A Steve Cropper album sits atop a stack of other vinyl records brought by Carl Hanni to the Red Room at The Grill. Hanni plays a selection of vinyl records from his collection once a week at the Red Room. The mix consists of blues, country, old-school R&B and rock.

More Photos (8):

Other articles by Sarah Mauet:

Form over function Catching some air Let's do lunge, correctly Writing book nearly a must for candidates Dealing with food Exhibit explores nature of creativity Everyone has a secret ... Walking good for both man and beast 'The Dog Diet' Out there among us Perfecting the push-up

General
A1 Communications
Cable Techs Health Care
Sierra Tucson
Eating Disorders Program Coordinator Trades/Construction
RANCHO RESORT
MAINTANANCE POSITION

Tucson's vinyl scene is spinning forward.

In the past couple of years we've seen new record shops open, new record shows born and new vinyl-only music shows.

Anyone doubting that Tucson is experiencing a record resurgence in the middle of the era of digital downloads should have been at the second annual Tucson Record Show, Nov. 4.

"It was a lot more successful in every way than last year," said Bruce Smith of Cassidy Collectibles, which co-produced the show.

The show featured 20 record dealers from all over the region. The tables, which snaked around the room, were covered in bins overflowing with records and left little space for the 175 or so record aficionados to squeeze around in search of their next slice of vinyl happiness.

Sue Goldstein, 47, recently got back into collecting vinyl after she repaired a record player she picked up at a garage sale.

"There's certain things you can't get on CD, and some records sound better than CDs," she said.

She was looking for jazz and folk records to add to her burgeoning collection of about 150 records. Being more interested in the music than collecting vintage vinyl, she usually scopes out swap meets where it's easy to snag a record for 25 cents.

"It's a really cheap way to get music," she said. "It's crazy that people pay 30 bucks for an old record."

Except at the Tucson Record Show, it wasn't crazy at all. People were laying down big bucks right and left.

Bob Morris, 50, who considers himself a serious collector and dealer, flew from his home in San Diego to attend the show. Only a half-hour after the doors opened, his stack of buys was a couple of inches thick.

"This is as big as the San Diego record show," he said. "I'm fairly impressed. I've found a few good records."

Some vendors traveled from as far as New Mexico and Texas, while others were local, such as Bob "Pepe" Galvez, 54, who owned Last Wax Records on Fourth Avenue from 1994 until 1998. He decided to close up shop in part because the monsoon had damaged the roof of his building, but also because vinyl sales had begun to wane by the late '90s.

"That's when CDs really took off," he said. "There was a lull for three or four years. Now there's a resurgence of vinyl because of eBay, and I think a lot of young people are getting into the uniqueness of records."

Galvez, who has been collecting since he got his first 45, "The Twist," in the early '60s, qualifies as a vinyl fanatic. He has 20,000-30,000 LPs in a little house in his backyard. They are alphabetized within genres, and Galvez says he knows exactly where to find every one.

"It's one of the greatest hobbies you can have," he said. "You can get many moods out of your vinyl collection."

More record shows ahead

Due to the success of this year's record show, Smith plans to hold the third annual Tucson Record Show this time next year.

He won't be alone.

Galvez used to run a local record show each spring, and he plans to hold one again in 2007.

And the 17th Street Market, which got in on the vinyl movement this summer with its Vinyl Roadshow, plans to hold more events, including one Dec. 9.

"It was an incredible success," said Bonnie Brooks, a spokeswoman for the market. "It was mobbed. You're getting a cross-section of people — people who want to buy, people who want to sell and people who just want to know if what they have is worth something. And it crosses all ages, which is neat."

Hundreds of people turned out to scope out the vinyl on sale and also to get their own collections appraised.

"The assessing side of this was more successful than anyone expected," said local vinyl aficionado Carl Hanni, who is directing the next event. "There were 40-50 people with boxes of records."

The upcoming Vinyl Roadshow will include appraisals of LPs, 45s and 78s by Cassidy Collectibles and Twist & Shout Records. There also will be a record swap, entertainment (vinyl-only, of course) by Hanni and, for the first time, guitar and bass appraisals by luthier Dustin Busch.

Hanni and Brooks hope to hold the Roadshow several times a year.

"I would like to do it on a regular basis," Brooks said. "It's fun. We all enjoy it."

But she also has larger aspirations for vinyl in Tucson.

"My thought was for the city, in the summer when it's so quiet, to have a summer international vinyl show," she said, going into detail about filling hotels and drawing folks from all over the world, much like a vinyl equivalent of the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show. "If we did something like that down the road, how fun would that be? And it would be so good for Tucson."

Shopping for vinyl

Longtime record collector Tom Struck opened a new vinyl store called Twist & Shout in February. He'd been collecting records with the store in mind for about four years.

"As a collector I've seen an increase in interesting vinyl," the store owner said. "Personally, my thought is that a lot of it came from eBay. All of a sudden eBay came along and people started putting their records on eBay and all of a sudden some records you never saw started popping up, and I think it sparked some collectors' interest."

The store, which now gets its inventory almost exclusively from people bringing in their collections, has 15,000-20,000 45s and 10,000-12,000 albums. Prices start at $2 for 45s and $4 for albums. The most expensive thing in the shop last week was an original "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" album priced at $200.

"The majority of our albums are $4," Struck said. "They are still extremely reasonable. This isn't a hobby where you should go broke. You should be able to buy a lot of nice stuff for a reasonable price."

Twist & Shout isn't the only place to find vinyl.

PDQ has been around for years, and though it switched owners and name to Judy's Music Stop (we hear it'll return to PDQ soon), it still stocks more than 150,000 LPs and 70,000 45s with prices anywhere from $3 to $600, according to manager Robert Kaufmann.

The 17th Street Guitars and World Music store began carrying vinyl after the first Vinyl Roadshow this summer, and there's vinyl to be found at other local music stores, such as Bookman's, Zia Record Exchange and Toxic Ranch Records.

Diversity of fans

While many vinyl fanatics grew up with records, a growing number were born after vinyl's original heyday but have been embracing the format.

"Now it seems like more teenagers and young adults are buying vinyl," said Scott Landrum, the head of the music department at the Tucson Central Bookman's.

Marina Cornelius, 26, is the singer and guitarist in the local rock band the Beta Sweat and a longtime vinyl fan.

"I'm not really a collector, but I think when I was 15 or 16 and started getting really into bands, it seemed like all the bands I liked were doing vinyl and sometimes exclusively vinyl," she said. "A lot of my best music that I've always listened to has been on records and not on CD. They always had awesome artwork, and vinyl was so cheap, too. You do have to have a record player, but after you've got one, you're pretty much set."

Her band released a 7-inch record a couple of years ago, and when the band began talking about an album, there was no question what format it would take.

"Right when we started talking about recording, we were talking about vinyl and CDs," she said. "I know for me, I was pretty dead set on it."

Releasing on vinyl is popular among indie rockers, but you can also find big names such as Green Day and Janet Jackson on vinyl. Not that younger music fans necessarily gravitate toward newer music. Many are looking for vintage vinyl as well as music to sample.

Karl Bell, 29, who sometimes DJs under the name Karlito, began collecting rap, soul, jazz and reggae records when he was in college. Part of vinyl's appeal for him is the search for hidden gems.

"I can't drive past a thrift store without stopping and going in," he said. "I like the hunt. I like to see what I can find. I like the value aspect of it — the fact that you could go to a thrift store and get a whole record for a quarter."

The visual aspect of records is also important to him.

"The art and the packaging is an integral part, and with digital unfortunately we're getting away from that," he said. "It's much cooler to have a big cover than a little cover or no cover at all. I definitely judge a record by its cover."

He sees more and more people in their 20s and 30s getting into vinyl these days.

"It's getting kind of trendy to collect records," he said. "Everyone does it."

Teresith Martinez, 23, started getting into records about three years ago but became more serious in the past year after receiving her grandmother's record player. She now owns between 150 and 200 records and is looking to expand her collection.

"Everything I have on CD I'm trying to find on vinyl," she said. "A lot of the time there's bonus tracks, the artwork is larger and you get the lyrics with the vinyl and you don't with the CD. A lot of the time it's cheaper than getting it on CD. It's a good deal."

Twist & Shout Records sees a lot of vinyl lovers of different ages. Most are between the ages of 18-25 or over 40, Struck said.

"There's a college-age group, and then there's a group that actually grew up on vinyl who are now not finding the record they played a billion times when they were a kid on CD so they're going out to look for it," he said.

The Whelan family is a little bit of both. Patrick Whelan, 46, grew up with vinyl but got rid of his collection years ago. He has renewed his love of records now that his 15-year-old son, Alex, has become interested in vinyl.

"I love the records," Patrick Whelan said. "This is music that speaks to you."

The two of them bought a turntable earlier this year and since then Alex Whelan has collected more than 150 albums.

"The first record I got was the Beatles' White Album," said the University High School sophomore. "Then I got a couple more, and I haven't been able to stop."

"I'm not an iPod person," he added. "All my friends think I'm crazy. With a CD player you just push a button and skip a song. With a record you listen to the entire album. I've come to appreciate the entire actual album. It's about all the music, not just a few hits."

And collecting has become a father-son activity for them.

"It's music that transcends generations," the elder Whelan said. "You can't go wrong with vinyl."

Getting personal

Some of Tucson's many record aficionados share their music on KXCI (91.3-FM) in shows such as Al Perry's "Clam Bake" (10 p.m. Mondays) and Galvez's "Barrio Sounds" (10 p.m. Wednesdays).

To hear records in person, just head Downtown.

Club Congress holds the Optimist Club on Thursdays, which often has DJs spinning vinyl (though CDs and MP3s are common, too) for a room full of dancers. It's also hosting legendary radio personality and music collector John Dixon Tuesday for an evening of vinyl-only soul music.

For regular vinyl-only entertainment, stop by the Red Room at the Grill on a Tuesday night and you'll find a room packed with people grooving to vintage rock, folk, jazz and blues. Hanni has been spinning there for almost two years, and while he draws quite the crowd, he won't take credit for the resurging interest in vinyl.

"I just happened to come along in a fortuitous time when there is growing awareness that vinyl is cool and fun," he said. "I'm delighted that people are coming back to records."

Also, since this spring, two fellow music lovers have joined Hanni one Monday a month for the Pessimist Club.

"The Pessimist Club grew out of our desire to play our punk records," Hanni said. "We all have tons of punk rock and we wanted a place to play it, and lo and behold, people love it. It's incredibly successful.

"I think it's kind of funny," he added. "We're kind of having the last laugh. So many people went totally to CDs and digital, and now they're in a deep stage of regret."