The Turtles Greatest Hits

Yesterday I went into the HMV store in Oxford Street; they need all the support they can get. Whilst thumbing through the CDs and LP records I saw a copy of The Turtles Greatest Hits in 180 g vinyl. It was going at a bargain price. So I bought it.

I have not bought a record since the 1980's. I thought that I would remind myself about what playing a pristine LP is all about.

Quite often a Turtles song runs through my head but I rarely hear their music on the radio or as background music in a pub or restaurant.. I especially like their hits "Happy Together", "She'd Rather Be With Me" and "Elenore". Their music was was always fresh sounding. It was soft rock which had a little bit of folk influence. This is why Bob Dylan's  " It Ain't Me Babe" suited their style so well. I also like their melodies.

The three hits and the Dylan cover are the best tracks on the record and the rest of the songs are pretty weak. This is probably why I never bought one of their albums up until now. I always preferred the Lovin' Spoonful and the Turtles could not compete in any way with Jefferson Airplane. It was worth buying the album for the four main tracks ,however, and I can now hum along to the real thing.

Another reason for buying the LP was to see what all the talk is about concerning the LP revival. I set up my deck and levelled it and adjusted the tone arm. I cleaned the needle and made sure there was no dust on the platter. I checked that the platter was running at 33 1/3 rpm. I opened the record carefully and pulled it out of its sleeve.

I examined the record surface on both sides, just as I always did. There no scratches or imperfections and no dust. I carefully placed the record on the turntable and set down the needle with headphones at the ready. Within fours seconds of playing  "Happy Together" I heard my first click. Luckily it was the only one. In between the tracks I could hear a slight crackling and this was more pronounced towards the final track.

None of this crackle spoilt my enjoyment of the four songs mentioned above which sounded great musically. There was a nice dynamism to the music and I had to turn the volume up to appreciate it. I rarely turn up the volume of modern "pop" CD. In fact I usually turn the volume down if I have been listening to a folk or jazz recording before.

Whilst it was great fun to unwrap a new LP and go through the ritual of playing the disc, I am not converted back to buying any music on vinyl unless it is unobtainable from a "digital" source. The record can only deteriorate after playing it a number of times and dust will accumulate in the grooves. The mere act of playing the record creates static and this is what must have created the pop after four seconds of playing.

There is always the chance that I will scratch the record finding the tracks that I like best. I  am not particularly impressed by 180 g vinyl; it does not sound any better than the 160 g vinyl we had in the 1960's and early 1970's.

I am therefore resolved to keep buying CDs and Downloads rather than vinyl. The convenience outweighs the pleasant ritual of listening to an LP. This ritual gets tedious after awhile. I therefore rigged up the deck to a laptop and converted the record to a 16/44.1 digital WAV file.  I could hear no difference. I have all the advantages of the LP without the inconvenience.

The recording still sounded like an LP. I did not have to use Audacity noise removal but I did get rid of the single click. I can now play the  authentic 1960's Turtles California sound anywhere by making a CD and a cassette for our older car. I can also stream the music throughout the house and also play it on a tablet computer in a hotel room.

Don't get me wrong the LP record sounded great and the pops and crackles were almost imperceptible. Of course, it is of HIFI quality but the slight harmonic distortion which is inherent in all vinyl and cassette recordings makes the music sound  a little "thicker and warmer" than a CD or equivalent download.  An LP does not sound any better to me than a CD.

Now that I have converted the LP, I do not have to play it again. The record will stay in pristine condition for many years to come. Hopefully, someone will have the pleasure of playing it in 40 years time and will be able to convert it to a digital recording without the noise removal too. There will still be turntables and "computer stored music. There will also be film cameras and digital ones.

We are very lucky to live in a multifaceted world. Let's take advantage of all the possibilities.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Turtles