Sometimes you just have to buy an album that’s on clear violet vinyl

Published on 30 March 2019 in , , ,

The record player

When she was 40, my partner Catherine was given a record player as a present.

We had no records of course. My parents had given what little vinyl I had away whilst I was at university. I guess it made sense to my mum. Hey, I didn’t have a record player any more. But this did mean I no longer have my 7″ single of Always Look On The Bright Side of Life from Monty Python, nor my 12″ of Milky Milky by Mr Strange and the Lactose Brotherhood. This makes me sad.

Like many I went digital with music years ago. But the record player began to change that. Vinyl is special. It feels great to hold in your hands. It’s physical. You can touch it. It’s big. It looks great. I love playing it.

It arrived 15 months ago. Since then we have built up a small stash of records, many nabbed from the attic of Catherine’s parents. Some came from local charity shops. Others from Vinyl Exchange in Manchester. But there was one thing in common with all of them. They were all second hand. We hadn’t bought anything new (although I did get a gift of a new copy of Matt Berry’s Television Themes.)

Then the other day I was stood in HMV in Stockport after having been to the opticians next door. And there it was. The Prodigy’s No Tourists.

I’d been thinking of buying it for a while. But I rarely get near a music shop so hadn’t got round to it. And there it was. I picked it up. Was about to go to the till. Then something made me put it back on the racks.

For there, on display, was something even better. The same album BUT ON CLEAR VIOLET VINYL!

Well come on!

Yeah, it was a fiver more, but CLEAR VIOLET VINYL!

So I bought it. And as I type, I’m playing it. And loving it. And noting how my son came downstairs just as a particularly profanity filled track came on… (Look, it was past his bedtime…)

This may not be the last new vinyl I buy…

(As if a reminder of why physical shops can be special places, I ended up talking about Keith Flint to the guy behind the counter…)