Vinyl addict’s 200,000 strong record collection gathered over decades

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Collectors of smaller items, like movies or albums, tend to have a hard time stopping. A Blue Mountains man started with a small record collection 30 years ago, now the vinyl devotee has tens of thousands.

Transcript

00:00I just love that beautiful analog sound, that warm sound, it sends shivers up your arm.

00:12On a property in the middle of the Blue Mountains, John Auden has quite a collection of records,

00:18more than 200,000 of them in fact.

00:21This is my living.

00:22I've been doing it for over 30 years, so you don't build up that amount overnight.

00:29John's love for music and buying records began when he was a child.

00:33When I was 12, I started buying cassette tapes, which led to LPs.

00:39After starting out as a chartered accountant, John decided to turn his passion into a career.

00:45My mind was always about collecting music and enjoying music and reading about music,

00:52so I sort of followed my passion.

00:54When I was 21, I opened my first record shop.

00:58It took a fair bit for John to convince his family that it was the right move.

01:02My father was a little bit dismayed, however, he was very proud of me before he passed away.

01:10He knew I was doing what I really loved doing.

01:14Over the years, John owned several record shops around Sydney, and when he gave those

01:19up, he moved up into the Blue Mountains and brought the records with him.

01:23These are some recent collections at the front, and down the back there is a lot of

01:28old stock.

01:29I do not know what's there.

01:31So what are some of the ones you're flicking through there?

01:35Queen records.

01:36The kids love Queen.

01:38Something like that would be probably $100.

01:42To try to free up some space, John sells his records around the country.

01:47Many of the record fairs are held in regional areas, where the customers' tastes can throw

01:52up some surprises.

01:54Sometimes you think country and western is going to sell really well in the country,

01:58but there seems to be more demand in Sydney than out at Orange for country and western

02:03records, believe it or not.

02:05Travelling the country and meeting other music fans is a dream come true for John.

02:10I'm definitely an addict.

02:12It's just the sound, the history, the artwork, and finding things you never knew existed.

02:19There's so much strange music still undiscovered out there.

02:22It's like sound archaeological work.

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