Old Records Never Die

One Man’s Quest for His Vinyl and His Past

By: Eric Spitznagel

Narrated by: Ramiz Monsef

High Fidelity meets Killing Yourself to Live in this memoir of one man's search for his lost record collection.

As he finds himself within spitting distance of middle age, journalist Eric Spitznagel feels acutely the loss of...something. Freedom? Maybe. Coolness? Could be. The records he sold in a financial pinch? Definitely. To find out for sure, he sets out on a quest to find the original vinyl artifacts from his past. Not just copies. The exact same records: the Bon Jovi record with his first girlfriend's phone number scrawled on the front sleeve, the KISS Alive II he once shared with his little brother, the Replacements' Let It Be he's pretty sure, 20 years later, would still smell like weed.

As he embarks on his hero's journey, he reminisces about the actual records, the music, and the people he listened to it with - old girlfriends, his high school pals, and, most poignantly, his father and his young son. He explores the magic of music and memory as he interweaves his adventures in record culture with questions about our connections to our pasts, whether we can ever recapture them, and whether we would want to if we could.

©2016 Eric Spitznagel (P)2016 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

The Nostalgia Train

I grew up in the era of cassette tapes, but that didn’t matter. The plot traces the author’s quest to relocate his childhood vinyl and his struggles to understand why it mattered so much for him. The quest, the payoff, the ending, I loved it all.

Hard Copy Nostalgia

When vinyl records start to make a comeback, rock journalist Eric Spitznagel regrets selling his collection away. He sets out on a search for all of his old records -- not any vinyl copy, but the exact copy that he used to own. With each record that he finds, or even contemplates, there is a nostalgic series of memoir sketches that are dredged up, as well as the impact on his life, his wife and son as he grows obsessed with his quest.

All of this is lots of fun for music lovers and record collectors like myself -- although I don't regret giving away thousands of my old LPs which I would never listen to again, keeping around a hundred or so that have those indelible memories associated with them (but I do regret accidentally letting the guy "take" my collection of Beatles Parlophone LPs).

I do have one issue, though, that nagged at me throughout the listen -- not to the point of ruining things, just nuisance level annoyance around the edges of the experience. Mostly, the author uses his indigence as a freelance journalist to add some drama and conflict to his search -- he turns down a lucrative editing job so as to not compromise his independence and ability to hunt down his old records. What he never mentions but is obvious to readers of the book that resulted from all this is that his true goal is not to find his old records but to write a book about trying to find his old records (which he obviously succeeded in doing, to what level of success beyond me reading it for free on Audible I have no idea).

Part of that is my personal disdain for his type of privileged life that allows him to turn down a good job to pursue a possible book deal. I grew up poor, worked my way through school, and succeeded at the type of work Eric is too principled to undertake, putting my own artistic ambitions on hold. I had no choice. Neither do millions of other people who have to work for a living. Which is all fine and dandy for him to make his own choices, set his own priorities -- it's just all the whining about not having enough money that is hard to take.

Still, a four-star read for music lovers -- and I would be remiss in not pointing out that you don't have to share Spitznagel's specific tastes in music to enjoy his book (I certainly am not a fan of his favorite artists and albums, but could still appreciate the feelings evoked by his memories of that music).

If you came of age in the 80"s its a must

Great narration and story - well written and thoughtful. Brought back a lot of memories. Perfect listen - when you are done with this listen to Sting Ray Afternoons too - loved this book!!

find out

This book is like a happy place It warmed my heart, Made me think deep

Exactly what I needed to hear

Read extremely well. Written extremely well. And exactly what I needed to hear to take me back to my also buried but never forgot days of how music moved and defined me. Bravo!