Radio station is playing dirty vinyl.

J

JohnVF

Lunatic Member
Banned
I'm at home for the day, listening to the radio, and they're playing album sides on vinyl, advertising the 'warmth that vinyl brings you, with it's pops and clicks". And when they dropped the needle, that's exactly what I hear. Surface noise, pops and clicks. Sad. They're currently playing Dark Side of the Moon. I wonder what kind of table they're using these days? It doesn't sound bad otherwise.
 
Register to hide this ad
The local collage station plays a lot of vinyl and they are always talking about all the records they have. Some times the records are in good shape and sound good, but most of the time it sounds a bit bad. I don't know if it because the records are old or if the collage kids take them home play them on crappy equipment then return them or they need to be cleaned but it annoying either way. Perhaps I should go down and give them a lesean about taking care of the records there.
Oh god they use a stanton st.150 they have nice R2R though.
 
Last edited:
our local station (rock101) has been playing vinyl for a year or so now, making it a huge daily feature in the morning and again on the drive home. they also invite in celebs (rock stars etc) with their own vinyl to spin. Now THAT is where it gets interesting (mostly great, but on occasion a hugely worn crackly record LoL). sometimes the afternoon show goes to a listener's house to play their vinyl, bringing the stations portable and their turntables along for the ride with beer drinking and partying going on, it's a blast!

but it's really been a great thing to hear, lots of fun without the trouble. What's REALLY funny is how out of practice the (old) djs are on this station - they make turntable mistakes that they would have known in their sleep back in the day.
 
I was mostly bothered by the fact that they were advertising the pops and cracks as a good feature, as if its inevitable.
 
Duane said:
Why not call them up and enlighten them.
Click to expand...

Because when they played side one of Darkside, I dug out my own copy and am now playing side two..which has relaxed me and made me lazy. Hmm...my copy has no pops and clicks. Where's my warmth! I want the warmth of pops and clicks!
 
JohnVF said:
Because when they played side one of Darkside, I dug out my own copy and am now playing side two..which has relaxed me and made me lazy. Hmm...my copy has no pops and clicks. Where's my warmth! I want the warmth of pops and clicks!
Click to expand...

LMAO!

Somehow I've managed to find five copies of that album that range from "damned nice" to "utterly perfect." I need to give some away to friends - the most worn copy is already destined for one friend's wall. I think I have less than $10 tied up in the stack.

Now I'm feeling the mood to play my Swedish copy - too bad it's at home. :no:

The only station around here that plays any vinyl has two shows that are run by a guy who comes across as a total dweeb in his radio spots and tends to play the lighter stuff. Don't get me wrong, I love some lighter stuff (Sinatra and Martin are in my top 10 favorites), but variety is nice. I need a radio show where I could play everything from 30s Jazz to Pearl Jam on vinyl. At the very least, it would be interesting - though I doubt I could nail down an audience of any sort.
 
Every once in a while I catch the Drive's Overnight Album Side @ 3:00am.

I don't mind the imperfections too much as I'm usually hearing something new to me. And it reminds me how good my budget vintage systems sound.

:music:
 
I feel a little better now...there's a maintenance guy at my place installing some heating duct and he just commented that my records sound amazingly clear and clean.

So...one opinion changed at a time I guess. He didn't say he missed the warmth of cracks and pops, either.
 
I think it's sad that people expect records to have clicks and pops, because they have never heard a clean record, or heard of record cleaning machines.

The NPR affiliate station here has a fun weekly show called Record Bin Roulette where they play plenty of scratchy old 45s and LPs found at yard sales and thrift bins.

Radio producer and KPLU All Blues host John Kessler, and long-time Seattle morning radio personality and KPLU real estate commentator John Maynard were talking shop over a beer one evening. Across the street from the pub was a house with a garage sale sign in the yard. Sitting at the bar looking through the window, they made a bet that somewhere in that house there’d be a box of old records, and in that box of records would be something really good. Whoever found the juiciest record would buy the next round.

Even though it was getting dark they walked across the street and a lady in a housecoat came to the door. “Yeah, I’ve got some records in the basement that I’ve had forever… if you want ‘em, you can have ‘em.”

From that box, Maynard pulled out an early 50’s relic, “Say Hey, Willie Mays.” The fine print on the label said, “produced by Quincy Jones.” Maynard and Kessler exclaimed, “Quincy Jones? You gotta be kidding!” Kessler pulled out a 45 of “Black Denim Trousers and Motorcycle Boots” by – get this – Edith Piaf, whose life story had just won an Academy Award. It was then that Maynard and Kessler said to each other, “You know there’s got to be a ton of music that hasn’t been heard in decades, but has relevance to today!” Then, “We could make a show out of this! Every song seems to have a story outside of the grooves. We can tell that story!”

The deeper they dug, the more they discovered – finding surprising connections, themes and revelations. The result is Record Bin Roulette, a new seven-minute audio showcase of peculiar moments from records, television, and movies. The feature debuts February 6 at 7:30 p.m. and will air on subsequent Fridays (with a rebroadcast on Saturdays at 1 p.m.). The debut show includes the singing voices of actor Lee Marvin, and Bonanza stars Lorne Greene, and Dan Blocker.
Click to expand...
 
rito25 said:
Sam your lucky. My copy has a slight case of groove damage.
Click to expand...

Hit garage sales right when they open. That's where I got the Swedish pressing in mint condition for $2. :thmbsp:

The flip side of this is that I hardly ever find any other PF vinyl. One copy of "Meddle," one of "Wish You Were Here," two of "The Wall," and one of "Delicate Sound of Thunder." Both copies of The Wall are in dire need of cleaning.

John, it is fun to open people's eyes to the potential of vinyl. I'm getting ready to rehab a turntable in my pile for a friend who just got married as a late wedding present. Before he starting staying at my place half of the week while in town for work, he had no idea what vinyl was capable of. Now he and his wife want a table. :D
 
Last edited:
I'm surprised... stations usually take care of their vinyl. This one from Standford U.'s station.

Electric_ladyland.jpg


It actually place pretty nice. :D
 
Looks like somebody ripped that f****ing album off huh? Most of the vinyl at the college station I use to work at was pretty clean. I'm surprised a commercial station would be playing crap copies. I can't remember who it was, but some local news outlet did a story on the resurgence of vinyl that made me bang my head on the desk. The worst was some kid they interviewed that said something like, "I think the clicks and pops add a whole new dimension to the music".
 
I would but I can't drive yet. Plus there aren't a lot of people around here with records for sale. And plus many give theirs to the local record store. I do need to hit our farmers market soon.
Plus my copy ain't that bad. Though I really want Obscured by the clouds and wish you where here.
Also I have a brother and I want to smack him every time he says he likes pops and noise and/or that he thinks its in vinyl by default. He is clearly deaf since our rooms are next to each other.
 
Last edited:
rito25 said:
I would but I can't drive yet. Plus there aren't a lot of people around here with records for sale. And plus many give theirs to the local record store. I do need to hit our farmers market soon.
Plus my copy ain't that bad. Though I really want Obscured by the clouds and wish you where here.
Also I have a brother and I want to smack him every time he says he likes pops and noise and/or that he thinks its in vinyl by default. He is clearly deaf since our rooms are next to each other.
Click to expand...

It took me forever to find a clean copy of Wish You Were Here, though I finally lucked out at an estate sale (after driving in a blizzard to get there) two winters ago. Still had the original receipt in the sleeve, from the late '70s, and I don't think it had ever been played.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom