If you thought that the turntable was dead, think again. For 53 year old Mumbai resident Pilak Bhatt, the turntable is still spinning. Bhatt is one of many avid LP record collectors in the country and also around the world who has a passion for music and collecting LP records. Bhatt collecting records when he was 14 years old and to date he has over 1 lac LP records in his collection, stocking them in places like his hall, bedroom and above all places the kitchen. Pilak has also made special drawers, racks, and cabinets that extend right upto the ceiling of his house. If one were to see, the only people buying LP records these days are collectors, rather than a handful of LP record music lovers. This statement stands true for other collecting hobbies as well, like stamps, coins etc. A LP record collector first and foremost loves the sound quality of vinyl. Its only later after purchasing and making a significant amount of records as an investment, does he hope that, over time, the records will appreciate in value and fetch him a big price.

Bhatt has been collecting records for about 40 years now. “I grew up listening to The Beatles, Deep Purple, Santana, Pink Floyd, CCR and many more such artists. In those days it was extremely difficult to get rock records like those of Black Sabbath, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, King Crimson, so I would request my family or friends who lived abroad for send LP records and spares like cartridges, stylus, record cleaners, and things I needed. There used to be an LP library called the Stan's at Colaba and Vibrations under Kemp's Corner bridge that used to lend out LPs.”

Till recently, Bhatt used to work in the Non Ferrous Metals line and gave that all up for his love of music. “At present I am devoting all my time arranging, organising and catalogueing my huge collection. I feel that unless you catalogue and arrange your records genrewise, artistwise and or alphabetically, it becomes extremely difficult to find records. So music is my profession or rather vocation now.”

Bhatt’s love for records actually began when his elder brother Gautam started collecting LP records after which Pilak took over. They both used to buy from a record dealer called Rameshbhai at Flora Fountain, near VT station. “Then one of Gautam's friends Surendra gave us his entire collection of records for free knowing our passion for music” states Bhatt joyfully.

Bhatt was also exposed to music by his parents who used to attend "mehfils" or concerts of the likes of Pt. Ravi Shankar, Ustad Bismillah Khan, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan regularly. “So right from an early age, I was surrounded by sounds of these great artists. We used to have listening sessions in our house and LPs were strewn all over the place. Moreover my uncle Mr. Purohit, was a great lover and collector of records and it was natural for me to take liking to music and develop record collecting as a passionate hobby.” says the Gujarati born collector who also has a small flat near his house in Kandivli that also houses a couple of thousand records.

Music being a universal language, one has to listen to all genres of music with an open mind and Bhatt has mastered the art to love all genres of music. “There is beautiful music to be discovered everywhere. Most music lovers stick to a few genres. I don’t understand the reason for this. I have Bollywood, Indian and Western Classical, Qawaalis, Regional and Folk music of India and Western music too” states Bhatt displaying some of his records of the genres.

Bhatt owns five turntables, but prefers using his Audio Technica direct drive player which is connected to his computer to listen to his favorite albums. At last count what would his collection be, we quiz him. “That's a scary question as I have not had the guts to count the actual numbers...I dread to think the amount of money I have spent on music. But it must be easily over 1 lac titles and I could probably be one the single largest private collector of LPs in India. My wife Ujwala has been very co-operative, understanding and accomodating. Without her support and the support of my brother Gautam all this would not have been possible” smiles Bhatt.

In fact in every imaginable place in the house like under the beds too. Ujawala’s kitchen hasn’t been spared either. Does she play any LPs while cooking up a meal for the family? “No I don’t, but I love listening to old Hindi film songs” laughs Pilak’s Maharashtrian wife Ujawala. Though Pilak has not really publicised his collection, the few that know him, have given him the recognition he deserves. “I was invited by Sahara TV for showcasing the LP Records of the groups of the seventies. I briefed the audience about the prominent groups and artists of that era, their bios, their landmarks and the must have LPs you should get of them.”

Pilak does have his favorites and that would mean his most cherished LP records. He shows us the 78rpms of The Beatles which are very rare. Others he pulls out include many rare records of top Bollywood music directors like R D Burman, Laxmikant Pyarelal, Shankar Jaikishan, O. P. Nayyar. By way of novelty he has several coloured discs too, not forgetting rare speech records of Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Winston Churchil. Though Pilak may have a who’s who of music artists in his LP record collection, his meeting with his favourite Bollywood music director R D Burman is etched in his mind. Besides having a couple of autographed LPs of some artists including the great Noor Jehan, he yearns for the day he can go and seek blessings of Lataji, Ashaji, Kishori Amonkar and have their autographs on his LPs.

So is there a market for record lovers here and what are the problems faced by LP record lovers. Pilak has all the answers. He states very seriously. “Turntables are expensive to import. A decent turntable can be bought for around 5 to 7 thousand rupees in the US, but the cost doubles when it lands in Mumbai. Also the current price of Rs. 800 upwards for an LP in India is beyond the reach of most music lovers. Music should not be elitist and should be freely available to the common man. Another problem faced by the music lovers is the sourcing of records. Friday markets like Waghari Bazaar and Chor Bazaar are drying up and one hardly finds decent lots surfacing at such places. Lastly, in a city like Mumbai where each square foot costs thousands, making space available for records becomes unviable.”

Pilak has got many records which are not available on any other formats like CDs and these need to be properly researched, referenced, archieved, catalogued and digitalised. He is sometimes asked to lend certain LP records for transfer onto CDs, but is careful never to do so. “I do get such requests from time to time. But as a policy, I never lend my LPs to anyone because firstly they rarely come back and secondly records need to be handled very carefully and I would not like to jeopodise the records getting scratched or damaged by mishandling.”

Yash Pilak’s 12 year old son has already taken a liking to LP records. “Yes, he is going to get my collection after my demise” laughs Pilak adding “And luckily he has taken to music and enjoys listening to LPs.of The Beatles, Police and such artists.” To that we’d say …Long live Vinyls.

Pilak’s tips on how to take care of LP records

• Never touch your fingers on the playing area, always hold the LP from the edge and the centre hole.
• Always stack them vertically, never sleeping position.
• Never keep the tracking weight of the cartridge arm more than 3 gms, or else it will wear away the grooves on the record and the record will deteriorate very fast..
• Always keep your records in clean inner and outer sleeves.
• Always wash your records with a mild liquid soap before listening. Dirty records will not only give you scratchy sounds, but they will also harm your records and the stylus.
• Make sure to use anti - static solution from time to time. After spraying record cleaning solution on the records always wipe it in a circular motion clockwise with lint free cloth or a velvet brush.

- By Verus Ferreira