“My first experience with vinyl was probably stumbling onto my parents’ record collection as a kid.”
“They weren’t really played then, as during that time it was mainly cassettes, and then CDs came out. So these records were just sitting in boxes in the basement of that house. I think the smell is what I remember most. Old paper. Like library books. I remember seeing lots of The Ventures, Beach Boys, and Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass.
I grew up with CDs, and then when I went to college and learned of all the old sketchy programs like Limewire and Soulseek, I started a separate sort of education of music history—downloading anything I liked, and then researching the story behind those bands, what bands inspired them—and then I’d go download and listen to those bands too. This was pre-Pandora/Spotify, and there was no way I could afford the amount of music I was listening to otherwise.
I started building a record collection a few years after college, once I knew I wasn’t gonna be moving around so much. I realized that out of the massive MP3 collection I had by then, certain albums held up a lot better over time than others. “Album” albums vs. a couple of good singles and some filler stuff.
I try to keep my record collection to that kinda stuff —things that I’ll play repeatedly, or albums that really take you somewhere.
The record I spent the most on: Pantherphobia by Tav Falco and the Panther Burns (funny ’cause they probably spent the least making it). Top 5 in heavy rotation: Trouble is a Lonesome Town: Lee Hazelwood,
Tender Buttons: Broadcast, Bo Diddley: Bo Diddley, Chet Baker Sings: Chet Baker, Spirit of the Golden Juice: FJ McMahon. What’s on the platter right now: Miami by The Gun Club.”
—Teddy Binger
The Bingers’ Stay Satisfied arrives in stores on April 21, 2017 via Tall Pat Records—on vinyl.
