Years ago, before digital and Blu-Ray, there was the analog vinyl LP. Turntable and analog were the method and system of musical or audio playback before digital. From the 40s to the early 80s, vinyl albums were the preferred method of playing back music. There were record stores that dotted the landscape selling the ubiquitous 12-inch album. The entire music industry always released their music on vinyl LPs. And today, there is a renaissance in analog sound, particularly for LPs, after several decades in hibernation.
In the 1960s and ’70s, analog music releases sometimes featured albums with pictures and lyrics, and artwork inside. Rock bands and performers of the 1970s like Frank Zappa, The Grateful Dead, and Pink Floyd always gave their listeners more than just a record. They added sheet lyrics inside along with crazy-art album covers. Some included sheet artwork that you could put on your wall. Others released colored LPs. In a way, the cover art and included goodies added to the experience of listening to the album and in a way, inseparable from it.
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45RPM
There were also 45’s that were half the size of a 12-inch LP and spun at a faster turntable speed of 45 rpm. Top 40 singles were released on 45’s. At parties, the smaller disks were stacked together and set to play one after the other on automatic turntables. Jukeboxes had hundreds of 45 singles ready to play. To showcase the HIGH-FIDELITY of records, Classical labels featured double albums of entire works cut at the higher 45 RPM speed that resulted in a fantastic sonic experience. The best that Vinyl had to offer.
There is something about the mechanical transfer of sound on an analog turntable such as the needle/cartridge combination, riding up and down on a mountain path of record grooves, that makes our ears stand up. A sound so punchy, dynamic, warm, and detailed, that it was the standard for decades. People would go to record stores and flip through the various album categories. They would stand and read the album covers, hovering over the album racks as if they were at the library and hopefully not bothered by a salesman asking if they needed any help. Today, a renaissance in analog sound, particularly LPs, is underway after several decades of hibernation.
That Analog Sound
Terms like “albums” and “records” have long since left today’s vocabulary. Today’s generation, most likely, are not familiar with it although there is now a resurgence in record playing and production. Records are being produced once more. After years of listening to the strident sound of digital, people have rediscovered vinyl. Once they listened to a good analog-turntable playback system, most people are hooked on it. The overwhelming reaction is that it sounds better than digital with a natural quality that digital doesn’t possess. More than a few have said the sound was “magical”. A dynamic and enveloping sound that sucks you in and is so infectious to the un-initiated! And now more performers are releasing their music on VINYL LP. Dance halls have brought in turntables so they can spin vinyl LPs again. Turntables are in production again at just about every price and people are buying them once more.
Back in the day, LPs and turntables had all kinds of accessories. Electrostatic guns to Destat the record before play, 5-step cleaning solutions, rice paper inner sleeves, specialized wipes, record cleaning machines, needle brushes to clean the stylus(needle), record mats, liquid stylus cleaners, 12-inch jacket covers, ion guns, and more. Everything and Anything would be used to clean a record. Some poor fools even put their records in the dishwasher only to discover they all became scratched up and worthless to play!
Vinyl is here to stay
It seems that LPs or records are here to stay. Although the production and quantity of albums are not that of yesteryear, LPs have now become a part of the music industry and every year sales of LPs and playback equipment are bigger than the year before. Most of the older manufacturers such as Shure, Denon, Pickering, and Stanton have re-introduced new cartridges for playback.
People have rediscovered the mystique of owning and playing back vinyl LPs. The opening of the jacket, the careful handling of the record, and laying it down on the turntable platter. And then of course you have to clean your LP with what seems to be an endless list of cleaning solutions. Let’s not forget the slow, and careful movement of lowering the cartridge/needle onto the record; necessary steps to maintain your record collection free from dust and scratches and to protect your stylus/needle. Today’s generation finds something ultra-cool playing back vinyl. They are experiencing the mystique of owning and playing back LPs and this trend may just be beginning.
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