It's happening all over the world! Nearly two decades ago, everybody wrote their epitaphs.
But now vinyl and shellac LP records are fast catching up with music collectors across the world. Back home, a beginning to promote preservation and sharing of old gramophone records among like-minded music collectors has begun.
On Sunday, a few ardent gramophone record collectors held a meeting to explore the possibility of setting up a local unit of the Society of Indian Record Collectors (SIRC).
“Old records are our history and there is a need to protect them for the next generation. We have to make efforts to make youngsters appreciate the difficulties one faced at that time to produce them,” said secretary of Mumbai–based SIRC, Suresh Chandvankar.
In a presentation on Indian gramophone records, Dr. Chandvankar, a retired scientist from Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) said that most of the Indian gramophone records have ended up in the collection of private persons.
Net worth
“As private collectors age, they are worried about the future of their collection because there is no proper place to store and maintain the records after them. Many have no idea about the net worth of their collections. And others have collected records in isolation and do not have contact with like-minded persons,” Dr. Chandvankar said.
The senior records collector felt that there is a need to take up a stock taking exercise and find how many gramophone records are left in the country.
“This is a great opportunity for music lovers in Hyderabad and elsewhere in the State to unearth old songs of any genre that have been forgotten by the public. We are calling interested gramophone record collectors to contact us so that programmes for preservation and propagation of records can be taken up,” said M. V. Surender. Interested persons can contact on phone numbers - 89788-85179/80196-04155.
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