Okay, bit of a change today, Helen here, Jonny’s wife. Jonny has asked me to contribution to his blog this week and give you an insight into what it is like to live with a collector and what I think about it – so here goes…..
When I met Jon in 1994 he already possessed quite a lot of 4AD stuff but this was just because he liked a lot of the bands on the label, particularly Dead Can Dance, Clan of Xymox, Lush, etc, not particularly because he collected it but just because he was always buying music. I can vaguely remember a conversation about starting a proper collection at some point in time, I think it was when he decided to make a list of what he already owned to ensure he didn’t buy things twice as he was losing track of what he had and had not got. It went something along the lines of how cool it would be to own everything 4AD had produced in the Eighties, my response being well why don’t you go for it!
Did I know what I had let myself in for I hear you ask? Well, having been on quite a few record shopping trips with Jonny, I was well aware of what was probably in store. Bizarrely enough, the reverse has happened! Let me explain, pre-4AD collection, we would go into town and check out the local record shops quite regularly and, of course, would have to find out if there were any record shops in any other towns or cities we visited. On entry to said record shop, Jonny would basically start at one end and end at the other, looking for anything and everything to take his fancy. I would groan inwardly, look for a while and after about half an hour would make my excuses to meet him later and take my strategically packed book and find a bench somewhere to wait.
Slight diversion here but whilst I am on the subject, please note any record shop owners who may read this, why don’t you ever think of us poor wives when designing your record shops?? In all the shops I have visited (and there have been many believe me) I have only ever been in one that had a sofa and a coffee machine – I was in heaven. Anyway, back to the point…….
So that was how it used to be. Once Jon decided to take his collection seriously, he obtained a list of 4AD releases for the relevant period, catalogued what he already had and highlighted what he didn’t. This meant record shopping was now a much more selective experience, the sections to be scoured were smaller and as his collection grew so that he had most of the general released stuff, the items he was after became rarer and rarer. To the point now that he hardly ever goes record shopping to an actual shop (I suppose the recession plays a big part in this too, as independent record shops don’t really exist in many places any more), most purchases are now done online. The good side for me is I no longer have to go record shopping, the down side is that it is far harder to keep track of your spending online as no actual cash is changing hands! Jon has a perpetual guilt trip about this and gives himself a strict budget and feels bad if he spends a lot. I keep trying to tell him I don’t mind about this but I think it’s the Northerner in him which means spending money does not come naturally.
