“The first thing I ever purchased at a record store was MC Hammer’s “2 Legit to Quit” single. It was 1991, I was 9 years old, and it was on a cassette tape. Then about 5 minutes later these things called CDs came out and I found myself back at that same record store buying Lauryn Hill’s The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. Then about 2 minutes later Napster hit the scene and no one bought cassettes or CDs (or music) anymore.”
“All this to say, I sorta missed the vinyl record era when it was in its heyday. But missing that era is precisely why records have always had a mysterious coolness to them. Growing up, my older brother had a record collection that he kept in his room and which was, of course, off-limits to me. My parents had a record collection 10 times bigger. So records were always around but they were like the party AFTER I was sent to bed… grown up, cool, and forbidden.
Records weren’t off-limits to me because my parents didn’t want me to experience the music. They were off-limits because I was a kid and records are delicate. They can be scratched. You have to make sure the record is clean before you put it on the player. You have to make sure the needle doesn’t have any dirt or lint on it and be very gentle with the arm as you place it right on the edge of the record as it spins at the selected speed. There was a method and a system to the whole thing that I admired with awe from a safe distance. Records took time.
Right now, 32-year-old me is sitting in front of his little record collection (mostly old big band stuff) and the record that is spinning on the turntable is my own. I finished up my latest album Like Us a few months ago and have been impatiently waiting for my very first vinyl copy to arrive at my door.
I took the record out of its sleeve, made sure it was clean and shiny. I put it at the top of the spindle and guided it town to the table. Carefully took some dust and lint off the needle, and then I slowly placed it on the edge and let that classic, timeless, beautiful, off-limits, forbidden, cool, mysterious crackling sound hit my ears.”
—Jon McLaughlin
Jon McLaughlin’s new full length release, Like Us is available for pre-order now and arrives in stores October 9, 2015. On vinyl.
