By Sandra Dick
THAT couple of pounds of pocket money would be scorching a hole in your pocket, the tranny radio would be pressed to your ear and, naturally, your tiger feet would be taking you in just one direction.
Saturday mornings spent hanging out at the local record shop, flicking through thousands of albums for the hundredth time, tuning in to the latest single releases through a massive set of headphones . . . it was where a whole generation of music-loving kids got their kicks.
Hard to imagine the MP3 MySpace generation of today being able to remember their first ever download with great relish.
But for yesterday's youngsters – a growing number of them now middle aged record collectors – the joy of walking out the high street record shop swinging a 7in-square plastic bag containing the 45rpm single was a childhood rite of passage.
At home came the ritual of sliding the shiny black vinyl from its sleeve before placing it delicately on the old Decca portable record player. Tinny music would flood from the sole speaker while the sleeve notes were studied and then consigned to memory.
On the downside, the needle had a habit of jumping if you walked past in your clumpy platform shoes, within weeks it would be scratched or warped, the cover ripped by an overzealous little brother.
Perhaps no wonder the onset of the mighty and allegedly indestructible Compact Disc spelled the skip for many of our vinyl collections.
This year marks the 60th anniversary of Eddy Arnold's Texarkana Baby – the world's first seven-inch 45rpm single. Yet, ironically, while the CD boom of the '90s spelled the demise of the 45rpm single and their 12in 33rpm vinyl cousins, it is the CD that is suffering a lingering death of its own at the hands of the digital age. . . and for some it's good old vinyl that is back. In fact, as World Record Shop Day looms later this month and the golden era of vinyl is celebrated with the release of The Boat That Rocked – based on a pirate radio ship in the 1970s – there are those who say they never really went away.
"Okay, vinyl nearly died," laughs Bruce Findlay, who ran independent record shops before managing bands such as Simple Minds and China Crisis in the '80s. "But now it's like someone cloned it, used the DNA and now it's back.
"Agreed, it's not the way it was when everyone had a record player and that's all you could buy. Today it's collectible and it's what a lot of people want."
Indeed, today's artists are learning to cash in on the fans' love of a classic vinyl disc.
Duffy, the Pet Shop Boys and a string of modern artists have released tracks on vinyl, aware that the ethereal qualities of digital sounds cannot match the thrill of actually "owning" a piece of music. World Record Shop Day is being marked by a string of vinyl releases from artists such as The Smiths, Joy Division and Tom Waits.
"No matter how many people are on a band's MySpace page or download their music, it's not a real measure of success," explains Kevin Buckle, boss of Avalanche Records in Cockburn Street, one of Edinburgh's longest established independent record dealers. "It doesn't really translate to how many people actually go to their concerts or buy their CDs.
"The great thing about a record is you can put it on and play it to your friends. The trouble is, kids are so used to listening to music through headphones that they hardly know what it's like to sit to listen any other way."
The other problem with vinyl is the dearth of anything to actually play it on. For as CDs took over the world, record players – and the collections of discs once lovingly catalogued, polished and played – were mostly consigned to the tip.
"I've had young kids coming in to buy a vinyl record and saying that they were going off to their grandfather's house to play it because he was the only person in the family with a record player," adds Kevin.
"Record companies are obsessed with kids and computers and mobile phones and everything they do is geared towards that. They think no-one under 25 buys music, but I get plenty of kids in the shop who want more than just a song on an MP3 player. They want badges, posters, stuff that's more tactile than just the song."
It's a rising trend for a modern "antique" which is helping ensure the survival of an endangered species – the independent record shop. Once a feature on every high street, they were hit by the rise of the record superstores such as Our Price, HMV and Virgin.
Yet, just as vinyl is enjoying a revival at the expense of the CD, small record shops insist they are holding their own as the digital revolution engulfs the music superstores that once threatened their very survival.
Today there are around 300 independent record shops trading in Britain, and around half a dozen – the oldest of them Ripping Records at South Bridge, Avalanche and Vinyl Villains in Elm Row – in the Edinburgh area.
Tommy Robertson of second-hand record shop Back Track Music in Tollcross, admits business is still a struggle but with an increasing number of people seeing the potential rarity value in vinyl, there is hope.
"Some actually prefer the snap, crackle and pop of a vinyl disc," he explains. "Others like the fact it's something solid that you can hold, and you can read the sleeve notes better than you can on a CD.
"These days it's a throwaway society. But back then there was something very real about saving your pennies and buying a particular record."
David Griffen of second-hand record and book store Elvis and Shakespeare in Leith Walk, agrees. "There's a completely different aesthetic from vinyl to CD. I get people in the shop much older than me who just come in to look longingly at the stock and touch the covers."
Author Nick Hornby touched on the fascination of vinyl among collectors in his novel High Fidelity. "They're as close to being mad as makes no difference," he wrote.
Music impresario Bruce Findlay can identify with that. "There are a lot of 'anoraks' out there, and I'm one," he laughs, after quoting the catalogue numbers of a string of rare discs off the top of his head. "The music industry is going through massive change and the demise of the superstore means record shops have an opportunity.
"What's emerging is a cottage industry with new artists working in collectives, signing to local labels and bringing out limited numbers of vinyl records to sell in these independent stores.
"I wouldn't have said it two or three years ago but if I was a teenager leaving school just now, I know what I'd do," he adds with a grin. "Yeah, I'd definitely open a record shop."
RECORD PROFITS
HAVE you got any of these in your dusty record collection?
• The BEATLES White Album (1968): The plain white cover of the first pressings carried a unique number. In November number 0000005 sold for nearly £20,000.
• THE SEX PISTOLS God Save the Queen (1977): Released on A&M records. Expect to get in the region of £13,000.
• THE ROLLING STONES 7in Street Fighting Man (US version) It recently fetched $15,200 at auction.
• A promo of JUNIOR McCANT'S King, sold for $15,000. Last month the Scottish Parliament was asked to save a Fife collectors' copy of Do I Love You (Indeed I do) by FRANK WILSON for the nation. It's expected to reach up to £75,000.
&149 Other rarities include THE BEATLES' Yesterday and Today "Butcher" sleeve (£19,250); BOB DYLAN'S The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, with extra four tracks (£17,500) and LONG CLEVE REED & LITTLE HARVEY HULL'S Stack O'Lee Blues, worth £15,000.
SOURCE: http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com
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