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STEVE CARR
@everyrecordtellsastory
His collection is varied and quite eclectic but he grew up listening to Heavy Rock. These days he enjoys discovering new music just as much as digging back into some of the older artists he grew up loving.
Having connected with Steve on numerous occasions over social media, mainly talking about records we had recently been buying, he has, like many other collectors I talk to, become another friend to me in this community we are all fanatical about. I would urge all reading this to go check out his blog and his newly published book “Every record tells a story” for a thoroughly enjoyable read.
How did you get into vinyl and why this format?
How did I get into it? I grew up in the seventies and eighties, It’s just what we did if we wanted to listen to music and not tape off the radio.There’s probably some deep psychological meaning to it all, and there must be many reasons why vinyl, but here are three reasons;
1. Owning a record means you make a commitment to the music. You have to listen to it! This stems from when I didn’t have much money and buying a record would be something I would agonise over in the record shop. It means something, handing over that cash. Then once you drop the needle, you can’t walk away from a record for too long, in case it finishes, gets stuck in the run out groove for an hour and you wear out your stylus.
2. The cover, the sleeve notes and the packaging. It all tells a story. I have owned CDs and cassettes where I couldn’t even make out the artwork because it was too small. Then you see an LP and you pick up details. The gatefold sleeve of “Indianola Mississippi Seeds” by B.B. King has his birth certificate printed in it, and it credits a pre - “Tapestry” Carole King. What is Carole King doing on a B.B. King record? That draws you in, and all of a sudden you have a new favourite album.
3. You can still pick up fifty year old records for a cheap. The entire catalogues of Elton John, Blondie or Talking Heads can be found for next to nothing.
Where do you shop for records usually?
I prefer to go to used record shops wherever they may be, or for new records my local shop Fives Records. I hardly ever buy records from the big online retailers because I want local independent shops to stay in business so support them as much as I can.
What was the first record you bought with your own money?
The first album I bought was ZZ Top’s “Eliminator”. It’s still a great record and they’re a fabulous band.
Can you think of the best bargain you have found?
I write a blog called “Every Record Tells A Story”, and as part of an article for the blog I tried to find records in record shops to re-sell online as a test of whether it was still possible to find bargains in a world where everyone can check prices online. The best bargain I found then was a beautiful, almost minty copy of Ozzy Osbourne’s debut LP for £10. What I didn’t realise at the time, but quickly discovered, was that if it has a poster, it’s highly collectable. It fetched £80, which was remarkable. Bargains are interesting. One way to look at this is on a money multiple basis. I bought Oasis’ “Definitely Maybe” in 2012 for £30, and it’s now £150, so a 5x return, over a number of years.Ozzy’s debut album equated to an 8x return. I somehow paid just £17.50 for Black Sabbath’s debut and that now averages £184 so that’s a 10.5x return. But to top it all, I paid £6 for Rush’s “Roll the Bones” which is a ‘90s Rush album which is hard to find which now fetches £70 so an 11.6x return. Perhaps not the most in pound notes, but as a multiple of what I paid that might be the best bargain I think.
Do you participate in record store day?
Absolutely! There’s always a nice atmosphere in Fives Records on the day, with local DJs playing records on their “Dansette Disco” player, and local bands playing music. I don’t get too worried about queueing at 4am to nab a limited edition, but i do like to pop over in the morning and pick up a few things and support the shop.
What’s your thoughts on Instagram as a way for sharing our record collections?
I’m still getting to grips with it if I’m honest. Where I love social media is as a discovery tool and finding people into music who tell you what they are playing and why that particular record means something to them. That, for me, is a great idea. I have heard lots of new records by listening to certain musically minded people on the socials. It’s basically a load of vinyl heads talking to each other saying “Look at this record I have found! I’m excited by this!” which is quite sweet really, and just echoes conversations you might have in real life. That tends to be the kind of thing I will post. So I find those accounts interesting and more useful than the lifestyle orientated ones which show hip looking people holding records in beautifully photographed poses, but which seem to me to be less about sharing their passion for the music they like. I just published a book called “Every Record Tells A Story: A Vinyl Handbook” which, among other things, takes a light-hearted look at the vinyl culture that has sprung up over the last ten years.
Finally then, what’s your favourite ever record?
It’s an LP by Masters of Reality called “Blue Garden”, released in 1988 and produced by Rick Rubin. Masters of Reality are godfathers of the “desert rock” genre that gave birth to Queens of the Stone Age, and their follow up album featured Ginger Baker on drums. The album is an amalgam of Cream, ZZ Top, Black Sabbath and QOTSA and has a lovely gatefold sleeve.
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