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Trip Down The Memory Lane

So I got bitten by the nostalgia bug and bought myself a turntable. Don't get me wrong, I don't miss my vinyl-jockey days all that much since I find DJing with turntables both cumbersome and artistically limited. I do however regret selling my vinyl collection almost a decade ago.

I started my military service immediately after high school and was discharged mid-semester so I couldn't apply to polytechnic until the following spring. To add insult to injury, Finnish legislation dictates that one is eligible for unemployment benefits only after a 5-month waiting period - effectively meaning I had no income source of any kind.

My then-girlfriend was living across the country and it was my turn to visit her. Too bad I was flat broke. Guess how many credit cards does a 20-year old unemployed high school graduate have? All my friends were just as broke as me so borrowing from them wasn't really an option. Youthful pride prevented me from asking my parents, so desperate measures were required. Reluctantly I lugged my vinyl crates to the local used records store only to score a mere fraction of the money once invested in them.

All the romantics out there are going to be disappointed. Unfortunately my valiant sacrifice didn't ensure a happily ever after, we just broke up in a rather banal manner. So there I was with no job, no money, no girlfriend and no vinyl. Just to prove that the universe hates me, I landed a job no sooner than the following week. Textbook example of bittersweet if there ever was one.

Migration from vinyl to digital was a huge leap forward in terms of usability and creative performance. In turn it eradicated the record collecting aspect, which was half the fun. Oh the joy of browsing through crates of vinyl in the local record store and finding that rare treasure. Because vinyls can't be replicated like CDs or MP3s, each record became an irreplaceable piece of history - almost like a diary of sorts.

Many younger DJs might have a hard time understanding this emotional attachment to pieces of black plastic, can't say I blame them though. I'm closing in to my thirties, so I belong to the last generation who started DJing predominantly using vinyl. These days it doesn't make much sense to start as vinyl-jockey, so whenever I hear some purist raving "Real DJs use vinyl" I just roll my eyes and facepalm. What's ironic, most of these cats don't even know who Francis Grasso was. Just because you've never rubbed wax it doesn't make you any less of a DJ. Having said that, every DJ - newbie or veteran - should still understand and appreciate the historical significance of the medium. It's our collective duty as DJs to remember where we came from.

The other night I was browsing through my few remaining vinyls to give them a spin on my new turntable. I came across The Prodigy's album "The Fat Of The Land" that my fore-mentioned ex-girlfriend had got me for my birthday back then. Couldn't help feeling a circle had completed. You just don't get that with bunch of zeros and ones.