Some of the scratches brought back memories. "Oh I remember when that happened." ... etc. I have shelves full of old vinyl, some of which I haven't played for years. It was fun going through the titles and remembering the where's and when's and who's. Gatefold sleeves were wonderful. I still play my vinyl more than any other format. It's good to see it making a come-back.

I personally love vinyl as well. A couple of generations grew up on vinyl and I was one such minion. Love having vinyl evenings going through stacks of singles, enjoying the cover art or label designs and indeed, the crackles and vinyl noises do add to the fun... I'm so used to hearing some crackle during one part of Sakkarins' "Sugar Sugar" it will always be a part of that record for me! Snap, crackle and pop... don;t you just love it?

Its refreshing being able to read the notes on the labels and covers as opposed to squinting through reading glasses to decipher CD booklets.

Only problem I have with vinyl is it takes up a lot of space and weighs a ton, but at least you feel you actually own a genuine piece of product.

I've still got hundreds of vinyl albums (60s / 70s) in the loft - even though I've not been able to play them for about 20 years now (and I suspect most others are the same) !

I ought to clear them out before they become worthless.

I've not only got thousands of vinyl but even some cherished ACETATES (cut in real time direct in order to give artistes and producers a chance to listen before mastering and pressing up).

Including one of HELLO GOODBYE with white china pencil scrawl reading... JK What do you think? John

I can`t imagine how much that Beatles acetate is worth, but I would accept it as a belated wedding gift!

Seriously though, I have become very much a hoarder of anything with scribbles on it left lying around after a session and like to grab set lists from sound engineers at live gigs.

Confession time...I used to bet my mates, that I could guess every song in a bands set before they played in the correct order.

I do confess your honour(s) as to reading them on the mixing desk prior to the event and memorising them!

Elliot, Cat? I was dissapointed not to find the new Rush album on heavyweight vinyl.
I love vinyl , who wants a postcard (or less) when you can have a painting?

I only have one acetate - MUD's "Just Try A Little Tenderness". Not a hit for them (although it did get in the old Radio Tees chart), but still very much cherished.

Vinyl is great!

If you need anything to clean or protect your collection give this place a go...

www.britishaudio.co.uk

Allways a big debate cleaning vinyl.
The most disaterous product emerged in the middle 80`s as an anti-static fluid which gummed the grooves up, a luke warm bowl of washing up liquid is better.

The best products though, if you can get old of them are anti static computer screen disposable cloths.
They make any ageing record look prestine and are used by the rare record dealers widely.

Careful washing up liquid can destroy so of the rarer 45's.

Try Distilled water, isopropyl alcohol and a drop of photographic wetting agent. It can be hard to source but I can get the quantities if anyone wants them.