Over at Davy's place last Friday we were all waxing lyrical, especially Swiss Adam and extolling the virtues of vinyl.
Now I love vinyl as much as the next man, that's probably not true, I probably love vinyl a lot more than the next man unless the next man is the kind of person who reads this rubbish then it will probably be a close run thing. But I do have a problem with the stuff or I should say L has a problem with the stuff and that is that it takes up so much space!
When we moved into the house we are in now we had to compromise. I wanted a record room, a haven where I could go shut myself off from the world, gaze lovingly at my collection and play my records.
L wanted a dining room!
Of course L won but conceded to giving me the far end of the room and the internal cupboard. So I then had to decide what records were to be stored in the 'dining room' and what would have to be squirrelled away in other places. Now here is what I don't understand about L's thinking and I suspect a lot of other people who don't have an affinity with records, it is alright to have five IKEA BENNO towers along the wall housing those little indestructible silver discs, that didn't offend her eye but the sight of the spines of rows of vinyl is a different matter. ?
Anyway, I decided that the Dance 12" singles would be stacked in my office along with the 'various' Dance lps, the indie and mainstream 12" singles would be stored with most of the 7" singles in the cupboard on the half landing and that only the albums and one box of singles would be on view in the 'dining room'.
Over the years the vinyl downstairs has increased and has virtually taken over the far end of the room, what with the introduction of flight case for the prized albums and 12" singles, a further box for 7" and also records stacked in rows along the bottom of the cd racks! Recently there have been mumblings and not so subtle hints that it is getting out of hand and a reclamation attempt on the whole room was imminent.
So, yesterday spurned on by Mr H's posting I decided that I would need to do something. At the other side of the room is a cupboard that houses junk like, the wedding China, and the paraphernalia for table setting and the like. The cupboard also has a bit which would be perfect for storing vinyl but up until yesterday was full of boxes of the good crystal glasses and other non essential things. I then started thinking about how to pitch this to L because I had a feeling that I was on a hiding to nothing. However when I explained the idea to her, she said " as long as you find somewhere to put the other stuff, fine". I was rather surprised and decided to get to it forthwith before she changed her mind.
Most of the afternoon yesterday was spent, sorting out, filing and stacking vinyl with an air of contentment that I rarely achieve these days. By the time the boys and L were demanding dinner the room was transformed back to a dining room, no longer a mini maze constructed of piles of 12" vinyl. An afternoon well spent I'm sure you will agree. There is still a small stack of records, which I have not filed leaning against the cabinet that houses most of the albums but it will not offend L's eye for a while until it grows again
When I was sorting the vinyl out I found a northern soul single that I thought I had lost. It had somehow been filed in amongst the albums. It is a belter of a tune and it being missing had been bothering me on and off for sometime.
The Salvadores - Stick By Me Baby
