I've been putting my latest toy to good use by listening to records I've picked up at my local flea markets over the years. Unfortunately my library is fairly limited and as much as I enjoy Suicidal Tendencies, Van Halen, and Michael Jackson... they're starting to get old.
Then I remembered my brother's offer.
Over the last four weeks, he's been bringing me a bag of albums each week. Most of them are from the 70's, which is perfectly fine with me. I grew up listening to my two older brothers blast Kansas, Boston, The Eagles, and Lynyrd Skynyrd through my bedroom walls.
I originally intended to publish this post weeks ago, so it only covers the highlights from the first bag. Don't worry... I won't be turning this into a music blog. However if others are interested... maybe I'll do one more post summarizing my favorite albums he donated to my collection.
In the meantime, let's take a peek into the first bag...
There were a few famous album covers that I recognized immediately:
Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon (1973)
The Beatles Abbey Road (1969)
If I had a Top 10 Most Wanted LP list, Dark Side of the Moon would have been on it. This was a huge gift from my brother. And even though I already own two copies of Abbey Road, this one is in much better condition.
Here's another upgrade to my collection:
Van Halen (1978)
Although I wouldn't classify my brother as a collector, he definitely took care of his albums as if he were one. For being decades old... these are in really nice condition.
I might not have recognized the album covers, but there were several that contained popular songs from my childhood...
Steve Miller Band Fly Like An Eagle (1976)
Styx The Grand Illusion (1977)
The majority of the albums in the bag were 70's rock, but I did find this little R&B nugget:
Stevie Wonder Talking Book (1972)
When it comes to Stevie... I've gotta admit... I'm sort of a late bloomer. Although I listened to some of his music when I was a kid... it's only been maybe a decade or so since I've truly dove into his music. So far, this is the only album that I've listened to twice.
Okay... let's switch gears and check out some baseball cards. Since today's post focused on vinyl... I figured let's look at some cards that kinda resemble vinyl.
Back in September, I met a dealer who thought he had a complete 1979 Kellogg's set at his home. He gave me his number, but after trying to contact him a few times... I never heard from him.
This led me down a path where I was determined to pick up a set. Well... I found two partial sets and one complete one. I'll probably do a Set Showcase post on this set eventually. But until then, here are a pair of singles that really stood out to me:
1979 Kellogg's #21
When I think of 1979 and baseball, Dave Parker immediately comes to mind. That year he helped the Pittsburgh Pirates win their fifth World Series title in franchise history. But it was his amazing throw to nail Brian Downing at the plate in the Midsummer Classic that stands out the most. This card is an early candidate for my favorite card in the set.
The other card I'd consider is this:
1979 Kellogg's #22
Kellogg's nailed it when they labeled "infield" as Pete's position. During his 24 seasons in the MLB, he played over 900 games at first base, over 600 games at second base, and over 600 games at third base.
Supertramp Breakfast in America (1979)
This album happened to be released in 1979 when kids were pulling Parker and Pete out of boxes of Frosted Flakes. I've never owned any of their albums (or cassette tapes or CD's) until now, but I definitely recognize this song:
Well that's it for today. I hope you enjoyed this little peek into my small, yet budding LP collection.
What about you...
Do any of you still listen to and/or collect records?
Happy Thursday and sayonara!
22 comments:
Yes indeed. Too many to mention
If you like Breakfast in America, pick up their prior album, Crime of the Century. Still my personal fave.
I have 100s of LPs from back when I bought albums just about every week. Between my wife and I there is plenty to play and I received a mini-record stereo/record player for a birthday a couple of years ago. I play the old stuff all the time. Glorious '70s and '80s music. No upgrades needed. It all plays great.
The funny part is...I'm actually listening to a record while I'm reading your post. McAuley Schenker Group - Perfect Timing...I'm a metalhead from the 80's. And yes, I still collect records as well (much to my wife's dismay).
I would like to see more music posts. I don't have many records...ours were lost to a flood, unfortunately...but I always have older music on. I lean more to the 50s and 60s but I mix in newer stuff from time to time.
That is an incredible collection your brother gave you - I would really like to see more of it, so if you want to dedicate some more posts to vinyl, I will not complain.
I do not listen to vinyl too often, unless I am listening to the Beatle or Stones - they seem to always sound best on vinyl.
-anonymous paul-
thats def. the stuff we used to listen to.
I don't have many regrets but one I do have is selling off most of my vinyl collection. I kept my Beatles albums and a couple dozen more but a lot of good stuff got away.
Dark Side of the Moon is still here though, and still a favorite.
I'm all for more music/vinyl related posts!
Welcome to the club, and enjoy!
Those first 2 (the Original Master Recording ones) are really nice pickups.
I picked the piece of luggage that was on my wedding registry by "Will it hold vinyl records safely?", so while I'm not as all-consumed as some folks are with records, I enjoy them and like to pick stuff up if it interests me. Last 2 pickups were Judee Sill's "Heart Food" and Mott The Hoople's "All The Young Dudes".
I've never made the trasition from CDs to downloaded digital music, so I still have a couple hundred CDs in my house. They pretty much stay where they are since I have SXM radio in the car.
You have some great albums there! Dark Side of the Moon was just meant to be played on vinyl!
Yeah, nice additions to your music collection! I have a decent sized vinyl collection but it has stagnated since I got back into card collecting. I still add a few here and there, but most of my available $ goes to the other hobby.
Your brother must be in his 50’s (like a lot of us) because every one of those albums were in my rotation back in the day. Your post definitely will have me listening to some vinyl this weekend. Great post
Some nice albums you have. Vinyl is great and Pink Floyd is my fave. There is no dark side of the moon, really. Matter of fact, it's all dark.
Truly amazing! =O
I collect CDs because I don't have vinyl player. In the youtube, spotify and so on era it's quite difficult to find people who still buy music in 'physic' format
Count me in with those who want to see more of the collection. My wife got me one of those all-in-one entertainment centers a couple of years ago, but I never got around to use it before it got packed up in storage. I have a few records but nothing as glorious as what you showed!
There is nothing like listening to Christmas music on records. One of my future pursuits is to build my Christmas record collection. You have a real cool collection.
I can appreciate what you've got, though I don't currently have a turntable and only a modest little vinyl collection. But if I fell into a collection, I'd definitely take it! I believe when I fall in love, this time, it will be forever.
Awesome Fuji! I finally built my own vinyl setup piece by piece last year and have been absolutely loving it. Probably up to about 60 or so records now. I've definitely got some overlap in my collection so far with what you've shown here. I agree with others, any vinyl collection must have Dark Side of the Moon. I posted about my setup last Christmas, here's the link:
https://shoeboxlegends.blogspot.com/2017/12/merry-christmas-and-my-other-hobby.html
Lastly, if you want to inventory your vinyl collection check out Discogs.com. Sort of like the TCDB of music. Completely free to use and great way to track what you have!
mark hoyle - nice. my brother gave me the last of his collection last weekend. it should keep me busy for the next year or so.
mr. haverkamp - will do. going to the flea market this morning to hunt for new stuff.
night owl - nice. now that i've got the 70's covered. i need to focus on the 80's. it's the complete opposite for me when it comes to baseball cards.
swing and a pop-up - never heard of mcauley schenker group, but i do appreciate some metal from time to time.
billy kingsley - i'll try to add an album cover or two to future posts in your honor. so sorry to hear about your record collection. mother nature can truly be a heartbreaker
anonymous paul - i'll definitely be showing off some more album covers in the future. stay tuned
john miller - i'm glad i had the chance to be a part of that generation. every now and then, i even expose my students to some 70's rock.
commishbob - me too. i wish i had some of my early 80's stuff from my childhood. dark side of the moon is a classic. great album
jon - good to know there are enough readers who are interested. i'll try to put another one together in the next few weeks.
scott crawford - i'm definitely excited to be a member. gonna hit the flea market today in search of new additions. i'm actually more excited to find a new lp than baseball cards.
gca - i enjoy having a hard copy of my music, so i held onto a majority of my cd collection as well. the one thing my brother wanted in exchange for these albums is he wanted me to convert some of these albums to cd's using this all-in-one player.
matt - can't wait to give it a spin.
brian - i won't be investing too much money into this collection, but i am excited to look for some cheap albums at the flea market this morning.
texassurveyor - i think he crossed over into his 60's this year. i think.
marc - thanks for the piece of trivia :)
ana lu - the collector part of me always needs to have a physical copy of music.
jafronius - dig it out. you won't regret it. i've gotten a lot of usage out of mine.
sumomenkoman - thanks for reminding me. i'll have to look for some christmas albums in the next few months
defgav - that song is so awesome!
shoeboxlegends - my brother mentioned the next step is to one day build a custom setup since these all-in-ones aren't known for being high quality. but... for now it'll do. thanks for sharing that post. as soon as i saw it... i remembered reading it. might give discogs a shot one day, but i'm way too backed up to try and catalog my collection at this point in the school year.
Great music collection and it’s enjoyable reading about interests other than baseball cards. I still listen to 8 track tapes from time to time myself. Good luck with your Kellogg’s sets. I think that Parker is outstanding!
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