[78-L] Did The English Take Better Care Of Their Records?

[Sean Miller]

Well, a couple of years back I got a huge collection of English pressings along with an HMV machine that was immaculate.  Some records were indeed mint or close to it and others were V- at best.  I do think they took better care of their records as a whole, but if you go back to early G&Ts, I've found that condition is generally about the same.  Parlophone reissues of Armstrong and stuff like that always seem to be mint.  I think most of the people that bought and collected those tended to be "audiophiles" with EMG machines and played them with nothing but cactus or fiber needles.

Sean


On Jun 4, 2010, at 3:34 PM, Malcolm - Venerable Music wrote:

> I swear, after listing and grading several thousand records, every time I run across English (or other European) issues of various jazz and country records, they are nearly always in pristine shape compared to their American counterparts. Most every Parlophone or HMV I come across is in E to E+ condition! In fact, I'm trying to remember ever having an English issue record in less than VG shape? I'm not always sure how the English issues got back here to the States (other than the obvious years of trading), but surely they would have been enjoyed just same on the other side of pond?
> Is it just that Europeans understood the importance of a fresh needle? What gives?
> 
> Malcolm
> 
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