There is a discussion on another board that I post to that pertains to vinyl LP's. Most posters have been of the "bring back vinyl" ilk, though there was one brave soul (not me) who put it quite succinctly "Let's face it, vinyl (euphamism for acts like a vaccuum cleaner)" . Not me, BTW. I favor CD's, though I do have mixed feelings. I'll start this thread with a copy of my post. Maybe there's noothing to talk about here, but let's see:

Although CD's are superior to vinyl in a number of ways I still find a turntable to be an essential piece of equipment. I still have stuff that will NEVER find its way onto a disc, and, truth be told, I kind of like it that way.

[nostalgia] One used to have to go to collectors conventions in order to hunt something down. Now it seems like everything has been reisued on disc and can easily be gotten on Amazon or Ebay. It no longer means as much to say "I got Van Morrison's "Hard Nose the Highway" complete with gatefold jacket and terrible artwork" or "Check it out- Fairport's "Gottle of Geer"- this baby's coming home with me". [/nostalgia]

The 60's garage band stuff is still worth collecting, I suppose. And you still have to shell out a Jackson for a 45. But even that is becoming compiled and available. There's definitely something good in that, but if you've got the vinyl of Ronnie Cook's "Goo Goo Muck" or the Bangers' "Let Me Bang Your Box" you're allright with me.

Anyway, as an aside, it may be interesting to see if you can remember the very first CD that you bought. For some reason I can remember coming home and listening to Charlie Haden and Carla Bley's "Ballad of the Fallen" quite clearly. Those CD things- not all bad...

Call me a wet-behind-the-ears whipper-snapper, but I just don't see how any one can honestly like vinyl better. Here's my three reasons why: Snap, Hiss, and Pop (you can also add Skip to the list). I've heard people try to say that vinyl sounds "warmer" and "more alive" and similar stuff, but I still can't figure out what that's supposed to mean.

But the above quip is only about sound, most of your post is about the whole collecting experience. I've got three things to say about that too, though these three are actual comments instead of sarcastic sound bites:

1. You can't buy music on the internet because it's been reissued on CD, you can buy it on the internet because you can buy EVERYTHING on the internet: cars, pets, homes, guitars, love (well, sort of), there's vinyl out there too if you look.

2. Who says that all CDs are easy to find? Apparently, you've never gone into a store looking for something by Olivia Tremor Control, Abunai!, or the like. Also, a lot of the reissues of older stuff is getting to be pretty tricky to come across in their "new, easy to find" form (unless you go onine, but like I said, you can do that with everything)

3. LPs and 45s do not exist in infinate numbers, nor are they indestructable. I wish that everyone could get their hands on a good, playable copy of Farewell Aldeberan (feel free ot insert any other vinyl only release you wish), but the fact is there's only so many of them to be found and there will be fewer of them as time goes on. If you're one of the ones who's got it, good for you, but then the rest of us are left out in the cold. If it were put out on CD, though, then we could all share in the goodness. It wouldn't be a colector's item, sure, but what's more important: having a colector's item or hearing good music?

(Just in case any one was wondering, I DO have a pretty good sized collection of LPs and 45s that I've spent a lot of time stocking, so I'm not just bashing something that I don't know anything about)

>It wouldn't be a collector's item, sure, but >what's more important: having a collector's item
>or hearing good music?

Actually, if the album was re-issued on CD, the original vinyl would still be a collector's item.

Here's a list of what I consider my five most precious vinyl albums. My determination of this is not based on monetary value, but on these items' current unavailibility in any other medium. I doubt if you could even find any of these albums on Napster-type MP3 groups. I found all of these in used record stores and paid just a paltry few dollars for each of them originally.

1. Rough Diamond - self-titled debut (and lone) album (1977)
I picked this one off the rack because I knew that David Byron was the lead singer for this short-lived supergroup. I was too green at the time to realize what a find I had stumbled into. In recent years, I've been offered princely sums of money for this LP, but I've hung onto it. It's never been released on CD, despite a campaign to Rhino to have this done. I consider the magnificent ballad "Seasong" from this record to be one of the best songs of 1977. Other members of the group include Clem Clempson (famous for replacing Peter Frampton in Humble Pie) and ex-Wings drummer Geoff Britton. Too bad this band didn't make it, especially in light of later tragedy. I recently got a newly-released limited-edition DVD which features a Rough Diamond concert from '77, and it is a very good document.

2. Fine Wine - self-titled debut (and only album) (1976)
With Moby Grape legally prohibited from using their name since 1971, the ex-members of this legendary San Fran band have recorded under many similar pseudonyms in the ensuing years. This is one of them. Original Grape members Bob Moseley and Jerry Miller unite with guitarist Micheal Been to produce a really nice country-rock LP. This one was only released in Germany. Again, I only paid a few dollars for it, although its value is considerably more. The record includes a nice cover of the original Grape classic "8:05".

3. "Elephant Candy" - The Fun and Games (1969)
This Texas bubblegum band produced a classic of the genre in the infectious minor hit "The Grooviest Girl in the World" and their album is an excellent effort magnificently produced for the times. The title track of course is slang for a certain illicit drug popular during the era.

4. "Truly Fine Citizen" - Moby Grape (1970)
Due to the aforementioned (see number 2) legal troubles of the Grape, their last Columbia disc has yet to see a CD issue.

5. Blue - self-titled debut album (1973)
This band was an Irish ensemble. The opening track "Red Light Song", is a lovely number which I seriously considered including on my list of best songs from '73 on the Golden Age board. Really good, cool album of light rock yet with a certain degree of complexity.