Re: LP Artwork vrs. CDs

["Scott Schrade" <schrade@akrobiz.com>]

> "When am I going to see LPs again?"
> I'm so sick of CDs, with their tiny little covers & inserts, that
> I have to use a magnifying glass to see whatever artwork might
> be in it, & a microscope to read the lyrics, that I've almost all but
> given up on buying them.
> Where are the good ol' days when groups like The Who sold LPs like
> Quadrophenia that had four sides of artwork along with multi page photos 
> with Lyrics?


LP's haven't died out completely.  For example, The Who's BBC SESSIONS
& ISLE OF WIGHT albums were both released on vinyl.  And many "new"
artists will release their product on vinyl for the "collector" who wants to have
it all.  New vinyl has been relegated to the collector's niche.

Oddly enough, the whole DJ, dance club scene has kept vinyl (& turntables)
alive as well.  Used record stores haven't died out either.  To this day, I prob-
ably buy more vinyl records than I do CD's.  What fun it is to go into a used
record store with a wad of twenties & search for unknown treasures.

Even Who vinyl records still trickle into my collection (yes, thanks to people
like Greg Biggs).  My Who vinyl collection, which started in high school as
a handful of albums, has grown to around 250.  Surprisingly, they all get along 
with each other (except IRON MAN & that JOIN TOGETHER crap release
get picked on quite a bit).  Thankfully, my stuffed Wile E. Coyote doll (brazen-
ly sporting a Who tattoo) keeps things in line when I'm out of my apartment.   

I still get excited if a CD has a nice booklet included, even if it is a bit tiny.
Shows they're trying.  And the Japanese "mini-album" CD reissues of The
Who's catalogue were nice, too.  But, as we all know, bigger is better!

When the reissued LIVE AT LEEDS CD came out (1995?)  it was available in 
a large, album-sized format with all inserts, big pictures, etc.  That was nice.
So there is an effort to be creative with CD packaging but unfortunately the size
constraints are inescapable.

But as for vinyl.......it's still out there.  Ya just gotta search for it.  That means:
used record stores, record conventions, or our good friend The Internet.

"It's all here on the vinyl....."


- SCHRADE in Akron