Cassette tape sightings are at an all-time low, Laserdiscs are just technological folklore, and unless you’re rooting around in your grandparent’s basement, you might never lay eyes on an 8-track tape. These obsolete recording technologies have graciously made way for a new frontier of digital music, but there is still one medium that refuses to accept its analog mortality.
Nostalgia seekers, audiophiles, and sample-hunting D.J.’s perused a selection of over 60,000 records at WMPG’s annual sale at Portland’s Sullivan Gym. One of the more established of such sales in New England, it featured an eclectic assortment of donated records, as well as a wide selection from area dealers.
“There’s a new interest in ‘vinyl’, as they call it,” says WMPG station manager Jim Rand, using the current chic term for the medium.
The growing popularity of records is seen by many as a reaction to the ultra-available, lower-quality mp3 format that dominate today’s musical soundscape. “It has a more organic sound, one that you see a lot of people trying to recreate,” says Dan Boyden, diligently flipping though one of the dozens of boxes of records collected by WMPG.
“This is the way it was meant to be heard,” says dealer Bob Wirtz, as the vinyl faithful thumb through his well-organized selection. The faded album covers draw the occasional smile from a browser, as a favorite recording is rediscovered. “I can’t believe you have this!” says one customer, already laden with an armful of albums; he adds one more to the stack.
As owner of Enterprise Records at 650 Congress St, Wirtz is at the center of all things vinyl in Portland. He has weathered a revolution in recording, and has run Enterprise for 21 years without selling a single CD.
Wirtz has noticed a resurgent interest in vinyl among younger listeners in the last couple years, and while he can’t pin down a cause, he knows why he still drops the needle, “it’s far superior,” he says.
In an age where music is increasingly handled at the touch of a mouse, the sensation of dusty album covers, shiny vinyl, and worn grooves still resonates with many listeners. “It’s about wanting to savor the music, it’s about the experience,” says sophmore Michelle Kozma.
“It’s a whole sensory thing,” says Byron Greatorex, owner of Vermont’s In the Moment record store. “It encompasses a lot more than just hearing.”
For many, it’s this experience that drives them to collect – the record brings an almost concert-like authenticity to the listeners and gives them a chance to hear something unique, with nothing sacrificed at the hands of a digital recording or compression, as with modern mp3s.
It’s a medium appreciated by fan and musician alike. During the launch of British music retailer HMV’s digital download service, Roger Daltry, lead singer of The Who, mused on investing his millions in a factory to produce records, adding “nothing beats the rich sound of vinyl, it’s a fact and you get none of the decrease in quality that you get with other types of modern recordings.”
Greatorex also thinks the music itself has something to do with vinyl’s growing popularity among the college crowd. “I think the great music of the 60’s and 70’s really holds up,” he says.
Such record sales also help to feed the never-ending cycle of musical creation. WMPG’s Rand points to the “D.J. phenomenon” as a driving force in vinyl’s popularity. The two dollar price tag on all of WMPG’s donated vinyl makes it a happy hunting ground for local D.J’s looking for promising albums to remix or sample.
The WMPG record sale is modeled on a similar event by New Jersey’s WFMU, and usually raises between $4,000-$7,000 for the radio station. The sale draws vendors from all over the region, who recognize Portland as a robust market for quality vinyl. Rand sees the show’s stable 14-year run as a testament to this interest, adding, “maybe we are even a part of it.”