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18 • WATERLOO CHRONICLE • THURSDAY, MARCH 9, 2017 BUSINESS WATERLOO CHRONICLEWATERLOO CHRONICLE By Bob Vrbanac Chronicle Sta� The reports of the demise of vinyl records in the 1990s were premature. Reports of its resurgence are bogus as well, as the musical format never went away thanks to the work of passionate supporters like Vince Dabin at Orange Monkey Records. Dabin was already working in the music retail business when he noticed all the big chains were phasing out vinyl for the compact disc format. It was all the push he needed to start a store dedi- cated to the preservation of the musical art form by starting Orange Monkey in 1993. "I always loved vinyl since I was 13 years old," said Dabin. "I was working at a store downtown, and they were going in the direction of being a mall store. "Th ey were bringing in 500 copies of the sec- ond MC Hammer album, and eliminating all the imported vinyl. "We lucked out and found a place for rent and the only reason we opened up was to specialize in vinyl." An avid audiophile, who was turned on to music by his big sister Laurence, he still remem- bers the fi rst time he heard the Sex Pistols and was hooked. Th ere was something about the rawness of those recordings that never translated to the antiseptic world of digital music. "My sister was a bit older than me and Sam the Record Man would always have these $2.99 sales and she would pick up all this stuff ," said Dabin. "I remember the day she came home in 1978 with Never Mind the Bollocks, and I remember running into her room and saying, 'What are you listening to? Th is is amazing.'" Th e vinyl recording captured the true emotion of the music and picked up every quirk that was glossed over by the shiny CD medium. It's even worse with digital fi les that you fi nd on services like iTunes, where they haven't quite mastered the depth of the sound that was found on vinyl recordings. Th ey keep trying to improve the technology, whereas the original sound still exists by playing it on a proper turntable. "When you buy a record and put it on you have to pay attention to it," said Dabin. "You're not just going to buy an album for one song, you're going to make sure you like 85 per cent of it at least. "And once you put it on you have to fl ip it over. It's not like iTunes or when you load a bunch of music on your computer, and you just hit shuffl e or random. It's more quantity over quality." More people have come to the realization about the disposable nature of a lot of music, and Sunrise Records recently announced it was taking over vacated HMV to sell more vinyl. "It's ironic that all the stores that stopped car- rying vinyl in 1993 and are still around and carry- ing vinyl again in the past couple of years," said Dabin. "I eliminated all the CDs I carried about two years ago. "I couldn't sell CDs to save my life. I would sell 500 pieces of vinyl for every CD I sold. Th ey were just taking up space on the shelves." In addition to the sound quality, there was something about the artwork and liner notes that also made vinyl a richer musical experience than a shuffl e setting on your iPod. Musical acts took their time to come up with their album art, and some of it has since appeared in collections and mounted on walls. Plus you could read the liner notes and get the lyrics with- out having to pull out a magnifying glass to get the details, said Dabin. "Th e packaging was part of the experience," he said. "You come home and you can read the liner notes and get the whole story of the album. "You looked forward to taking it out, and they sell picture frames so you could put your album covers on the wall, because basically it's artwork. Th ere are books dedicated to the crazy covers and the amazing artwork that was done." Th ere was also something fun about hunting for a favourite band and stumbling on an unex- pected treasure. You'll still fi nd old milk cartons full of albums in the Orange Monkey's colourful shop with famous records up on the wall. "It was fun to flip through, and some of the albums would come with posters and stuff like that," said Dabin. "Rolling Stones Emotional Res- cue came with one of those, and my sister gave it to me as a kid and it was up in my room." Th ere was more permanency to a record col- lection back then, and he fi nds people are coming into the store more often these days, looking to replace what they lost. "In the 1990s you had people throwing out their whole collections and putting it out on the street," said Dabin. "I had a friend who worked at the dump and would see all this great vinyl com- ing, and say this record is worth $400. "It was such a waste." For more information about Orange Monkey Records call 519-886-0939 or visit 5 Princess St.W. What's old is new again Orange Monkey Records has kept vinyl alive for more than 20 years in uptown Waterloo Vince Dabin, of Orange Monkey Records, said vinyl never went away as the musical format enjoys a resurgence in popular culture. BOB VRBANAC PHOTO