“I forgot all about this, said Chagrin Falls resident Helen McClendon, finding one album that stood out from the mix. “This was really cool: Iron Butterfly. It’s hard rock and roll for the 70’s. Makes me want to listen to it again.”
As she spent an afternoon with her son at Record Revolution, at 1828 Coventry Road in Cleveland, she couldn’t help but look at the past.
“Bill Cosby, Blood Sweat and Tears… It is something,” she said. “I wanted to show my son this area. Oh, this is wonderful.”
According to Billboard, vinyl record sales rose 14 percent nationwide from 2009 to 2010, with 2.8 million records sold.
Although CD sales plummeted by 20 percent, some wonder how the Internet will shape the trend.
“I don’t know if it’ll be something that will work out, with Pandora and Rhapsody,” McClendon said. “It’s so easy to pull up music with your iPod.”
Robert Pryer, owner of the store, said the trend has become a hit to a new generation.
“In the past 3 years, we’ve been getting new vinyl,” he said. “Before it was just used. Now we’re seeing new releases.”
Compared to digital downloads and compact discs, Pryer said vinyl is better for true music fans.
“If you like music and the sound of it, the vinyl record offers a warmer, more analog, more true to the soundwave,” he said. “It’s less disposable. Vinyl records are a way to have something you can purchase to keep and have and have something tolook at and enjoy as a product.”
With hundreds of albums at their fingertips, vinyl records continue to surprise music lovers who grew up with it.
“I love Madonna. I’m looking at her first album right here,” said Casey Reese of South Euclid. “There’s jazz and stuff like that–people I’ve never even heard of. It’s so cool that I can come in here and look at this stuff, you know.”