“Growing up I admired the way my father would peruse vinyl at the record shops of New York City. He really knew what he was doing. He’d saddle up to a bin with me at his side, waist high, and flip flip flip start running through those things with the authority that only a lifelong collector could. Pinch the jacket. See how it opens? Pull out the sleeve—you can read what’s on either side. Use your thumb and pointer to take it out—don’t touch the grooves.
Readymade Breakup | Waiting for You
Hundreds and hundreds of records lined the walls and filled closets of his home study. He let me clean the records with that special hollowed out wooden cleaning brush. Miles, Mobley, Hubbard, Coltrane, Mingus. And tons of David Murray. I mean tons. Why David Murray? I have absolutely no idea. People have their inexplicable attractions, their secret causes. Stacks of Cadence magazine. How could a man read a 150-page black and white magazine that was just listings of vinyl for sale or trade? Nowadays I understand.
A few years ago I decided I wanted a turntable of my own. One rainy day I went to the local electronics store. They had plenty of expensive new models with all the bells and whistles for the demanding audiophile. I was a poser of an audiophile with about 60 bucks in my pocket. There was, the man said, one used model that had just come in. He went into the back room and brought it out. It was a Technics, same as my father’s. The one at home, in his study. The one that spun like magic under the cleaning brush 20 years ago. Asking 75. Will you take 50? I can do 60. You got a deal.
Readymade Breakup | Just
No box, no case, just wrapped in plastic bags to keep it dry on the way home. The lid was cracked and the switch for lowering the arm was busted. But I knew this turntable. The knobs second nature, the Technics lettering so familiar. My collection was about four or five records then. I put on a copy of Coltrane’s A Love Supreme. Ran my finger across the large Start/Stop button and pressed it down. The record began to spin and the music began to play.” —Paul Rosevear
Readymade Breakup play The Saint in Asbury Park, NJ this Friday night, 3/11!
