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RICH BRADFORD
@rbradford2204
Rich’s love for records initially came from his father who handed over his record collection to him when he was in his late teens although the music in his father's collection didn't initially capture his son’s attention until later in life. At that time Rich was getting into his 90’s bands however once he started to become a serious record collector, he went back to his father’s collection and discovered other genres of music that he states are just as important as his 90s’ records. These records sit proudly in this collection today.
Talking with Rich about music, and not just records, was a great learning experience for myself as his knowledge of everything from audio equipment to high quality vinyl pressings was a great help for me to apply to my record collection.
When and how did you start getting into collecting records?
I don't actually remember when i made the conscious decision to start collecting records but growing up there were always records in the house in my father's collection and my first collection was that collection that he gave to me. He was looking to get rid of his record collection like most people were as they were taking up space and i was just getting really interested in music. So i took it off his hands and hit the jackpot as it was full of Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, you know all the good stuff! I didn't even have a turntable at the time but i couldn't see them go in the bin! In terms of becoming a serious collector, id say it would be around 10 years go when i got the collecting bug.
Once i got my own place sorted it was always the plan to get a turntable and a decent audio setup. And once i had a turntable set up, thats when i pulled my father’s records out and started to play them. I then started to buy records myself and looking at it now i was buying at the right time as records were a fraction of what they cost now, particularly the 90s’ and early 00s’ that are sold for so much now. I bought up a lot of the albums i desperately wanted early on like a mint original copy of “Definitely Maybe” by Oasis for around £30 which looking at it now was an incredible bargain! I collect 90s’ stuff as its still pretty rare to get hold of particularly in the condition im looking to get it in.
So is it mainly 90s’ stuff you buy then or do you have other stuff in your collection?
I would say its predominantly 90s’ stuff but i also buy other bits. I also like to buy stuff thats low numbered and more rare or might only get that one pressing. A lot of 90s’ stuff i class as rare especially late 90s’ when people were buying a lot more CD’s and not many shops were stocking vinyl records. I sometimes buy audiophile pressings of certain albums aswell, particularly stuff by The Beatles, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin etc. Thats because i like to have records that sound high quality. I have some “Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab (MOFI)” records in my collection which sound fantastic and would highly recommend buying some of those if you are an audiophile when it comes to records. Generally I listen to a lot of music but this is what i mainly buy on vinyl really.
Do you have an idea about how many records you have in your collection?
I don't know the exact number and im sure there are a lot of people who do when it comes to their collections however id hazard a guess at somewhere between 500-600 LPs which is the main format i collect. My collection is pretty well curated with only a small number of genres as we discussed. I like to keep just the right amount that i know ill be able to listen to comfortably. As i said, i like to look for records that are either rare of in rare condition.
Talk me through your setup?
So im sure you have seen looking through some of my photos that my setup has changed a bit in a small space of time, probably a couple of years and that is due to mainly having kids. All my money used to go into my guitar equipment but when the kids came along i started to sell some of that stuff and concentrate my available money on buying stuff for my record collection. So my current set up is a Roksan Radius 5.2 Turntable with a Clear Audio Cartridge, a Roksan Black Intergrated Amplifier and Spendor A5R Floor Speakers. I really like the Roksan stuff as they are British made and really high quality.
Is there a record on your want list that you haven’t tracked down yet?
The one record iv'e not been able to find is “Billy Talent 2” by Billy Talent. But in general my want list is pretty small now and most of my white whales iv'e managed to track down. But i seem to have this knack of buying a repress of a certain record and then the following week ill find an original of it and buy that anyway! Its recently happened with “Songs for the Deaf” by Queens of the Stone Age. Its happened with Gorilliaz, Ocean Colour Scene and a few other bands in the past.
How about buying records? Where do you buy stuff for your collection?
I do buy from independent record shops and go through phases of visiting record shops sometimes. I know some people will only buy from record shops physically but im not like that. Im not anti buying online like some people and i pretty much have to buy my records online as there is only one indie record shop near to me which is Sound It Out Records, which is a great record shop and iv’e picked up some excellent stuff from there in the past ,however i do most of my buying on eBay or Discogs. But eBay is my main go to platform i buy from as its just so easy. Even if a record is really rare, there is always copies appearing on there. I also buy online if im looking for limited edition or low numbered stuff.
And how about the best bargain you have found whilst out digging? Is there one that comes to mind?
Ive had some great deals in the past and still get good deals if im honest. I usually set myself a budget for buying a record and will usually stick to it. I want a record for a good price and my idea of a good price is about half of what its usually worth! The one that really springs to mind however is “Modern Classics” by Paul Weller which is a best of that was put out in the 90s’ and is really hard to find. I found a copy of that in a charity shop for about £20 and these days copies of that record go for upwards of £75 now easily. I also managed to get a copy of both “Whats The Story Morning Glory” & “Be Here Now” by Oasis for about £70 from the same seller back when i first started collecting.
What about second hand records? Do you still buy albums from the 60s’ & 70s’ etc?
Yeah i do but its not really where i throw my money if im honest. I love the bands that were out then like The Beatles, The Doors, Rolling Stones etc but i don’t have huge collections of their records. Taking The Beatles for example, “Help” is the earliest record i have by them as i don’t really like their earlier stuff. But it goes back again to how the record sounds and what condition its in.
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