John: Vinyl is history - records are memories . . . I know that the summer of 1961 was glorious NOT because I am familiar with weather statistics - but because Del Shannon's Runaway was pumping out of the tannoy at the Lido in Skegness every day. I was only 9 years old back then, but I was already Hooked on Vinyl. And by the time I was 13 years old, l was walking round everywhere with the 1st Stones album tucked under my arm. That said more about me than anything else could. I lived and breathed that record!
We went to parties in the 60's. We'd pile the 45's up on the Dansette - Bits and Pieces - 96 Tears - She's Not There - Apache - You've Lost That Loving Feeling - each girl sat on a boys lap and snogged him till the record ended - then all the girls moved along one place. It was all innocent fun:- "who've I got now?" - the new girl plonked herself heavily onto my lap and went straight in for the snog - "oh no it's the one with the moustache!" AND I've got to snog her for 4 minutes and 29 seconds. How do I know this? Because it's the Animals House of the Rising Sun.
By the end of the 60's we were rolling up on album covers - I remember exactly where I was when I first heard the Crosby Stills and Nash album - at Honks flat in Ladbrooke Grove - listening to it now I can still smell the Nepalese Temple Balls - Far out.
Vinyl is such a beautiful thing. Our record collections grew. Everyones living room had a stack of records leant up against the wall. It was like flipping through works of art.
