I worked with a lady whose father had recently passed away. She asked me if I would like his old hi-fi system for free, as selling it would mean declaring the money in his will settlement. Of course, I said yes and I received a mint condition 70’s style Sony amp and JVC turntable. Getting it home, I was excited, but…there was a problem,..no vinyl to spin! I forgot about it for a while and it sat there for a few weeks untouched as it slipped out of my mind.
Sometime later, I was in the city (i was from out west) and happened to in a Heavy metal store I loved visiting to browse CDs and merch. I also notice they sold new and used vinyl records. I figured this could be the place to finally get a record.
I went in and it had a whole bunch of vinyl for sale for some fairly extreme prices, well, more than I was willing to spend to simply test out this vinyl player and hi-fi (i was a student at the time and ate a lot of canned food if you get me). Giving up looking through the racks, I looked under a table that was partially covered by a sheet. There were crates of vinyl that were unpriced. I began flipping and in my last attempt to find something I could afford and take home, there it was, Hendrix, a name I knew well. I grabbed the vinyl and made my way to the counter, praying this vinyl wouldn’t break my extremely limited budget. The lady squinted and looked oddly at me and the vinyl. “Are these the vinyl Rob is meant to be pricing?” she asked a co-worker working out the back. A casual and unconcerned “I don’t know” came back as she continued squinting at it. She explained the situation that it hadn’t been priced yet and could I come back another day. I explained that wouldn’t be possible as I lived 2 hours away. Seemed that the eager and desperate look in my eyes must have paid off as she said hesitantly, “$10?”…I paused… then hastily replied “ok” without trying to sound too stoked.
I walked out quickly hoping she wouldn’t change her mind. I truely felt like the universe was on my side. The vinyl gods had smiled on me. I got home and put it on to realise there was a giant warp on one side, but it didn’t matter. It went round and round and that crackle had me mesmerised. This was the beginning for me…
