“Oh vinyl, how I love thee.”
“The gentle crackle at the beginning and end of a record instantly reminds me of Billie Holiday and warms my musical soul. I am by no means a vinyl junkie, but I do have a colorful collection that I continue to add to with sporadic trips to the swap meet, thrift stores, and my curious wanderings into record stores.
The very first album that I ever bought was Prince’s Purple Rain. CLASSIC. I love everything about this album. EVERY song is legendary, but the album cover… is perfection. His sexy little smirk, his fabulous frills, his motorcycle, and that font! Art in absolute harmony.
When I first bought my turntables I was obsessed with Hard House, Trance and Hi-NrG grooves. So, needless to say I have a nice lil chunk of vinyl from labels like Positiva, Nukleuz, Tidy Trax, Strictly Rhythm, Yoshitoshi, etc.
Nowadays when I’m out digging for records I am usually looking for time travelers, aka tunes that take me back. Recently I was lucky enough to score Donna Summers I Remember Yesterday album for $1! A major score for one of my favorite songs of all time, “I Feel Love.”
When I was first learning how to DJ, I had a session with some of my DJ friends, Fresh One and Chris Cutz. They were teaching me how to beat match with Hip Hop instrumentals and were kind enough to give me a few hip hop records to practice with.
I have since added an array of Hip Hop vinyl to my library: Outkast, A Tribe Called Quest, Biggie, Kanye, Jay-Z, Busta. But it doesn’t stop with the hip hop… I’ve got some Led Zeppelin, Saturday Night Fever, Joan Rivers (yes, Joan Rivers’ comedy album.) I even have Martin Luther King Jr’s The Great March On Washington on vinyl, which contains his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech. The universe was kind enough to interject this history into my record collection.
Now that I think about it, I have quite a unique assortment!
I have never shared this much detail about my vinyl collection with anyone (other than my wife, she’s usually there with me when I find new treasures.) There is still so much more to it! But before I wrap this up, I will have to disclose my favorite piece of vinyl. I’ll give you a hint…he is arguably the best male vocalist of all time. MARVIN GAYE.
I bought his Greatest Hits album and I listen to “Distant Lover” (Live Version) over and over and over again. That particular song floods me with emotions EVERY time I hear it. He just looks so adorable and happy with his green velvet suit (Oh my gosh… I wonder if that’s where Green Velvet got his name?) and his big white bow tie.
Well, if my record collection should say anything about me… it’s that I love music. I have so much love for all different genres…I also love to laugh and be inspired.”
—Von Kiss
