Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 25 of 42

Thread: Vinyl - Did they ever STOP making it?

  1. #1
    Member zravkapt's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    canada
    Posts
    280

    Vinyl - Did they ever STOP making it?

    CDs arrived around the early/mid-1980s but cassettes were the biggest selling format of that decade. I remember owning new releases from 1988 on vinyl. I also remember being surprised to see new releases on vinyl in a record store in 1995. I also remember some new releases were still available on cassette as late as 1999. How many major releases between 1990-2000 were available only on CD? The new vinyl trend started sometime in the 2000s, but was there ever a time that someone who really wanted their music on vinyl could not get it in that format?
    The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off

  2. #2
    Sure, plenty of stuff from the 90s.

    Here's an example of a fairly strong seller that has no vinyl edition to this day: https://www.discogs.com/Collective-S...l/master/87836

  3. #3
    Member rcarlberg's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Seattle
    Posts
    7,765
    Quote Originally Posted by zravkapt View Post
    ... was there ever a time that someone who really wanted their music on vinyl could not get it in that format?
    Sure, there were LOTS of releases that were released AFTER the vinyl crash but BEFORE the vinyl revival.

    However, as I initially read your thread title, the answer would be NO -- there never was a time when NO NEW VINYL was available (and of course used always was). It was all just specialty stuff for that decade between 1990 and 2000.

  4. #4
    There was more vinyl pressed in Europe and South America than in North America during the 90's. Bob Dylan's Bootleg Series Vol 1-3 was released as a 5 LP box in Europe but has never been reissued on vinyl in North America. George Harrison's Live In Japan, Yes' Union, Paul McCartney-Paul is Live and MTV Unplugged are just some examples of releases on vinyl that never were issued in the U.S. on LP.

    Some of the most expensive vinyl I have bought were these albums.

    Bill
    She'll be standing on the bar soon
    With a fish head and a harpoon
    and a fake beard plastered on her brow.

  5. #5
    There were a lot of so called "indie" rock and "punk rock" stuff that was issued on vinyl in the 90's. Or at least the early 90's, anyway. I remember because I used to hang out a record store that stocked that dreck. They always had a few new LP's or 7" releases or whatever of that stuff. I assume it continued that way during the latter half of the decade.

  6. #6
    I remember buying Pavement's Crooked Rain on LP in 1994.

  7. #7
    Member zravkapt's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    canada
    Posts
    280
    Some of the big 'alternative' bands of the early/mid-90s had their albums available on vinyl; I had no idea at the time that anyone was still releasing vinyl, so that's why I was so surprised to see them for sale in a record store in the mid-90s.
    The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off

  8. #8
    Todd Rundgren’s 2nd Wind was the first album I wanted where there was no vinyl version. I didn’t have a CD player yet, and had to break down and buy the cassette. I’ve since upgraded to the CD. I think there’s still no LP of this one.
    Confirmed Bachelors: the dramedy hit of 1883...

  9. #9
    Progdog ThomasKDye's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Vallejo, CA
    Posts
    1,012
    Yeah, wasn't there a big whoopdedoo about Pearl Jam releasing "Vitalogy" on LP? I seem to remember it being treated like a band expanding its largesse to keep a sad medium alive.
    "Arf." -- Frank Zappa, "Beauty Knows No Pain" (live version)

  10. #10
    Member zravkapt's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    canada
    Posts
    280
    ^I was going to say this thread reminded me of this song:

    The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off

  11. #11
    Member lak611's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2016
    Location
    Cleveland, OH
    Posts
    616
    Quote Originally Posted by GuitarGeek View Post
    There were a lot of so called "indie" rock and "punk rock" stuff that was issued on vinyl in the 90's. Or at least the early 90's, anyway. I remember because I used to hang out a record store that stocked that dreck. They always had a few new LP's or 7" releases or whatever of that stuff. I assume it continued that way during the latter half of the decade.
    A lot of those indie rock bands sold their 7" records at clubs where they played in the early 90s. Some of the local bands even gave away 7" records free of charge to folks who went to the shows.

    There were several indie record stores that have since gone out of business that had employees who were members of local bands.
    Laura

  12. #12
    Member moecurlythanu's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    The Planet Lovetron
    Posts
    13,023
    Quote Originally Posted by lak611 View Post

    There were several indie record stores that have since gone out of business that had employees who were members of local bands.
    One of the dudes who was in Speaker\Cranker runs My Mind's Eye in Lakewood, iirc.

  13. #13
    Member lak611's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2016
    Location
    Cleveland, OH
    Posts
    616
    Quote Originally Posted by moecurlythanu View Post
    One of the dudes who was in Speaker\Cranker runs My Mind's Eye in Lakewood, iirc.
    You are correct. He used to work at Record Revolution on Coventry IIRC. That was the store that had a lot of great jazz vinyl in the basement.
    Laura

  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by ThomasKDye View Post
    Yeah, wasn't there a big whoopdedoo about Pearl Jam releasing "Vitalogy" on LP? I seem to remember it being treated like a band expanding its largesse to keep a sad medium alive.
    I feel like I remember that too, but it seems odd that Vitalogy caused that reaction, since the album they released the year earlier, Vs., was also pressed on vinyl. As was the debut album.

  15. #15
    Member zravkapt's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    canada
    Posts
    280
    ^Yeah, could have sworn I seen the album with the sheep on the cover on vinyl back then.
    The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off

  16. #16
    One thing I'll say for sure- today's 180G pressings are far superior to most of the crap presssings from the 70s and 80s. I've purchased about 20 different new LPs in the last two years, and not one of them had even 10% of the surface noise or pops/clicks most new albums had back then. Although I still hate the assle of pulling off an outer sleeve and pulling the LP out of the cardboard sleeve and then the inner sleeve, then cleaning with my carbon fiber brush and cleaning the stylus before finally playing it, I thoroughly enjoy listening to them.
    It amazes me how good a LP played on p-mount Technics can sound.

  17. #17
    Quote Originally Posted by moecurlythanu View Post
    One of the dudes who was in Speaker\Cranker runs My Mind's Eye in Lakewood, iirc.
    I know the dude you're thinking of, because he worked at Wax Stax towards the end of it's existence. Was he actually in Speaker/Cranker, or was he just their all purpose roadie/stage manager? Their drummer, Scott Pickering also worked at Wax Stax, he was one of the people who hipped me whenever cool prog or psych vinyl would show up. I remember one day, he comes out of the back room, holding a record and asks me if I had it or not. I didn't have my glasses so, I couldn't see what it was at first. As I got closer to him, I realized it was Can, Tago Mago, and I'm like, "GIVE ME THAT!!!!" Wax Stax was a cool store.
    Record Revolution on Coventry IIRC. That was the store that had a lot of great jazz vinyl in the basement.
    I spent about a hundred bucks on one trip to Record Revolution. The basement area was called Stiff Records, and I walked in there one day and saw an Amon Duul II LP, which led to me having to go through ALL the records to see what else they had. That was the day I was introduced to Gryphon, and Le Orme, and the one and only time I ever saw an original issue Sun Ra LP on sale (the original Blue Thumb edition of Space Is The Place). The guy behind the counter had to give me a box to take the records home.

    Record Exchange was pretty cool too, back in the 80's, the original store on Coventry. The thing that always got me, though, was they'd have some of the same records that I'd find at Wax Stax, but for some reason at Wax Stax they were always several dollars cheaper. Record Exchange also always had a good selection of bootlegs (as did Record Revolution). I bought several bootlegs at that store.

  18. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by Jubal View Post
    One thing I'll say for sure- today's 180G pressings are far superior to most of the crap presssings from the 70s and 80s. .
    I've heard the reason a lot of records sucked during the 70's was because of the oil "shortage". I remember someone telling me that's one reason progressive music fell out of favor with big labels in the late 70's. It was well and fine to dump money on bands that were shifting enough money to cover the expenses, but once the oil crisis kicked in (remember lining up for gas?!), it became significantly more expensive to actually make records, and suddenly Columbia, MCA, and other big labels felt obliged to drop anything that was "too esoteric" because "we can't afford to out something that's not going to move at least 100,000 units" or whatever.

  19. #19
    Member moecurlythanu's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    The Planet Lovetron
    Posts
    13,023
    Quote Originally Posted by GuitarGeek View Post
    I know the dude you're thinking of, because he worked at Wax Stax towards the end of it's existence. Was he actually in Speaker/Cranker, or was he just their all purpose roadie/stage manager?
    It's been a long time since I saw Speaker\Cranker, but iirc he played guitar (or possibly bass) when I saw them last.

    Quote Originally Posted by GuitarGeek View Post
    Wax Stax was a cool store.
    Yeah, I pulled a lot of good stuff out of there. I think that's where I got Strange Days, Quatermass (US press), William Sheller, Ibis -Sun Supreme, among others. Looking back, I blew it and left some stuff too. (Ragnarok [Sw], Univers Zero, Ra Can Row that I recall for certain.)


    Quote Originally Posted by GuitarGeek View Post
    I spent about a hundred bucks on one trip to Record Revolution. The basement area was called Stiff Records, and I walked in there one day and saw an Amon Duul II LP, which led to me having to go through ALL the records to see what else they had. That was the day I was introduced to Gryphon, and Le Orme, and the one and only time I ever saw an original issue Sun Ra LP on sale (the original Blue Thumb edition of Space Is The Place). The guy behind the counter had to give me a box to take the records home.
    Yeah, Record Revolution was solid. I'm old enough to remember their other branch in Parma, Stiff Records. I bought imports and Genesis bootlegs from them. Saw Grobschnitt -Merry Go Round and almost bought it, but didn't know what it was. There were some good record stores in the Cleveland area back then. Platter-puss, Perry's Rockpile, one in Mentor that I don't recall the name of, Shattered (where I got my early IQ/Twelfth Night/Pendragon, etc imports. Others I'm forgetting. The Record Shows were great for buying bootlegs back in the late 70s/early 80s. In the 90s, My Generation was a great CD store.

    Quote Originally Posted by GuitarGeek View Post
    Record Exchange was pretty cool too, back in the 80's, the original store on Coventry. The thing that always got me, though, was they'd have some of the same records that I'd find at Wax Stax, but for some reason at Wax Stax they were always several dollars cheaper. Record Exchange also always had a good selection of bootlegs (as did Record Revolution). I bought several bootlegs at that store.
    They were all over town, but I was in the Coventry store plenty of times. I pretty much only ever got used CDs from them, but quite a large amount.
    Last edited by moecurlythanu; 12-31-2016 at 08:22 AM.

  20. #20
    Quote Originally Posted by GuitarGeek View Post
    I've heard the reason a lot of records sucked during the 70's was because of the oil "shortage". I remember someone telling me that's one reason progressive music fell out of favor with big labels in the late 70's. It was well and fine to dump money on bands that were shifting enough money to cover the expenses, but once the oil crisis kicked in (remember lining up for gas?!), it became significantly more expensive to actually make records, and suddenly Columbia, MCA, and other big labels felt obliged to drop anything that was "too esoteric" because "we can't afford to out something that's not going to move at least 100,000 units" or whatever.
    The other part about the oil crisis issue I heard was that record companies were recycling poor-selling records as well. It sure seemed like the there were a lot of inconsistencies in a lot of the new pressings I bought back then. I am also of the opinion that 150G was just too thin for a product that had to be shrink wrapped. I ended up with way too many severely warped albums, many of the warps were just very small areas on the outer edge. I had some albums that when cued softly, the would just hop the stylus off of the platter.

    The worst label for quality back then was Passport Records. Absolutely terrible quality- warped, clicks and pops galore. To this day, I refuse to purchase any album from that label, no matter how clean it looks.

  21. #21
    Member lak611's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2016
    Location
    Cleveland, OH
    Posts
    616
    Quote Originally Posted by Jubal View Post
    The other part about the oil crisis issue I heard was that record companies were recycling poor-selling records as well. It sure seemed like the there were a lot of inconsistencies in a lot of the new pressings I bought back then. I am also of the opinion that 150G was just too thin for a product that had to be shrink wrapped. I ended up with way too many severely warped albums, many of the warps were just very small areas on the outer edge. I had some albums that when cued softly, the would just hop the stylus off of the platter.

    The worst label for quality back then was Passport Records. Absolutely terrible quality- warped, clicks and pops galore. To this day, I refuse to purchase any album from that label, no matter how clean it looks.
    I haven't heard of the Passport label. What bands were signed by then?

    Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk
    Laura

  22. #22
    Quote Originally Posted by lak611 View Post
    I haven't heard of the Passport label. What bands were signed by then?
    I have some of Brand X's records on that label (U.S. pressings).

  23. #23
    Member lak611's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2016
    Location
    Cleveland, OH
    Posts
    616
    Quote Originally Posted by pb2015 View Post
    I have some of Brand X's records on that label (U.S. pressings).
    Thank you.

    Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk
    Laura

  24. #24
    Member TheH's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Germany
    Posts
    3,231
    Quote Originally Posted by lak611 View Post
    I haven't heard of the Passport label. What bands were signed by then?
    I think they rather did more American LP versions of European bands than really own stuff, but they had tons of Prog bands in the 70s

    Camel, Nektar, Synergy, FM, Kraan etc. also bands like Fireballet and Shadowfax

  25. #25
    Member lak611's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2016
    Location
    Cleveland, OH
    Posts
    616
    Quote Originally Posted by TheH View Post
    I think they rather did more American LP versions of European bands than really own stuff, but they had tons of Prog bands in the 70s

    Camel, Nektar, Synergy, FM, Kraan etc. also bands like Fireballet and Shadowfax
    Thanks! I'm familiar with all of those bands but don't have any of their music on vinyl. Are there other labels I should look for if I want better quality pressings of their records?

    Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk
    Laura

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •