“I think one of the best things about growing up in the age of CDs and cassettes is that people were really giving away their vinyl collections. There were always amazing records just being given away by people.
My first memory of vinyl was my brother, now a writer, taking out my parents’ Yes records and trying to get me to write fantasy stories about them. He was lucky enough to get the record collection because he was smart enough to know what a good collection it was back then.
There was a lot of classic rock, but also a lot of pro rock and psych. I think the two Yes records we were looking at were Fragile, and Relayer, with artwork by Roger Dean. They looked like a landscape out of Lord of The Rings (well, Relayer did) and conjured up some pretty far out imagery. He had me stare at the record covers and write fantasy stories about them. Not only was this my first time writing anything creative, but also my introduction to vinyl.
Luckily, I was able to take some of the records when I got a record player. My favorite cover for novelty reasons was the Rolling Stones’ Sticky Fingers. To put a working zipper on a vinyl album cover was just genius.
I am so glad that vinyl is making a comeback. My favorite way to listen to a record is on vinyl.
The crackling and the timing of the two sides makes listening sessions perfect. But, for me, the artwork has alway been a huge added bonus…”
—Marissa Nadler
