on the turntable- finally I can spin my vinyl!
I have been playing records since Christmas of 1971 with a gift from my parents of a portable record player like this one below. The link goes to a shoppe on etsy where I found the image of my now lonnnngggg lost player. This fab present played many 45's including my first loves The Monkees and other records from my Mom and Dad's stash including Purple People Eater, Monster Mash, Splish Splash and Yakety Yak.
After raiding my Mom's younger sister's collection Smoke on the Water, Little Willie Willie Won't Go Home, Brand New Key, The Lord's Prayer by Sister Janet Meade, The World is Black, the World is White, I think I love you and Joy to the World to name a handful had been added to the pile of go tos. When my brother Stephan was a few years older, for he was born in 1971, we would sit in the upstairs hallway for hours at night while my Dad was downstairs in his recliner with Barney Miller or Hee Haw as entertainment .
This was right around the time my Mom and Father divorced, I was eight my brother was 3. My Dad continued to upgrade the players and my record collection as well as my Mom's Mother, for she loved music of all kinds. Playing records was a great way for my brother and I to center ourselves when everyone around us was going insane, to put it mildly.
2 fold up portable players, with the first one grey and the next one bright blue. The first grey player was of lesser quality and was not long before he purchased the better quality model. I wish my memory would come back on the brand...
Then around '78 he purchased a jukebox style, Morse Electrophonic, from G.C. Murphys in our home town that I had been eyeing up for months. This beauty stood in the main display window just waiting for me for Christmas. He did get it for Christmas and then Nonny purchased quite a few 8-tracks including Olivia Newton John's Totally Hot.
One Christmas my Grandmother or Nonny , gave me my first portable cassette recorder with all the accessories including a suction cup type affair to record phone conversations, lol..that was fun. She also purchased a few cassettes with one being Abbey Road. The woman was way ahead of the game in a lot of respects with her musical choices, I loved her for that.
The last was a Sear's all-in-one receiver, cassette and turntable purchased Christmas of 1982, which was the last of my childhood players. Fleetwood Mac LIVE, A Star is Born soundtrack, AC/DC Back in Black, Pat Benatar, Rick Springfield, along with assorted K-tel compilations from that era to name a few filed along side each other under the stereo system. My brother's first flicker of what was to come, in his music career, was made in him after listening to that AC/DC album. A great little collection of 45s was also collected over the years, treasuring the first choices of the collection still stored in a psychedelic green cardboard case.
This stayed with me for a few years after we married in 1986 but, once the cassette player froze and the speakers weren't clear sounding anymore, it ended it's life in my Mother's attic. I was without vinyl then for about 8 years when in 1993 I did order a Pioneer turntable with Kenwood components from Crutchfield including receiver, tape deck and cd changer. My listening choices were Natalie Merchant, Sarah Mclachlan, Alanis Morrisette and Tracy Chapman being the favorite cds played continually loud enough to be heard outside while gardening, lol.
Music was also pumped outside for Herb and Art festivals at this time throughout the back gardens or Holiday open houses with extra speakers filling the windows or porch depending on the weather. Of course more event appropriate mixes with lots of Celtic, Hildegard von Bingen or classical choices being played rather than Iron Butterfly or Metallica.
All that CD collecting and listening brought me back needing the warmth and familiarity of classic vinyl discs. Here is the new addition to a long line of what has been:
and an instagram photo from Friday evening after dh connected it to the components.
On the turntable K-tel's Hit Machine from 1976
After raiding my Mom's younger sister's collection Smoke on the Water, Little Willie Willie Won't Go Home, Brand New Key, The Lord's Prayer by Sister Janet Meade, The World is Black, the World is White, I think I love you and Joy to the World to name a handful had been added to the pile of go tos. When my brother Stephan was a few years older, for he was born in 1971, we would sit in the upstairs hallway for hours at night while my Dad was downstairs in his recliner with Barney Miller or Hee Haw as entertainment .
2 fold up portable players, with the first one grey and the next one bright blue. The first grey player was of lesser quality and was not long before he purchased the better quality model. I wish my memory would come back on the brand...
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| just like this find from a collector |
One Christmas my Grandmother or Nonny , gave me my first portable cassette recorder with all the accessories including a suction cup type affair to record phone conversations, lol..that was fun. She also purchased a few cassettes with one being Abbey Road. The woman was way ahead of the game in a lot of respects with her musical choices, I loved her for that.
The last was a Sear's all-in-one receiver, cassette and turntable purchased Christmas of 1982, which was the last of my childhood players. Fleetwood Mac LIVE, A Star is Born soundtrack, AC/DC Back in Black, Pat Benatar, Rick Springfield, along with assorted K-tel compilations from that era to name a few filed along side each other under the stereo system. My brother's first flicker of what was to come, in his music career, was made in him after listening to that AC/DC album. A great little collection of 45s was also collected over the years, treasuring the first choices of the collection still stored in a psychedelic green cardboard case.
This stayed with me for a few years after we married in 1986 but, once the cassette player froze and the speakers weren't clear sounding anymore, it ended it's life in my Mother's attic. I was without vinyl then for about 8 years when in 1993 I did order a Pioneer turntable with Kenwood components from Crutchfield including receiver, tape deck and cd changer. My listening choices were Natalie Merchant, Sarah Mclachlan, Alanis Morrisette and Tracy Chapman being the favorite cds played continually loud enough to be heard outside while gardening, lol.
Music was also pumped outside for Herb and Art festivals at this time throughout the back gardens or Holiday open houses with extra speakers filling the windows or porch depending on the weather. Of course more event appropriate mixes with lots of Celtic, Hildegard von Bingen or classical choices being played rather than Iron Butterfly or Metallica.
All that CD collecting and listening brought me back needing the warmth and familiarity of classic vinyl discs. Here is the new addition to a long line of what has been:
and an instagram photo from Friday evening after dh connected it to the components.
My husband and I listened for quite a few hours while enjoying Samuel Adam's Winter Lager on this cold evening day after Thanksgiving.
More nights like that to come....
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