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2:00 - In the 1980s, most of my vinyl (about 400 at my peak) came second hand, back when they were cheap and plentiful in pawn shops. And if a record had a big scratch across a certain song, buy two. 4:50 - Find time? MAKE time. Music should be enjoyed like books, listened with focus, not made noise in the background. Henry Rollins talked about this, that listening should be a concentrated activity, and I agree. 7:15 - It's more than a library, it's a diary, a time machine, a calendar of your life. Pulling out an album will remind you of when you bought it (new or used), what was happening in your life, your friends, your experiences. I was not a fan of George Michael's "Faith", but it reminds me of a week together with college friends after I graduated and they got married, they were playing it multiple times. It was the last time I saw those friends face to face. And if music was your refuge from the outside world (e.g. growing up with abusive "parents"), it's a reminder of how you survived and got stronger. 10:00 - I moved abroad in 2001 and had to get rid of everything because I couldn't spare the weight or the bulk, including all my vinyl, 45s and cassettes. It. Hurt. I started buying vinyl again in the last two years (only a few dozen, many of them second hand again) and enjoy them as much now as I did then. 11:00, 11:50 - You can't listen all the time. But as above with books, you read or listen when it's new, then go back to it periodically. There's no rule against rereading books, and none against relistening of albums. 14:40 - A public library. A community radio station. There are a plethora of ways to let others enjoy the music after you're gone.

I know exactly where you're coming from, as I'm exactly the same with books. I really need to get through this box full I have here, as well as all the vinyl I have to listen to, though I am a little better at getting rid of books as there's an independent book store here that gives you money off when you bring your second hand books in for them to re sell. But it's just finding the time for it all. I do like the look of the stuff there that you have and such a wide variety. I'm currently on a bit of a Tony Bennett binge with my listening right now..

Its a rich persons hobby now.... pre 2000-2010s it was much more affordable..

That was fascinating David, and most of it similar to my experience. I think there’s something in a lot of us that is quite simply we like collecting and dipping in and out of our collections. It quite simply gives you a great feeling and long may it last! Mike

What a refreshing video. Like you, I am now retired but have been 'accumulating' records (and subsequently CDs) for many years. So much of what you say is true for me, though I am not lucky enough to have a large listening room and plenty of storage space! Collection or 'Library' - it doesn't matter to me as it's more a case of pride of ownership. I'm sure it will all hit the charity shop when I'm gone as, like you, I have nobody to pass it to. Things changed for the worse when 'Price Guides' appeared, but I still add items to the shelves, (and feel a little guilty when a still-sealed item appears during filing...), but, if you have a broad taste, a healthy musical curiosity, functional ears and enjoy owning the music it's surely a harmless activity. Enjoy your collection - sadly, time is short.

What’s the component to the right of your turntable?

I have 6000 CDs and about 2500 books and 900 DVD/BLU RAY

Ohio Players always had great album covers. Some of your answers really resonate with me. I have some that I have filed and forgotten. I worry that there will be a move to downsize in future, so that might force me to part with some records 😔

I don't count, but I know I have over 5000 LP's at least 5000 Cd's. In the last 4 years, I have scored records in my region of Northern Nevada for as low as 25 cents each and my last haul from the British gentleman that let me have his collection broke down to 1.50 USD for these beautiful classic UK pressings ( my latest vids ). Agreed, many of my LP's and Cd's were very affordable to say the least.. Right, more of a library than a collection, I would agree !

Sweet gear too Sir, I'd bet that EAR V12 sounds wonderful through the Zu Druids. Are they Druids?

You buy lots of albums because you cant stop doing it nearly all these albums you may play once and then they get stuck on the shelves for yearsvthen you die and it goes to a charity shop😢

Enjoyed the video of you addressing a fan’s question. Finding quiet time for yourself to enjoy the music is absolutely the most difficult part of this hobby. We’re very similar in that we have no other demanding hobby or expense, but even then it’s hard to find time. I hope you find the time, and I mean that in a non-"Time Enough at Last” Twilight Zone kinda way. 😉

I’ve got about 20 thousand LPs Been buying since I was 12. At the end of the day, we all die and the records get put back in the pot. Same thing will happen to me and you. Unless you’re immortal you can’t change that. Pass them on to family or whatever, let them do what they want with em. If they flog them at least leave them with a guide as to how much they’re worth. Just so they don’t sell them to a scalper or dealer who’ll do them over for money. You can’t take all that stuff with you when you go! Learn to let go of stuff, life’s too short to worry about records, stay healthy and fit. Doesn’t mean you can take em off me now though…😂 Cheers.

The antidote is streaming! Works like a charm 😅

I have tens-of-thousands of vinyl Lps. As long as they're stored correctly and treated kindly, all the power to you. I also like to flip through shelves and listen to an album I've never heard before or rediscover a record I haven't listen to in 20 years. I'm listening to Tom Verlaine's self titled album at the moment. Probably haven't listened to this in 30 years. Pretty enjoyable. I could have easily spent the same amount of money on cigarettes and been breathing through a hole in my neck now. But instead, I have walls of records and tinnitus. I think I made the right decision.

...it is like we have our own music station without Ads, nonsense conversation, streaming issues, popups etc....

Why dont they adhere to the standards of the rest of us in our jobs , i,e ,Stop the treason , tell the truth , do their jobs , stop stealing , stop perving , stop conspiring , embezzling , wasting , neglecting , stitching people up , going to war and destabilising other nations . Then we might start trusting them . After all , in our lowly jobs our feet wouldnt touch the ground .

Excellent thoughtful video and one I can relate to. Your comments about what will happen to your collection when you are gone is something that can haunt us as we get older with the realisation that just because we value it, doesn't mean your nearest and dearest will. My solution is to reduce both my record and mechanical watch collection selling them, hopefully past the items onto people that will enjoy them This stuff began to feel like a burden and I am in the process of removing the unnecessary.

Buying vinyl is no different but actually better then someone who reads books and keeps them. You can buy a few records, whatever the cost you are willing to spend, I generally stick those new finds in a crate an listen to them a few times over. Usually I can find new artists I would have never listened to growing up but now I find going into the past is better then what’s happening now in music. NOW, people have extravagant rooms or offices filled with books, how many of those books do they really go back and read again, but there’s a good chance you will pull out one of those records and listen again. The only thing I think about as my collection grows is, I hope someone in my life will get all these records when I’m gone and continue to appreciate the music

We could both be twins. I am 64 years old. I started buying vinyl in 1974. Now I am retired and enjoying my life. Your story could be mine. The only thing I don't do is ride my bike. (Health-wise) I wish you continued good health and lots of enjoyment from vinyl and good music. Greetings from Germany.

Trust - that is the issue we are all facing. How can anyone trust any representative from the two main parties, and whether they will just pander to their inherent biases, and not for the greater good for all. After all, surely we should be looking to raise the quality of life for all without the expense of those you don't like/want to succeed. Sadly cynic that I am, tends to believe the current conflict between race, gender, politics etc is all part of the plan as part of the "Great Reset", in which the only ones that will benefit are the ultra wealthy..

It's like this. You don't miss hearing an lp you already own. But if you didn't own it,you'd go crazy wanting to hear it all the time. So you end up having a massive collection because you have massive taste(s) in music.

You work hard all your life and pay your taxes so what a great way to enjoy retirement. Its way better than letting your arse and brain go numb watching Homes under the hammer and Dickinson's real deal.

People need to wake up and start understanding that this current situation with politics is not what your father or grandfather experienced. The political system is littered with unpatriotic uneducated idiots who don’t care about their country’s or its people. These globalists are wealthy people who are obsessed with power and their insane leftist globalist agenda. They are put in place to destroy, weaken and divide all driven by money power and their insane hate for all that is good and right. They are destroying the middle class to take away the people who they fear. They know they are doing a horrible job but their buddies and pay masters are happy and that is all they see. These globalists traitors have all become extremely wealthy in office and no one asks how 😮. Trudeau is now worth 340 million dollars ??? Boris Johnson 230 million ??! Jacinda Arden 260 million ??! Barack Obama 460 million!! How, well from selling Covid vaccines and World Bank commissions for a start. Getting paid by Arab and African nations to import their unwanted into our countries is a big money pie for many people in political circles. Canadians say Trudeau is an idiot because he ordered 6X the amount of vaccines Canada needed. No hes a thief , thats 6X the commissions from big Pharma for his purchase. Wow doesn’t even hide it but then no one digs into this especially the paid off media.

I laughed out loud when you said "Stay with me here" 😂"all sorts of techniques, persuasion, coercion, sometimes being occasionally quite aggressive in order to get suppliers to perform"...that last bit reminds me of when I was working years ago in a cubicle environment. I had a very difficult contract manufacturer to deal with, and it got to the point where co-workers would gather round my cubicle to hear my conversations for entertainment with this CM. I got through it, but looking back I can see how others found my verbal sparring very entertaining. I was curious to hear what you thought of Nigel Farage. To me he is a bit of a one note guy with the immigration issue, but the reality is it's an out of control situation in the western world in general. I was back to Ontario recently and the toll of massive migration is immeasurable and it is visible in plain sight. It's a miserable failure, and feels like a complete and reckless disregard for existing infrastructure, housing availability, etc...That said, at this point I would vote for a mannequin if only to replace Trudeau. I'll be curious to see your election results tomorrow. Take good care David. ✌

When you have too much vinyl, you convert it to tape...

You sir, are my vinyl doppelganger

Wow, I found the same Ohio Players Lps

I love people how do you afford it? People have boats they put on the water twice a year, how do they afford it. People collect coins and stamps they get very expensive. Everyone collects something. Records are very affordable. When i was a kid making $3 an hr records were 6.98 now kids make $20 where I live and records are 25-30 so adjusted for inflation they’re cheaper. Great video btw.

My friends and family are wondering if I'll ever 'grow up' 😊 ) regarding my vinyl affliction. CDs too 😊. Nobody gets us except us. Happy listening. Greg

1979 is a special year for me personally, it's the year I started dating my then to be wife and even thought she passed in 2015, I will listen to music from 1979 ( especially the album "Tusk" from Fleetwood Mac) because it makes me feel young again and it brings back that year in memories of her.

I really enjoy your videos, David. I have a feeling that if we ever met in "real life", we'd be great friends. Thanks for all your content!

Amazing how you described how I live and make time for myself and record listening. I have no bad habits . I don’t watch tv more movies. I prefer to read about music and spin some records . Great video 👍

Well said David, and your responses echo my own when it comes to chatting with friends, family, co-workers etc. I agree: vinyl warrants attention, and to carve out a set time to sit and listen to a lp or two (for me, at the end of the day), helps me relax and recharge. 😎🎶

Those were very good questions. The "time" is thing I am struggling. Great answers.

dear sir tq for a very insightful video which actually have a lot of good answers to a question that was in my mind for the past few months ie. how do you listen to a large collection ! the key word is ‘library’ & with that it solves my situation thnks again & have a great day azmi from malaysia

It was a treat to hear you bring up Ohio Players Club. Theyre one of the small handful of artists who I am “completist” for. Hot Chocolate is another fantastic group of funk artists

Hi David! Loved your response to that comment in this video. As you broke it out, I would say to question 1 that I was buying records from grade school onward. By the time I was at university I was buying less but once in the world working my buying ramped up again. I got married in my mid 30s so had a good career going with disposable income spent on music. Once married, 12 years of private school tuition and now university for our daughter cuts into my spending habits. I am at a point where I enjoy the social aspects of collecting by going to record shows, looking for deals, and talking to other music enthusiasts. Once I officially retire down the road who knows what I’ll be looking for, but I will inevitably be buying records. Our daughter Caroline is getting involved in the campus radio station at her school so I suppose I’ve had a positive musical influence! Agreed with you on Ohio Players. I have a greatest hits album and it’s fun. Good example of something in the library. I am at a stage where I regret culling certain records from my collection when I’ve found myself reaching for something that was purged impulsively years ago.

Mono A/V upload, I dig it! Pardon, I'm going to retire from work right now...

Here is an interesting take on owning a large number of records. The quote is about books but I believe it applies to records as well. «Umberto Eco, who owned 50,000 books, had this to say about home libraries: "It is foolish to think that you have to read all the books you buy, as it is foolish to criticize those who buy more books than they will ever be able to read. It would be like saying that you should use all the cutlery or glasses or screwdrivers or drill bits you bought before buying new ones. "There are things in life that we need to always have plenty of supplies, even if we will only use a small portion. "If, for example, we consider books as medicine, we understand that it is good to have many at home rather than a few: when you want to feel better, then you go to the 'medicine closet' and choose a book. Not a random one, but the right book for that moment. That's why you should always have a nutrition choice! "Those who buy only one book, read only that one and then get rid of it. They simply apply the consumer mentality to books, that is, they consider them a consumer product, a good. Those who love books know that a book is anything but a commodity."

I've been collecting for around 48 years now. I don't have quite the amount you have David. I work full time and look forward to having the time in a few years when I can devote more time to my vinyl, however I do love just pulling out an album at random and giving it a spin, that is a fun way to spend an evening or Saturday afternoon for me. Getting to hear an album I haven't heard in ages. Did this a few weeks back and it led me to deep diving into the Joan Armatrading section of my library.. I love trawling through the racks in charity shops, did it once and came away with a mono copy of With The Beatles for a tenner, it was priced at a fiver, but paid ten as it went to a very worthy cause, The British Heart Foundation. But I do love finding these Gems at such bargain prices.. All the very best David and happy listening....

Been collecting music for 45 years or so. Didn't have a lot of spare funds for many of those years. A lot of my collection has been acquired in the past 10 years or so - many second hand from record shops and local fairs, dirt cheap £2-£4 - big shout out to Ben's in Guildford.. Now in the middle of a major rationalisation c1500 CDs and 700 records all boxed up and waiting for them to be taken away. I've got to the point where I've decided too many taking up too much room. All my CDs are ripped to a Melco anyway (and backed up on a separate hard drive). I thought it would be hard to cull the collection, but it was quite easy in the end. I just asked myself "do I need all Rolling Stones/Dave Brubeck/AC-DC etc albums - no I don't " and after that it was just a matter of keeping the best/favourite for each. Now I am just curating my collection and making targeted purchases of albums I think I should have. With records being as expensive as they are nowadays, most new music is bought on cd, purely because they are generally a third of the cost of the record version. I've found the whole rationalisation process to be quite therapeutic and freeing to be honest.

My process for ensuring I don’t buy and file is to have in place “new arrival” bins x 2 and not filing into the main collection until at least 2-3 plays. That only works of course if you’re not overloading. It has helped me to slowdown just a little.

I have two large storage containers for my vinyl/ CD/DVD/ tape overflow

Well, thank you for your reply! Am a follower since i dicovered your Van Morrison list. I truly like your reels, helped me discover rush who i never listend to when i was young, despite recommendations. And i buy like you, the honey album( got a few as i love horns) for less than 5 euros, vg condition. Wish you well and thank you for your videos. Am not ritired yet but reached 61 this year.

Mine was dead quiet. But I bought the hard back copy and it was maybe after the initial fiasco.

I heard Mazzy describe his collection as his own personal library and you never know what you are in the mood to hear. That is how I now like to think of it. I do have a lot of DVD's as well and I think of it the same way. You won't have time to listen or watch it all, but it's your own library that you can check out something any time you like.

David, you're on the top my list, tremendously enjoy your videos. I have found myself, over the years purchasing albums to seemingly fill a void. In order to do a purge of my paltry collection, of less than 1000 albums; I have made pledge to myself to listen to each album in my collection to decide the merits of keeping any one particular album. I do have children and, in particular, grandchildren, who have interest in all genres of music especially in vinyl format.

Great video! I find that I feel better about my collection after I purge. Nothing better than making new space on the shelves for new music as my music tastes are constantly changing. Great job here! 🤙🏻

Interesting stuff. My theory is the internet has changed everything. Its all become personal. People wont back down anymore. Language has become weaponised, 'Tofu eating wokes' 'Gammons' I dont think its any coincidence that Brexit, Trump & Boris happened in the twitter era. Im convinced none of those things would have succeeded pre-internet. My theory is that two party politics will disintegrate eventually. Ive always believed that eventually someone like Richard Branson will team up with some politicallly leaning celebrity & form some kind of vague peoples party, which will catch fire on the internet (like Brexit did) ..become huge....& then become complete corrupted. because theres' always too much self interest. Its kind of happening a bit now with Farage (who I consider a celebrity) who imo is an absolutely empty vessel, incredibly astute...and it will come as no suprise to me if he gives the tories a run for their money. Ive reached a point in my life where I do not believe you can be a decent human being with decent ideals...and be succesful in politics. Which is really heartbreaking Too many Kier Starmers..not enough John Smiths