My record collection is cool

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Jellis77, Jun 1, 2018.

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  1. Jellis77

    Jellis77 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Brighton, UK
    I came of age musically speaking in the 80s - and found that in the UK at least it was a bit of a wasteland for good music. I started listening to heavy / hard rock because of an older brother and right from the start popular / chart music didn't do it for me. This sustained me for a while but I wanted something that was mine and in around 85 I had an epiphany when a friend played me some 60s garage music and then some Husker Du. That was it for me and for the next 15 years or so hardcore / alternative and 60s Psych / Garage were where it was at.

    So why I am telling you this? Well I always felt musically superior to most of my contemporaries - I owned the Quicksilver Messenger Service dbl LP on Psycho, I had seen Green On Red live, I was an early fan of Sonic Youth, I toyed with Japanese noise bands, I was into Sub Pop right at the start - in short I always felt I was cool and that my records were cool. Anyone coming round to leaf through my collection wouldn't find anything embarrassing.

    Fast forward to now - and whilst I still own pretty much all those records I bought in the 80s (its a great feeling picking up an LP that you have owned for 30+ years and playing it :(), I own a lot of other stuff now that my younger self would not have considered cool at all. All right I listen to a lot of jazz and that's always pretty cool, but if I could have looked forward through time and flicked through my collection now I would have been shocked - Fleetwood Mac? (and not the early Green LPs), Nat King Cole (I own 6 LPs and a box set how did that happen), Dire Straits - I used to despise them but I know own most of their studio albums and find myself looking forward to the forthcoming MFSL 45rpm versions.

    Some other examples - Cat Stevens (in the UK only teenage girls would every admit to liking him), Yes (especially The Yes Album, Fragile etc.) the 80s me would have run a mile, I have somehow managed to own 3 Linda Ronstadt albums, Harry Belafonte - you are kidding me and Henry Mancini - what was I thinking?, yet its all great - and finally I am mature enough to like what I like and not give much of one on whether it is cool or not.

    Having said that there are still certain artists that won't darken these doors - Queen for one and also pretty much all of the ubiquitous 80s UK pop acts that all my friends loved, but I am more open minded and better for it - I have found myself thinking about getting some of the early Elton John LPs recently and that is a long way from Jesus Lizard and the Butthole Surfers :righton:

    Anyone else's story would be welcome....do you still care about being seen to be cool or have you long since got over it all?
     
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  2. Grunge Master

    Grunge Master 8 Bit Enthusiast

    Location:
    Michigan
    I could care less if someone thinks my collection is cool, as long as I know that it's cool. Everyone else can stuff it.
     
  3. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    Noise stuff doesn't appeal to me anymore also. Lifestyle could explain it as well when your young clubbing pubs skirt etc .. the pipe slippers cardigan idea starts to sound appealing when your + a certain age. Lol
     
    Last edited: Jun 1, 2018
  4. BryanW

    BryanW Likes his pop sunny.

    Location:
    Freeport, Texas
    Record collections, in general, are cool. Today, some decidedly uncool records have achieved coolness.
     
    Chemguy, dbsea, Fullbug and 5 others like this.
  5. AlienRendel

    AlienRendel Senior Member

    Location:
    Chicago, il
    I also like a ton of stuff that teenage me would have scoffed at, but still enjoy most of the music that I listened to back then. I don't feel self-conscious about my collection - it's there for me to enjoy and no one else really cares what's in it anyway.
     
  6. Jellis77

    Jellis77 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Brighton, UK
    I think that this is a good point and I'm happy to see it happen - I never thought I would in the dark days of the early 90s
     
  7. Phil Tate

    Phil Tate Miss you Indy x

    Location:
    South Shields
  8. lightbulb

    lightbulb Not the Brightest of the Bunch

    Location:
    Smogville CA USA
    In years past, I’d admit to wanting my friends to know that I’d liked and listened to certain groups and artists.
    Which I really Did like.

    A major reason why Rock T-shirts have always been popular - show what you like, and to be Cool by Association, I guess.

    If my buddies came by for a visit, sure, I’d rearrange my records a bit, to put a cool record in the front of the stack - that I had been listening to, recently.

    When inviting a date over, or girlfriend, then the pressure was really on to impress!
     
    Last edited: Jun 1, 2018
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  9. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    Think my third and last youth phase ( old then) was in the nineties.
     
    melstapler likes this.
  10. Jellis77

    Jellis77 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Brighton, UK
    You are right - maybe its about being older, its not often that friends come round and look at my recent purchases anymore but they used too and I wanted them to think they and by extension me, were cool. Also I still care about buying records from record shops and if I deem it to be slightly uncool I will buy it on line and not in the shop - I guess this says more about me than it does abut the music!
     
  11. I so agree:righton:
     
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  12. Man at C&A

    Man at C&A Senior Member

    Location:
    England
    You come across as a real snob. I don't know if you are or not. Going by the ones you mentioned, personally I wouldn't want most of those records for free (60s garage / psyche, Belafonte yes, Japanese noise, early Sonic Youth, Sub Pop no). So, I for one, don't think your collection is cool from what I know.

    I hope you are winding us up! :)

    Edit: Actually, you don't come across as a snob nowadays, keep enjoying the music. We all think our own record collections are cool really! You'll get there with Queen...
     
    Last edited: Jun 1, 2018
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  13. Man at C&A

    Man at C&A Senior Member

    Location:
    England
    It wasn't long before I realised most girls don't care at all what records I own! Or men, only a handful of similar obsessives who not at all coincidentally are very good friends.
     
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  14. troggy

    troggy Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow

    Location:
    Benton, Illinois
    Yeah, I think he's trying to say he was a snob of sorts back then.

    Hell, I'll cop to being a snob of sorts to this day, although not like I was at one time. I find that very few people have the same taste in music that I do.
     
  15. Leepal

    Leepal Forum Resident

    Location:
    Swindon, UK

    I thought he was saying that he used to be a music snob but not any more. I used to be a bit of a music snob but not a fully fledged one as I always liked Cat Stevens and other artists who are/were not exactly "cool".
     
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  16. Man at C&A

    Man at C&A Senior Member

    Location:
    England
    He was, I've edited my post. I misread it the first time. I must admit I also have an irrational mistrust of people who dislike Queen!
     
  17. I grew up in the heyday of vinyl so I was no cooler than anyone else. Everyone I knew collected vinyl and I was just another vinyl and music lover. One thing that set me apart from a lot of my friends is that I always had a very broad appreciation of music as opposed to only be defined as a rock 'n roller. My Dad was a huge lover of Jazz and the French chansonniers such as Aznavour, Becaud, etc. He also really enjoyed Flamenco and Big Bands. So being exposed to his likes it broadened my view and appreciation for different genres. I used that open-minded view and appreciation when new music and genres were being developed and introduced to the masses, and as a result my collection today is fairly diverse...and I like it! Maybe at 65 I'm cooler now than I was back then? Haha!
     
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  18. Rose River Bear

    Rose River Bear Senior Member

    You seem to be more concerned with what others think about your listening habits than trying to understand why you like the music you listen. So you think the bands you listed makes you think you are musically superior to your contemporaries?
    It would be a good idea to try to figure out why you thought like that also. Music is not about that. You are listening to music for all the wrong reasons.
     
  19. Man at C&A

    Man at C&A Senior Member

    Location:
    England
    I misread it! I've definitely gone through a snobby phase in the past, until I realised that the records I didn't want to be associated with were better to me than the 'cool' ones. I just admit I think Iron Maiden are far better than Primal Scream now!
     
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  20. Man at C&A

    Man at C&A Senior Member

    Location:
    England
    My record collection is cool... until people spot the two Gary Glitter LPs!
     
  21. Thoughtships

    Thoughtships Forum Resident

    Location:
    Devon, UK
    Cool?

    My amp never is.

    Other than that, I couldn't give a fat rat's **** what anyone else thinks. I've got 5000+ albums, so some of them are bound to be uncool to somebody.
     
    Johnny Vinyl likes this.
  22. Thoughtships

    Thoughtships Forum Resident

    Location:
    Devon, UK
    Congratulations. You've got two albums that even a charity shop would turn down.

    ;)
     
  23. Man at C&A

    Man at C&A Senior Member

    Location:
    England
    :laugh::laugh::laugh: Love it! :)
     
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  24. bob_32_116

    bob_32_116 Forum Flaneur

    Location:
    Perth Australia
    I just think it's cool that you have a record collection at all. Which Cat Stevens do you have?
     
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  25. troggy

    troggy Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow

    Location:
    Benton, Illinois
    The LPs are fine. The man isn't.
     
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