November 20, 2002
Show draws buyers to the vinyl frontier
Record aficionado: 'It all starts when the needle hits the vinyl'
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
If you were looking for KISS trading cards or vintage Leonard Nimoy albums or a copy of "A Partridge Family Christmas," the Record Show and Sale at the Holiday Inn was the place to be Saturday.
A half dozen dealers from around northern Michigan displayed their wares, ranging from the bizarre to the valuable, the obscure to the platinum seller.
Dozens of buyers came through, many of them devoted collectors or vinyl lovers looking for specific titles to complete a series or find a real bargain. Taking their hunt seriously, little could be heard during conversational lulls besides the steady rustle of fingers sifting through albums.
Karl Webber of Traverse City is a vinyl enthusiast who said he was the last kid on his block to have a compact disc player. He believes that the rich sound and vivid artwork of the older technology dwarfs the convenience of modern discs.
"If you have a good piece of vinyl and a great system to play it on, there's nothing like the sound," Webber declared, noting he still gets up to flip albums, no remote-controlled convenience for him. "It all starts when the needle hits the vinyl."
Browsing through box after box at the sale, armed with a shopping list, Webber turned up a few additions for his collection. His hundreds of albums include complete collections of some artists and he is thinking of starting a collection of old Rolling Stones albums just because he loves the artwork. Webber is contemptuous of modern compact disc covers, which often sport little more than a photograph of the artist or band.
"The artwork is a major factor that makes vinyl better," said Webber, deciding to buy a copy of the Rolling Stones' "Some Girls" because of its movable cover art. "This was back when people were creative - when it was about the music, man, not the marketing."
A passion for music and classic technology drives many dealers. Duane Bird of Kalkaska is transforming himself from an avid collector into a seller and Saturday was his first show on the other side of the cash box.
"I just have a love for the vinyl," he said.
Bird toted boxes and boxes of albums from his house to Traverse City, hoping his hobby and passion could be a money-making endeavor. His version of "Introducing the Beatles" from 1964 had a $1,500 price tag, the priciest item of the show. With the history of controversy and lawsuits behind this album, only 5,000 copies were made of the version Bird was hawking; the remaining copies are a collector's dream. Bird has a near-mint copy of this album at home, part of his personal collection.
Bird began collecting albums 15 years ago and more recently began dabbling in Internet trading. However he decided to try out a record sale and see how business went. So far his conclusion is that there is a buyer somewhere for almost anything.
"I've sold some really weird stuff that I never thought I could even give away," he noted.
Veteran dealer Ed Johnson of Newberry, who organized the show, said that the heyday of vinyl spawned some awful recordings. Easy examples are "Denny McLain at the Organ: The Detroit Tigers Superstar Swings to Today's Hits" or a compilation of marching songs of Nazi Germany.
"There are a lot of items on vinyl that have been recorded, over the years everything is out there," said Johnson, who has been a record collector for decades and began dealing 10 years ago.
Johnson has seen the popularity of record shows ebb and flow over the years. However, even this year's low turnout of both dealers and customers did not discourage him.
"Even if no one shows up, we have a swap meet among ourselves," he said. "Record collecting is not a large market; however, it is a passionate market."