Not long after I started Tip of the Pops (2007) I had diverted over 1000 records from landfill and listed them on the record collectors website Discogs. Over the years I’ve found some more, lost some, sold some & estimate I have over 2000. The definitive list is still not done! During those early years the quality control was virtually absent and I was taking boxes of records home regardless of their condition. Given the ad-hoc nature of my collection (reclaimed waste) many were neglected even before I got them and because I had so many I could not store them all in single place making it a logistical nightmare.

Back in 2014 I met a retired gent and record collector who sympathised with my situation & was willing to help out by organising my collection. I kept hold of 200 tunes that I played regularly and took the rest to him. We had an agreement whereby he would have first refusal on some of my 1960s records that he wanted for his collection in return for helping me. He was a massive Cliff Richard fan, I am not, so I had no qualms in trusting this arrangement. He asked “what records am I interested in?” & told him I am only interested in stuff that people can dance to. I really wasn’t interested in a particular genre or their monetary value back then & I’m still not that bothered about it today.

For me the true value of a record is the enjoyment people get from hearing & dancing to it.

I was told by that guy that every record collection is like this.  There are the ones ‘out-front’ that you don’t mind listening to over and over, vintage classics if you like. Then there are guilty-pleasures or obscure tracks that you may not play often but love to listen to. Then you have a few more that are worth money either currently or sometime in the future (and that day may never come). Then you have even more that you have not heard or forgotten about and do not want to throw-away in case you lose an absolute gem. This is also a kind of holding area for newer items as they arrive.

One final note on collecting… a few years back I helped a DJ friend move house. He has over 3000 12″ dance records from the 1990s. They weigh a tonne & take up loads of room. Whereas I have a much smaller collection that is much broader spanning 5 decades of dance & all genres. It was when I helped him move all those boxes that I felt especially proud of my collection 🙂

Despite owning 1000’s of singles when I am DJ’ing I only ever take 100-200 and play less than half! I might take more to a festival and do a different selection each day but I do not have a set playlist. I will improvise the whole set as it’s definitely more interesting and fun that way because you never know where & who you going to end-up playing to! If you have booked me to play your party we will of course exchange playlist ideas & I will bring a selection that matches your requirements. It’s just that I still don’t have that definitive list of what I own and I don’t think I ever will 😦