Ever since he was a child and on an allowance, Chris Johnson has been collecting records.
According to his estimates, he now has more than a thousand in his cellar. But that doesn’t mean he couldn’t add a few more to his collection of soundtracks, folk, jazz and music from Africa.
Johnson, of Joliet, was just one of many vinyl fans at a recent Orland Park Record Collectors show at Georgios Banquets. There were 40 dealer tables with hundreds of records for sale from a wide range of musical genres, including rock, blues, jazz, country, pop and heavy metal. There were also cassettes, CDs and musical memorabilia.
“I’m filling in the holes in my collection,” Johnson said. After all, it’s nice to have a wide choice of music.
“I put something on, whatever mood suits me,” he said, adding that his musical tastes are “all over the place.”
While the popularity of vinyl records remains constant and gives rise to popular events such as Record Store Day and its Black Friday variation, during which a number of exclusive records are released the day after Thanksgiving, turntable tracks appeal to a increasingly diverse audience.
The taste was hard to pin down among those at the recent show in Orland Park. Many buyers were looking for something different than what was in the majority of their collection. In some cases, their preferences have evolved towards different musical genres over the years.
John Anderer was there with his mother, Karen Rogan, both from Manhattan. Anderer has more than 100 records of all genres at home.
“I like records, so I thought I’d stop by and see what’s going on,” he said. Anderer already had an album from Danish metal band Mercyful Fate and Japanese metal band Loudness and was always looking for more vinyl.
Larry O’Connell, who planned and coordinated the show, is also a hardcore record enthusiast who has been organizing such events since the golden age of albums. Its first event was held in 1985 at a South Chicago tavern and banquet hall, and over time it began hosting events six times a year. Nowadays, that has been reduced to three annual shows, in scattered locations including Alsip, Homewood, Harvey and Tinley Park.
Although O’Connell lives in Chicago, his sister lives in Homer Glen, where their father also lived.
Growing up on the South Side near 67th and Wood Streets, O’Connell said he only had a few records until he met a friend who was an avid collector. Soon he was too.
“I didn’t have a lot of records,” he said. Among them was an album by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass. “My mother bought these records when I was a young teenager. We went to his concert in 1966 and I was so impressed. It was exciting because they sing in Brazilian.
Then, as he grew up, he began attending symphonies whenever he could. Today, his musical tastes vary, but he still enjoys spinning The Doors and Led Zeppelin records. Much of the music he plays and sells at the shows he puts on harks back to his formative years.
This is especially true this time of year. At the Orland Park show, O’Connell sold 30 cassettes containing Christmas music, including albums by the Beach Boys and Ramsey Lewis.
“My mother played Ray Conniff every Christmas,” he said, adding that he continues the tradition. “There is a certain nostalgia. All families have a traditional record that they go to every Christmas.
Besides the opportunity to sell albums, sellers said they enjoy the shows because they offer the opportunity to hear what buyers like and, like O’Connell, revel in all the memories evoked by the music and even by album covers.
“It’s always great to talk to people to see what they’re looking for and what their interests are,” said Larry Cappos, who sold records at his Vinyl Revival store in Morris. “Everyone has their own tastes.”
He said he loved bands and musicians from the 70s and 80s, such as Fleetwood Mac, Queen, Bob Seger and Bruce Springsteen. For his store and vending machines, his daughter helps him choose the most modern music.
Tim Brand, who helped Cappos start Vinyl Revival and works for him, said the store carries between 10,000 and 15,000 records to browse, with more in the back. They turned the space into a store and it was removed because vinyl made a comeback there, like with record concerts.
“It’s been moving ever since,” Brand said.
Janice Neumann is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
