Vinyl Records and Such

Perhaps you'll think this is wildly abnormal ...... 

I own somewhere between 2200-2400 vinyl records. And an even greater number of compact discs. Yet don't consider myself a collector. I am not out there going to record shows, searching for the holy grails of vinyl. 

It (my obsession) started as soon as I hit my teenage years, first stoked by an older mentor who likely has no idea today what passion he sparked and has endured into my senior citizen years. I see or sense little, suggesting that will ever change.

I do have an seemingly insatiable yearning for sounds.

Original or foreign pressings, while maybe nice to have, mean very little to me. I'm mostly looking for music and sounds that I enjoy .... or are interesting to me at some level. 

What's "popular" also has little significance for me.

Cover art and cover photos are important to me. I've turned down things before where it appears that not much creative thought went into the cover. 

I am infinitely interested in what other people are listening to and what they find fascinating. I am constantly looking for things previously unknown and find the choices of other people to be the greatest source towards new discoveries. 

I do think that I could qualify as a music snob. I have widely varying interests but there are still sounds or genres that I choose not to give attention to. I have many recordings that while I would love to play for someone else and would be mildly perturbed at a reaction of indifference, I'll acknowledge that many of my choices are not for everyone.

Occasionally I ponder how much money I would have saved had I never purchased a record or cd ..... but that mood never lasts more than three or four heartbeats.

There could be record shows and estate sales with huge collections going on around the corner and I'd know nothing about them. But each time I walk into a record store, I am filled with the excitement and hopes of discovering something new or (new) old therein. 

I've survived two purges now and can't see another ever happening.

In the past three or four years, I've discovered the vinyl community on YouTube and Instagram and love seeing what others have found. If it's true that coveting what others have is a sin, then I am a sinner. 😃