Music Collecting Used to Be Fun Posted Fri May 8, 2009, 8:45 AM ET

My favorite LP-hunting story takes place in a Lower Manhattan store sometime in the 1980s. For several years I had been looking for The Compleat Dancing Master, a compilation of English Morris dance tunes charmingly mingled with spoken-word material. The only copy I'd ever seen was an unsealed one and I wanted a virgin sealed copy. So there I was in this record store, when a guy walked in and asked the manager if the very album I was seeking was in stock. The manager said yes and I went into a collector's frenzy. I had one advantage over the competing shopper—I knew what the jacket looked like, with its distinctive graphics against a hunter-green background. I began scanning the tops of the rows of LPs, looking for a slim stripe of hunter green. It took me less than a minute to find my prize, a sealed copy with a price sticker that read $2.49 (a lot less than online prices today). As I took it to the cashier, I made no attempt to lock eyes with my vanquished rival. Actually, I was half triumphant for my accomplishment and half embarrassed for my greed, if the truth be known. But I still remember that day whenever I see that hunter-green spine on my shelves. Perhaps we live in a better world now, a world where shoppers needn't compete for collectibles because downloads can reach vast numbers of people if the artist is lucky. But this item remains hard to find in any form—and downloads are never this much fun.

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Reader Comments 

Posted Mon May11, 2009, 6:54 PM — By Lawrence S. Cohen I'm not commenting on the particular article. This is a general cry for help. I am not a tv-phile but I am anaudiophile. Anyway I felt I needed to get into it and I wanted to be able to mplay DVDs and from my PC so I bought what I thought was a simple device a Denon AVR, number in the 300s range, I think. Well it is just way out of reach for me to set it up. At one point I did have it working for both TV and DVD because the cable guys set it up. But the audio cables were plugged into one output and the video into another, I dont know why and I cant fix it. Then the book said that "pure" is the best sound, so I hit that button-it turned both the audio and the video off and I couldne reverse it. One day the on/off button on the front stopped working, but there is one in the pocket on the back-it worked. Later all that seemed to heal up for no reason that I can fugure out. I am just way out of my ability to run this thing. Right now I have PC plugged into the DVD audio inputs,so I'll use HDM

Posted Sat Oct17, 2009, 1:04 PM — By Johanna Can you please send me your email address, I have a picture to show you some thing that your customers will say WOW... when you walk in with it.Thank you Johanna sweetnthings.com 727-934-6655

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