This might amuse. Record stores are like hens' teeth in some areas, there's none in the immediate vicinity for me. But there must still be thousands in America and many in cities around the world. An audio message board I frequent has a long-running thread, nearly 300 pages, which shows photographs of record shops past and present uploaded by contributors. Here's one in Florence. And one in the UK.
@Doghouse Riley there aren't too many in my area of the states.They are disappearing so much everyone seems to downloads their music. Believe the closest one is a 30 minute drive away for me.
My son is a fairly well known DJ in the states started in the 80’s in highschool. All his music is on vinyl. He has acquired LP’s, 45,’s and a record collection from 60’s up till 80’s , 90’s of several different genera’s is worth a small fortune. My collection starts way before that and still have many LP’s that are highly sought after. Very few record stores around today unfortunately . I remember when we could pick out a LP at a record store, go into a quiet room and listen to the LP before we purchased it. Then came the tapes 8 track tapes, smaller tapes, discs and finally download . I still have my mini We have all lived thru an amazing music era. Remember… “I want my MTV “. The kids motto..when music video's first started on tv in the early 80’s. And when pay tv became the new in thing for movies. I still have my mini MP3 with head phones to stream music when I’m mowing the pastures. Haha… It’s all relevant to where we apply the new Technologies of the day.
Absolutely and even a few very rare 33’s.sizes: 7 inch, 10 inch and 12 inch diameters, while the playback speeds used are 33 RPM, 45 RPM and if you go … song on each side of the record, while 33(actually 33 1/3 ) or LPs(long playing) are 12” in diameter. Even pics on LP’s are quit rare.
45s came as singles or as an EP, "extended play" two tracks each side. I had the three EPs of this album. Trivia. The songs on these, they recorded, as they owed Cadence 12 songs when they got their million dollar contract deal with Warner Brothers record label. A consequence of this new contract, under the restrictions of their old one with Acuff Rose,was they were unable to record any more songs written by Felice & Boudleaux Bryant, who had written most of their hits, or any of their own songs written before the new contract. So they recorded "Cryin' in the Rain," written by Carole King, which was a hit. LPs came as mostly 12" but some 10". Automatic record players in the late fifties, where you could stack several records on the central spindle, would play any of the different sizes, even if you mixed them up, but you might have to change the speed. I had one 10" LP in 1958. "Mr Acker Bilk Requests." It had a coloured photo of the band on the front of the sleeve. They were in a sort of Edwardian dress, wearing waistcoats. I was impressed by the rounded corners of the collars of their white shirts. The value of records, like with everything, depends on the condition and how much anyone wants it. The best ones to find are those that attracted a cult following decades after they were originally released but achieved few sales. As an example. The Hollies had a hit with "I Can't Let Go." A copy now would be worth only a few quid. But it was "a cover" rushed out before this was released, which then had poor sales. I'd like a copy for my jukebox, but there aren't any available and if one were it would be at a ridiculous price. Some popular vintage albums are worth money, but like books, they need to be "first editions." Popular albums often had several pressings in the same year. The first pressing is often a small run, it's only if it proves popular will further runs, be made. Even then, they need to have an immaculate sleeve and preferably still in their heat sealed plastic wrapper. I occasionally buy 45s on eBay or Discogs, there's thousands of them, for a few pounds, the same with LPs, but the quality is usually several levels lower than the "guide" the sellers use, to describe them. But occasionally I've found one or two mint ones that are decades old. Usually from a vendor who is not really in the record business. Of course before LPs and 45s there were 78s, the same size as an LP and the record players I mentioned would play them. For a time in the late fifties, record companies sold new popular records in both formats to cater for those consumers who had record players that only played 78s. 78s were originally made of shellac. This became a "war material" during WW2 as it was used to cover the windings in electric motors and other uses where insulation was needed. I learned the following from a TV interview with Humphrey Lyttleton the jazz musician. During the war, shellac was so scarce, a record would be made with two thin coats of shellac over a central core, made of either cardboard or sawdust. Also, in some record stores, you had to hand in an old record, before they let you buy a new one. The old one, would be sent for recycling.
I've enjoyed this post DHR. And I love the look of the record shops. There's nothing like that around here. I was in a record shop in Vancouver about 34 years ago when I was a teenager, and I was lost in it for a few hours. I have my grandfathers hand cranked phonograph and a few boxes of very heavy 78s. I didn't know why they were so heavy until your post. We like to listen to it in the winter when the power goes out, and sometimes on the deck in the summer. My mom played piano and collected all of the original LPs and sheet music from the 50s which I still listen to - Buddy Holly, Elvis, The Everly Brothers, Patsy Cline, and too many more to remember. We also have a few shelves of singles on 45s. We enjoy the sound of the records very much.
