Still Digging: It All Started With Led Zeppelin


Since I was young, I was fascinated with record stores. The poetry of walking around, flipping through, being mesmerized by the artwork ranging from obscure to classic. For years and years, I put "record player" on my Christmas lists, birthday lists, and would inconspicuously drop hints here and there. For the longest time, I wanted to start building a vinyl collection but thought it purposeless until I actually had something to play them on. A crate of records with no player is the equivalent of that fresh out of the oven pie sitting on a windowsill that you happen to notice, and you're hungry. An outdated metaphor, but a solid one at that.

My 21st birthday came and went: no turntable. I made a mental note that if I didn't get it for Christmas, I would just take one of my unbelievably low work-study paychecks and make the big purchase. While at a Tragically Hip show with my family in my hometown, Syracuse, my Dad turns to me and asks if my little brother, Vincent, told me what he got for his birthday. "No," I replied. A turntable. Brushing off the oncoming vibes of my Middle Child Syndrome, I shrugged. "Guess what vinyl he got?" Knowing my Dad's occasional instigation indulgences, I knew I wasn't going to like the answer. "What...?" He told me. My heart dropped. Led Zeppelin's Houses of the Holy. Was I happy that Vincent finally started listening to Zeppelin after years of me playing him songs and him saying "eh, it's okay, I guess" with a shrug? Yes, proud of his graduation of music taste. Maybe this was my struggle as the 'only girl, middle child' ordeal in the Greco household. I still tell myself it's a matter of passionate principle. I used to envision the day that I'd be walking around in a record store, and see the orange sky landscape, the naked blonde children climbing rocks to the top of a cliff. I'd run to the counter, dig for the money out of my purse, and finally buy the album that changed my life.

Christmastime came around. Alas! I opened a beautiful red Crosley turntable. Along with it was a $20 gift certificate to Sound Garden, Syracuse's finest music shop. I opened my gift from my little brother: Houses of the Holy. I'm not going to lie, I literally cried tears of joy. And nearly suffocated him with a hug.



The day I bought my first vinyl was a pivotal moment for me.  I spent a long time flipping through. Making mental notes of which ones I wanted so when I got to the end of my search I could decide. I went home with two: an album I loved, and an album to explore. Sleigh Bells Reign of Terror has been an obsession of mine for about a year now. The other, Raven in the Grave by the Raveonettes.

Just a couple days later, Vincent and I went back to Sound Garden together. It was a Sibling Night Out, sifting through vinyl followed by a $2.50 showing of Killing Them Softly at Mattydale's "finest" Hollywood Theater. While at Sound Garden, Vincent and I talked. The atmosphere, the vibe of the place...it inspired conversation of music, life, and laughing about the hometown hum-drum of 'Cuse.

I am an avid multifaceted listener of music. The technology to listen to music today is incredible; Spotify is one of the best creations. But (as any passionate lover of anything) there is something to the physicality of music that should remain alive and intact. Book enthusiast I'm sure can vouch that statement. It's sad that people already find me outdated when I tell them I want to "burn a mix CD." In a matter of four years I went from being the girl that would carry around a CD in her purse to play in peoples' cars as we cruise, to just plugging an AUX cord into the headphone jack of my iPhone.

My collection is slowly growing. Quite honestly, the fact that vinyl stores have survived this long is a godsend. Cheers to hoping it stays that way. If you haven't explored a record store, do it. Regardless of whether you own a player or not. You may find that one record that has you digging into your bank account.


Alicia Greco

1 comments

  1. Vinyl Kid A > Cinnabon's jizzy hot syrup.

Post a Comment