What is your main reason for buying '45's?

[Dave]

Do you collect '45's that are just Non-LP tracks? Would you only buy a '45' just to hear a "different mix" of a particular song? Are there certain songs you like by artists you can't stand? Or just don't want to bother with the remaining albums you can't stand, just for the one song you can buy as a 7-inch? Or are you the kind of collector who buys singles AND albums, even if the song you get on the '45' is a "duplicate" of what you hear on the LP?



Dave

 

[TonyCurrie]

Well I suspect I'm verging on the obsessive (verging? mutters my wife, uttering a hollow laugh) but of the artists I specifically collect, I have multiple copies - 45s, Promo ('white label') 45s, French, German, Spanish, Chinese pressings - you name it. But apart from the fun of the chase looking for something I haven't got, occasionally it throws up a gem. For example: as you all know (A&M Cornerites let out a collective groan) I collect Sounds Orchestral records on a professional basis. I had all but a couple of their singles, and one that was missing was a track which I already have on CD, 4 LPs and as a B-side on another single. Did I need it? Not really, but eventually I found a nice promo copy and it turned out that the single was a complete re-arrangement and re-recording of the track. Boy, was I pleased!!

I must emphasise (before the men in white coats drag me off) that I'm only obsessive about Sounds Orchestral, Herb Alpert and Tony Hatch. Nobody else!!!

 

[Mike Blakesley]

I used to collect a lot of 45s back when I did the DJ thing, but these days if I'm after "one song" I'll usually download it from iTunes. I used to buy albums for one song too (on the theory there'd be other good ones among the tracks) but in the CD age that got kind of expensive!

 

[bob knack]

Back in the days of AM radio, Herb and Julius would always put out a couple singles before the next album. I'd hear it on the radio and if I didn't want to wait for the LP (and time moves more slowly when you're young) I'd have to buy the 45. I still got 'em all.

 

[dostros]

I buy 45s these days because I find them en masse in second-hand stores and I don't figure I'll find or want to buy the whole album. Like the Ides of March "Vehicle" single I picked up (always mistook that song for BS&T), which I would never expect to come across on an album these days, much less an album in decent shape.

The other empoyment for 45s is my kids little suitcase turntable. They have a great time with it, throwing on Archies and 1910 Fruitgum Company hits that I don't care what happens to. (Sorry about the fractured syntax.)

 

[Mr Bill]

No option to select more than one of the above means I can't vote, since any one or more of the first five choices is almost ALWAYS my reason...

--Mr. Bill

 

[KentTeffeteller]

I collect 45 RPM records for many reasons. Among them are: Different mixes, 1 song on the LP which is all I want, I got it cheap, fodder for my Seeburg AY-160 jukebox (I have 3 restored examples), and more.

 

[Dave]

Well, too bad I have no "All of the Above", then...

However, what started off as the best medium for my early record-buying (not to mention the least-expensive) it did allow me to hear the hit songs I wanted...

Though gradually garnering curiosity about what an entire album would be like and accordingly allowing at least used albums and later new to fit my budget, the '45' was then relegated to where and when the LP would be a disappointment, aside from what would go on the 7"...

As for what would be my "main-reason", it is none-other than gradually discovering songs ONLY available on the 7" medium, which over the course of over a decade in my collection, has brought the figures of such to the hundreds...

And since joining The Corner discovering "different mixes" of certain songs by certain artists, on '45',--different from the version on the original LP--has come at a close second...

(Yes, don't throw away that '7" adapter'...!!!)



Dave

 

[jukeboxexpress]

Yes, it would have been nice to have an "all of the above" option. As an avid recorded media collector for over 50 years, 45's have always been my favorite, especially the promotional ones. It's great to put a stack of 45's on your record changer or load them on your jukebox, and listen to only the songs or artists that you want to without having to listen to all the filler stuff on LP's. Many times I would only get the LP a stereo version of a hit song.