Chennai: Composer Krishna Kumar, popularly known as K, had procured a rare vinyl record of A R Rahman’s 1990s hit ‘Gentleman’ 15 years ago for ₹100 from Moore Market. “Those days, vinyl records could be bought for ₹50 apiece,” he says. Today, the sought-after records cost anything from ₹5,000 onwards, and one buyer even offered him ₹45,000, but he doesn’t want to part with his prized possession. “It’s one of the last of the records to be made, as audio cassettes and CDs were flooding the market,” he says.The scene is the same with an Ilaiyaraaja hit record such as ‘Annakili’, the composer’s first movie, which now costs ₹5,000 or ₹10,000, says Kadambari Phanikumar, a collector and a DJ by profession. When he started 15 years ago, Phanikumar was more fascinated by record sleeves (the cover art with the film’s poster and song details) than the records themselves. But soon collecting them became an addiction, and he would scour Moore market and smaller towns in Tamil Nadu and Kerala for old hits. “The scene has changed a lot in the past few years. You won’t see records in the market anymore. Collectors keep them and boost their prices to sell them later at a premium price, including those who have inherited them from family. He has with him records such as ‘Parasakthi’ (1952) and ‘Anbe Vaa’ (1966), besides ‘16 Vayathinile’ (1977), Kamal Haasan’s ‘Vikram’ (1986) and Hindi hits such as ‘Sholay’ and ‘Don’.One of the coveted possessions of K is an almost-mint-condition collector’s edition box of Beatles’ hits, bought from Japan. Japanese pressings, he says, are highly valued across the world as they are of high quality, having been made directly from the master copies. “They sound better and last longer.”It didn’t make much sense for post-2000s music to be made into records as most of it was bass-heavy, he says. “Vinyl records don’t retain much bass information. Even Rahman’s music has a lot of bass, unlike Ilaiyaraaja’s, which doesn’t sound as good on vinyl as on a CD.”Operating a vintage record player properly and taking care of vinyl records from 70 years ago is also an art, says Phanikumar, whose collection is on display at Alliance Francaise (AF) till July 5. The key, he says, is to store them vertically and not stacked on top of each other, which will break or warp the record and break the needle when played. “Both the inner and outer sleeves are needed to avoid moisture, and records should be taken out every once in a while.” And it’s not just the records; turntables are also available online today starting at ₹5,000, unlike in the past, says Phanikumar, who is conducting a vinyl workshop on July 4 at AF.
