How Michael Jackson Made Me a Vinyl Freak Overnight
Editor's Note: This is a significantly expanded version of a previous article. The original version can be found here.
It all started on one fateful day in June of 2009. It was the day that Michael Jackson died, and I was on my computer when the news ultimately broke; my mother was in the bathroom at the time, away from any news sources for the moment, so I was the bearer of that day's bad news.
"Mom," I called out. "Michael Jackson is dead."
"Really?" She replied. "Damn." It wasn't much of a surprise to us, seeing as my mother had just told me of his apparent cardiac arrest an hour earlier, but it was still a big deal nonetheless; although we weren't fans of him at the time, we knew what impact it would have on the general music world. After all, he was the greatest-selling solo artist of all time, and Thriller sold as many as 110 million copies worldwide.
Even though I knew that my mother wasn't a fan of his by any stretch of the term, I still figured that she had to have something by him somewhere. I mean, who doesn't, really?
As such, when she came back into our living room, I asked her: "Hey, mom...do you own anything by Michael Jackson?"
"Heh," she replied. "I think I've got Thriller on vinyl somewhere in the basement."
"Vinyl?" I replied, laughing at the thought of those crazy comically-large black discs that preceded CDs and MP3s...at least, that's what I thought of them as at the time. Either way, we found ourselves deep within the depths of our basement about an hour later, looking through seemingly endless boxes for our vinyl copy of Thriller. As I fumbled through a few bxes of random crap, becoming more enamored by an electronic piano circa 1995 that I found amongs one of the boxes more than anything else, my mother motioned for me to come over to her end of the basement.
When I got over there, there it was: Thriller on vinyl in mint condition, with no cracks/damaging/scratches/whatever to speak of beyond dust on the cover. I normally would've stopped right there, taken the record, and promptly looked over it before going "oh, that's cool" before putting it back for another twenty-seven years, but something else fatefully placed prevented me from doing that.
That "something else", by the way, was a stack of old records. And not just a few; I'm literally talking hundreds, and that was only about a third of our collection. The nostalgia hwore in me was quickly distracted by the presence of these ancient pieces of recorded music, curiously wondering what each and every one - from Help! by The Beatles to First Base by Babe Ruth and even the noise music "classic" Metal Machine Music by Lou Reed - sounded like. I didn't have a turntable upstairs, though; I last had one set up briefly in 2004, then quickly put it back after a week's interest in it.
This, of course, ended up changing. Within another hour or so, my mother and I set up our circa-1984 Vector Graphics-branded turntable, complete with speakers and a receiver. That set-up was eventually moved to my bedroom, where it resides to this day.
Beginnings with the Turntable
After setting up the turntable for the first time in my living room, the first record I put on was Workers' Playtime by Billy Bragg. The record was sort of dusty, so I put a different record on. After yet another hour or so of time, I becane enamored with playing various records; I particularly liked most of Tom Robinson's work, most of which was enjoyable from start to finish.
This story easily could've ended here, but it doesn't. After playing my fair share of records and thinking that I was about done listening to vinyl for the next five years, I casually spotted the aforementioned copy of Thriller in one corner of my room; having never heard Thriller before (can you believe that?), I figured I'd play it on vinyl to hear it for the very first time.
What happened next can only be described as "love at first listen", I suppose, although it was love of an entire recording format and its associated playback medium. Now, don't get me wrong, I've ended up becoming a big fan of Thriller (both the album and the song) in its own right, but from the moment that that heavily synthesized "DUN-DUN" blasted forth from my turntable at the beginning of Thriller...I was hooked. I'm not exactly sure why that brief noise caused me to instantly fall in love with vinyl, but it did, and I now have the arguably dubious distinction of being a vinyl fanatic who came into prominence just as they were finally beginning to lose their luster.
Late June 2009 and Everything After
Since that one afternoon and night early on in the summer, I've officially remained a vinyl nut, walking around and evangelizing to my friends/family/all who will listen about my perceived warmth of vinyl versus CDs and MP3s. I ended up buying 21st Century Breakdown by Green Day and one of its two associated singles, Know Your Enemy, in July; those are now in heavy rotation on my turntable, albeit with a converter for the latter. In addition, I've become somewhat of a frequent at my local record store; the clerk there has grined since my third analog-related purchase, probably thinking of me as "that vinyl guy"...at least, hopefully so, and not something worse.
I'm not here to start a debate on vinyl versus CD versus MP3 versus 8-track versus Super Audio CD versus Edison's original phonograph record, although our forum would welcome that. Rather, I'm just here to tell you of my experiences with a decidedly vintage recording format, why I came to love it, and why I continue to find it highly enjoyable. Yes, vinyl records require more care than newer formats, but isn't that part of the magic of "getting into" the music?
I will say one more thing: If you're able to do so, try listening to the very end of Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen on vinyl, then compare it to a newer version. Tell me what you think of the ending.
Vinyl? CD? MP3? 8-track?!? Write with your thoughts, opinions, and vinyl vs. CD vs. MP3 vs. phonograph record bickering to captainnosebleed (at) electronicrenaissance (dot) com, and your comments could end up on the next edition of Captain's Mailbox.
You can also discuss this article at its associated forum topic.
