Long Playing Albums - Love or Hate them they are still fun

The other day I was looking through some LP albums that I have not played for years and found a 1987 record - Heyday by the Fairport Convention.

I inspected the record surface and could see no significant marks or scratches. I cleaned it and played it and  there was very little snap crackle or pop and you could only hear it between the tracks; there was no sound of a deadly scratch either.

You could notice that the tracks had not been mastered very well as they were recorded live by the BBC during the 1968 and 1969. At this time Fairport were singing cover versions of American artists such as Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen and even the Everly Brothers. Perhaps the BBC had never originally intended to release these recordings on album.

The listening was going well and the record sounded almost pristine until the last few bars of the last track on the first side. The record got stuck before it could run off. I examined the record again and saw the slightest of scratches. Some of my other records were much more heavily damaged than this one but played all the way through. Why does one of my favourite albums have to behave this way?

There was no other choice but to increase the tracking weight so I could play the last track to the end.

I always like to listen to an LP all the way through and it is bad enough having to flip the record over to the second side let alone go through the rigmarole of changing the tracking weight. This is why I am going to buy the CD when  see it.

This type of bad experience, with a vinyl LP, is one of the reasons why I converted to digital media - the music does not sound that different after all.

I packed away the records and the turntable despite appeals from my wife. I don't know how long it will be before I listen to an LP again but I will; I still like the sound despite all the difficulties.