Getting to know Paul Jagoda from WOW Vinyl & Memorabilia
Paul (left) and his son Tal (right) together are running WOW Vinyl & Memorabilia in Aisle G.
Find Wow Vinyl & Memorabilia in Aisle G open every Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 8am.
Paul Jagoda has been collecting vinyl and memorabilia for over 40 years, having amassed a vast collection he decided to share it with a new generation of collectors. Who better to help him with this than his son Tal, together, with their enviable knowledge of this unique and rapidly resurging industry, they provide a fantastic service that has been missing in the South Melbourne precinct.
What made you want to set up shop at South Melbourne Market?
I believe that a vinyl shop was missing in the South Melbourne precinct. The South Melbourne Market, with its great visitation rates was the obvious location, especially with the resurgence of vinyl as a popular medium.
How do you find working as a father/son duo?
It’s great! We have worked together for over 20 years on and off, when I decided to open WOW Vinyl & Memorabilia at the Market, I asked Tal if he wanted to run it, he said "Yes, great", and now here we are.
Have you always collected records?
I have collected records since I was a kid. Then when they came out of fashion I moved on to CDs and collected CDs by the hundreds. I got rid of my records, and looking back now I ask myself "Why I did do that!?"
Can you remember your first record?
I think it was Elton John, Yellow Brick Road.
Paul has been collecting records since childhood.
Paul's collection comprises an eclectic mix of vinyl and memorabilia across the ages.
What else do you collect and sell?
We have a small selection of signed memorabilia in store here at the Market, but I have been collecting memorabilia for over 50 years and have a large collection stored off-site. I decided it was time for someone else to enjoy it, so I decided to sell it all off.
Are you selling it all off or will you be holding on to any special pieces?
There are a couple of pieces that Tal has taken already! I said to him, “I am going to sell it all, choose what you want” so he took some Shane Warne, Peter Brock, stuff like that.
If you could choose one record to listen to for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Neil Diamond, Hot August Night!
Do you have any tips for someone wanting to start collecting records?
It depends if they are a collector or a listener, I have vinyl here that I can sell you for $20 or I can sell you the original for $200. I do get asked that question a lot, so my response is are you a collector or a listener? If you are a listener, go and buy the CD. If you are a collector, collect pressings.
Every LP that came out originally was pressed in up to 200 countries, and every pressing will sound different. There are people out there that collect the different pressings. You then get people that collect specific music, for example, The Beatles, and they want all the original Beatles. Most of The Beatles' LPs originally released in the first two years were in mono, they then came out in stereo, but the true collectors want the originals. You can go and get a remastered album anywhere.
So, is it more about the ownership of the album rather than the listening quality?
Well, a lot of people don’t like the European imports because they don’t have that ‘click’ which is the dust in the original recording, and because the original vinyls were pressed from the tapes. The remastered versions are recorded from CD, digitally so they don’t have that classic vinyl sound.
You are a collector and a listener so do you prefer listening to CDs or vinyl?
I prefer listening to vinyl. I like to hear the crackle because I grew up listening to that. The kids today wouldn’t have a clue about that, they just buy it because it’s vinyl.
One thing I have noticed is that this new generation of collectors is buying remastered imports because of the coloured discs, so they are essentially collecting coloured discs. A lot of them don’t even listen to them, they are collecting the covers.
The older generation is also buying them because they used to own them, they aren’t listening to them again. Another thing I have picked up from my years selling vinyl is the collection of memories. A couple may walk in and say “That was our first song, let's buy the vinyl, we don’t have a record player, but we want the LP…” it doesn’t matter, it is a memory, like a framed photo, a moment in time.
One of Paul's favourite vinyls is The Beatles' Yesterday And Today ‘Butchers’ LP.
Framed memorabilia pack of We Are the World by U.S.A For Africa from 1985.
What are three of your favourite things?
First and foremost, my vinyl collection of course.
When it comes to the memorabilia, I have a framed memorabilia pack of We Are the World by U.S.A For Africa from 1985 including a signed LP by 12 of the original singers and performers including Quincy Jones, Michael Jackson, Waylon Jennings, Bette Midler, Lindsey Buckingham, Paul Simon, Willie Nelson, Steve Perry, Bob Dylan, Tina Turner, Cyndi Lauper, Huey Lewis. There were probably 60 artists involved, but the thing to remember is that the LP was produced after the recording so this meant someone had to go around and get the individual signatures after! The cellist was the smartest, she had the sheet music and she got everybody to sign the sheet music after, I believe she sold it a couple of years ago for a quarter of a million dollars! She was the only artist that got all the original signatures.
Finally, one of my favourite vinyls is The Beatles' Yesterday And Today ‘Butchers’ LP, the cover of this was cancelled due to the Vietnam War. Paul McCartney said, “No way, there is no way I am going to allow that cover.” So, they took the cover out and threw it in the bin, replaced the cover and put the vinyl back in. If you can find one of the original covers that was thrown in the bin, they are selling for upwards of $3,000 US dollars.
The version we have here is a remastered version and is white vinyl with a printed letter from Capitol Records explaining what happened, so it is a real collector's item and any person that I talk to and explain the story to and is a collector or a Beatles fan will buy it just to own it.