After collecting vinyl records for over 4 years, I think I understand why I like it. When I started, I was merely curious about the vinyl sound. Later, I thought vinyl sounds “better” (but it just sounds different in a great way). Then it led to bring a little bit of obsession to “not want to lose out” to rare finds.
Every person must have a hobby to fill some of the idle hours, away from work, from chores, and from sleep. That hobby hopefully will bring some value to well being. Reading, watching videos, gaming, cycling. My wife took interest in gardening, and it has given her new purpose away from the stresses at work and housekeeping. I still spend a lot of time during my free time writing review articles, but when I am not writing, I would be browsing online for LPs and CDs.
My wife would complain about me shopping at record stores, not that I bought too many records, but I often spend many hours in the shops and not buying anything. For me, vinyl shopping is an experience, really. When browsing the titles (online or in-store), I am really taking in more knowledge about what’s in the market, uncovering artists that catch my eye. Often, I would see an interesting album design, then I would take out and find out more about it. I would then search for the album on Spotify or YouTube to listen to it, see if the album connects to me. If I enjoy the music, I would then actually buy it. This is why I feel album designs are key to attracting listeners.
And shopping for records is only just one aspect of this hobby. The ritual of seeing the stylus needle vibrate along the grooves to generate music is so elementary and yet mindblowing. There are also a few real tweaks that change the sound quality of what you hear just by swapping cartridges and stylus.
There was a time when I tried to evangelize about collecting records to people around me, wanting them to join the cause to collect albums that I feel represents the best medium for a music album. But not everyone wants to buy physical music albums, perhaps they are just satisfied with listening to radio and online.
At the same time, I really find my vinyl journey really interesting, and I truly believe in destiny. I have encountered quite a handful of unexplained “miracles” when finding albums in the most unexpected situations. At the same time, I also came across silly moments where I completely missed out getting hold of some fine gems at a bargain.
Here are some of these amazing stories on how I came across some of these iconic vinyl albums.
Les Miserables: The Complete Symphonic Recording 4 LP
This title has been in my watchlist since I started collecting records, and the market price has been nothing below USD 100, and it goes higher for mint condition copies. Eventually, I found a seller from New Zealand selling for USD 80, and I jumped at the offer, but not before going through hoops. You see, Discogs Marketplace does not allow orders from Singapore since 2023, this is due to a taxation law that requires all international merchants to charge GST. So I messaged the seller directly to ask if he can accept direct PayPal payments, which also support buyer-seller protection. After almost two weeks of ignoring my Discog messages, finally we reached an agreement and I paid an additional USD 40 for shipping, which is rather reasonable for a 4LP box set. It turns out that this NZ seller is a legit record store and so that boost my trust level up. After a week, the records arrived. Coincidentally, after I placed the order, the musical company announced a tour to Singapore in March 2026, which makes this purchase very timely.
It would be an understatement to say that Les Miz is my favourite musical. I recalled going great lengths to buy the Complete Symphonic Recording CD through eBay in 1990s, when back this was the only platform to buy things from overseas, and we had to set up PayPal accounts to make payments.
Since then, I have collected the cassette tape edition, the “Highlights” LP, and now I have the complete 4 LP set. I am glad that my patience has paid off. Would the price fall further in the future? I think not. Record sellers would rather hold the price than to dump it, but ultimately, if no one is willing to buy at the price, it just means the records aren’t worth that value. This is one of the frustrating points of collecting records. Some titles are just not worth the asking price, but sellers don’t budge.
On the other hand, some titles are actively traded and the price really reflects the market value. Like this next album.
Tatsuro Yamashita FOR YOU “Promo” Copy
In one of my posts, I talked about “promotional” edition vinyl records, which are essentially first pressings of the records meant to distribute to radio stations, record stores, DJs, for airplay prior to official album release. These records have special white labels with “SAMPLE”, “NOT FOR SALE” prints. As these editions are pressed in small quantity, they have higher market value.
I love collecting promo label records because of two factors: the quality of the record is arguably better since the pressing plate is newer, and they are rarer. Not all promo records have high market value because there may be no market interest. For instance, I recently bought a promo copy of Barry Manilow “Even Now”, for less than S$10.
And so it happens that I found a copy of Tats “FOR YOU”. This record is consistently on top of the buy list of any Japan City Pop enthusiast because of its cultural importance. It also helps that the songs in the records are catchy and listenable. It is also very meaningful because the album is dedicated to his wife, Mariya Takeuchi, who is also another of my favourite artists.
A normal press of “FOR YOU” is consistently above S$50 (for a VG copy), and stretches to over S$100 for pristine copies. However, many of these chart-topping albums in the 1980s also has a large number of records in circulation. Hence, even if you do get hold of a copy, it might be the pressed from the plate that was worn and overused.
Even though the album has been re-issued and a brand new copy is available in most Japan record stores, I have always wanted to get the OG copy because given my experience on Mariya’s famous album “VARIETY”, I would prefer the analog master version on the analog medium. Having visited Japan twice in the past 2 years, I kept holding back buying this title. I’m really glad that the promo copy popped up in the market and I successfully owned it.
Yukie Nishimura – Rare Records of Her Childhood Performances
After my last windfall of finding all her three LP albums in Japan in Oct 2024, I then came across two other records two months later at Record City. These albums are recordings of her performances under the Yamaha Junior Original Concert programme. Because they are available at the same time, I ordered both of them with combined shipping
- 幸せを世界の友へ (Shiawase Wo Sekai No Tomoe), 1979
- Junior Original Concert ’76 Vol. 1-4
This album is apparently the soundtrack of the documentary featuring these 5 Japanese boys and girls participating in the 1979 Junior Original Concert held in Brussels, Belgium. I am rather curious about this event and hope to be able to watch the documentary.
The second boxset is a recording of the Junior Original Concert organised by Yamaha. Yukie Nishimura was 9 years old when she performed her composition in 1976.
It was impossible to find any audio recordings of these titles online, which reinforces the cultural value of these physical records. They do not worth much in the market, but they are invaluable to fans.
Vinyl Records: Reason To Buy Albums
Vinyl collection has given me new reasons to buy albums. Before that, I have completed stopped spending any money on music albums, thanks to streaming platforms that allow me to seek most music that I want to listen to. It also stagnated my interest in finding new music, because it is just uninspiring to discover music over Spotify, where the only thing that tells me more about the album is the cover and its song titles.
Now because of vinyl collection, I have uncovered interesting albums, nudging me to listen to their songs on streaming platforms, getting really invested in their back stories, and eventually buying the albums that I want to collect.
Next article, I will share some artists that I discoverd and came to like, thanks to record digging.