing one favorite is hard. He said his collection is worth anywhere between 16,000 or 40,000 dollars. His most prized pieces of his collection are the ones where he got to meet the artist and have them sign his vinyl. “All the signed ones I have are priceless, because there is that interaction there where I got to 
