Warren Gassaway found his first record player in the closet of his high school library at the end of his senior year. He said he liked vinyl records because they were a cheap way to listen to old music, “plus they are kind of cool to look at.”

Gassaway, Neodesha junior, is not the only one who thinks so.

According to two articles published by Rollingstone.com in June of 2008 and January of 2009, Nielsen SoundScan reports showed that vinyl record sales increased 85.8 percent between 2006 and 2007 and 89 percent between 2007 and 2008. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, figures released in the U.S. in early 2009 showed that sales of vinyl records nearly doubled in 2008, with 1.88 million sold — up from 1 million in 2007.

Gassaway said he had between 300 and 400 records of classic rock, obscure bluegrass, country and progressive rock.

“Most people I know have a little stash of records from their parents,” Gassaway said. “I feel like a lot of people view it as a cool novelty. It’s not necessary, but it’s a cool item and it’s cheap, which is good for people like me without a lot of money.”

Patrick Crough has worked at Half Price Books, 1519 W 23rd St., for two years. He said vinyl records were more popular now than when he started working there.

Crough said vinyl sales were still below CD sales at Half Price Books, but said it could be related to selection.

“It’s definitely changing,” Crough said.

Crough started listening to records about 10 years ago when he was given his parents’ old vinyl collection. He also has between 300 and 400 records. He said he liked to listen to ’60s and ’70s rock records.

“If I hear something I like from the ’60s or ’70s, I try to find it on vinyl,” Crough said. “There’s some things that seem to sound better; the sound is reproduced better.”

Steve Wilson, manager of Kief’s Downtown Music, 823 Massachusetts St., has worked at the record store for about 35 years. He estimated his personal collection of records to be at about 5,000, including a floor-to-ceiling shelf of records he has in his house.

“Vinyl is good because it is something basically knowledge-based, you have to know the quality and resale-ability of each record,” Wilson said. “It’s unique. If you buy smart, it’s a reasonable way to work. It’s more a service to the customer.”

Vinyl record sales at Kief’s have increased slightly to about 20-25 percent of the total sales of the store, he said. Wilson said vinyl really only sounded significantly better if it was high quality vinyl on a good record player, which most people don’t have.

“Forty-fives’ sound have a vibe. I think a lot of people get a buzz off that sound,” Wilson said. “I personally don’t care much about the medium, but I certainly have a lot of good memories and if that’s something young people are getting into, then I think that’s great.”

Jacob Bigus, Paola sophomore, said he took an interest in vinyl recently when he listened to his father’s vinyl collection. But his first record, “Quadrophenia” by The Who, came from one of the dads of someone in his Boy Scout troop when he was 14 or 15.

Bigus doesn’t own a record player, but used his mother’s in high school and uses his friends’ record players now. He said he liked to have vinyl records of all kinds of music.

“I like to have enough vinyl recordings to put one on for every mood,” Bigus said.

He said he thought of vinyl records’ comeback as more of a personal comeback for individuals when they discovered vinyl existed, which he said happened to a lot of people in college.

Compared to CDs

Gassaway said that when comparing vinyl to CDs, vinyl was better for listening at home. Bigus said he thought the music sound more realistic and ‘live.’

“If I get something on vinyl, I don’t listen to the CD anymore,” Bigus said.

Aley Shoffner, Wichita senior, has worked at Love Garden, 936 1/2 Massachusetts Street, for more than a year. Love Garden, a CD and record store, has been selling vinyl for almost 20 years. She said Love Garden sold a lot more vinyl than CDs with its combination of new and old records available.

Shoffner said that when she really liked an album, she might get the CD, but she always wanted it on vinyl.

“CDs are more disposable for me. Records are like my back up copy,” Shoffner said. “It’s like a good, solid copy to have.”

Kent Szlauderbach, Wichita junior, said he got into vinyl during his senior year of high school. He said there used to be a local record store in Wichita started by a DJ who played shows there “when the Wichita music scene was good.”

“The sound has richer tones; it’s fuller,” Szlauderbach said. “It kind of permeates the atmosphere better.”

Szlauderbach said vinyl’s sound quality was better than CDs and said that the only real drawback was that vinyl record players were not portable. He said CDs turned the music digital, changing it to numbers, instead of vibrations, as it was when it was recorded on vinyl.

Crough attributed some of vinyl’s re-emerging popularity to the new bands that used vinyl.

“People are definitely noticing vinyl again, young and old,” Crough said. “Record companies are taking new releases and packaging them as a record and digital download, which seems to be a great idea,” Crough said. “You get the big art and music right to your computer. Crough said it seemed as though many big companies were responding to the increase in demand as well.

What is bringing vinyl back?

Shoffner said more releases were coming out on vinyl as well as more re-pressings, where new copies of old albums are made. This also leads to an increase in prices, she said, as record companies take advantage of vinyl’s growing popularity. Shoffner said she thought vinyl was more popular in Lawrence because the town had good record stores where people could get anything on vinyl, unlike Wichita, where she grew up.

“They tried, but there’s a way smaller demand and less selection,” Shoffner said. “I think it’s awesome. I can get all kinds of releases I couldn’t get. I think it’s great. Even smaller, local bands have releases on vinyl.”

Szlauderbach said the album covers made vinyl records more aesthetically pleasing and said he liked to listen to old blues records.

“It’s nice to hear how people heard it back then,” Szlauderbach said. “It’s definitely trendy.”

He credited indie bands with putting in a lot of effort to make quality vinyl records. He said he tended to purchase records with a “strong sense of album,” meaning the songs transition smoothly and the band has a certain sound, or theme, to its album.

“It’s cool because it makes bands focus more on making an album instead of a single,” Szlauderbach said.

He said he liked to have albums he would enjoy listening to all the way through.

“It may not be better, but it’s definitely different than shuffling on the iPod,” Szlauderbach said. “Plus, no matter what happens, if there’s an apocalypse, records will still be there.”

— — Edited by Derek Zarda