Illusionary Wall Of Vinyl: pre digital

The only thing worse than moving an academic with their boxes of books is moving a musicphile. I am sure that the atomic mass of milk crates jammed with records trumps that of textbooks. The fact that these illegally "acquired" containers of choice are what acts as the corner stone of alt-sub-Ikea decor and combined with what could become the wall of a bomb shelter as steady co-inforcing marvels of the dairy industry, gives them a place on the love-hate lists of all. At least it is rare that such radioheads own a piano in which case if they opt out pro-movers you can hope that the scrapings of their bank account will go towards their next damage and round of bottle deposits. Once your friend has remade a home, you know that good times await and that those records will be spun again. Vinyl always was cool. It was so intertwined with music that after a century of recordings only the irreverent and ignorant would have little to offer on the topic. I'm not talking yet about cork-sniffer analogue types but rather how the technology of the "wax", it's high-Z tube preamps and lethally charged up power amplifiers and other zeniths of electronics, walked with musicians and listeners through the decades to serve us all and perhaps visa versa. A wall of records, to use the British currency, really added up to a lot of pounds. Though I was rather young to enter the race, I have had the privilege of paging through such a music library while listening to usually unheard tunes that such a host would happily introduce. There didn't seem to be a lot of focus on the record player, if it worked that was what mattered most. Even old needles (stylus) and gear driven turntables would effectively churn out the songs. The talk was on the character of the players and towards the endless observations, findings and opinions of the scene or genre. This was before terms like culture industry and remix were contrived. The considerable monies spent were given in good faith and there was no way around getting the music you liked, aside from the radio or a dance. I can retell parts of this wonderful story with a tone of consonance and verily I say that it is gospel truth because I have saw and heard why it is so. From the wee years to the long beers, I have listened and learned. I have heard from the local's best sages of musicdom, how the record set the tone and laid the way for what is Billboardable today. The record is how the record sounds. Please, stay tuned as more is to follow.