Love this! I can't even imagine how eclectic your vinyl record collection is. It's awesome that at least one of your daughters is appreciative of great music. Looks like your music legacy will continue.
Our house growing up had a Magnavox console stereo that was put to the test regularly. The household record collection was almost as diverse as yours - we had everything from the Let's Pretend records, my uncles made sure we had ALL the Beatles' records; Mom made sure that Earl Klugh, Bob James, Al Di Meola, Cat Stevens, Queen, Led Zeppelin III, Elvis, Firesign Theatre, Jefferson Airplane, Joni Mitchell, Fleetwood Mac, Smokey Robinson, everything Motown, Elton John, Janis Ian, Stevie Wonder, Petula Clark, Isaac Hayes, Herb Alpert, Earth, Wind & Fire, 5th Dimension, Allman Brothers, Isley Brothers, Bee Gees, Barry White, The Carpenters, Melanie, Michael Franks, Gilbert O'Sullivan, Pink Floyd, Neil Young...I could go on. Then I started adding to the collection in 1975 with ZZ Top, AC/DC, Foreigner, Parliament/Funkadelic, Ohio Players, more Queen, Thin Lizzy, Chicago, Lakeside, Bar Kays, Roxy Music, ELO, Jethro Tull, Bob Marley, Isley Brothers, Nazareth, 10cc, Paul McCartney, Foghat, Heart, Cameo, Point Blank, .38 Special, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Molly Hatchet (well, the whole Florida "swamp rock scene,") Talking Heads, The Clash, Kraftwerk, Elvis Costello, The Jam, The Brothers Johnson, Rufus, Donna Summer, Styx, and Cheap Trick to name a lot. There was more, but you get the idea. I wish I had been able to keep any of it.
During high school (1975-1979) I added a lot more because Mom was working at the best record store in town, so there was more awesome rock, funk, disco, punk and new-wave. And Prince. Between '79 & '83 I attended dozens of concerts of all music genres due to the "access" with the record store, and I had been working with a "portable party machine" that a friend and I had put together that served as the sound system for a few of the top radio stations in Little Rock at that time. - which led to me becoming a DJ when one of the stations' deejays didn't show. Somebody had to spin the records! That led to me being a DJ (underage!) at a club or 2, but so much was going on then, it was a bit of a blur. I started college in 1981 in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and quickly found a DJ gig at one of the more popular college bars. I got to play all the best dance and new wave music - and VIDEOS available before MTV hit. Somehow I managed to think that I should write all the favorite record labels and ask them for any available 12" extended versions of all the hot records I was playing. The first person to send me records was Issy Sanchez. Can you imagine? Anyway, the collection grew, the DJ gig led to a radio gig and another DJ gigi in Fayetteville, which led to an offer from Stuart Anderson's Cattle Company (Black Angus everywhere else outside of Chicago) to move there and DJ...and the rest of the story you already know some of it from there. I got fired from the "square cow" place, discovered the beginnings of House Music, ran the record pool, published the regional music tip-sheet, worked for record labels and was a DJ the whole time, and in some of the famous (and infamous) clubs in Chicago...and then on to LA, NYC, SF and other points between.
Needless to say the record collection grew so that at one point I had more boxes and crates of records in my apartment than I had furniture. Before I moved to LA in 1992, I had to do something about all the records, as I didn't have the funds to move them myself or ship them to California. I sold about 50+ crates of records, and brought 15 with me to WeHo. Hindsight, you know, man.
Over the years I've bought more, sold more and given away most of the vinyl to DJs I knew would both keep them safe, and enjoy the music. Or even use it one would hope! The same thing has happened with all my CDs. Even sold my 1200s to a great DJ in Memphis. About 5 years ago almost all of the collections are gone as I was more "digital" because of space, budget and iTunes. Big heavy sigh.
Now - I'm starting to buy vinyl again. And CDs if the vinyl is not available. I see you on Discogs & ebay. You've been warned. 😉
Love this! I can't even imagine how eclectic your vinyl record collection is. It's awesome that at least one of your daughters is appreciative of great music. Looks like your music legacy will continue.
Our house growing up had a Magnavox console stereo that was put to the test regularly. The household record collection was almost as diverse as yours - we had everything from the Let's Pretend records, my uncles made sure we had ALL the Beatles' records; Mom made sure that Earl Klugh, Bob James, Al Di Meola, Cat Stevens, Queen, Led Zeppelin III, Elvis, Firesign Theatre, Jefferson Airplane, Joni Mitchell, Fleetwood Mac, Smokey Robinson, everything Motown, Elton John, Janis Ian, Stevie Wonder, Petula Clark, Isaac Hayes, Herb Alpert, Earth, Wind & Fire, 5th Dimension, Allman Brothers, Isley Brothers, Bee Gees, Barry White, The Carpenters, Melanie, Michael Franks, Gilbert O'Sullivan, Pink Floyd, Neil Young...I could go on. Then I started adding to the collection in 1975 with ZZ Top, AC/DC, Foreigner, Parliament/Funkadelic, Ohio Players, more Queen, Thin Lizzy, Chicago, Lakeside, Bar Kays, Roxy Music, ELO, Jethro Tull, Bob Marley, Isley Brothers, Nazareth, 10cc, Paul McCartney, Foghat, Heart, Cameo, Point Blank, .38 Special, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Molly Hatchet (well, the whole Florida "swamp rock scene,") Talking Heads, The Clash, Kraftwerk, Elvis Costello, The Jam, The Brothers Johnson, Rufus, Donna Summer, Styx, and Cheap Trick to name a lot. There was more, but you get the idea. I wish I had been able to keep any of it.
During high school (1975-1979) I added a lot more because Mom was working at the best record store in town, so there was more awesome rock, funk, disco, punk and new-wave. And Prince. Between '79 & '83 I attended dozens of concerts of all music genres due to the "access" with the record store, and I had been working with a "portable party machine" that a friend and I had put together that served as the sound system for a few of the top radio stations in Little Rock at that time. - which led to me becoming a DJ when one of the stations' deejays didn't show. Somebody had to spin the records! That led to me being a DJ (underage!) at a club or 2, but so much was going on then, it was a bit of a blur. I started college in 1981 in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and quickly found a DJ gig at one of the more popular college bars. I got to play all the best dance and new wave music - and VIDEOS available before MTV hit. Somehow I managed to think that I should write all the favorite record labels and ask them for any available 12" extended versions of all the hot records I was playing. The first person to send me records was Issy Sanchez. Can you imagine? Anyway, the collection grew, the DJ gig led to a radio gig and another DJ gigi in Fayetteville, which led to an offer from Stuart Anderson's Cattle Company (Black Angus everywhere else outside of Chicago) to move there and DJ...and the rest of the story you already know some of it from there. I got fired from the "square cow" place, discovered the beginnings of House Music, ran the record pool, published the regional music tip-sheet, worked for record labels and was a DJ the whole time, and in some of the famous (and infamous) clubs in Chicago...and then on to LA, NYC, SF and other points between.
Needless to say the record collection grew so that at one point I had more boxes and crates of records in my apartment than I had furniture. Before I moved to LA in 1992, I had to do something about all the records, as I didn't have the funds to move them myself or ship them to California. I sold about 50+ crates of records, and brought 15 with me to WeHo. Hindsight, you know, man.
Over the years I've bought more, sold more and given away most of the vinyl to DJs I knew would both keep them safe, and enjoy the music. Or even use it one would hope! The same thing has happened with all my CDs. Even sold my 1200s to a great DJ in Memphis. About 5 years ago almost all of the collections are gone as I was more "digital" because of space, budget and iTunes. Big heavy sigh.
Now - I'm starting to buy vinyl again. And CDs if the vinyl is not available. I see you on Discogs & ebay. You've been warned. 😉