DCSIMG

60th anniversary of vinyl single


Published on Thursday 9 April 2009 12:45

In its 60 year history the seven inch vinyl has seen technology come and go, battled against the digital era and retained its position as a well respected medium in the hearts of many a music lover.

Although production almost ground to a halt a few years ago, a recent revival is keeping the vinyl industry healthy, as it celebrates its diamond anniversary this year.

Throughout the past six decades it has outlived cassettes, and managed to fight against the massive growth of CDs and digital downloads.

According to the British Phonographic Industry the popularity of bands like Oasis, White Stripes and the Artic Monkeys, have contributed to the revived sales of the seven inch in the past three years.

These bands are choosing to release limited edition vinyl singles whilst the record companies are coming up with innovative ways to promote the format.

In 2007 the White Stripes and their label XL Recordings, gave away a red vinyl single mounted on the cover of NME weekly music magazine. Meanwhile another XL artist singer-songwriter Jack Penate launched a limited edition single each with a unique Polaroid photograph stuck to the front.

In Northampton there are a cluster of second hand record shops still going strong and feeding the appetites of vinyl collectors.

Alex Novak, has been selling LPs for a decade and currently runs Spiral Archive Records in St Michael's Road, in Lower Mounts.

He said owning a record that only had a limited run of 2,000 copies was still a valuable and treasured asset to have.

But why has vinyl lasted when cassettes disappeared after just two decades?

Alex believes an inability to copy records has kept the format unique and desirable.

He explained: "You can't reproduce vinyl quickly. You would have to make another record and it is expensive to do. With CDs, cassettes and downloads it is easy to make a copy. There will always be people interested in vinyl as a collectors item and it will hold its value, as there are only certain amounts of them."

DJs also continue to use vinyl often preferring it to CDs. Scratching vinyl, a form of urban music known as turntablism, is also still strong amongst the younger generations.

Alex, who DJs at the Roadmender with CDs and at The Racecourse with vinyl, said it often depended on the genre of music.

"Dance music, traditionally tends to be records but they also use computers. It is usually more interesting watching someone mix records. But there is room for it all," he said.

And the sound quality from vinyl can actually be better than a CD or download if it is played on good equipment.

Nick Hamlyn, who opened Piped Piper Records in Wellingborough Road 23 years ago, explained why.

"Digital (CD, downloads) only samples the music rather than listening to it all the way through like with an analogue recording."

Sitting on a stack of records can also be a great financial investment, said Nick, who is also author of the Penguin Price Guide for Record and CD Collectors.

"Lots of records are worth 20 but at the top end like a rare Beatles record with a perfect sleeve only released in America, like Yesterday and Today, would fetch several thousands. You would get 40 each for any Beatles albums. Many people are probably sitting on lots of records which are in an attic and worth something."

For collectors the records most in demand are from the 1960s including the Beatles and Rolling Stones. But tracking down a rare LP is now an easier task due to the advent of the internet.

Nick said: "The existence of eBay and similar sites has meant that prices have fallen. Before the internet finding rare records was a much more difficult process. You would have to phone round all the shops and it would take a long time. Now you can just find it on the internet."

However physical record fairs are still going strong with VIP Events running a nationwide fair which can attract up to 2,000 buyers in a day. The next Northampton fair will be held in the Guildhall on June 13.

Organiser Rob Lythall, said many people were returning to vinyl because there preferred the rounder sound quality compared to the tinny quality of digital music.

"At the fairs there is quite a healthy interest from several aspects of the market. It is partly people who have grown up with vinyl who are continuing collecting or have gone back to collecting now the mortgage is paid off. Younger people into new bands will probably collect everything as they are interested in the band. New bands are putting limited runs of vinyl singles and albums to go alongside their CD release.

"Many people buy records for the future, like a bottle of wine."

There is also something physically satisfying about vinyl which cannot be replicated on any other medium, said Rob.

"You can smell the vinyl, touch it, feel it and read the cover."

And he predicts a bright future.

"When CDs came out there was a bit of a drop in interest in vinyl, no doubt about that. But we have gone through the bottoming out phase. The collectors thing is coming back with a vengeance."


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