Where to start or should I say where did I start with my love of collecting. Music & records in particular have always been part of my life. Whether it was being given records as gifts as a kid in the 70s (“The Best Of Abba” & KISS “Dynasty”) are two that I remember or being allowed to select a record from the Record Club my Dad belonged to (was ecstatic when the Grease Soundtrack arrived) they’ve always been around in my life. Saving your money up & heading off to the local record shop (conveniently located opposite the primary school you were attending) to drool over the latest loves in your life (Leif Garrett springs to mind) there was always something to buy (and if there was a bonus poster even better).
Things really took off to another level hitting the high school years in the 80s. Not only satisfied with hitting all the Sydney record shops at the time, Red Eye Records, Phantom Records, Metropolis, Ashwoods etc, there was now a need to get albums signed by the artists. Forget school, it was more important to be running around Sydney chasing whichever band was touring at the time. Now the list here is bloody long however my gems in the collection would have to be The Cramps “A Date With Elvis” signed by Lux Interior & Poison Ivy & managing to get all of Spandau Ballet (on different occasions) to sign their “True” album. Not much has changed really….fast forward to 2015 & finally got my long awaited photo with all the band members together in one spot.
My love of Punk & Post Punk set in around this time and to this day am still collecting all I can on the likes of The Cure, Siouxsie, Jesus & Mary Chain, The Damned, The Clash etc as well as collaborations & any solo projects. I have absolutely no idea why but if I love an artist then I feel I need to collect all there is (and not only records) which brings me to my 2 largest collections…Aussie band the church & Nick Cave. Both have pretty much been in my life since the early 80s and in both cases it’ll be eternal collecting as there is always something that you don’t have. And with that I say thank god for modern technology and having your entire collection easily accessible on your phone. No more coming home to discover you already had 1, 2 or even 3 copies of something (yes, over the years it has happened)
As for the future, well, turn the big 5 0 next year and looking forward to the many many happy hours of crate digging that lie ahead. Tastes are always changing and on any given day could be playing Air Supply one moment then The Exploited, there’s no rhyme or reason it’s just what I like. Currently delving into the Blues so looking forward to seeing where that may take me. A breakdown on the collection as it’s stored in my music room, all in genres then alphabetical order: Australian, Punk/Post Punk, 50s/60s, 70s, 80s, 90s/00s, Soundtracks and separate sections for: Nick Cave, the church & more recently Bowie.
Am a music/memorabilia tragic, nothing will change as that’s who I am. And on that note, time for some T-Rex…”The Slider” is up there in my Top 10 albums, then, hmmm….thinking something more recent…I know… King Gizzards “Nonagon Infinity!” bloody brilliant album that one.Yes, that will do very nicely!!
May you all live long, happy & successful crate digging lives 🙂