Top Vinyl Record Quotes from Famous Collectors

Marc HenshallCulture & Industry6 Comments

In our increasingly digital age, there’s still a lot of love for good old-fashioned vinyl.

There’s just something about the physicality of vinyl; the sound, the feel (the entire experience) that conjures up emotions in generations old and new.

It’s hard to imagine the same passion for any digital format in years to come, and while we’ve seen some resurgence in many analog formats over recent years, it’s vinyl that genuinely stands out as the format of choice for those who are passionate about owning music physically.

In celebration of the passion many music lovers share about vinyl, we’ve collated some of our favorite quotes about vinyl records.


Top vinyl record quotes. Jack White.

1. Jack White

Arguably the biggest modern advocate of the vinyl revival, Jack White has repeatedly proclaimed his love for music on wax. In his own words, “Vinyl is the real deal. I’ve always felt like, until you buy the vinyl record, you don’t really own the album. And it’s not just me or a little pet thing or some kind of retro romantic thing from the past. It is still alive.”

White’s words are a bold statement that epitomizes how we feel at Sound Matters feel about the importance of owning music. As a standalone quote, however, I prefer the summary below:

“There’s no romance in singing about an iPod

That’s not all from Jack, of course. Here’s yet another quote I love:

“I prefer vinyl. We talk about this backstage; as musicians it comes up a lot. It’s a shame the new generation is missing out on albums.”


2. Grandmaster Flash

For the pioneering scratch DJ, Joseph Saddler (better known as Grandmaster Flash), the love for vinyl and the basis of a successful career started young…

“My father was my first inspiration. He had an incredible stereo and a turntable, and I was told not to touch it. But I’d go back and touch it anyway. I gained a respect for the turntables when I was a kid. When I was a teenager, I came up with a ‘cueing system’ to work the turntables because they didn’t have it at that time.”


3. Norah Jones

If ever there was a modern talent whose music just seems to suit the aesthetic of vinyl perfectly, it’s surely got to be the contemporary Jazz musician, Norah Jones. As a star who rose to fame during the height of Napster, it’s clear she still had a great appreciation for physical music.

“I think it’s important for people who love music to retain physical CDs or even vinyl, because it sounds so great and so much warmer than music over the internet.”

Top vinyl record quotes. Norah Jones.

4. Quentin Tarantino

Film director and screenwriter, Quentin Tarantino finds inspiration for his films thanks to an every-expending record collection. Somehow it’s hard to see how a hard-drive full of music, or even a Spotify subscription could have quite the same effect…

“I’m a big collector of vinyl – I have a record room in my house – and I’ve always had a huge soundtrack album collection. So what I do, as I’m writing a movie, is go through all those songs, trying to find good songs for fights, or good pieces of music to layer into the film.”


5. Neil Young

Neil Young controversially dismissed the vinyl revival as a mere fashion accessory. And while we would beg to differ, he was right to criticize the quality of some record label masters destined for modern pressings.

That’s not to say Young didn’t have an appreciation for vinyl, and to add further to controversy, he was famously quoted as stating that “Steve Jobs was a pioneer of digital music. But when he went home, he listened to vinyl.”

Ironic, huh?

Top vinyl record quotes. Neil Young.

6. Henry Rollins

Some formats make better company than others. We couldn’t say it better ourselves and allow the former Black Flag front man (and huge vinyl advocate), Henry Rollins to explain why you’ll never listen alone.

“Sitting in a room, alone, listening to a CD is to be lonely. Sitting in a room alone with an LP crackling away, or sitting next to the turntable listening to a song at a time via 7-inch single is enjoying the sublime state of solitude.”


7. John Lydon

Another rebel, with yet more controversial opinions, Sex Pistols frontman, John Lydon is about as authentic as it gets:

“I hate the technological rip-offs that pass for music formats these days, and go back to vinyl to hear a good record because the sound is always so much fuller. I don’t even like listening to music in the car.”

Top vinyl record quotes. John Lydon.

8. Roger Daltrey

The WHO front-man once went on record to express, that, “If I was a billionaire, and had my time all over, I would invest all of my money in setting up a factory to produce vinyl records again.”

It’s comments like this that sometimes make vinyl record quotes funny. As it turned out, Daltrey wouldn’t have to go back in time or invest any money whatsoever. New record pressing plants are popping up regularly, with several outlets opening in the US and a new facility starting up in Middlesborough, UK this year.

The new plant called “Press on Vinyl” aims to produce over 50,000 new records a week, which will be music to the ears of vinyl fans frustrated by long waiting times and production bottlenecks.


9. Josh Homme

There was a time when this statement from the Queens of the Stone Age frontman could be regarded as true. But with sales continuing to climb year-on-year, vinyl is undoubtedly here to stay for music fans of all types, ages, and commitment. Happy days!

“Vinyl has gotten to the point where it’s exclusively for the collector, I guess.”


10. Martin Gore

For Depeche Mode’s Martin Gore, the vinyl experience is a complete package. We couldn’t agree more!

“It was so exciting to go to the record shop and buy a piece of vinyl and hold it, read the liner notes, look at the pictures. Even the smell of the vinyl.”


Top vinyl record quotes. John Peel.

11. John Peel

Last, but by no means least, is perhaps my favorite vinyl quote of them all from the late and great BBC Radio DJ, John Peel. If ever there was a quote that sums up how much soul we’ve lost in recorded music, it has to be this:

“Somebody was trying to tell me that CDs are better than vinyl because they don’t have any surface noise. I said, “Listen, mate, life has surface noise.”

Peel had a real ear for special musical talent, and his legacy of backing the underdog to help boost the profile for some of pop music’s greatest talents, including Marc Bolan and The Smiths, is just one of the reasons he remains so revered to this day.


Vinyl Record Quotes Bonus: New Yorker Cartoonist “Gregory”

This quote portrayed in The New Yorker has to be one of my favorite vinyl record quotes of all time. It’s funny because it’s true…

“The two things that really drew me to vinyl were the expense and the inconvenience”.


The quotes I’ve listed are just the tip of the iceberg; there’s so much passion out there for music on vinyl, and I think these comments are some of the best examples of that enthusiasm.

Do you have a favorite quote? Want to create your own? Let us know in the comments below.

Author

  • Marc Henshall

    Marc is the owner of Sound Matters and a musician with a BSc Honours Degree in Music Technology. His love for records grew in the fallout from digital downloads and a feeling that, somehow, without the physical medium, the magic was lost.

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john fraser

Take the time to adjust your table for optimum playback,I am not selling anything more info at analogmagik and wally tools.It”s a conscription device so stylus rake angle has to be 92 degrees,azimuth must be balanced between left and right out put from each side of the groove,your zenith angle must be spot on.The two websites I mentioned earlier will open your eyes to what is possible if you decide to come along for the ride.If you are doing a set up without a usb microscope you can never know if your stylus rake angle is set at 92 degrees

Anthony

I always loved vinyl ( though being a curious about new audio ) I tried them all from every form digital to tapes ( not 8 track ) to reel to reel which is the best ! My favorite is I see it ( buy it ) I touch it ( open it up ) I hear it ! I can go back to last 60 years and relive my life through Vinyl !! ( not just liner notes ) the groves inscribe of engineers ! Where was mastered ! Is it true analog ??. The act of getting up to play second side! Its just so real !

greg chick

I insist is not me sharing the same name, “Greg” that makes the last quote the best. It’s me sharing the worship of irony.

Martin

Please stop calling it wax! It’s annoying and it’s not wax!

David Gavin

Its kind of funny that you mention john peel, I used to love listening to his radio show, he did so much to raise awareness of bands and music, he would often play cassette recordings as this was all the bands could produce, he would make them sound as good as possible. It was wonderful to grow up in the “Age of Peel” nobody did what he did and not since. Now bands just get their stuff on spotify but its not the same, no commentary or interesting stuff about the bands.