Are you a vinyl or record collector who is unable to use them effectively? ‘Drop the Needle’ on May 15 at Church Street Social (noon onwards) will bring in hundreds of like-minded enthusiasts to exchange, buy or sell records.
“You can even choose to listen to the best of rare records that we will play. Treat this as a mega rare event, as the wholesome vinyl music and the collectors’ ensemble will also offer a chance for a healthy barter of records,” said DJ Prashanth Pallemoni, a collector who is hosting the event.
The idea took roots in a conversation Prashanth had with his friend and professional bass guitar player Nikhil Warrier. It didn’t take long for the two to hit upon the idea of getting collectors together. “We arranged an informal meet that drew a great response. That was the time we decided to have our ‘collectors meet’ officially on May 15 and make this event a regular one,” said Prashanth.
‘Drop the Needle’ will see participation of the Mumbai-based Revolver Club. Around a hundred records from their rare collection will be on sale. An original rare vinyl can cost anywhere between Rs. 8,000 and Rs. 1 lakh based on how rare the record is, whose signature it bears and so on.
“But the records we are bringing will be priced Rs. 1,000 each,” said Parth M. Pandya, founder, Revolver Club.
This is not just a gathering of buyers. People can come with their records and exchange or sell it to other enthusiasts. Prashanth has an extensive collection — a mix of his family’s records and the ones he bought. “Our entire family was a bunch of music lovers,” said Prashanth. “While my father, P. Krishnamurthy, former wicket-keeper in the Indian cricket team, brought home hundreds of LPs from West Indies, England and Australia, my grandfather, tennis player S. Narendranath ardently collected them from Europe and U.S. From spools to vinyl records, we have thousands of them in our studio now,” he said.
“But many music producers are realising that records have to have a record comeback (because of the sound quality it offers),” says Prashanth. If you wish to hear Blues of the 1940s of African-American, Errol Garner or the German band Kraftwerk who popularised electronic music in the 70s that Prashanth is rearing to play, ‘Drop the needle’ should be on your calendar.
