Vinyl Revival...

My Hi-Fi is quiet old.  I say Hi-Fi as that still seems an appropriate term.  The bulk of the system is actually from a system that my brother-in-law (he never was but that is another story...) bought in the early 1980s.  He'd bought it in 1981 selling me his old music centre which replaced the huge stereogram that took up what felt like half my bedroom which my Dad had given me when he'd got a smart new Sanyo music centre a year or two before.  It was a Pioneer separates system all sold together in a glass cabinet.  The cabinet still sits in my music room with my amp, cd player and mixer that I play through to play along with stuff I'm learning.  The amp, tuner (never used these days), cassette player (also can't remember when last used) and the speakers all come from his original set up which my wife/I inherited on moving into our first house a couple of years after his untimely death - he passed away suddenly at 21 in 1982.  I replaced the record deck which wasn't very reliable with a Technics one in 1985 I believe, then it had a CD player (a NAD one) added to it somepoint in the mid 80s too.  But 1988/9 I was totally over to CDs and stopped buying vinyl.  However I always kept the deck.  I haven't used it in ages, the other day clearing out a drawer I found a record - honestly it was Pinky and Perky - one of my childhood memories for some reason I'd held on to probably when Mum passed away.  My daughter asked what it was... so I went to play it... the deck didn't work.  :-(  Now it has been some time since I used it but I still had 3 cases of old lps up in the loft and not being able to play them rather than simply not playing them upset me.

Good old internet.  Little diagnosis later googling "Repair Technics Record Deck" and the fault finding started with the belt - I removed the platter and yes the belt had perished and no doubt snapped as soon as I tried to fire it up.  Amazon search... £5 for a replacement.  Great!  Ordered.  It arrived suitably packaged so that it wasn't damaged in transit and it only took a couple of minutes to fit it.  I popped up to the loft and returned with my cases of lps.  Nils Lofgren Night After Night a great live album from 1977 long since deleted went on first.  Then Fleetwood Mac - Rumours... Rush, Peter Gabriel, Supertramp, King Crimson.. it was 1970s revival heaven for almost a complete day when I was in the house alone long forgotten lp after lp went on the deck.  Oh the 80s got a look in too... Vinnie Moore Time Odyssey anyone?  Great instrumental version of While My Guitar Gently Sleeps on that.  I'll be digging out Dave Greenslade's Pentatauch of the Cosmogony soon too... ;-)

Looking through the collection now though lots have gone, I know I did get rid of a load and I'm sad now... Now Johnny The Fox by Thin Lizzy, Bad Co, Whitesnake Live In The Heart Of The City, All my John Miles albums, Wishbone Ash, Uriah Heep etc.    I think I'll start trawling the local second hand shops to refill some of those empty slots if I can cheaply.  I doubt I'll be paying the £30+ I've seen for new vinyl releases but I can see myself restocking with some of those I've let go... or never had for some reason or other in the old days.