“I have such fond memories of vinyl. My first experience I remember vividly.”
“I was about 3 years old. My parents got my sister Liz and I this beautiful set of pictorial Disney records. I say ‘beautiful’ because the faces of these records weren’t just standard-issue black with a decal in the center. Instead, the entire record was decked out with these exuberant, full-color scenes from some of the classic Disney films.
Snow White, Dumbo, Pinocchio, and Bambi. Each record contained the corresponding soundtrack. We used to watch them become a wash of color as they spun atop of our Fisher Price record player. Hearing “When You Wish Upon a Star” and “Heigh-Ho” while watching Pinocchio and the Seven Dwarves twirling around was wonderful.
A year or two later, I became obsessed with the John Denver and Muppets Christmas album, A Christmas Together. I used to lie down on my living room floor and listen to that album next to my Kermit the Frog doll.
Sidenote: Years later, when I was a dumb teenager, I was horsing around with a friend on a street near where I used to live in Yonkers, NY. We were tossing my Kermit doll around and then decided it would be hilarious to try and throw him as high up into the air as we could. After one of my throws, Kermit didn’t come down; I saw he had landed one of the highest tree branches overhanging the street. The funniest thing: Kermit was sitting perfectly upright on that branch! Kermit never came down and remained up in that tree for years afterward. Years and years after that, I went back to the same street and looked for Kermit but he had disappeared.
Anyway, back to A Christmas Together. That album would open up like a book and was loaded with tons of fantastic artwork. The inside cover showed the top of Rolf’s piano littered with a bunch of fun, Muppet-ized sheet music for all the album’s songs. For a while, I think I was convinced the album had secret artwork that might reveal itself if I looked long enough. I remember thinking that perhaps I would find a hidden mini-Fozzie Bear hanging out by the song credits. I never did. Hmmm, maybe I should check again?
Fast forward to 1998. My brother Kieran and I went to see our favorite singer-songwriter, the late, great Elliott Smith. The show was at Irving Plaza in NYC, shortly after Smith had released XO. It was an incredible show: Elliott was every bit as amazing live as he was on all his recordings. I bought a vinyl copy of XO as a keepsake. I didn’t realize this until now but XO was actually the first vinyl record I ever bought for myself!
After the show, as Kieran and I were leaving, I overheard a couple people talking about how Elliott might be going to the bar on the south side of Irving Plaza. My brother and I waited for a while and, eventually, Elliott did come out. I was awestruck. When I met him, I shook his hand and the most I could muster was, “You were sooo good man!” He put up with me and signed my concert ticket stub and my vinyl copy of XO.
Today, my vinyl copy of XO is one of my most cherished possessions. Though the thought has certainly crossed my mind, I have never played that record and I don’t think I ever will. I feel very lucky to have seen Elliott live and to have met him, albeit very briefly.”
—Ryan Hobler
