Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons" composed in 1723 is an enduring set of four violin concertos so popular and oft-played that even folks who are not fans of classical music will be recognize it—especially the opener “La Primavera” (“Spring”).

Let's clarify a confusing situation once and for all. ORG, which has issued dozens of great double 45rpm titles from the Decca/London and Sony/BMG catalog (among others), including the recently reviewed B,S&T album, and ORG Music are not the same company!

ORG announced today an upcoming series of double 45rpm 180g releases from the Sony/BMG catalog.

Probably not by accident was this second Blood, Sweat & Tears album not called Blood, Sweat & Tears 2, even though that’s what it is. Child Is Father to The Man the first BS&T album, a jazz infused production featuring on occasion a string section and heavily under Al Kooper’s influence, including the some would call grotesque album cover, was a critical success and a commercial flop.

Sell my record collection? You'd have to hit me upside the head with a blunt instrument. That's pretty much what happened to Thomas Margellar Jr., whose collection went on the auction block recently.

The former Motor City DJ, known professionally as Tom Knight, had amassed a 50,000-piece collection of LPs, CDs, 45s, and assorted music-biz ephemera, all stored in his climate-controlled basement. One day two years ago he got into a fight with his wife. Unfortunately for the 47-year-old collector, his brother-in-law was on hand to intercede on his sister's behalf.

Margellar/Knight ended up dead with a crowbar to the head, and his wife and brother-in-law ended up in the klink. The collection ended up at NYC's William Doyle Galleries.

I've always wondered how long it would take before someone in the auction/collectible business got hip to record collecting. How many obits have you read of famous art collectors, stamp collectors, and book collectors? Plenty. How many of record collectors? None. Except for the fact that books have been around longer, there's not much difference between book collecting and record collecting. Yet until now, record collectors have gotten no respect.

Nick Drake's sublime debut album Five Leaves Left was reportedly going to be sourced from digital because the master proved unusable and that is indeed the case.

The success of the Audio Desk Systems’ ultrasonic record cleaning machine made it inevitable that others would follow. A few have since been marketed that use existing technology and hardware such as Bob Ratcliff’s V-8, a stainless steel vat that can clean but not dry eight records simultaneously. It uses available hardware adapted by Mr. Ratcliff along with his motor driven rotating spit-like contrivance.

Music lover and Ohio State fanatic Bruce Deerhake of Dayton, Ohio snagged some Aerosmith reissues he's been eyeing from afar with a Soundstage Direct gift certificate he won in an AnalogPlanet.com sweepstakes.

Keep reading for pics of the other winners.

First of all thanks to everyone who participated. More did than we initially expected. This is a learning experience for sure. Future such surveys will feature “normalized” files so levels will be equal. I’ll be far more careful about clipped files too.

"Timing is everything."

Whoever came up with that gem had it right. The timing of the International Consumer Electronics Show, for instance: right after the Christmas/New Year holiday. I don't know anyone toiling in this industry who is actually eager to trudge off to Vegas a few days after two weeks of concentrated boozing, face-stuffing, and general holiday lethargy.