Photos by Simona Taver
Record collectors and audiophiles visited the Music Memorabilia Show on the Upper West Side on Saturday to pore over old records and other music-related merchandise, and to immerse themselves in vinyl nostalgia.
The show, which is actually a sale, is held once a month in a small room at 155 W. 72nd St. by record collector Howard Fischer. Aside from records, Fischer also sells posters, photographs, vintage magazines and sheet music dating back as early as the 1890s.
The office-sized space is packed with large cardboard boxes of records from the 1920s until the mid-1980s, labeled by genre. Among the genres included are jazz, blues, gospel, soul, country, folk, rock’n‘roll (labeled “R+R”), and categories such as Children, Sports, and “TV and Radio.” Fischer also sells 78s and 45s, and a small collection of CDs and cassette tapes.
Above the boxes of records hang wooden shelves lined with a diverse array of books: titles include Plato’s “Republic,” “Cyrano De Bergerac,” “7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” and even “The Complete Book of Bicycling.”
Fischer, who has been selling records for over 25 years, attributes the undying demand for vinyl records to the LP’s unique characteristics. “People like records because they like the covers, they like the liner notes on the back, the quality. The sound of recordings are better for the most part on LPs than they are on CDs… There are many records that you can’t get on CDs that you can get on LPs.” Fischer’s personal record collection contains nearly 2,500 albums.
Though the popularity of CDs transformed record-buying into a niche market, the demand for and output of records increased in the past decade. “There’s a resurgence in production of LPs,” Fischer said. “They say 25% of production is LPs now.” According to Fischer, more college students and younger people have started coming to his sales.
Photos by Simona Taver
“There’s so much stuff out there that you can’t get on iTunes and you can’t get on CD,” said customer and vinyl enthusiast Mark Sparrough at the sale. He considers record collecting “a responsibility as much as it is a hobby… that’s why this stuff is rare. Because most people just toss these records.”
Sparrough, who has been collecting records for the past 12 years, enjoys the aspect of discovering buried musical gems that would otherwise have been lost to history. “It’s kind of like treasure hunting– you just find music that never made it to CD.” He added, “You’re almost like an archivist in some way, taking music and preserving it.”
Also known as the “Vinyl Junkman,” Fischer is a former lawyer and founder of the short-lived New York Jazz Museum. He has written four books and directed a documentary film in 1998 titled “The Holland Avenue Boys: A Success Story,” that played on over 50 PBS stations. His music memorabilia sales were featured in The New York Daily News and The New York Post.
The Music Memorabilia show occurs on the first or second Saturday of every month in Suite 404 of 155 W. 72nd St., and lasts from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. The next sale will be held on Jan. 9.
Fascinating!!!!!