Crate Searching!

It’s amazing what we tend to take for granted in our daily lives. I’m currently in the process of cataloguing about 450+ of my Dad’s old LPs. My Dad used to be such an audiophile, and was probably one of those people who waited out at record stores to grab the newest releases (I think that culture is struggling in this day and age…thanks to Itunes & P2P sharing).

My Mum tells me he had always dreamed of opening his own restaurant, and the music was probably meant to set the right ambience. Judging from the eclectic range of musicians – Coltrane, Steely Dan, Franco, George Benson, Santana, etc – I figure the restaurant was probably meant to host different genres of tastes on successive nights.

I probably share that shame dream he had; but if I were to do it, I’d opt for a Jazz club. 

I remember my Dad playing these LPs mostly in the 80s and the early 90s. Maybe it was that LPs went out of vogue (only to gain more prominence in our current day and age). I remember that he loved playing his Lingala records, which I didn’t really fancy much back in the days. I do wish he had played me more of his jazz records though.

A lot of the stuff that musicians have sampled to make great beats (in the past and even today) came from Jazz records (actually, some of my favourite beats are sampled straight from some of the very LPs I have sitting right next to me). It makes me feel kinda silly to be sitting on this treasure-trove and to have neglected it for so long. Anyway, to make up for lost time, apart from merely cataloguing the LPs, I’d love to have a chance to air them out and give them a whirl…but I figure the old stylus on the record player is probably not working properly (wouldn’t wanna scratch these records ‘cause some are practically collectibles).

Things being as they are currently, I guess I’ll just have to stick to cataloguing (something that would have been easier if I had a working internet connection at home, but hey… old school works just as well; I think I get to appreciate the whole experience this way.

I better start making a Christmas list early just to test the waters and see if my Elder Bro wouldn’t mind rustling me up the parts that I need to get the old LP player working again (…and hopefully get them shipped in time). I never understood my Dad’s passion for the music back then, but I guess I’m kind of ‘turning into my Dad’ as I grow older. I’m sure he would have been proud to see that.

Well, less procrastinating, more working. I’ll probably append that ‘eclectic list’ up here once I’m done.

Have a great day and God Bless.