"Crate digging" in Bangalore 1960 - 90

Vinyl LPs began to arrive in the market in the 60's. Bangalore had a chain of record stores, about 3-4 of them, within a few kms! Apart from this, there were a couple of Indie stores on Brigade Road & Commercial Street each. There were also record shops in B.V.K. Iyengar Road & Balepet (near the iconic eatery U.K.B.) There were even branches in the suburbs to cater to the local buyers.

To keep the record collectors informed, classified ads were placed in local newspapers whenever new important LPs arrived, including the niche genre of Classical (both Indian & Western.) In addition the Russian label Melodiya used to conduct sales not only in record shops but in the foyer of the West End Hotel, selling the records at affordable prices.

To play these records, the equipment available then was the (now much derided) suitcase type players. The arrival of HiFi separates began only in the late 70's. But hardly had listeners settled down to enjoy these, than the LPs began to disappear from the market to be replaced by the then more expensive CDs. As the Indian manufacturers were one of the first to introduce the 78's, now they were the first to shut down the record making factories in unseemly haste.

Now most LPs have to be imported, making them insanely expensive. But as one Vinylhead (obsessive LP fan) put it "Listening to music via streaming is like fast food whereas listening via Vinyl is like dining in a Michelin starred restaurant on gourmet food."