“My first record was “Oh, Pretty Woman” by Roy Orbison. It came with a record player on Christmas, probably 1965. I played the crap out of that record and couldn’t wait to buy more. I recall furiously debating whether I should spend my hard-earned 79 cents on “Wild Thing” or “Hanky Panky.” I figured “Wild Thing” would have a longer radio life so I went with “Hanky Panky.” Decisions, decisions.”
“I lived overseas in the late ’60s and ’70s. I was civilian, but my military friends had PX privileges where albums cost $2.50. One day they took me on an album buying trip. I had to stay in the car while they hit the record rack. I only had enough money for one album and the choices were Stand Up by Jethro Tull or Spirit’s first album. I thought Spirit was slightly more obscure so I went with the underdog. Fresh Garbage never sounded so good.
I remember exactly when the vinyl era ended. My album Sunny Nights was released on vinyl in 1988 by Columbia Records. The second single “Double Our Numbers” was released on CD. I made it onto a major label 12” just in the nick of time. A CD release wouldn’t have been the same. I’m hugely proud to have my name on Columbia’s big red label surrounded by my songs etched in glorious black vinyl.
My relationship with vinyl atrophied for years after CDs became the norm. It was just the way things were. When I was dating my (soon to be) wife Helle in the late ’90s, it was her CD collection that I admired. LPs were gone.
In 1998 I got a call out of the blue to audition for Electric Light Orchestra Part II. The band’s American keyboardist Eric Troyer was telling me which members of the original ELO were in the new configuration. As we spoke I pulled four ELO albums out of my closet and started matching names Eric mentioned (Bev Bevan, Kelly Groucutt, Mik Kaminski) to their pictures in my albums. My future bandmates all looked like legends to me. If your picture was on an actual LP, you were somebody.
Helle and I bought a turntable three or four years ago. For the first time in forever I pulled a record out of a sleeve and placed it on a turntable. It was a mind altering experience. It was so familiar…and yet so foreign. It felt like the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s were some sepia-toned dreamstate from the distant past. I hadn’t played records in years…but it was once such a huge, natural part of my life. What happened?
Don’t even get me started about streaming.
I’m not even close to a vinyl junkie, but I do enjoy rooting around in stacks of albums looking for weird shit. My favorite local store is Joe’s Record Paradise in Silver Spring. The people are always helpful and they play cool stuff while you’re looking around. I bring my kids and we usually end up with an eclectic stack of indie rock, showtunes, classic rock, and soundtracks. It’s fun. Both my kids have record players. At least I’ve taught them that much.”
—Parthenon Huxley
After a successful Kickstarter campaign, Parthenon Huxley’s This is the One arrives in stores later this year. Huxley and his band play VA’s Jammin Java on Friday, March 9.
