“It’s the most inefficient, expensive, most cumbersome way to consume music. It is, it totally is, but to blow dust off of a needle, to listen to it touch, to see it spinning, you can smell them … It’s special.”
Like many others, Gregory Sandell loves to talk about the ambiance of vinyl records.
On Saturday Sept. 17, the Vinyl Record Show and Poster Sale took place in the Peter White Lounge of the University Center. The sale is held once at the beginning of fall, winter and spring.
Sandell was the disc jockey of the show, playing his favorite eclectic records on a beautifully wood finished 1966 vintage turntable. The sound of The Felice Brothers traveled throughout the Peter White Lounge.
“Before it was like a library. You would hear shushes and sift through the records, and this just livens it up,” Sandell said. He hopes to see vinyl spread back into popular culture through the vinyl record shows, he said.
“We all have memories of listening to Peter Frampton, playing foosball and throwing Frisbees. It goes back to a really cool era,” Sandell said. “Albums are from an amazing time in America.”
Today vinyl is finding its way into popular culture as record sales increased in the United States by 30 percent since 2014, bringing record sales to just under 12 million, according to Forbes.
While listening to vinyl is now not the most conventional way to consume music, this music medium is still coveted and valued by many music lovers, including those in Marquette.
An array of all ages came and admired the pressed vinyl pieces, said Jon Teichman, a coordinator of the sale and advisor of NMU’s new Vinyl Record Club.
The club aims to gather students and faculty who share a passion for vinyl records.
“The club creates a synergy between the Marquette music community and the students,” Teichman said.
The sale itself brings together the art and music community of Marquette.
Teichman sold posters that he both printed and gained through other complementary events and sales on Saturday, alongside other local artist Paul Hess, who screen prints posters and uses vinyl as a canvas by printing patterns onto records. The show travels to other Michigan towns as well, such as Traverse City and Alpena, to spread the love and culture of this vintage music.
Records from Frank Sinatra to The Grateful Dead were available for purchase. Prices ranged from 50 cents to $50.
The sale has been going on for over 25 years. Coordinator Ed Johnson first held the sale in the midway of the old Marquette Mall in the ’80s by coordinator Ed Johnson.
“I’ve been buying records since I was 12 years old. I’ve always liked them,” Johnson said. “Eventually I had all these extra records and thought, ‘What do I do with them? Maybe I’ll sell them, somebody might want them.’”
Johnson said Teichman has now caught the vinyl bug and is giving his energy to spreading the appreciation of the music.
“This is a lot more tangible than an MP3 or a screenshot on Spotify,” Teichman said. “It’s a generational thing, where it’s on to this new generation and people are really interested.”
