RECORD RESURGENCE: Listening on vinyl is in again
May 21—If you haven't noticed, records are a big thing again.
Yes, vinyl is hot and selling in new record volumes not seen in decades.
I'm old enough to remember the excitement of new albums coming out and now I wish I'd saved mine from back in the day.
A few short years ago, I started seeking out records at yard sales. flea markets and second hand shops. Little did I know that in 2022, new records would be in stores everywhere, and the old ones in high demand.
I always enjoyed records. Back in high school, I sold my baseball card collection to help me buy a new stereo receiver and a new turntable. Back then, audiophiles marveled at direct-drive turntables — the latest thing on the market.
Suddenly, a new technology emerged, and records, cassette tapes and 8 tracks became things of the past. The CD took over the music world and the digital sound was here to stay ... or so we thought.
CDs remained popular until digital files such as MP3s became popular. Now, with streaming services and bluetooth audio, you'd think the simplicity of records wouldn't be popular, but the opposite is happening.
A few weeks ago, I spoke with Jett Beres, the bassist for the group Sister Hazel. They've been around since the mid 1990s and he mentioned that he'd noticed the same thing, and Sister Hazel is re-releasing some of its past albums.
"Vinyl is hot now," Beres said. "People want that. I love it. It's probably the same feeling I have that the people buying them have. There's a nostalgia to it, but not only that, I learned this listening to albums with my son, you're not tempted to skip a song. You put the needle on the record and let it go. You're hearing all the tracks. Records were made to be listened to in their entirety for a long period of time there because of the format. The format dictates the art sometimes. You connect with it more. I think that's what people are going back to. Instead of telling Alexa to play whatever, there's a feeling of connectivity to the music that is striking a chord with music fans — audiophiles."
For me, it's been fun. I've collected music from all genres, including many favorites that I had in my collection back in the day.
One of my favorites is a jazz fusion group named Spyro Gyra. They've been around since the 70s. I first got into them thanks to our jazz band in high school playing the tune "Morning Dance."
It's kind of nice looking for their records, because for me, they're priced right. I've picked them up in antique/vintage stores from Sanford to Asheboro to Atlanta. My wife and I love the huge flea markets at the State Fairgrounds in Raleigh and I've picked up lots of records there — often for a dollar or two.
Back when I lived in Mississippi, I went to an estate sale in my neighborhood and managed to pick up a small collection of Elvis records for a few bucks. A recent trip to Raleigh yielded me a bunch of Broadway musical records — from Music Man to West Side Story — I now have original cast recordings. Most of those records were $2 apiece at the flea market.
Last weekend, I was with my family on a shopping trip to Concord Mills. My stepdaughter lives in Charlotte and we were headed down to see her. At the mall, I noticed the new records starting at about $30 and going on up — a far cry from the dollar or two I've been spending. I also noticed an abundance of new turntables, complete with bluetooth so you can connect them to speakers or wireless headphones. Maybe I'll get one someday, but for now, a vintage turntable sounds good with my old tower speakers from the 1980s.
They say everything old is new again ... and in the case of vinyl records, that makes me happy.
Mark Rogers is editor of The Sanford Herald. He can be reached via email at mrogers@sanfordherald.com
Mark Rogers is editor of The Sanford Herald. He can be reached via email at mrogers@sanfordherald.com
