Back in 2011, I was wild, young, 21 and living in London always looking for fun! Glastonbury came up, the best festival of all time and I got the coveted tickets waiting in a digital line! The festival was one I’ll never forget, from Beyonce, to Coldplay to Wu Tang Clan, but the artists that played the best? Paul Simon belting out “Call Me Al” and completely rocking the stage, and Don McClean with ‘American Pie’ live? His crooning washed over me like waves! When I moved back home to Australia, my parents who are music obsessed, of course already knew that these artists were the best! As a gift they gave me these two records for my own music collection, that were rescued from Flea-Market and Car Boot sales, “There Goes Rhymin’ Simon” and “American Pie” are still my number one record selections! 🙌🎶👯‍♀️🎸🎤

Bought this album in 1998 from Red Eye records. I was 16, still on high rotation

I got the epic Queen II vinyl as a present from a close friend back in the early 90’s who knew how much I love Queen and especially this particular record. The poor LP certainly got a massive workout over the years, being played over and over and over again but damn, this has got to be one of the greatest recording mankind ever mustered! 🙂 …”Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?…”

Crazy Little Thing Called Love!
My now husband (then boyfriend at the time) and I just LOVE music and in the shaking 60’s were always out dancing, had our record player on every week at home and music blasted in the car on cassette’s every time we went driving! One particular weekend, he came home, told me I was his QUEEN and gave me this record as a gift. We have been crazy in love since then and are happily married to this day. Still have a record player in the house and enjoy them regularly. Best ‘card’ I ever received! 🙌🥰👩‍❤️‍💋‍👨🎶👑

I found this 1918 shellac record at the op shop I volunteer at once a week. It’s about 5mm thick. I’d never seen one like it in all my decades of collecting and just had to have it.

This was not the first record in my collection because when I decided to become a collector I inherited about 30 records from my parents. However, I can say that this was the first album that loved for some reasons. Besides being a fan of Paulinho da Viola (Brazilian Samba), I discovered that this album belonged to my mother when she was still single, as the name written on the album does not have my father’s last name. Another remarkable fact is that this was the last show I watched with my mother when I was visitng her in Brazil (I live in Australia). Unfortunately because of the Pandemic I still haven’t had the opportunity to return to my homeland but I’m sure that someday I will go back to hug my mother and listen to this record with her again.

The 1986 animated transformers movie soundtrack was my 6th birthday present from my movie & pop-culture-obsessed uncle and also the first LP I ever owned! Not to mention that the movie was quite possibly the coolest thing a 6-year-old me could possibly imagine, the soundtrack was on constant repeat much to my parents’ dismay… 😛

This album is one album I grew up listening to as a child and having just bought a new deck and starting a vinyl collection from scratch, War Child by Jethro Tull, was at the top of my list. I purchased this vinyl from a local dealer in my area for $20 and the bonus is I’ve also made a new friend as the dealer himself is a fan. Buying vinyl is more than just the needle in the groove, it’s also a connection to others who are like minded.

A friend of mine told me that there was a brand new copy of it in a music/Gigi shop in Hastings, NZ. So I hopped in the bus and went and got it. Turns out that it was some sort of special release with a sleeve with pics from Live at the Rainbow inside.

This small piece of black vinyl with the garish pink label was cause for much excitement when spotted amongst thousands at a small local record fair. This was the first Australian pressing of a previously unknown group that would start a cultural revolution that still reverbs today.
Not just a regular pressing, it is a “promo” or sample pressed in small number and sent out to radio stations to promote a song or new artists, making it even rarer.
The appeal of vinyl records for young and old is as varied as those who love this format, but for me it started with a small portable record player that could stack half dozen singles just like this one. 45’s were the record of choice for teenagers at the time, mainly due to their affordability.
Records at parties were passed around, critiqued and often played repeatedly, making learning the lyrics easier. While there was a certain process or ritual to handling and playing a record, they certainly weren’t revered, they were meant to be played and played loud!
Marks and patina collected over time tell a story about the history of old records, but it is when they are played they really come to life. The hum, clicks and static once the tone arm is lowered transports the listener to place where the buzz from amplifiers belts you with anticipation as the first chord is struck.
As the memory of a song starts to fade and you remove the sleeve, dust it off and play it again.