THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY, AUGUST 17, 2009
BACK TO SCHOOL
17
MUSIC
Students, locals bring a 'novelty' back to life
BY DAVID UGARTE
dugarte@kansan.com
Warren Gassaway found his first record player in the closet of his high school library at the end of his senior year. He said he liked vinyl records because they were a cheap way to listen to old music, "plus they are kind of cool to look at."
Gassaway, Neodesha junior, is not the only one who thinks so.
According to two articles published by Rollingstone.com in June of 2008 and January of 2009, Nielsen SoundScan reports showed that vinyl record sales increased 85.8 percent between 2006 and 2007 and 89 percent between 2007 and 2008. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, figures released in the U.S. in early 2009 showed that sales of vinyl records nearly doubled in 2008, with 1.88 million sold — up from 1 million in 2007.
Gassaway said he had between 300 and 400 records of classic rock,
obscure bluegrass, country and progressive rock.
"Most people I know have a little stash of records from their parents." Gassaway said. "I feel like a lot of people view it as a cool novelty. It's not necessary, but it's a cool item and it's cheap, which is good for people like me without a lot of money."
Patrick Crough has worked at Half Price Books, 1519 W. 23rd St., for two years. He said vinyl records were more popular now than when he started working there.
Crough said vinyl sales were still below CD sales at Half Price Books, but said it could be related to selection.
"It's definitely changing," Crough said.
Crough started listening to records about 10 years ago when he was given his parents' old vinyl collection. He also has between 300 and 400 records. He said he liked to listen to '60s and '70s rock records.
"If I hear something I like from the '60s or '70s, I try to find it on vinyl," Crough said. "There's some things that seem to sound better; the sound is reproduced better."
Steve Wilson, manager of Kief's Downtown Music, 823 Massachusetts St., has worked at the record store for about 35 years. He estimated his personal collection of records to be at about 5,000, including a floor-to-ceiling shelf of records he has in his house.
"Vinyl is good because it is something basically knowledge-based, you have to know the quality and resale-ability of each record," Wilson said. "It's unique. If you buy smart, it's a reasonable way to work. It's more a service to the customer."
Vinyl record sales at Kief's have increased slightly to about 20-25 percent of the total sales of the store, he said. Wilson said vinyl really only sounded significantly better if it was high quality vinyl on a good record player, which most
people don't have.
"45s sound have a vibe. I think a lot of people get a buzz off that sound." Wilson said. "I personally don't care much about the medium, but I certainly have a lot of good memories and if that's something young people are getting into, then I think that's great."
Jacob Bigus, Paola sophomore, said he took an interest in vinyl recently when he listened to his father's vinyl collection. But his first
record, "Quadrophenia" by The Who, came from the dad of someone in his Boy Scout troop when he was 14 or 15.
Bigus said he liked to have vinyl records of all kinds of music.
"I like to have enough vinyl recordings to put one on for every mood." Bigus said.
He said he thought of vinyl records' comeback as more of a
SEE VINYL ON PAGE 18