skonopa Posted January 7, 2003 Share Posted January 7, 2003 Here is a neat little piece written by one of the youth correspondents in the local Fredericksburg paper about vinyl. I would imagine a few of you would get a delight out of it, especially considering it was written by a high school junior. It shows that even todays kids still like to listen to vinyl. Enjoy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnalOg Posted January 7, 2003 Share Posted January 7, 2003 That young man appears to be in touch with the real world. Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisK Posted January 7, 2003 Share Posted January 7, 2003 Great piece, very well written. I think some of the college kids are catching on. While my daughter was home from school over Christmas break, she told me about several kids at her school (University of California) that are vinylphiles. Suddenly Dad isn't such a dinosaur. At our home we listen to probably 50-60% vinyl with the balance being split between FM radio and cd's. Regards, Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjohnsonhp Posted January 7, 2003 Share Posted January 7, 2003 As a frequent shopper of vinyl and owner of over 2500 lps I believe vinyl is getting more popular. We have gone through the phase where everyone was replacing their lps with CDs and dumping TT's and vinyl. Not only are there niche vinyl lovers (ie house&techno, audiophiles) but traditional rock favs seem to be coming back out in 180g vinyl. Used lps also seem to be selling more than in the past. Instead of dumping vinyl and TT's, people seem to be buying them back. In addition to other characteristics, they seem to have a nostalgia not found in CDs. I think of them as big "baseball cards". Great to hold and look at and even more fun to play. For some older/rarer lps in my collection, I listen to the remastered CD and hold the old lp jacket while I listen. There is still a ton of Platinum selling lps (Fleetwood Mac, Journey, Styx) in typcial used and scratched condition that aren't selling well but the lower production lps seems to be hot and getting more expensive. It seems like the indie records of the 80's (hard to find on CD--if at all) esp the hardcore punk ones are selling in the $10-$35 range. Not bad for lps that were barely noticed by a small group of fans when they were released. Who would have thought bands like the The FREEZE and FEAR would be in seaminly more demand 20 years later. Most of the classic punk lps are plentiful in 180g vinyl new...ie Ramones, Dead Boys, Iggy Pop, etc. Vinyl is still a pain in terms of usability compared to CD. I'm continually at war with dust and with some lps I felt like carving a trench through certain songs so I could just hear the ones I like...The Lennon/Ono lps come to mind where I am making CDR's of just the Lennon tunes. I also find classical music is often recorded softly and any surface noise ruins the soft passages...I've found mint looking lps only to find this problem so sealed seems to be the way for Classical. I'm looking for the single lp radio promo versions of "DOUBLE NICKLES ON THE DIME" and "ZEN ARCADE". White Jacket, etching on inner vinyl band. Paying $35 each plus shipping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynnm Posted January 7, 2003 Share Posted January 7, 2003 I too was impressed with the young fellow's writing skills. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HornEd Posted January 7, 2003 Share Posted January 7, 2003 Not only his writing skills, Lynn, but also the logical "next step" that his views suggest... some new technology that combines the honesty of analog with the practicality of zeroes and ones. In this world of increasingly sophisticated and knowledgeable inquiry... should not the richeness and clairity of tubes be intertwined with the power and durability of solid state in search of audio truth... you know, the stuff that made Col. PWK forsake a career in cannon-aid technology and find for horn loaded civvies in a backwoods shed. It is interesting to envision this Forum as one holistic map of tomorrow's desire... for out of desire comes innovation... and a potential acceptance that would change our audio world. Fifty years is a long time to be selling Klipschorns... and ten years is too long to think that we will be riding a direct descendant of our digitally striped horse and crossover buggy sound systems. I can see it more clearly now... Horn-loaded Klipsch Ear Implants with matching WiFi earring tweeters... wiggle your ears and pump up the bass! =HornEd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobile homeless Posted January 7, 2003 Share Posted January 7, 2003 Zen Arcade and Double Nickels are two GREAT records, with the Minutemen sonics taking over the Husker Du. I have two pressings of Zen Arcade that dont get played as much as they did. But Husker Du had a hellish tipped up sound live AND on record. Man, they were one of my favorite bands of the day but I am trying to imagine them pumped up via Klipsch Cornwalls. That is literally one of the LAST bandks I would think sounds great via the CW. When reading your post, I just realized that I had never even pulled Zen Arcade out to hear on my 2A3/CW. So I am going to do it in a bit. I have Land Speed Record as well as some more 7" offerings. They were amazing live and a virtual wall of sound like no other really. Although they influenced a lot of bands down the pike, no one sounded like them. When you think about, I bet we are the only ones on this forum that ever saw them. Luckily, a ton more got to see either the Minutemen or fIREHOSE minus D. Boon, who really was the heart and soul of Minutemen. kh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yossarian Posted January 8, 2003 Share Posted January 8, 2003 No doubt about it, The Minute Men and Husker Du were two of the best american bands of the 80's. I would love to get my hands on a LOT of vinyl put out by american indie labels in the pre-grunge, pre-alternative College Radio days. The Replacements and Husker Du are my favorites from that era. Also, anybody remember a band called Naked Raygun? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjohnsonhp Posted January 8, 2003 Share Posted January 8, 2003 When my classic rock housemate bought new Cornwalls in 1984, I played some of my college rock lps on his fancey turntable and Corns and found that they revealed the rough DIY recordings and seemed to be a poor use of HiFi...they seemed just fine on my cheapo light filled Pilot--what's a little more distortion? (not my current opinion) At that time I thought Klipsch and HiFi were on opposite ends of the rock music spectrum from DIY punk bands. When I explored HiFi I reverted back to classic rock like "Dark Side of the Moon", Alan Parsons, etc. So now that Henry Rollins is in the Klipsch ads I find it amusing. I did start to enjoy the Cornwalls as a PA system with a Carver M1.5 for our band which played a mixture of classic and college rock. I now listen to everything on my Corns from classical to punk. I wouldn't say my indie lps provide sonic bliss and I don't use them for my critical stereo listening and tuning. Naked Raygun * I'm bidding on "Throb Throb" at the moment. * I have a CD radio promo that is a "best of"/sampling of each of their lps. It's all the Naked Raygun I need play but I like to have the lps to address the nostalgic collector bug inside me. * I do like and have frequently played them on my radio shows in the 80's....my New England show was titled "Positive Noise" which at least the noise part was fitting. Huskers & Minutemen * I have the regular double lps but I want the single lp radio promos which had etchings in the inner black band. * I haven't been able to get into "Land Speed Record" an early one take live recording. "Metal Circus" with "Diane" & "Real World" was the first Husker record I really like and the next two are my favs (Zen & New Day). * The "Mary Tyler Moore" theme is a good 45 to own. * The Minutement 45 w/covers of "Ain't Talkin about Love" and "Green River" is also one of my fav 45's. * Hearing the HUSKERS was like hearing NIRVANA for the first time several years later altough the HUSKERS laid the ground for NIRVANA. * I'm bidding on an "Articles of Faith" lp produced by Bob Mould during the Husker days. * I saw the Huskers first at Ralph's Diner in Worcester, Mass. around "New Day Rising" and then again at the Filmore West in San Francisco after "Warehouse...". The small Ralp's show was one of the most energetic and exciting shows I can remember. The small bar was packed and the crowd melded into one tight vibrating mass that hit a energetic frenzie during some of the ultra faster songs. I can't recall seeing music so directly translate to human energy. I recall that the bar owner tried to get them to play slower because it was making the crowd out of control. I think they replied we "we don't know any slower songs!" Typical of why I enjoyed these bands was the accessibility. They were one of my favorite bands and when I got to the bar Grant Hart was sitting alone at the bar next to me. Not that I found him cool or a star like Keith Moon, but I like not having the barriers between stars and fans. I used to jokingly say that "Bob Mould is a rock star" because he didn't look and play anything like the hair band rock stars of the time... We enterviewed them at the station after the show--mistake! bands are too wired and unruley after a show. The Huskers were goofey but fun. Flipper on the other hand was a pain. Violent Femmes got distracted digging through our collection of jazz and ethnic music...I was actually on a high power NPR affiliated public radio which played college rock only at night. The Filmore show was bigger and a real blend of 60's SF psychadelic heritage with mid 80s matured post punk with psychadelic streaks--this was the Warehouse tour. Faith No More opened and they were riding the "We Care A Lot" popularity. I just got into Boulder, CO tonight and slipped into a local vinly shop just in time to buy a FLIPPER lp I was thinking about last week. I hope to do some more after work shopping before I get back to Dallas Thursday. REPLACEMENTS * pretty easy to find on CD---I think I have all their LPs/EPs on CD including "Replacements Stink". I'd like to have the hand stamped white cover and original vinyl. "GO" is one of my favorite pre "Let it Be" songs. I always thought it should have been more popular. I love the KISS "Black Diamond" cover on "Let it Be". * "Let It Be" seems to be universily acknowledged as one of the greatest rock lps of the 80's. * A drunk live act I always thought it would be cool to have been in one of the legendary post punk rock bands. Although their popularity was limited to a narrow fan base the media recogniition and significance seems to make them timeless. Within DIY post punk there were some bands as big as the Rolling Stones and WHo but only within a small community. In terms of rock history they are right up their with their arena rock predicessors. Black Flag, Husker Du, Replacements, Mission of Burma, Avengers, DK's, X, Minutemen, Minor Threat and others will have lasting place in rock history. And having a band like these didn't seem out of reach...."OUR BAND COULD BE YOUR LIFE" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
middlecreekguy Posted January 9, 2003 Share Posted January 9, 2003 Man,it`s nice to find a group of people on the same musical page as myself. The 80`s were full of great bands that no one new or heard of. I saw the Minute Men,Husker,Meat Puppets,Replacements,Black Flag and many others of that day including Gang of Four, the original 4. What a band. There`s still a lot of good music being made today, but still, there is an element from then that is missing now. God, the late 70`s through the 80`s was an awesome time for great rock`n roll. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjohnsonhp Posted January 10, 2003 Share Posted January 10, 2003 My perception is that one can never enjoy pop culture more than current "happenings" during a person's youth (say 14-28 years old)--it gets integrated into our environmentally influenced make-up. Popular music may seem tired at times but there's always something fresh, different, and to the youth very cutting edge and exciting. For the older generations I think it would be very difficult to get "into" these new niches (ie I'm not interested in HOUSE,HIPHOP,TRANCE,JUNGLE BEAT,etc.) but somewhere in these names are the 00's version of DIY/Punk. The music I loved at 14-28 has more significance than the new music I enjoy today which is more mainstream or similar to 70's/80's. I would always expect a person to think their era was when the best music was being produced and the current mostly crap--or certainly less innovative....maybe there are some exceptions for some who tried to focus on the 60's dress & bands like Hendrix/CCR/Beatles/Stones for their pop culture wishing they were around in the 60s... but for the most part is seems one generation of rock fans will always like the 50's, another the 60's, another the 70's, etc. I started w/70's classic rock and evolved to 80's punk/new wave/jangle pop/etc. It is natural for a father to prefer the music of their youth and look down on their son's tastes (and vice versa). However, the repackaging of classic rock and punk is flawing the logic in my son's comments that my music is "old and horrible". Due to the video games, radio and other exposures to older rock I find my son jamming to Ramones covers by the Offspring and at the moment I think 70's AC/DC might be his favorite band. I want to know who is bidding $20+ for ARTICLES OF FAITH, RAW POWER and other obscure 80's hardcore lps I've been wanting to buy. When they came out I thought I was one of the few that had even heard of them. 15 years later I would have thought they would be in the discount rack...or at least price low in the MISC "A" or "R" section and little bidding on ebay. I guess punk is more popular than ever and younger folks are diggin into the past. I didn't think too many 30somthings would be seeking it out...I certainly would think it would be hard for a 35+ person to frequently want to listen to this stuff...poppy Husker Du tunes like "Pink Turns to Blue" maybe but RAW POWER and ARTICLES OF FAITH...yikes! enough late night ramblings.... Classical or Jazz seem to be the next stop for the middle age crowd that are looking for the next musical high. Here the generations seem to be unimportant...certainly for classical. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjohnsonhp Posted January 10, 2003 Share Posted January 10, 2003 middlecreekguy, Do you have any memorabilia from those shows? Posters? Auotgraphs? Photos? Tapes? Fanzines? I wish I would have taken more pictures and got more signed hand bills, lps etc. ... of course then I wouldn't have been fully drenched in sweat and having a good time. What region where you in? Local bands were a big part of the scene and depending on where you were from you probably had a slightly different perspective. MINN, BOSTON, DC, LA, SF, NY, AUSTIN, ATHENS, NC, etc. I have a thing for all the local Boston bands of my college days...even some of the poppier ones. I saw shows at places like THE LIVING ROOM, RAT, CHANNEL, RALPHS, INMAN SQUARE MENS BAR, SPIT and colleges. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobile homeless Posted January 10, 2003 Share Posted January 10, 2003 I still listen and keep up to date with indie bands as it is liteally the ONLY rock and roll I can stomach that doesnt sound like it has been phoned in from a rote memorization down the oatmeal lane of replayed CLICHE. I was HEAVY into the underground of the 70s, 80s, 90s, and still trying to keep the new stuff coming as I type. The 90s saw a lot of GREAT stuff come out that remained under the radar unlike the mainstream "Grunge" and "MTV Alternative" which became just as cliche and painfully manipulated as anything else in Top 40, except it had the pretense of being ALTERNATIVE so was almost WORSE in my eyes. Some great stuff out in the last 10 years includes: - Helium - Guided by Voices - Guv'ner - Butterglory - Sebadoh - Cat Power - San Francisco Seals - Pavement - Yo La Tengo - Barbara Manning - Cornelius - Modest Mouse - Robert Pollard - Arsonists - Pole - Void - Bardo Pond - Mary Timony - Polvo - John Spencer Blues Explosion - Feedtime - Mogwai - Eggs - Velocity Girl - Courtney Love (the band) - Low - Saucer - Fly Ashtray - Better Of Airport - Land of the Loops - Miss Murgotroid - Phone job - Sukpatch - Seana Carmody - Thinking Fellers Union Local 282 - Sun City Girls - Kicking Giant - Beat Happening - Scrawl - Versus - Veronica Lake - Small Factory - The Didjits - Grifters - Tsunami - Lois - My Dad is Dead - Mind Sirens - Seam - Elf Power - Idyll Swords - Kings of Convenience - Rilo Kiley - Japancakes - Smog - Tortoise - Boards of Canada - etc etc And the list goes on. The list can scoll down several pages and most will not recognize more than ONE or two names. That is how much stuff is out there, and ALL the above is better than 98% of the crap coming out of the radio or TV. It has more freshness...life....and imagination. Man...I wish I was back starting all over again. I put on Mission of Burma's DIRT from their EP and couldnt believe how good it was. There is a TON of great stuff. And almost ALL of it is also on vinyl with the 80s stuff ONLY on vinyl and much of it sounding amazingly uncompressed since they used minimal effects. kh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike stehr Posted January 10, 2003 Share Posted January 10, 2003 Man, I would love to visit for a day and listen to some of those bands. Or at least scrounge around for some of the material, which is more than likely easier said than done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HornEd Posted January 10, 2003 Share Posted January 10, 2003 Hmmm, maybe what this Forum needs is a good, informal, lending library to check out new and old tunes. There ought to be a way! =HornEd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike stehr Posted January 10, 2003 Share Posted January 10, 2003 You lurkin' in the motorhome, Ed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjohnsonhp Posted January 10, 2003 Share Posted January 10, 2003 I "retired from being a new music fan" and started a family around 1990 and Nirvana's big splash so I've missed most of the new bands. I have managed to be familiar with these: - Guided by Voices - Pavement - Yo La Tengo - Beat Happening - Scrawl I'll probably want to check some of the others out. I go back and forth on what format to buy...lp or cd? The new Soft Boys lp and Guided by Voices lp were cheaper on lp and I think I'll just copy them over to CD for car listening. It's hard to be as interested w/o going to the clubs, doing the radio show and in general being a part of the scene. I'm sucked into the typical suburban family scene today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobile homeless Posted January 10, 2003 Share Posted January 10, 2003 Robert Pollard is so damn good... And the latest Guided By Voices is really worth picking up. The vinyl is THICK and well-done. All GBV and Robert Pollard sound better on vinyl but the Pollard CDs dont sound bad at all. Of course, early GBV is known for their complete absence of sonics and studio tricks. They defined LO-FI. Would you be interested in some recs with perhaps some samples? kh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Robinson Posted January 10, 2003 Share Posted January 10, 2003 "has been phoned in from a rote memorization down the oatmeal lane of replayed CLICHE ..." That one's going into my Palm Pilot for future reference. A keeper ... Right up there with "I'm lazy as a slug on the hot sidewalk of life." Jesus, I must be old or living under a rock ... I've never HEARD of any of those bands ... Can you get some samples up on your server somehow? Oops, there goes some more hair, falling like snow upon my keyboard. Ouch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjohnsonhp Posted January 10, 2003 Share Posted January 10, 2003 YES...I would like the samplings of the 90's highlights...I can dig deeper from there. I can make available many MP3's on my pc if people use sharing like Kazaa... but email me an address and I'll send a CD along with some comments. I think comments & excerpts from reviews & interviews will make it more interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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