Hi, my name is Scooter77 and I am a vinyl record addict. I have had this addiction since I was a kid and it hasn't abated 30+ years later. Why do I have this addiction you ask? Well it has to do mostly with my upbringing. The reasons of which I outline below:

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In the beginning

During the 80's and 90's I remember heading down to the local record store as a kid to flick through the vinyl records, only to leave empty handed and head home to record songs from the radio on my cassette recorder. Sound familiar? If you are a child of the 70's, 80's or 90's (and of course earlier) before the arrival of that little plastic disc called a CD, you will know what I am talking about.

One of my fondest memories from my childhood was Christmas morning, 1987. My siblings and I were tearing open our presents from Santa like lions on a carcass when something caught my eye on the 'presents for the family' table. It was square in shape and not very thick. I begged to be the one to open it and within that raging red wrapping paper with reindeer on it lie my (well technically 'our') first record, Michael Jacksons - Bad (you know it, come on.....Who's Bad!). And so my addiction began.

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Addiction

To begin with, lets start with the root of this addiction and for that I blame (or thank) my parents. As the oldest child in the family, it was entrusted to me to operate the cherished Pioneer record player that took pride of place in our beige coloured lounge room. Underneath that record player lived a variety of records encompassing everything from The Beatles, Slade, Charley Pride, Lobo (which I still loath to this day), AbbA, Ripper '88 and everything in between.

Now growing up in a fairly poor but large family meant that a new record rarely came into the household, but when it did, it was a family occasion the first time it played. That was until I purchased my very own record for the first time Poison - Open Up and say Ahh or the Devils Music as mum would say! Complete with pictures of CC Deville with needles hanging out of his arm and Bret Michaels surrounded by big busty ladies, it was every boys dream record (or mine at least at the time) during the late 1980's.

From then on it was, "turn off that crap" or "turn down that music". After playing the record probably 1,000,000 times Dad finally caved and bought me a new record, guided by his rock music knowledge of course, AC/DC's - Back in Black.

Now this record opened up a whole new level of music for me and for a time I couldn't stand anything that wasn't produced by a band with a guitar, bass and drums (ie. Fine Young Cannibals). Nothing but Rock 'n' Roll for me. It was at about this time that the CD came into being and put the humble analog vinyl record into a tail spin. As every teenager at the time did, I purchased a CD player and jumped into this new world of shiny and plastic digital music where there were no crackles, no occasional skips from scratches (or so I thought) and no need to 'turn over' the music device.

Fast forward 8 years into my first year of university where I met my beautiful wife. One day we were window shopping through downtown Hobart, Tasmania and we stumbled across a record store Rare Groove Records. We took one step inside and were once again hooked. The walls were covered with vinyl and it was 'cheap' too during that era of the CD (before Mp3's Generation Y!). And so my long lost addiction received a royal shot in the arm and into the haze of black vinyl I drifted once again, but with me this time, I had an equally eager and equally addicted partner in crime.

It was here we discovered Neil Young, The Beastie Boys, Deep Purple and even scored some early Pearl Jam on white vinyl.
From that day we have collected and 'crate dived' whenever the opportunity presented itself.

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Why Vinyl

So why vinyl records I hear you ask, well here are my reasons for collecting:

1. Nostalgia and Sentimentality - vinyl records are tactile objects. There is a ritual to pulling them from their covers, placing them on the turntable and gently dropping the needle down. Records are more substantial and beautiful than CD's or MP3's.

2. Analog vs. Digital - vinyl is a continuous analog signal and with it comes irregularities and every flaw in the vinyl is transferred directly through to the speakers, something that you just don't get with digital formats. You may say that this could be a flaw, but again, it comes back to the nostalgic and sentimental aspect of point 1.

3. Collectability - although much of the vinyl in our record collection is not worth more than the vinyl they are pressed upon, we buy them because we love the music. We do have some collectible records that are worth some money, but that is not the core reason for the collection addiction. (The most valuable in our collection is that original AC/DC - Back in Black record that Dad helped me buy when I was younger)

And so the addiction continues and we are now up to a collection of around 400+ records with a value of just over $5000 (definitely not what we put into the collection).

The most expensive vinyl album in our collection is currently Eddie Vedder: Into the Wild at around $200 (first pressing)

So the question remains, are Vinyl records an investment or an addiction.... For me, both. I am addicted, but like the idea of them appreciating in value too.

Thanks for reading!