Having disposed of a collection of several hundred albums and boxes of singles, I started again in 2022, aiming to have a much smaller but more selective collection of vinyl, possibly limited to no more than 50 albums, and I didn’t intend to re-buy anything that I used to have on vinyl or already have on CD – though I was prepared to make an exception if I ever saw a copy of the 4-track 12″ single of Paul Hardcastle remixes of Ian Dury & the Blockheads tracks.

Thanks to the temptations of car boot sales and record fairs I broke the 50 LP barrier within 6 months or so…

This is where I got to after about a year:

After a visit to the East Grinstead record fair, early in 2024, I reached the 200-album mark. Oops.

A few stats about the LPs I now have (as at June 2024)

• 44% are from the 1970s
• 41% are from the 1980s (and 75% of them are from the first half of the decade)
• 9% are from the 2020s
• The 1960s, 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s together make up the remaining 6%

To be fair, after the 80s vinyl production was down so there are not many second-hand copies of albums from the 90s onwards.

• 81% of LPs are second-hand
• 19% were bought new (includes some birthday and xmas presents)

• 68% of the second-hand LPs came from record fairs
• 16% were from shops
• The other 16% were from market stalls, charity shops, car boots, or flea markets

What is interesting is to see what artists I have been getting. My original vinyl collection was very heavy on Genesis, Yes, Pink Floyd and Bowie. I have resisted re-buying them. Mostly. In the new collection there are more than 100 artists where I only have one LP. If I look at the artists where I now have the most LPs, it is not a list I would have predicted:

1. Mike Oldfield
2. Elton John
3. The Alan Parsons Project
4. Al Stewart
5. Bruce Springsteen
6. Jean-Michel Jarre
7. Robert Palmer
8. Rod Stewart

I may not have gone hard on Genesis and Yes LPs but I do have 18 LPs by, or featuring, members and ex-members of Genesis and Yes, most of which I had not heard before and many of which I really like.

Places to buy records

Back in the day records were mostly only available in shops and the only choice was whether to go to a generic high street shop like Our Price or WH Smiths, a massive shop like Tower Records, Virgin Megastore or the HMV in Oxford Street, or a local independent if you had one. There is less choice of shops now (though it is getting better thanks to the young hipsters) but more variety of other choices.

Here are a few of the places I have tried looking for vinyl

• Online Stores
  The big one is obviously Amazon. It has nearly everything but apart from a few special deals it isn’t cheap. I have found things on the HMV store that I couldn’t find on Amazon.
  It is also worth looking at more specialist stores that are associated with labels for things on that label, especially Cherry Red, Burning Shed and Soul Jazz Records and sometimes you can do well looking at artists’ own websites.
  There are a couple of Twitter accounts that point out good deals but you need to be quick to snap them up. I did manage to get the Beatles’ white album and Abbey Road as a bundle for £20 thanks to a tip-off from them.
• HMV
  After closing lots of shops, HMV has been expanding again and with a much larger vinyl section. Can be some bargains if what you want is in the in the 3 for £55 or similar deals. The selection is not what it was back in the 70s or 80s shops but getting better.
• Charity Shops
  Some people keep posting on Twitter about the brilliant bargains they have found in the chazzas, but I have not been so lucky. I have looked in all the shops in Heathfield, Crawley, Coulsdon, Wickford, Haywards Heath, Purley, and Horsham and only picked up one Robert Palmer LP and a couple of classical LPs. There is a lot of 70s easy listening out there, and just about every shop has a copy of the Shadows 20 Golden Greats.
• Car Boot Sales
  These can be a bit hit and miss, and you probably need to get there early for any real goodies but I have still found a few things of interest. Certainly more chance of finding something than at a charity shop. Also: some markets are very similar to car boot sales and can be fruitful.
• Record Fairs
  There are a lot of these now. We have regular ones in Crawley, Horsham and East Grinstead that are convenient for me. I am not interested in the expensive limited editions, rare Japanese imports and similar because I’m collecting to listen to the records not for the sake of collecting or as an investment but there are plenty of expensive rarities if that floats your boat. Of more interest to me is the wide choice of records in the £5 to £10 range, usually with some discount for buying multiples – like £5 each or 5 for £20.
  I will usually leave a record fair having spent £20 to £30 and with between 4 and 10 records.
• Brighton
  There are shops selling a mixture of new and second-hand records popping up in lots of places now, unfortunately not in Crawley though. Where they do exist they tend to be the only one in the town or village but in Brighton there are loads of vinyl shops in a small area, so great for a spree.
  Resident Records is great if you want new vinyl and are prepared to pay full whack for it. Bella Union is obviously the place to go for anything on that label. Otherwise there are plenty of shops with various specialities and some bargains to be had in the street markets and the indoor market.
  On my first shopping trip to the Lanes I spent £40 and came home with a dozen LPs.
• Other shops
  Specifically, Wow & Flutter in Hastings, and Kontrapunkt and Early Bird in Cologne.
• Online Markets
  I have yet to try buying anything from eBay, Discogs or Facebook Marketplace. Discogs looks good for if you want something very specific but I prefer browsing.

In order of preference, I think I like Wow & Flutter and the German shops best, then record fairs, then Brighton, then car boots/markets for browsing. For specific new releases I like sites like Cherry Red and Burning Shed or artist websites as a first choice.