Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
edubya

Do You Remember: Record Players?

Emily H
9 years ago
I know very few people now that have record players in their homes, since there are other more compact and easier options for music now. I do have some music aficionado friends who have renewed interest in records. What do you remember about them?

Share your story! (Photos encouraged)

*Bonus points for sharing the first record you ever bought too. :)

Homes Portfolio · More Info

Comments (33)

  • studio10001
    9 years ago
    Background static, which I love, and cannot listen to Bing Crosby without.
    Emily H thanked studio10001
  • PRO
    LB Interiors
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago
    My family was the last ones on the block to get a player. So very excited. And so o young. Couldn't wait to listen to Paul Anka, because my hubby resembled him and totally in love with my still current and only hubby.
    Emily H thanked LB Interiors
  • sunnydrew
    9 years ago
    Great memories of listening to records...especially the really old 78 rpm's with my mother when I was a child.
  • grobby
    9 years ago
    Still have a record player and my young grandson wants it to play his collection of " vinyl."
    Don't remember my first record, but I always chose Elvis tunes. Still have the Heartbreak Hotel 45 rpm.
    Emily H thanked grobby
  • mfwolfe
    9 years ago
    Patty Page singing How Much is that Doggie in the Window
    Emily H thanked mfwolfe
  • PRO
    LB Interiors
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago
    mkritt .. CRAIGSLIST, eBAY, AMAZON
    Emily H thanked LB Interiors
  • mkritt
    9 years ago
    Thanks LB!!
    Emily H thanked mkritt
  • catlady999
    9 years ago
    Not only have I saved all my vinyl, I have found a combination type of machine that will let me record from turntable to CD. Just need the time to record the primo albums from the late 60's and early 70's. Or at least the ones I haven't already bought a CD version of.

    How many people got what Tommy Lee Jones (Agent K) was talking about in Men In Black when he said, "This is gonna replace CD's soon; guess I'll have to buy the White Album again..."??
    Emily H thanked catlady999
  • studio10001
    9 years ago
    Googling now.....
    Emily H thanked studio10001
  • PRO
    LB Interiors
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago
    Are you joshing us Studio? LOL
    Emily H thanked LB Interiors
  • Linda H
    9 years ago
    First record was a 45, Hey Jude by the Beatles. My parents bought me my own record player set complete with an 8 track player. I thought I was so cool. Spent hours in my bedroom listening to my music.... Now the same songs are on my IPad but it's just nit the same.
    Emily H thanked Linda H
  • PRO
    Meg Blu Home
    9 years ago
    My grandparents had a small record player for us grand kids at their house (separate from them). We had one record for it that played "rain drops keep falling from my head" on one side and the flip side would play "down yonder on the farm". Of course my parents had a record player too and lots of records and would blast them. I loved the crackle static noise in the background that you don't get on cd.
    Emily H thanked Meg Blu Home
  • PRO
    Meg Blu Home
    9 years ago
    *that should have read (separate from theirs).
    Emily H thanked Meg Blu Home
  • PRO
    Meg Blu Home
    9 years ago
    And "rain drops keep falling on my head". Sigh.
    Emily H thanked Meg Blu Home
  • vjs12
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago
    My first 45 record was "Tighter & Tighter" by Alive N Kickin'. I had a small portable green record player in my room I shared with my sister. First 33 record was "American Woman" by The Guess Who. My mom still has the Magnavox Stereo Cabinet which includes AM/FM radio, turntable to play 45's or 33's, and 8 tract cassette tape. Still works great. (Wow, flashback to my youth).
    Emily H thanked vjs12
  • User
    9 years ago
    Sure do remember. My first LP was probably Herman's Hermits, purchased in Baltimore in the mid 60s.
    Emily H thanked User
  • Rina
    9 years ago
    My parents didn't believe in giving kids pocket money, so I'm not sure how my older brother scraped together the pennies to buy our music, but he did. The first one I remember was in 1956, when he came home beyond excited, made me stop what I was doing and said "listen to this". Heartbreak Hotel, and the world was never the same again.

    I still have a lot of my own old albums, and even more inherited as part of his collection. And yes, I want a decent working setup to play them -- all contained in one cabinet would be fabulous. Not easy to find in South Africa.
    Emily H thanked Rina
  • Rina
    9 years ago
    It's not just the crackle ... the music somehow just sounds more musical on vinyl. To me, anyway.
    Emily H thanked Rina
  • Rina
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago
    Our "record shop" at the time, in a town called Vereeniging, was a little hole-in-the-wall bicycle workshop which kept 78s as a second line. Most of his music customers were black, and I remember hanging around taking much too long to choose puncture kits and the like so I (white kid) could listen to the "black" music I wasn't supposed to like but did.
    Emily H thanked Rina
  • PRO
    Studio M Interior Design
    9 years ago
    I really do still love the record player furniture pieces that would conceal large radios and record players in these beautiful cabinet/sideboards. I've seen a few that have been repurposed and they look stunning!
    Emily H thanked Studio M Interior Design
  • buckeye1982
    9 years ago
    Of course I remember record players! I have one right now that I listen to regularly. They've come a long way since the console days, and the sound can't be beat, so rich and warm. Reading the album covers is an experience in itself. I don't remember what my first album was, probably something by The Carpenters or The Partridge Family, but, and this is a discussion I've had many times, the one album I would take with me if I was stranded on a deserted island would be Springsteen's Born to Run!
    Emily H thanked buckeye1982
  • PRO
    Rebecca Mitchell Interiors
    9 years ago
    When my teenage son was 10 years old he was a James Bond fanatic. He wore a tuxedo, drank juice from martini glasses and called his then 7 year old sister "Moneypenny." He asked me if I had any James Bond music and I said Grandpa might have some records to which he replied, "what's a record?" That's when I felt old for possibly the first time. I would suspect at least half of all Houzzers don't know what a record player is either!
    Emily H thanked Rebecca Mitchell Interiors
  • feeny
    9 years ago
    I believe the first record I ever bought was a Beatles single of "A Hard Day's Night." It's either that or a Monkey's single of "I'm a Believer" with the flip side "Last Train to Clarksville," and for the sake of my musical pride I'd prefer to think it was the former.
    Emily H thanked feeny
  • Rina
    9 years ago
    I'm reminded of my fabulous English teacher, in the early sixties in the US, who still referred to a record player (gramophone) as a victriola. (And we wouldn't have dared laugh, but didn't want to anyway.)
    Emily H thanked Rina
  • blrussell
    9 years ago
    First thought was how to gently move the needle arm to get past the skip repeating over and over. That they do scratch. And that you could set the stabilizer (?) arm over to the side and the record would start over by it self. Had kiddie records when I was young and had a great Monkee collection when a bit older. Records and stereo are boxed in closet now...
    Emily H thanked blrussell
  • PRO
    Revolutionary Gardens
    9 years ago
    remember? I have a rocking quadrophonic record player/8 track combo in my office!
    Emily H thanked Revolutionary Gardens
  • elklaker
    9 years ago
    We have a record player at the lake and a whole collection of vinyl. Our guests LOVE to pull out an album from the past and put the needle on their favorite track. Ours run from Sinatra Live to soundtrack of Grease. Some AC/DC. It's eclectic and so fun!
    Emily H thanked elklaker
  • edithsmom
    9 years ago
    Grew up on 78's too...fairy tales and children's songs. grobby, for this past Christmas, our younger 12 yo grandson asked for and received a record player so he could listen to his father's 33 1/3's collected and saved. The boy has started a collection of Beatles records (current favorite, but no doubt he will be on to another).
    Emily H thanked edithsmom
  • elklaker
    9 years ago
    Did you have one of the players in the rigid, plastic case? Played Disney stories when we were young. Moved up to a little Shaun Cassidy before we got a "real" turntable. My parents had the stereo console in the living room. Mom cranked up Johnny Mathis while making dinner and my sister and I practiced the box step. Good times!
    Emily H thanked elklaker
  • PRO
    THE FRENCH BARN - Lacanche Canada
    9 years ago
    We have a record player at home, along with an old radio from sometimes in the 50-60's! We don't listen to either really often, but I always enjoy it when we do! Like someone said above, the music just somehow sounds more... musical! (and we're not even that old :) )
    Emily H thanked THE FRENCH BARN - Lacanche Canada
  • Rina
    9 years ago
    I love this thread. Thanks, Emily.
    Emily H thanked Rina
  • Jennifer Bush
    9 years ago
    I still have my Free to Be You and Me record. Would listen on one of those little portable players that came in it's own little suitcase :)
    Emily H thanked Jennifer Bush
Sponsored
Manifesto, Inc.
Average rating: 5 out of 5 stars9 Reviews
Columbus OH Premier Interior Designer 2x Best of Houzz Winner!