By John Clise
It’s a glorious day for vinyl lovers everywhere with the resurgence of the album. LP and EP sales totaled $232.1 million in the first half of 2020 — almost 80% more than the total revenue for CD sales, which stood at $129.9 million, according to estimates from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Oh those pops, hisses and skips are reminders of every time you ever listened to a particular record. Maybe it was sitting around with friends grooving to the Doobie Brothers, sitting alone contemplating the Sounds of Silence or snuggling up with that special someone with Anita Baker playing soft in the background.
The first record I ever bought was Children of the World by the Bee Gees. I only bought that one, and still have it, because they were sold out of Peter Frampton’s Frampton Comes Alive. I bought that one the next week. I still have that record too. Who am I kidding…? I still have every single album and 45 I ever bought. I must have 25 Kenny Rogers 45s.
I still have all my parents’ records and all of records I had when I was club DJ waaaaay back in the 1980s. That seems like yesterday, though it was apparently at least 30 years ago. And before you ask, no I wouldn’t want to go back to those days even if I knew everything I know now. I like today’s playlist much better.
Back to the records. The resurgence of vinyl is just terrific. I never bought into the crystal clear sound of CDs or the concert like quality… ever been to a concert… it’s anywhere from a couple of hundred people upwards of 100,000 depending on the venue and event singing along… I’ll take my records any day over “digitally remastered” CDs.
According to reports, vinyl records seem to be the most popular amongst classic rock fans. In 2018 alone, The Beatles sold over 300,000 vinyl records while Pink Floyd, David Bowie, Fleetwood Mac, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, and Queen all sold over 100,000.
Obviously streaming music purchases still dominate the music platform, but we old school rockers are making a comeback with vinyl.
I love to hear every imperfection a record gets over the course of its life time. The truly are reminders of friendship, self-reflection and sweet moments of the heart.
You should all friend me on Facebook. It’ll be a fun time. We can get to know each other better. We can share some laughs and voice our concerns over things going on in Lewis County.
If all else fails, we can talk about our favorite records. Now that sounds downright great to me. Hope to see you soon.
Clise's Cornucopia 