I have come to this initiative at the hand of my friend @popurri.
When I read his participation, wonderful memories came to me, intertwined with the music of that time. I immediately launched to review the initiative, and something in the text caused me to short-circuit:

"...they would go to the record stores to find out if the LP had already arrived and be able to buy the records, whether they were 45 or 90 rpm (revolutions per minute).”

At that instant, my hands went straight to my head, and my eyes gushed like lava from an active volcano, provoking the inevitable questions:
Did I forget something? Where was I when those revolutions sounded?

Because, let's be clear: 90 rpm records I've never seen. I met the 78 rpm ones, the ones Dad had with classical music; there were also the 45 rpm ones, perfect for promoting singles or "singles". And, of course, the most common, the kings of the market for a long time: the 33 1/3 rpm, the famous LP or Long Play.

Since childhood, thanks to Dad, who, besides being a merchant, was a great lover of music, I was involved in two worlds: that of business and that of songs. He was an inveterate radio listener. Some people called me a showman, but more than that, I was passionate about music and the history behind its performers. I liked that universe so much that I ended up becoming a broadcaster in that tasty adventure called radio.

But let's get back to business. I was between 15 and 17 years old when the people who frequented my dad's place already knew about my hobby. They asked me for recommendations, they asked me about the last "hit”, until one day someone blurted out the question that would change everything:

-Can you record the songs that sound the most, or the ones that you think are the best, and I'll pay you for that?

There, a door was opened that became an almost unstoppable enterprise.

I had a key contact: a friend of my cousin who was a commercial airline pilot in Venezuela. Many times, the songs were playing on the radio, but the albums arrived months later. People wanted them already, and I found a way: I asked the pilot to bring me the vinyls, and I would record them on cassettes and then sell them.

It had good sound equipment: a dish, an amplifier, a recorder, and top-of-the-line bugles. What he produced was spectacular, and the cassettes were selling like hot cakes. I managed to gather a huge collection of vinyls, both domestic and imported. I became a frequent customer in discotheques, and I became a wholesale cassette buyer. The Tdks were my favorites. I even learned how to repair the tapes when they got tangled in the players, which gave me even more clientele. Everything was going great: an undertaking that helped me to pay for my studies and to live my musical passion.

Interestingly, I did not become a musician. Although I came to consider the conservatory to study bass or drums, I did not put it as a priority, and time passed. Nowadays, sometimes I think maybe I should grab my son's guitar and wake up that sleeping vein.

It was an unforgettable time. My favorite bands were: Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, AC/DC, Queen, The Rolling Stones, Guns N' Roses, U2, and Fleetwood Mac. I had all his vinyl, and I got tired of recording his songs for my clients. But the strongest emotion I had when buying an LP was when I got my hands on the double album of “Star Wars: Original Soundtrack”, by the genius John Williams.

Today, in the middle of 2025, I walk through the center of Caracas, and I am surprised to see how many people buy and sell vinyl of all genres. I, for one, enjoy video music, thanks to the magic of the internet.