Just went to my first record show...

I haven't bought vinyl in years. I do use my Thorens TT to spin my existing vinyl and digitize it for portability, but I figured I would only buy new music on CD. However, I recently discovered this site: www.izzymusic.com, which helps host quarterly record shows in central NJ, right near my home. I attended this past Sunday's show and had a ball.

I spent 5 straight hours on my feet searching milk crates of LPs (OK, I took 2 bathroom breaks). I didn't even try to look at the CDs, DVDs and 45s. I found more than a dozen wonderful LPs, most priced from one to three bucks each, in generally excellent shape (one was sealed). No tax, no shipping, no misleading ebay descriptions! The show was light on classical, but all genres were represented. There were plenty of Mercury Living Presence and RCA Living Stereo LPs, but I was unfamiliar with the titles.

Coolest finds: A double 10" version of Joe Jackson's "Look Sharp", a 10" Nina Hagen single, and an IRS Records double-LP sampler from 1979.

Attendance was good, too. I found it interesting that people attending were not just audiophiles, old-timers or DJs, but plenty of younger people, too.

Taking them home and putting them on my entry-level hi-end rig was a pleasure - I was reminded that a digital front end and an analog front end of roughly equal investment are not even close - the analog was clear, clean and smooth.

Retailers, take note: Although every table was occupied, if I sold vinyl playback gear or maintenance products, I would kill to get a table at one of these shows! See ya at the March show!