IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER THE BEST YACHT ROCK VINYL RECORDS EVER MADE

STEELY DAN – AJA

One of the funkiest albums ever recorded that you could also fall asleep to. This apple falls closer to the smooth jazz tree, but these ice cold jams will treat you real nice when when you’re out for a dinner with that special lady at the Bonaventure hotel, or taking an ocean drive in your metallic blue Lamborghini Countach, coked out of your mind. There are a lot of great Steely Dan records, once you fall down the SD rabbit hole, most fans never resurface and become raving evangelists of this incredible band.

ROXY MUSIC – AVALON

Many would want to strangle me for including this on a yacht rock list, but it ticks all of the boxes of our nautical genre. Not only is this album front to back flawless, it blends the sophisticated synth sound that brought Roxy Music into the 1980s. From its timeless classic “More Than This” to the etherial fantasy of “True To Life,” this album has some of the best studio recordings translated to vinyl I have ever heard.

THE DOOBIE BROTHERS – MINUTE BY MINUTE

All I have to say about this one is four grammys, count ’em 1, 2, 3, 4.  If that’s not enough for you, my secondary evidence is “What A Fool Believes.” Michael McDonald has one of the most distinctive and beautiful male voices of the 70s and 80s, he went on to achieve some of the greatest achievements of the Yacht Rock genre, this entire post could be dedicated to this somewhat under appreciated genius.

MIAMI SOUND MACHINE – PRIMITIVE LOVE

This album has almost all of the tracks that you love but may not know are performed by Miami Sound Machine. This album is a monster, I call this record soft proto-freestyle, but where it gained popularity was in the safe spaces that smooth jazz and adult contemporary provided during 1985. Gloria Estefan absolutely kills it on “Bad Boys,” “Conga,” and “Falling In love (Uh-Oh),” how did albums in the 80s each contain an endless amount singles?

DOUBLE – BLUE

A song that was un-escapeable between the years of 1986 and 1989, “Captain Of Her Heart,” was soothing yet haunting, and as beautiful and reassuring as the yacht itself. What many did not appreciate at the time, mostly because they were a one hit wonder in the US, was how great Kurt Maloo’s voice came across on every single track of their magnum opus Blue. This record could be the dictionary definition of what smooth jazz is, and defined the mellow sound of the elegant 80s, so much so that you’d swear this album was recorded on a yacht.

HALL & OATES – H2O

You can’t have this list without Hall & Oates, and it’s an extremely difficult decision as to which of their albums most deserves to be on this list. This one edges out Private Eyes primarily for how incredible this vinyl record sounds, and the diamond pristine production that went into making this one of the most iconic albums of the 1980s.

STEVE WINWOOD – BACK IN THE HIGHLIFE

Winwood has been a part of so many great music projects, but it’s hard to see any resemblance between the LSD traveler who sang “Dear Mr. Fantasy” with Traffic in the 60s reflected at all in the peak of his commercial success, Back In The Highlife. If you don’t think you know Winwood, you most probably do, his songs “Higher Love” and “The Finer Things” still haunt waiting rooms until this very day.

CHRISTOPHER CROSS – CHRISTOPHER CROSS

The only thing more impressive than McDonald’s 4 grammys with The Doobie Brothers, are the 5 that Christopher Cross won for his extremely impressive debut, that many refer to as the blueprint for yacht rock, referring to his timelessly smooth classic “Sailing.” His voice is as clear and beautiful as a horn, clearly an angel walking among us.

FLEETWOOD MAC – TANGO IN THE NIGHT

If you thought you couldn’t make Fleetwood Mac into an 80s band, think again. Lindsay Buckingham lead this incredible band into some of the most complex productions, and vocal arrangements of their career. This album is so smooth, there are literally almost no words to describe it. Every convention that 1980s production came to be known for is distilled here into one record. If you need to put on something to come down from listening to all of Christopher Cross from front to back, this could be one of the few records worthy of that challenge.

Please make sure that you listen to these albums responsibly on a quality hifi stereo record console.

The post The Best Vinyl Records Ever Made – Yacht Rock Edition | LUNO appeared first on Luno.

Now if you’re thinking Wait, I thought that Tower Records closed all of their stores and went bankrupt in 2006?  Yes, they did, but Tower Records Japan is a completed independent company. They operate over 80 stores in Japan.

In Japan, the desire for vinyl records is as strong as it is anywhere else. With a large collection of indie record stores in Tokyo, the local music industry is providing Japanese consumers with more places to buy vinyl. In 2014, HMV started opening vinyl-only locations in Tokyo. And in 2018, Sony Music opened a pressing plant, after they noticed that vinyl records were getting tens of millions of sales in Japan.

The Tower Records vinyl-only store is a specialty shop where customers will be able to discover albums while listening to the analog sounds of various records through a vintage speaker. The store will also be used as a space to hold events related to artists who produce music in vinyl (previously, the space was used for pop-up events).

In Tokyo, many of the best vinyl stores are in a popular neighborhood called Shibuya. Many of the stores cater to specific tastes, such as Balearic, Japanese indie, Album-oriented rock, techno, latin, R & B,  dance, nu jazz, hard bop, J-pop, K-pop, and hip hop. It is in this neighborhood that Tower Records new vinyl only shop exists.

Vinyl never dies.

Get a HiFi record console.

Order one today at iamluno.com.

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Although the 2018 U.K. sales of CDs still led the way in terms of physical music with £289.1 million ($380.7 million USD), sales of vinyl were £91.3 million ($120.3 million USD), which was good enough for second place. It is expected that 4.5 million LPs will be sold in the U.K. in 2019, compared to the 3.2 million which were sold in 2018, and the 3.2 million which were sold in 2017.

So what is the appeal of vinyl among younger people in the U.K.? As popular as streaming services are, they often are not great places to discover new music. Algorithms have biases, and are very good at suggesting music that you might like based on music that you have listened to. Algorithms are not great at helping you discover music that might be in the fringe of your interests that you may feel like you want to listen to. Young people in the U.K. seem to enjoy going to record stores, going through the albums with their creative covers, and finding music that appeals to them.

In an article earlier this month, the Commercial Director at Universal Music, Chris Shiels, noticed this love for vinyl among people in the U.K. between the ages of 18 to 24: “We remain very optimistic about the potential of vinyl. UK music fans clearly love owning music – and especially vinyl,” he says. “At Universal, we will continue to work to bring fans their favourite music with the very best possible presentation that we can, for years to come.”

If music executives are noticing that the love for vinyl is real, and are prepared to offer more vinyl options to consumers, then it’s safe to say that vinyl isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

Vinyl records have longevity.

Why not get a HiFi record console?

Order one today at iamluno.com.

The post Why Vinyl Records are a Big Hit in the UK | LUNO appeared first on Luno.

A recent survey from YouGov asked 33,955 Americans about their willingness to pay for vinyl records, and a large, but niche percentage of American adults say that they are. For LUNO, this is very good news, because it means that more and more people are becoming like us, and like you – lovers of vinyl music and all the accessories that come with it.

How did these numbers breakdown?

31% – The percentage of American adults who said in the survey that they are willing to buy vinyl records. Now within this percentage are smaller niches of age ranges of Americans who are favorable to vinyl.

36% – The percentage of Baby Boomers who said that they would pay for vinyl. The love for vinyl is by far strongest among Baby Boomers. The top three vinyl records for Boomers are:

1)  Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band – The Beatles

2) Bridge Over Troubled Water – Simon and Garfunkel

3) Hotel California – Eagles

33% – Gen Xers

28% – millennials

26% – Gen Zers

For the last two groups who frequently use streaming services, owning vinyl becomes an extension of their fandom. Unlike with streaming, young Americans don’t discover music with vinyl, which is more of a luxury item. Contemporary albums sometimes come packed with photos of the artists, stickers, and stationery, all in an effort to offer a physical fan experience to complement the digital experience. Vinyl gives them a different way to listen to their favorite artist with the added benefit of something to hold onto.

Sure, vinyl records are popular,

but how many people are using a quality record player?

Order a HiFi record console today at iamluno.com.

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There was one interview a week, with a moderator from Gibson asking Kramer questions about how these stars they worked, put their songs together, recorded, performed, and handled their craft. Kramer talks about how these big stars found inspiration in the studio and what they used to motivate them. The series is an inside look at the world of Rock and Roll from a man who has recorded some of the greatest music of the last 60 years.

You’ll really appreciate how these artists thought about their music. Even though Kramer’s stories are what he observed from working with these stars, you’ll become a little more familiar with how they did their thing. You know the names, songs, albums, concerts, and posters, but Kramer tells us about the nuts and bolts of how they made their magic. There’s sure to be things that Eddie talks about that you never knew about your favorite artists, no matter how big of a fan you are.

Each interview was around 50-minutes in length, starting with a discussion with the moderator, and mixed with questions from viewers in the chat. Check out all four interviews of Ask Eddie Kramer Presented By Gibson from the company’s YouTube channel below:

Thursday, May 7 Topic: Recording Jimi Hendrix with Moderator Brian Hardgroove

Thursday, May 14 Topic: Recording Led Zeppelin with Moderator Brad Tolinski

Thursday, May 21 Topic: Recording Woodstock with Moderator Brad Tolinski

Thursday, May 28 Topic: Recording the Rolling Stones with Moderator: Bob Merlis

When the world changes around you,

Chilling with loved ones is precious.

 iamluno.com

HiFi Record Consoles are for You

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