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I have a phobia when it comes to buying and collecting albums; polythene or plastic sleeves.
I understand why record shops have them to protect records from grubby fingers, but I don’t want the plastic in my house and always ask for them to be removed.
As a teenager, I had records in stiff plastic sleeves with hard, rough edges which meant that they didn’t fit in my record boxes. But I soon learned that they spoiled the experience of browsing records, holding you at arm's length and separating you from the record.
I know this is controversial. Most records I buy come with a soft plastic sleeve which I have to discard. I just love the feel of records, an experience which is neutered by plastic. It also has to be said that out of the some 10,500 albums, only a few hundred are new. Most have lived a long life and some smell of patchouli and associated lifestyle products. They are not improved by a plastic sleeve. Keeping everything in pristine, hermetically sealed condition, doesn’t interest me and I’d go as far as to say it’s against the spirit of rock and roll.
I know some like to keep their records neat and tidy. I’m not one of those. I’ve told you before of how I enjoy the handwriting on sleeves and labels, some see it as defacement, but I don’t. I see it as part of the art’s history.
Some even have plastic sleeves for singles, which feels wrong on many levels. The most bizarre are the sleeves for double albums, which are complex creations and tough to insert an album into. But for fans of plastic you can buy bundles of 50 sleeves to ‘protect’ your albums.
The one good thing about them is price stickers can easily be peeled off, which used to be a real problem. Those little tear-marks on the corners of second-hand records are still out there. I used to go to a record shop that wrote the prices on the sleeves with a felt tip! That’s too much even for me. Mind you I would always rather have a rare record that’s defaced and unplayable, than not have it at all.
I can think of nothing worse (I can) than shelves full of plastic. I want to feel and embrace the records, that's not too bad, is it?
I understand why record shops have them to protect records from grubby fingers, but I don’t want the plastic in my house and always ask for them to be removed.
As a teenager, I had records in stiff plastic sleeves with hard, rough edges which meant that they didn’t fit in my record boxes. But I soon learned that they spoiled the experience of browsing records, holding you at arm's length and separating you from the record.
I know this is controversial. Most records I buy come with a soft plastic sleeve which I have to discard. I just love the feel of records, an experience which is neutered by plastic. It also has to be said that out of the some 10,500 albums, only a few hundred are new. Most have lived a long life and some smell of patchouli and associated lifestyle products. They are not improved by a plastic sleeve. Keeping everything in pristine, hermetically sealed condition, doesn’t interest me and I’d go as far as to say it’s against the spirit of rock and roll.
I know some like to keep their records neat and tidy. I’m not one of those. I’ve told you before of how I enjoy the handwriting on sleeves and labels, some see it as defacement, but I don’t. I see it as part of the art’s history.
Some even have plastic sleeves for singles, which feels wrong on many levels. The most bizarre are the sleeves for double albums, which are complex creations and tough to insert an album into. But for fans of plastic you can buy bundles of 50 sleeves to ‘protect’ your albums.
The one good thing about them is price stickers can easily be peeled off, which used to be a real problem. Those little tear-marks on the corners of second-hand records are still out there. I used to go to a record shop that wrote the prices on the sleeves with a felt tip! That’s too much even for me. Mind you I would always rather have a rare record that’s defaced and unplayable, than not have it at all.
I can think of nothing worse (I can) than shelves full of plastic. I want to feel and embrace the records, that's not too bad, is it?
