I wish I had not sold my 78's to Half Price Books a few years back. I had a couple hundred records, some of which had probably never been played. I found all of them in a house we bought right after getting married.
They were a mix of old Country music, Broadway musical shows, Jewish songs, and Big Band stuff. I always intended to digitize them before selling them but my phonograph only played 33 1/3 rpm and 45 rpm and had no facility for direct recording so everything had to be done through a connection to my pc.
I bought a USB interface to a phonograph and recorded about 40 of my albums and some that I bought at Half Price Books because I really wanted a particular song. After recording each album, I used Audacity to compensate for the speed difference and was able to get some great music.
It was a huge project though and I was working 7 days a week during this period so the spare time to complete it was just not available. That is why I decided to take them to Half Price Books. I knew that I would get almost nothing for them and that there was likely some very good music in the collection but I decided that there was a better chance for someone else to see them on the racks and tackle the job.
I love old music. It takes me back to my childhood in the same way that a smell can transport me to a specific point in time. I'm glad that someone has chosen to preserve this music in an accessible format and to make it available so others can hear those timeless compositions.
I knew going in that I wouldn't get much so I was not surprised to end up with a only few dollars which I spent on books for the kids. At the same time I also sold them a bunch of books so the records and books were co-mingled money. I know that HPB has always had a good selection of 78s on the shelves and that is why I took them. Hopefully they were able to send them to a store where someone could buy and enjoy them.
I also have a large collection of vinyl albums from the late 60's through the mid-80's that I tried to sell/give to a well-known local record shop in FtWorth. They wouldn't touch my albums or 45s and told me that most albums have no real value. This, in spite of the fact that their entire store was wall-to-wall used albums. They recently moved to a new building with a lot more floor space and their store has become a lot more like a HPB in that you can get memorabilia, posters, junk and crap along with your used albums. Pretty funny actually.
> I know that HPB has always had a good selection of 78s on the shelves and that is why I took them.
Oh, that's great. My local store doesn't have them.
> I also have a large collection of vinyl albums from the late 60's through the mid-80's that I tried to sell/give to a well-known local record shop in FtWorth. They wouldn't touch my albums or 45s and told me that most albums have no real value. This, in spite of the fact that their entire store was wall-to-wall used albums.
It's weird the way it works with vinyl: there's enough out there that it's still really, really cheap. But it's not necessarily easy to buy any given item.
They were a mix of old Country music, Broadway musical shows, Jewish songs, and Big Band stuff. I always intended to digitize them before selling them but my phonograph only played 33 1/3 rpm and 45 rpm and had no facility for direct recording so everything had to be done through a connection to my pc.
I bought a USB interface to a phonograph and recorded about 40 of my albums and some that I bought at Half Price Books because I really wanted a particular song. After recording each album, I used Audacity to compensate for the speed difference and was able to get some great music.
It was a huge project though and I was working 7 days a week during this period so the spare time to complete it was just not available. That is why I decided to take them to Half Price Books. I knew that I would get almost nothing for them and that there was likely some very good music in the collection but I decided that there was a better chance for someone else to see them on the racks and tackle the job.
I love old music. It takes me back to my childhood in the same way that a smell can transport me to a specific point in time. I'm glad that someone has chosen to preserve this music in an accessible format and to make it available so others can hear those timeless compositions.
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