One of my biggest joys in life is collecting rare records. I have done this for many years now and have built up quite a substantial collection. My collection ranges from old jazz 78s to all the great sixties acts such as the Beatles and Beach Boys right up to alternative eighties groups when vinyl was still strong and the CD had yet to take over.

I must say it really is quite a thrill for me to walk into a record shop and start leafing through all the items, I’m like a kid in a sweetshop. When I find something that I have been looking out for well then it really makes my day. There is something special about vinyl.

When you lay down the needle for the first time and hear the warmth coming from the speakers its a great moment. Then you have the covers which offer so much more than your small CD inlay cards particularly when you get a gatefold LP.