I started collecting vinyl after recently staying at a friend’s place and experiencing the pleasure of playing records as the evening went on. I have been streaming music for years, mostly at work, or while making and eating dinner, and sometimes I choose it based on how little of a distraction it will be. It’s terrible. I knew that I would enjoy visiting record stores, thumbing through rows of overpriced records that inveterate diggers passed over, but I was reluctant to take up a needlessly expensive hobby. But the searching, the buying, and the playing on my home stereo has been so fun for me that I can’t resist. And I’d like to share what I’ve learned and the albums I’ve been able to find in the Bay Area.

My first purchases were made at the Bookmark Bookstore in Oakland, a non-profit bookstore that sends proceeds to the public library system. This was my first experience buying records, and while the selection wasn’t great, I thought that I found some great records. However, I now see the Pointer Sisters Break Out and 5th Dimension records at nearly every store I visit, so in retrospect it was an average haul. I think that it was a good start, and at the time I was excited by what I found.

5th Dimension – Greatest Hits on Earth

Pointer Sisters – Break Out

Steely Dan – Aja

Seals & Crofts – Greatest Hits

Sylvester – Sell My Soul

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