From Booklist
Vinyl junkies are special. They hunt down Brazilian pressings of favorite artists, know the difference between vinyl and styrene, and call a 3,000-LP collection "modest." Milano's interviews aim to nail down what vinyl addiction means. Thurston Moore thrives on the renegade, archival nature of collecting. As a teenager, Peter Buck hitchhiked 15 miles to get an LP the night of its release. R. Crumb speaks fondly of rare, flexible 78s. Most of Milano's subjects believe the thrill is in the chase: seeking personal Holy Grails is often more rewarding than playing them, and comfort is knowing a certain record is finally in one's collection. The book works best when Milano lets his subjects do the obsessing, and if what being a collector means remains as elusive as Their Satanic Majesties Request with the original 3-D cover, at least we learn that, as former Cramps drummer Miriam Linna says, "You play someone a great record and they don't react to it, you know it's time to get them out of your house." Carlos Orellana
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Book Description
Not too far away from the flea markets, dusty attics, cluttered used record stores and Ebay is the world of the vinyl junkies. Brett Milano dives deep into the piles of old vinyl to uncover the subculture of record collecting. A vinyl junkie is not the person who has a few old 45s shoved in the cuboard from their days in high school. Vinyl Junkies are the people who will travel over 3,000 miles to hear a rare b-side by a German band that has only recorded two songs since 1962, vinyl junkies are the people who own every copy of every record produced by the favorite artist from every pressing and printing in existance, vinyl junkies are the people who may just love that black plastic more than anything else in their lives. Brett Milano traveled the U.S. seeking out the most die-hard and fanatical collectors to capture all that it means to be a vinyl junkie. Includes interviews with Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth, Peter Buck from R.E.M and Robert Crumb, creator of Fritz the cat and many more underground comics.



About the Author
Brett Milano is a longtime Boston-based music journalist who once interviewed Joey Ramone and Barry Manilow on the same day. He compiled and annotated the Boston punk history CD Mass. Ave: The Boston Scene (on Rhino); and has written liner notes for albums by Todd Rundgren, the Cars, and the Smithereens. He has written for Billboard, Pulse and the College Media Journal; and can now be read weekly in the Boston Herald and the Boston Phoenix. Aside from a short-lived Boston Rock Trivia volume that still turns up on Ebay to this day, Vinyl Junkies is his first book.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

From the first time a record was pressed back in 1894, people have been fascinated with the black spinning disks that elevate our moods at parties, get us through rough patches in our relationships, and provide the background music to our daily routines. Record collectors - once thought to be the denizens of flea markets and garage sales - have been elevated to icon status through books and films like High Fidelity, Ghost World, and now Vinyl Junkies. Brett Milano dives deep into the piles of old vinyl, crowded closets, stuffed-to-the-rafters warehouses, and even his own stack of 33s and 45s to be the first to uncover the allure, the attraction, and sometimes the insanity that is all part of record collecting. Join Milano as he travels across the United States to the hot spots of collecting and the homes of collectors as he lifts the veil of their beloved hobby.

FROM THE CRITICS

Library Journal