About 4 years ago a very close, older friend said 'I've always found record collecting somehow unrewarding, all those records, sut on a shelve'. It did my head in a bit the comment, got under my skin and basically having never organised shite all I decided to put on a soul night in my local town, it was good, the first few very busy, it grew and evolved a bit, I got to play the tunes, there was a purpose to collecting.
Even though I'm not involved in soul nights directly anymore I still get to play bits of my collection and its nice feeling involved in something. collectors shape music, they form the tastes of wider society, the're important, and its just sad that Northern has always been so wound up in that exclusivity/ $$$$ thing that it really does feel like your getting nowhere, unless your super Ted or a handful of wizards with vast fortunes and castles in the sky. Paul it doesnt have to be that way, buy records, all sorts, god dam it even reissues! explore the limits of your taste, enjoy music and be free of that musical straight jacket known as soulocollectitus .