How did you get wrapped up in CD collecting?

[JLPRocks]

I think the 'collecting' part just happened.......I mean, I started out loving music way back in the 70's...but I was too young to buy my 'own' stuff. But, when I hit like 8th or 9th grade, I did the Columbia House thing like some of the others I've read. That got me 'started'...I guess. And it was different genre's.....I LOVED the New Wave stuff coming out at the time...Gary Numan with his synth stuff....Depeche Mode.....Duran....and at the same time, I was already a HUGE KISS fan....but albums by Quiet Riot and AC/DC took me further down the metal path.

 

I had an 'average' amount of music in the early days....but after high school...and into college is when I started to 'collect' a bit more. And when I started reading Metal Edge...well....the Rock On the Rise section always had me writing to bands to get their demos and releases, etc. THAT is when I started to really pick up steam 'collecting'. Metal Edge lead to Heaven's Metal, Screamer and other mags and fanzines and I was getting stuff from all over. Meanwhile....I was starting to buy almost every release that would come out that was melodic hard rock/glam/sleaze...etc.....and my collection expanded....and as my collection expanded...so did my appetite for more.

 

The internet provided that impetus...as now I could actually contact people from all over....faster....and start trading, buying, etc. on a much larger level. eBay comes along...and adds icing to the cake.....and my collection grew exponentially....

 

The fact that I have that 'collecting' gene doesn't hurt......as I 'collected' comic books....beer cans...and football cards as a kid....and then as an adult, it is mostly die cast cars....KISS memorabilia....and music!

[SideShow]

I've always been a collector of some sort. I collected baseball cards as a kid. I moved to comic books in my early teen/teenage years. I then started getting CDs in my late teens/early adult years. This is actually the second time I've done my collection. The first, while it was only 100 CDs or so, was filled with some pretty rare discs (not rare when I got them, as that was '96-'99 or so) but it got stolen. Until about 5 years ago, I'd just pick up some discs when I felt like it. Don't know what started it, but I got addicted to it about 5 years ago and have been hammering away ever since.

[hsf]

Little nudges from people over the years, and my packrat mentalities, led to this "collection" thing, although only in the strictest sense. I don't "collect", I horde music. lol

 

I also did the Columbia House (then BMG) thing. Had a fairly substantial collection of tapes. (My parents had quite the impressive record collection from their younger days.) I resisted CDs when they first came out, but upon going to college, fell in with a crowd of music lovers, through another mutual interest, and in late '92, I caved and switched to CDs. I had a meager collection for the first probably 6-7 years. (Around 200, very little special.)

 

Around early '99, I felt the need to look up Tuff's first album to get the track "I Hate Kissing You Goodbye". After discovering the power of eBay, and then the rest of the internet, things took off.

 

In 2000, a friend and I saw the band The Truth (on HH) and became pretty good acquaintances with the band. The singer introduced us to some more stuff and then we met a friend of his who used to DJ in the Pittsburgh area and he just blew the doors off of our collective musical worlds. We did many trades (my friend and I somehow had managed to get enough that we had some stuff to trade) with him and expanded our horizons and collections.

 

Not long after, I was introduced to my favorite bannned HH alum Denny (SHK) and he and I proceeded to embark on many wonderful musical journeys together. While I never knew the vast amount of rock I had missed, Denny not only exposed me to more, but also to other types of rock-related music I'd probably never have otherwise given a chance. And we used to go on MANY hunts to find treasures in all kinds of used CD stores.

 

And the final step, of course, was joining up here. Through all of the info, clips, and trades with people here, the amount of music I've found (and probably still yet haven't discovered) is absolutely mind-boggling.

[Clutch]

Jay, that shit is ridiculous (your avatar, not your post). My screen saver just popped up I gazed so long ( I think that's drool on my chin......).

[sharatan]

back on topic: cds became necessity when labels and bands stopped doing vinyls....as much as i love my 80's vinyls i love my 90's indie US and german melodic/heavy/power/prog/doom metal cds(always spitting in the face of major labels and crappy major "metal" mags)....when you're a music lover(even as narrow minded like me) you obviously love all kinds of formats there, even mp3s, mp4s etc...the last vinyls i had the chance to preorder from my local store were manowar's louder than hell and virgin steele's marriage(s)...i can't understand people who are into vinyl or cds only.....as a matter of fact if i had to make a list of my 200 all time favorites, at least 25% of them would be only cd pressings(and of course i'm excluding from this list the countless godly demotapes that are around...)

[metalmaniac777]

I miss finding new music in shops, but the internet let's me do it in my underwear.

Dude, you will never know true freedom until you let the underwear go. Nude CD-shopping is where it's at.

[Blue Charvel]

I miss finding new music in shops, but the internet let's me do it in my underwear.

Dude, you will never know true freedom until you let the underwear go. Nude CD-shopping is where it's at.

Wow, I didn't know there was anyone left still wearing clothing when they CD-shopped? Neanderathals!

[KarpetRydOFunk]

I miss finding new music in shops, but the internet let's me do it in my underwear.

Dude, you will never know true freedom until you let the underwear go. Nude CD-shopping is where it's at.

Wow, I didn't know there was anyone left still wearing clothing when they CD-shopped? Neanderathals!

Yeah, I know. And sometimes I shop online nude, when it's too cold to go out.

[KarpetRydOFunk]

One night, Darth Vader came down from planet Vulcan and told me that if I didn't start collecting CD's/TAPES that he'd melt my brain.

 

Ohhhh sh*t... what movie is that from?? I know it but I can't place it!!

Back to the Future

[KarpetRydOFunk]

My brother got his first stereo in '93 and his first tape - Petra - Wake Up Call! Prior to that, my dad's friend had recorded mixtapes of Petra, Hokus Pick, Whiteheart, and others. My school would give out gift certificates to the local Christian book store with our report cards. I remember throwing out the report card looking for the 'money'! I bought my first tape - John Schlitt - Shake - in '95. I absolutely loved that tape, and it still holds great memories, namely me singing along convinced I sounded just like Mr. Schlitt. Now that I think about it, most of my perchases happened at the end of the school year. The following year I used the certificate to buy my first CD - John Schlitt - Unfit for Swine. I suppose that's a good look at the change in music tastes in my life. Hard rocking 'Shake' one year, a bit grungy 'Unfit for Swine' the next, although I didn't care much for grunge. I think the grungiest album I had - and still have - was The Bleed - Ouch! I was more into punk-ish stuff. I really liked The Supertones, and would drum along to Wake the Sun. I noticed my changing personality was directing my musical tastes. I loved to rock, but the ballads and the softer tunes on an album became my favourites. Somewhere along the way, my brother started listening to Petra again, and I got caught up in it, too. They came to my little town in '02? - it had to be, because Jekylll & Hyde was the following year, and they didn't play any of that stuff. That reignited my love for that kind of music, although it was a slow and difficult fire. I was more into Prog and Classic Rock, and bands like Genesis, Supertramp, Yes, and Boston ruled my airwaves. In '03 I went to Creation Fest in George Washington for the sole reason that Petra was there. There weren't many people that showed up for their performance, but I was rockin' out, singing any words I could recall. That was a great show. In '05 my brother had tickets for Def Leppard, and one of the guys bailed on him. He asked me, but I said "no". I still wasn't completely sold - I told you it was a difficult fire. Later on one of his friends introduced us to Avantasia. That rocked my world. I imediately fell in love with Tobias Sammet's voice periodicly mistaking it for John Schlitt's. That led me to Edguy, which led me to giving Def Leppard a second chance, which blew the lid off the can of worms. And that is when I started buying CDs again. That explains why I only have around 300 CDs. I've downloaded a shit load, and I slowly replace those CDRs while trying out new artists. Hopefully this explains to you why I have such a wide range of musical tastes, and you can stop harassing me for listening to the stuff I listen to.

[Nick C]

Bought an album....liked it ....didn't stop....basically!

[Jimbo]

I miss finding new music in shops, but the internet let's me do it in my underwear.

Dude, you will never know true freedom until you let the underwear go. Nude CD-shopping is where it's at.

Wow, I didn't know there was anyone left still wearing clothing when they CD-shopped? Neanderathals!

Yeah, I know. And sometimes I shop online nude, when it's too cold to go out.

 

So...when it's not too cold to go out, you shop nude at the mall then, or what?

[Jez]

Bought an album....liked it ....didn't stop....basically!

 

Nice and simply put mate - pretty much sums it up for me aswell.

[Jimbo]

When I turned ten, my parents bought me one of those table-top cassette players that were all the rage in 1977. You know the kind? Flap door on top, five buttons that look like piano keys for play, rew, ff, stop and record? It was cool for a ten year old, let me tell you. And with it, they gave me the Bay City Rollers Greatest Hits tape (incredible, there was actually more than one Bay City Rollers song considered a "hit") and some money to buy another tape on my own.

 

I remember going to the Mall shortly after with my whole family to get some autographs signed by the Cleveland Barons NHL team who happened to be there, (Dennis Maruk!), and while we were there I saw the cover for KISS' Destroyer CD in the record store window. It was the coolest thing I had ever seen! I begged my parents to let me buy the cassette, and against their better judgment while still flush with excitement from meeting Don McAdams, they said okay.

 

I loved that cassette so much that I think it actually melted in spots from overuse. I still have it thirty-two years later. I have also purchased the vinyl and CD of it and to this day it is still my favorite album by my favorite band.

 

I became a collector because for thirty years, I have been trying to recapture that same feeling of excitement and fun I had when I purchased that first cassette.

[KarpetRydOFunk]

I miss finding new music in shops, but the internet let's me do it in my underwear.

Dude, you will never know true freedom until you let the underwear go. Nude CD-shopping is where it's at.

Wow, I didn't know there was anyone left still wearing clothing when they CD-shopped? Neanderathals!

Yeah, I know. And sometimes I shop online nude, when it's too cold to go out.

 

So...when it's not too cold to go out, you shop nude at the mall then, or what?

Is that a practice I should quit?

[Jimbo]

I miss finding new music in shops, but the internet let's me do it in my underwear.

Dude, you will never know true freedom until you let the underwear go. Nude CD-shopping is where it's at.

Wow, I didn't know there was anyone left still wearing clothing when they CD-shopped? Neanderathals!

Yeah, I know. And sometimes I shop online nude, when it's too cold to go out.

 

So...when it's not too cold to go out, you shop nude at the mall then, or what?

Is that a practice I should quit?

 

Well, yeah...the mall is really expensive. You should only shop nude at Wal*Mart.

[gener8tr]

I purchased my first CD on April 28, 1988. My father gave me a nice Pioneer rig including CD player for my 20th. birthday.

 

The first CD I purchased was Motley Crue - GIRLS GIRLS GIRLS. Ove the next four years I would amass a HUGE collection totalling about 11 CD's I was still buying cassette tapes because they were a heckuva lot cheaper than CD and at that time I didn't really notice a difference in sound quality.

 

It was election day 1992 that I obtained my first care package from Columbia Record Club. They had one of those buy one get ten free events going on. I specifically remember it being election day becuase it was that VERY SAME day I purchased BON JOVI - KEEP THE FAITH (the day it was released). My CD collection more than doubled that day.

 

I've been a pretty avid collector ever since. I think my collection stands close to 2500 titles, but I'm very picky. ALL of my CD's (discs and inserts) are in mint / like new condition, and an abundance of my collection includes Japan for USA or West Germany for USA first pressings. I've concentrated pretty much on only buying those early pressings the past 3 or 4 years.

 

Lots of fun... lots of money!

[KarpetRydOFunk]

I miss finding new music in shops, but the internet let's me do it in my underwear.

Dude, you will never know true freedom until you let the underwear go. Nude CD-shopping is where it's at.

Wow, I didn't know there was anyone left still wearing clothing when they CD-shopped? Neanderathals!

Yeah, I know. And sometimes I shop online nude, when it's too cold to go out.

 

So...when it's not too cold to go out, you shop nude at the mall then, or what?

Is that a practice I should quit?

 

Well, yeah...the mall is really expensive. You should only shop nude at Wal*Mart.

Wal-Mart doesn't even have a decent selection. Actually neither does the mall, but it's closer.

[RichieZ]

Bought an album....liked it ....didn't stop....basically!

 

Nice and simply put mate - pretty much sums it up for me aswell.

 

Same here...started buying vinyl in the late '70s throughout the '80s until I caught the CD bug near the end of the '80s. After buying 4000-5000 CDs since around 1988 I've burned out a bit and now just buy what I really like. However, my love for hard, heavy and melodic music will never burn out.