Rumour Has It

Rumour Has It

05.07.2022


So it’s been a while ... Like most people around the world, the 2020s started in an unusual manner. I’m not here to write about the whys and the hows, but I ended up spending a lot of time in my home office (like most people). It was a mostly neglected space but staring at it constantly seemed to inspire action. I went through four different desks, moved it five times, bought a classroom sized whiteboard, and tried to regain control over all the records. It’s still a work in progress, and I have made very little progress on cataloguing the Barton collection, but things are being played more regularly.

Just as I was really getting into it again, I realised my turntable was too fast. Not enough to be glaringly obvious, but something felt off. I found an app that told me it was spinning at 36rpm instead of the glorious 33⅓, and even though I can’t verify those numbers it made sense to me. Mr Veronica’s Vinyl couldn’t hear it and we went through a couple of days where we were trying to convince the other one we were right. I eventually told him that there used to be records specifically made to test your system, but rather than somehow magically ‘winning’ with this assertion, he asked why we didn’t have any.

Just as I was really getting into it again, I realised my turntable was too fast. Not enough to be glaringly obvious, but something felt off. I found an app that told me it was spinning at 36rpm instead of the glorious 33⅓, and even though I can’t verify those numbers it made sense to me. Mr Veronica’s Vinyl couldn’t hear it and we went through a couple of days where we were trying to convince the other one we were right. I eventually told him that there used to be records specifically made to test your system, but rather than somehow magically ‘winning’ with this assertion, he asked why we didn’t have any.

Good question. Because I already own lots of sound effects records? Because part of me wondered if they were a mono to stereo gimmick? Because I thought I knew better?

All the above, really, of course.

The thing is, though, perhaps I did know better… There are plenty of records that could fool me with 2 extra rpm, but I knew I could tell if Rumours was right or not. Most will know how highly I regard the album, but that moment when the vocals start on ‘Second Hand News’ has always made my soul feel like it’s free. Those first few seconds are just built into me, and Lindsey Buckingham’s vocals seemed to hit a heartbeat too soon and my soul didn’t feel free, it felt snubbed.

I’m not sure I’ve ever felt so disappointed to be right. I know turntables can usually be fixed, but I’m not sure it’s worth it with this one. Mr VV bought me a new one for my birthday, but the old one still sits there awaiting its fate. The new turntable has also made me realise that I might need a new pre-amp, or that the wiring to my speakers is off. So there’s still some troubleshooting to go, but the moral of the story is you can always count of Rumours ... but if it’s not your cup of tea, just make sure know which album you know well enough that even the slightest thing would be obvious.