“…Well, you’ll probably have around 10,000 by the time we are 80” my wife said. “If you keep going at this pace, you’re guaranteed to at least have over 8,000.” The thought of this made me kind of sick. Not only because of the ridiculous amount of money I’d be spending (over $40,000.00 if the average price was $5.00), but because I wasn’t doing this just to have a huge collection……right?
I don’t have an incredibly large record collection (roughly 325-400). As far as “collectors” are concerned it’s probably small, but the question I have been asking myself ever since the conversation with my wife is “When is enough….enough?”
And honestly, I’m not really sure of the answer to that question. Didn’t I start this to expose myself to other genres and time periods of music? I can’t help but question my intentions at times. I haven’t reached the point where I buy records in bulk, but I do tend to purchase vinyl I’m not really partial to when it is very inexpensive.
I think about my recent visit to El Suprimo in Baltimore. Jack’s business card said “Moving down in the world”.
But truthfully, after spending so much time at flea markets, antique shops, and yard sales…visiting a record store like this made me feel as if I was moving up in the world.
When I walked up, the owner Jack was somehow fielding questions from two people about purchasing the same turntable, going through a stack of records that a woman was trading in for cash, and keeping an eye on the 8-10 people in his store…all at the same time. Dealing with this every day had to get tiring, so I asked Jack why he did it, and his simple reply was “The music man”. Was it really though? Or was it just an obsession with vinyl in general? Maybe it was the feeling that you need to have your arms wrapped around it all, routinely appreciating the purchases of the day only until they find their way onto the shelf. Which always seems to be followed by a short period of day dreaming about what you will find next trip around.
For the last week, I’ve been asking myself why I dig. Why I visit the same crappy thrift store on lunch break at work 2 times a week hoping that somebody dropped off something worth my time. Why I find myself in the hot, humid, and dusty upper levels of antique stores….and why I visit the same record stores to look at the 10 new vinyls they may have put out in the last 2 weeks. This weekend…..I remembered why.
After stopping at a record store that I’ve passed 100 times and never gone into, I found the elusive Sex Pistols vinyl. It is by no means rare, but in this area, it is tough to find. I of course have been looking for a used copy in great playing condition, and I finally found it (TAKE THAT BROHAMMAS!). I’ve seen this twice online go for over $25, and while in Baltimore neither Own Guru or El Suprimo had it in stock.
I finally had it. A search that sadly had lasted over a year had ended. It also helped end, for the time being, a week long debate with myself. Maybe I had forgotten my purpose for doing this, but this particular vinyl brought me back. I went home, and listened to both sides of “Nevermind the bullocks” while simply sitting on the couch and doing nothing else. I thought about how the search makes it interesting, and actually finding the vinyl makes the search worth it. It also made me realize that maybe I need to stop buying vinyls just because they are $0.50 each, and go back to buying only the ones I want to listen to. I need to remember this is my collection, and it should be filled with things I want to listen to, not things that makes others think it is a good collection. However, the question that still stands, when do I stop? For right now, I’m not thinking about it. I am going to enjoy the sounds I have been searching a long year for.
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