Music

Records from the Dark Ages

I’ve been asked, in the past, to rate which decade of music is my favorite. I have given this a lot of thought. Would it be the music from before my birth? Or maybe the songs I loved as a kid when I first formed my impressions of what I liked and didn’t? Certainly, the music of my young adulthood has been loved the longest, so it would be easy — almost expected — for me to say the 1980’s.

As I consider it all, though, the bands and songs I always want to listen to the most are from the 1990s.

I was 22 in 1990, the year I graduated from college. After getting my degree, I threw caution to the wind, moving from western New York state to Tempe, Arizona. At that time, the Gin Blossoms were about to explode from Tempe to the national spotlight, and there were a lot of good bands on their heels that everyone expected would be next. As I have started collecting my favorites on vinyl, a copy of the Gin Blossoms’ New Miserable Experience would rank pretty high on my want list.

About that, though — as popular as that album was, vinyl was dying a slow death in the late 80s and early 90s. I didn’t care then — I was on the CD bandwagon like most people.

I recently started watching these really fun vinyl auctions held by Rock This Town Records in Gilbert, Arizona, and I was reminded of the fact that an original copy of that Gin Blossoms record might be harder to come by than I thought.

A SPIN magazine post from May 2014 gives some perspective. Interestingly, vinyl was still being manufactured in the early 90s. Much of it was singles, still widely used in older jukeboxes that CD-compatible ones had not yet replaced.

As for albums, a considerable amount of promotional vinyl was still being produced, but it was primarily the biggest sellers that earned wide release on the format in that era.

A search of Discogs for New Miserable Experience indicates that the Gin Blossoms’ record didn’t warrant a vinyl release until it was reissued — in 2017.

New Miserable Experience is not the only example. One of my favorites from the mid-90s was the Wallflowers’ 1996 album Bringing Down the Horse, which saw its first vinyl edition in 2016. Arizona’s The Refreshments also released their unforgettable classic Fizzy Fuzzy Big and Buzzy in 1996, which received a vinyl release in 2015.

Vinyl editions for more established bands were also rare. It would be 2009 before Rush’s Test for Echo would see a 12" version. For as anticipated an event as it was, Trial by Fire — Journey’s 1996 reunion with Steve Perry — has still not been released on vinyl.

Yes, everything devolves into Journey discussion around me — there must be other completists out there who would want Trial by Fire for their vinyl library, right?

When I first started collecting a couple of years ago, I was adamant that as many records as possible in my collection would be good copies of original releases. I had a negative bias against reissues, but I have changed my mind on that—for the most part.

A personal favorite of mine since its first release is the Black Crowes’ 1992 album The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion. It is a rare example of good material and perfect song sequencing. I have always valued how the tracks move from the rocking opener “Sting Me” to the popular but played-out “Remedy,” with each subsequent track bringing the listener deeper and deeper into the band’s influences and vibe.

It is a perfect record, and it was my top priority to purchase on vinyl. After months of searching, I could not find any original copies, though, and finally decided to get a reissue from Amazon. I should have read the fine print on the posting, though.

The edition I bought was released in 2015 and split this perfect record into four sides rather than two. Sure, the 180-gram vinyl gives the songs fantastic warmth, but the original vibe was lost in that format.

There was no flow from track to track on this edition. Last year, the Black Crowes put out a box set version and a new reissue in the original format — almost as though they sensed the problem with the earlier reissue.

I think I’ll ask my family for a birthday present of the Southern Harmony… box set unless I find an original copy first.

Reissues have a welcome place in my collection now. Of course, I have learned to make sure of what I am buying before I commit. There is something nice about getting a brand new copy of a bona fide classic reissue—especially since condition can be a crapshoot on resale records.

And, when it comes to records released in the CD and Cassette dark ages, it is so great to have the option to add a favorite record on my preferred format.