This is the journey from The Temptations to the Wu Tang Clan, Beach Boys to Backstreet Boys, from Madonna to Gaga!
For some reason, you just can’t kill the vinyl record. To me, the sound of a vinyl record spinning is so comfortable, like home. Luckily, my vinyl collection is in the thousands, more like tens of thousands. Current estimates put me somewhere between 20,000 and 30,000 but of course I do keep buying more.
My father collected albums throughout most of his life and my entire childhood. When he passed away when I was 16, I inherited them all, complete with a dusty, old, broken down jukebox. The juke box may have been traded to get even more albums, but I do have my brand new record player and with this spinning them as I go, I hope to catalog every single album within the next lifetime while still adding to the collection. Each record is tracked in Excel by artist, album name and song listing and that information is copied in here along with an image of the album cover. Nothing too fancy, but I do hope you enjoy seeing the new additions!
When this started, I just wanted to find a way to keep track of everything. My dad managed to transfer everything to CD before he died but never updated the original database (or bothered to back it up for that matter). It’s almost like he planned for me to do this. Who knows, maybe he did! As I go though, it’s becoming much more than just a way to keep track. I remember all these albums, all the thousands of them. I remember picking the playlist Christmas Eve morning for that night’s party, using the albums to practice for dance classes and the tapes he would make for the summer from the albums. As every album is entered a new great memory comes up and it’s become therapy of sorts.
As the blog has evolved, it’s become a little more personal. Music invades every aspect of life and with all the shows my roomie and I go to and all the record store shopping, it makes sense to have a variety of content. There’s monthly updates that cover my life and the concerts, weekly record store posts about the many crate digging adventures and I’ve decided to involve the roomie more, with his own reviews.
If you need more, check me out on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pintrest or heck, email me! You can reach me directly at MyDadsAlbumsContact@Gmail.com.
My Dad's Albums 
Thank you for the like on my blog! Shouldn’t the plastic come off the albums so as to not warp the vinyl?
Thanks for the comment1! We haven’t had any issues with warping, I store them upright and not at any sort of angle. I find the plastic helps preserve the covers, since I’m a bit messy!
In the 1970’s we removed all the plastic as we found it caused warping. But I think if you keep the plastic on the cover art will not get damaged by “sliding” the albums in and out…
Hey, thanks for the Like on my blog! Wow thats a pretty impressive collection! I’d love to own a vinyl player, i often see vinyls in charity shops but i don’t pick them up because i don’t own one. It’s on my to-do list! In a few moths time when i move into my new home, i look forward to chilling out, drink in hand listening to my soon-to-be vinyls collection… 🙂
DO IT! I love my record player so much. I actually went without for about two years because of moving, debt, etc and it was the longest period of time ever!!!
Thanks for visiting my site and liking it. I have a small, but treasured vinyl collection. Just the stuff I bought pre-CDs and that of my brother who cleaned house and gave me his. Many of them were small East coast bands whose music will never be digitally reproduced. I have digitized some of my favorites. I do have several dozen 78s that were my dad’s. I have no way of playing 78’s, so they just sit. Unfortunately the record player does not have a spot in my listening area, it only gets used when I digitize an LP in the basement. It may be heresy, but at least I get to listen to the music.
Luckily, my dad had converted most everything to CDs so I have those to make the switch to digital easier. I’m kind of scared to even attempt making everything digital! I believe the album to CD conversion took 6 years and I’ve added to the collection since then!!
Vinyl reminds me of the times spent at a good friend’s house when I was growing up. His father’s album collection was wall-to-wall and he always had something playing. Sometimes it would hum softly in the background like lullabies for the working class, other times it would be in your face like classic rock or acid jazz. The room sported a regulation-sized pool table and many a game went down there while taking in the music. Ah, memories are like records – they keep coming around!
My dad’s collection once filled one of our spare bedrooms in these tall bookcases. You would just walk in and be completely surrounded! His desk was in there too, so I would sit and help him catalog the records or sort his penny collection. It’s been so long since we were in that house, that it doesn’t cross my mind often but your comment certainly brought me right back to that room! Thank you!
Hey Erica — Just discovered your blog last week, but I absolutely love it. A wonderful tribute to your dad, and a powerful reminder of things past. Unlike many other blogs that exist solely to evoke nostalgia, I see this as a document of your father’s life, or at least one portion of it. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you so much! I agree, I’ve definitely been able to not only bring back great memories, but I’ve learned a lot about my dad too. Any number of reasons could have clouded the collection especially the albums from the 50s, 60s and 70s, but he never let it and always made sure I knew about the inequalities that were happening. I love this part of character and only hope I can continue to be as open minded as he was. I think this is part of where my I can do anything you can do attitude comes from!!
My mother still listens to vinyl and 8 track tapes, there is something different about that sound… when ever I hear it I am transported back to when I was a child, playing in the living room while my mother cleaned… Thanks for sharing, and thanks for the like on my blog
Thanks for the comment! Records and 8tracks certainly do have a different sound!
Great post, Erica. Keeping your dad’s vinyl collection alive anyway you can is a good thing.
Are you familiar with John Peel? What you’re doing here is similar to this amazing project to cataolgue his music collection : http://thespace.org/content/s000004u/albums/index.html?shelfNum=1
Great stuff.
I’m not, but I’ll definitely be checking it out! Thanks for the heads up. It’s always great to find other music hoarders 🙂
In brief, Peel was a DJ who debuted many great bands on British radio in the 70s and 80s, including The Smiths and The Undertones. He gave them their break, so to speak. He passed away a few years ago, and recently his vast record collection has been catalougued for public access on-line.
Peace.
What a cool idea for a blog!
Thanks for the ‘like’, will ‘follow’ your blog as I have a fair vinyl collection too, but *nowhere* near as large as yours!. Interesting similarity between the spinning of an LP and the spinning of my pottery wheel, one creating sound, the other creating shape.
Got a ton of vinyl stored upright in the bottom of a closet. It’s our combined collection of probably 300 or so. We’ve moved it a few times and just can’t part with it! We like to do vinyl Saturdays where we get to choose an A or B side to play. Love it. What a great way to remember your dad. BTW, we have plastic covers on lots of ours, but not the shrink wrap plastic, plastic sleeves to help protect the covers. That looks like what you have on yours. These plastic covers are too loose to make the record warp. Like you, we’re prone to messiness, so some of our albums are holding up great thanks to these!
My roommate and I are both artists with cats. As careful as we try to be, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to steam clean the rug – whether it’s paint or an unattended drink the cat flipped over trying to steal ice from! A lot do have the shrink wrap on them, but are about 30 or 40 years old now so it’s incredibly loose. I would love to get everything in the same, thicker plastic sleeves as some of the newer ones come with eventually to protect everything a lot better though!
Hi Erica,
Thanks for visiting my blog chicpaisley.com and liking the post. I love your vinyl collection. We have too, a grand total of 2 records : ).
Hoping that slowly we will be able to build a rather noticeable stock …i just love the look and sound of it…so elegant.
Hello. Love your site, so I’ve nominated it for a Liebster Award. Just head over to my latest post for the details. Love reading your stuff!
Thank you for featuring all of this great music!
You’re welcome! And thank you for checking it all out 🙂
Wow you’ve got a really cool blog. I love how you are continuing the life of the record. I was wondering what brand of record player you have? I am looking for one myself. I heard that Crosby players break down quickly. Do you have any suggestions?
Thanks,
Gems of Genres
Thank you so much for stopping by!
I have an Audio Technica turntable that I absolutely love (http://www.audio-technica.com/cms/site/b535f9ffd4a85477/index.html). If I ever need any parts they’re really easy to get and since it’s just for me and my living room, it gets the job done. I do need to upgrade my speakers soon though! My roommate has had Crosley in the past and had a lot of issues which is unfortunate because I do like the look of their record players. The quality just isn’t there though. I’m in no means a technology expert though and I’ve known people to be very happy with Crosley! There are some larger brands like Sony out there that may suit your needs too.
Thanks so much for the referral! I definitely need to get myself a record player, they just sound better, and when you play a record it’s like your continuing history almost. Thanks again! 😀