Mine was Charlie Rich's Behind Closed Doors album. I was born in '69, and that album came out in '73, so I had to be four years old. It was an orange 8-track my parents bought and I comandeered. Wore it out. Got another one that was brown. Still have it. I later bought a vinyl copy during my early record collecting travels, and now I have it on CD. To this day, it's always out on top of the player.

Oh, and my first 45 was Marty Robbins, "Some Memories Won't Die." I was 14 when it came out and I bought it. Some 3,000 45s have amassed around that one since then!

I have a bunch of my parents' vinyl sitting around in the basement. I just want to listen to it (in its crap quality) but I've no idea what kind of instrument I'm supposed to use for that.

Turntables for DJs (?) don't seem to fit quite what I need as if it can play the record, I'm satisfied.
but i'd rather avoid the whole connecting to amps, replacing cartridges, belts, etc.

Are there any simple, easy to use record players that does the job without any complicated specs?
Am i asking for something impossible here?
And if I don't want to be using my computer? What if I just want to connect it to a stereo system?

My parents are going to Italy for their anniversary in September and I want to surprise them by giving the hotel that they're staying at a DVD of their wedding for my parents to play in their room. I have the wedding video on VHS and I dubbed it to DVD using an LG DVD/VHS Recorder at home. As I live in the States, it will obviously be dubbed in region 1 code. However, if I want my rents to play the DVD when they get to the hotel, the DVD player will certainly be a region 2 player. What's my way around this?

A scene in my new home invasion movie involves a record player. One of the parents puts an old time song, that is sort of creepy, country sounding. Which of these is the best selection? I will ask the singer!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vodb-dJOqoU&feature=related
Sadie- Joanna Newsom
"Bless this house" is one of the lines, so I think it might fit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dqVDQ-lF4Q
Sweet Child of Mine- Taken By Trees
Innocent, creepy feeling

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUInKDRSl30
Dancing-Elisa
Very calming

Which is best to use?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcHjAUhtSrk
Peach, plum, pear- Joanna Newsom
Stressful, creates fear

I am 26, my parents are older than most parents because I am adopted.

My dad is retired. Pretty much all he does all day is play solitare on the computer & watch westerns.

On Saturdays he goes to a antique radio club, & sometime he goes to dinner with a male ex-work friend.

I know it isn't my business, but I am concerned about him. He has been like this since his triple bypass.

My parents gave me an insanely old edison record player, that apparently plays 81 rpm records?? What does this mean exactly? Do I have to be picky when buying records, or can I just buy whatever I'd like?

Thanks to anyone who helps!

For years I've had an odd feeling in my home, like someones watching me. It's especially centered in my bedroom. The activity has always been random and low. My room has 3 attic doors in it- in both closets and right outside my bedroom door on the ceiling and they would unlatch themselves, water in my rooms bathroom would turn on by itself.

However over the past couple month the activity has gotten scary. My TV/Radio turn on by itself, I lose things all the time and find them in places like the basement (i never go down there except to do the laundry and i wouldn't bring something like my phone/makeup/water bottle/etc down there.) - i will wake up in the middle of the night by someone calling my name. my boyfriend refuses to come to my home after he saw someone standing in my window from outside, when we went in ... no one was even home.

my parents collect a lot of antiques, and our home was build in 1905 .. so i feel theres a good possibility something, or someone is staying behind. im just worried about the escalation in activity ..

any advice?

My kids have video cameras. One is a Vidster, one is a VideoNow brand camera. Neither take very high quality pictures, but my kids like them. I also have a Dazzle video converter to put my own Hi-8 videos onto my PCs for editing. Yay! What fun! Down load it to YouTube! All of these products and their software (for editing etc.) make .avi videos. That is just fine.

The problem is this: My kids want to make DVDs that will work in their grandparents, and cousins and friends standard (cheap) DVD players. I thought I could solve the problem with my Panasonic DVD recorder. I ran the .avi signal though the Panasonic and it recorded a DVD for me. Lovely. Problem: The DVD made doesn’t work on any other deck than the one it was recorded on, not the in-car DVD players, the portable DVD player, the . cheapie in my daughter’s room, not my parents or my in-laws.

I don’t want to buy any more electronics. All I want is a (cheap or free) app that will convert .avi to a universal DVD format.

For years I've had an odd feeling in my home, like someones watching me. It's especially centered in my bedroom. The activity has always been random and low. My room has 3 attic doors in it- in both closets and right outside my bedroom door on the ceiling and they would unlatch themselves, water in my rooms bathroom would turn on by itself.

However over the past couple month the activity has gotten scary. My TV/Radio turn on by itself, I lose things all the time and find them in places like the basement (i never go down there except to do the laundry and i wouldn't bring something like my phone/makeup/water bottle/etc down there.) - i will wake up in the middle of the night by someone calling my name. my boyfriend refuses to come to my home after he saw someone standing in my window from outside, when we went in ... no one was even home.

my parents collect a lot of antiques, and our home was build in 1905 .. so i feel theres a good possibility something, or someone is staying behind. im just worried about the escalation in activity ..

any advice?
o and the most importaint thing! der.. my parents dont believe me .....

I'm moving out of my parents' house for the first time in a few months, but I thought about a potential problem with roaches moving with me! I HATE bugs, and the whole point of moving is to get a fresh start. I'm a college student without a whole lot of money at my disposal (its a miracle even that I'm able to afford moving out!!!). I own an oldschool tv (as in NOT HD/LCD tv) w/ slits for ventilation in the back, a DVD player w/ ventilation on the bottom, a VCR with the front "Tape-cover" thing broken off, a vinyl record player/turntable, an el-cheapo Lexxon subwoofer-home theater system, a 4 channel mixer, and a portable Zoom digital recording studio. Oh yeah, and I just got a printer for my birthday...

What are some tricks or hints or pieces of advice that any of you may have when experiencing similar issues?

We have a roughly twenty years old Sony stack system featuring a record player, twin cassette deck and five spaced cd player.

I am very fond of it and will rue the day when it finally goes the way of all good things.

I like the sound and smell of our old scratchy vinyl records the oldest of them once belonging to my parents plus a couple of old 78's one being the skater's waltz.

I played an old 45 earlier on which was one of our early purchases,I wonder if you can recall Neil Young's 'Heart of Gold', I would post a link but the one I've found isn't a very good copy, I've also got some old 331/3 LP's which I love to listen to for old times sake.
Hubby groans as he would much prefer to play the more modern day remastered versions.

So can you and do you still like to play records?

My parents had this old record player in the 80's, but it wasn't just a record player. It was this large piece of furniture. It was wood, and the was rectangular, and had 3 sections. The two end sections were speakers and the middle section would play records and 45's and so on. So, this huge piece of furniture had a fla surface on top like a table, but to access the record part, you could open the "lid" in the middle. Anyways, this thing was hideous, but at the time, it was like the "in" thing to have. As a 50th birthday surprise for my mom I am doing a vintage party and would love to find one of these. I kept trying to google but cannot find a picture of it...If I knew the name of the item that would really help. Thanks!!

i got my parents old record player from the attic to play records but its needle is gone/broken and i don't know what kind of needle i need or where to buy. the model of the record player is a (kenwood direct drive fully automatic kd 77f) need to find what type of needle it uses and where to buy it.

I mean really. Kids are so lazy these days. 10 yr olds don't even work any more. Kids go to school until 17. In 1901 at 17 you worked in a mine, were married and had 6 kids alive and 3 that had died from polio. That was the life back then. Kids these days are so spoiled with their Jeans, lucky cigarettes and portable record players. You know parents don't beat their kids to a pulp for no reason anymore?? What is this world coming to?
love your Grandpa Dave

BQ- When did kissing on your own sister become illegal?. That damn Obama

i got my parents old record player from the attic to play records but its needle is gone/broken and i don't know what kind of needle i need or where to buy. the model of the record player is a (kenwood direct drive fully automatic kd 77f) need to find what type of needle it uses and where to buy it.

Unfortunately, I was not around for vinyl records and record players, and I find them to be extremely fascinating and aggravating because I cannot work one! I was wondering if there was a way to make a home-made record player to play my parents old records without destroying them. Maybe that way I can play my Christmas present!
Thank you. Although I was really looking for instructions; your is still pretty cool! Thanks for the help!

Shouldn't people in business be polite and attentive? I found some items in my parents estate that I thought a local sports memorabilia and ephemera dealer, who advertises on the local radio, would be interested in. Old post cards and some baseball player caricatures. He told me nothing was of any real value and added that even if the caricatures were artist originals and framed he wouldn't buy them. I thought old postcards were very collectible right now. I have about 100 and am asking for the - that's only 10 cents apiece! The ones in his store he's asking anywhere fro to . On his ads he says he buys anything old. What is his game?

I'm looking for a song called something like "Shermans Atlanta March". I and my sister can both remember listening to it on the record player as kids, but I can't find it on either the 45's or LP's I inherited from my parents. Don't know if this helps or not, but I was born in '68 (but my parents had records from long before that). I couldn't even find this on Google, so ya'll are my last hope. Here are some of the lyrics I remember-"through the smoke, through the flames, over the canons roar-We could hear them Yankees call, We ain't scared of ya'll". Well, now that I've established myself as a total hillbilly, I'll leave it up to the good people on Yahoo Answers to help me out!

My parents recently bought me a retro-look vinyl/cd/radio system so that i could play all of the vinyl i have. I seem to be a bit cursed with vinyl-I have never had a player that has worked for more than a couple of days, and this one was no different. The sound was really tinny and horrible, so my parents took it back and have said that I can choose my own record player that I think is best.
What is the best budget record player out there? After looking on various websites, I am completely confused :S

My parents have bought a fonograph/CD player/radio combo, and it works fine. I have also found out that we have LPs and 45 RPM records, which are in good condition. But I want to preserve them so they really last a long time. There's a lot of dust that ocassionally (not too often, though) collects on their surface, and that worries me; what if it affects the record's quality? If anyone has some helpful tips on cleaning them without damaging them, please tell me. Also, it would be nice to know a safe place that I can store my 45 RPM records; they don't have any protective sleeves or covers at the time.... Thanks for your help!
Thank you everyone who has given me advice on how to care for vinyl records and the sort. I have learned much about them now... thanks for telling me soon!
Everyone has been helpful in answering this question. There can't exactly be a best answer because there's different tips, all of which are helpful. I'll check out the record-cleaning supplies soon, AslanMusic. Thanks everyone!!

I'm not looking for any multi-thousand dollar turntables or DJ equipment...I just want to play all these old records that my parents have in boxes.

Are there still decent new ones you can buy?
Or should I look for a used one?

Please only answer if you are an audiophile or you actually know!
Answers telling me to 'go get an ipod' are not appreciated!

I have a vintage record player downstairs (well my parents do) and I wanted to learn how to scratch and dj and such using it. I know that whatever records I use will get damaged, I'm ok with that
But, will it damage the record player itself by doing this?
Oh ok, so could I temporarily (without extensive knowledge about record players) switch in a non damaging needle? Or would that take a lot of equipment to do?

approx. retired 4 years ago or more from san diego and the seal team 7...parents in northern california and wife and children in louisiana...a surfer and collector of antique radios..age approx 48 - 50

My parents bought this in 1974. It's pressed wood and the top layer of vinyl covering the pressed wood is peeling off. How can I restore this. I would really like to keep it. I can't bring myself to throw it out. I know the radio/record player can be fixed pretty easily.

I left my ex fiance August of 2008 for reasons of abuse. His father has an old house that is used for storage, which is where my ex and I had a lot of our furniture and other things stored. When I left, I did not have a truck to get my things, and he said my things weren't going anywhere and I could go by and get them at any time. Over the next couple of months I'd gotten all of the clothes and everything I could fit into my car. I would call him to let him kno I'd be there to get the rest as soon as I could find a truck and trailer to use, and he replied by saying it was fine, that he wasn't worried about it. At the end of April, I moved back to mom's and was going to finally get my things (almost 9 months later). All of a sudden, mom gets a phone call from the people who live across the road from where my things are stored. The woman said that my ex was loading all of my things on a trailer and taking them somewhere. By the time I got down there (an hr away) he had dumped most of my things at his uncle's saw mill to bury them. There was nothing I could do. My dressers were torn apart and busted, big shelves that were hand built by my father who had passed away almost 5 years ago when I was 16, my grandmother's antique vanity was chopped up and glass from the mirror was strown all over the place. Everything destroyed. He came back there and told me that my charcoal grill was at his friends house in henderson, and that the 4 ft tall stereo/record player and speakers that my parents bought when i was a baby was in storage in the next town with all of the records that go with it. Me and my mother waited and waited, and he said he couldn't get in touch with the guy to get it and said he'd take it to my mom's. I haven't heard from him since that day. I've called constantly, left messages, and I still don't have that 00 piece of equipment which is more sentimental value than anything, or my grill. Is there anything I can do? Its now been over a year since I left him, and 5 months since he destroyed everything and gave those things away. Oh, and he also took my washer and dryer off for scrap metal. Is there anything I can do? I worry about this night and day, I have got to do something!