Vinyl Aid

Every now and then you run across a story that shows the true meaning of vinyl collecting, we all stick together, as this story explains:

Kawkawlin resident gives record collection to man who lost his to fire

By Patti Brandt

With the help of Kawkawlin resident Alex Doan, Bay City's John Sanchez is back in the groove.

Sanchez lost his record collection last month when his house burned down. On Saturday, Doan turned his collection of vintage vinyl over to Sanchez, who's been collecting records since he was 15.

On March 20, Sanchez stood outside his home at 607 N. Sheridan St. smelling burning vinyl as the entire collection went up in smoke.

Temporarily living in a hotel apartment in Saginaw, Sanchez, 61, said he had too many records to count, though he estimates there were about 800. And the collection contained all kinds of music, from country to rock.

''Most of them were oldies and popular music,'' he said.

Doan, 76, recently put his entire collection - 288 records in all - on disc, using a CD recorder.

''I just got through transferring them all and I saw this article in the paper,'' Doan said.

He knew right away what he would do.

''Here's a man that lost everything,'' he said. ''I thought, 'Why don't I just give him what I've got?' If it makes him feel better, fine.''

And though Sanchez doesn't yet have a record player - his was lost in the fire - he's looking forward to listening to Doan's collection.

''I feel real good about it,'' he said.

Doan said all his records are in excellent condition - no warps or scratches. That's because he never stacked them up on a record player, he said, which is the key to keeping them pristine.

Plus, the records were off limits to all the little fingers in his family of seven children and their progeny.

''My children and my grandchildren have never touched these records.''

Doan's favorite group is Santo & Johnny, the Brooklyn brothers who recorded the instrumental ''Sleep Walk.'' And while Doan likes instrumentals, his collection also contains country and western records, easy listening and big band and polka music.

''My type of music is something that I can sit back, close my eyes, and just listen to,'' Doan said.

The collection - which numbered 400 records at one time - once contained several Elvis and Beatles records. But family members already snapped those up, he said.

SOURCE: http://www.mlive.com/news