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Records vs. CDs - When did conversion take place?

Hello everyone! I am just now getting into building a music collection, and have for the past couple years tried to get some albums autographed by the bands that I would go and see at our Summer Concert Series in Woodstock, GA. So far, I have gotten autographs by Steve Boone and Joe Butler of The Lovin' Spoonful and Doug Gray of The Marshall Tucker Band, who each both put on one heck of a show. But what I run into when trying to find albums for some of the bands that I plan on going to see is that I can never find an album, but can find CDs. I was a child of the 1980s, and remember playing records, cassette tapes, and when CDs were first coming out. Problem is, I can't exactly remember the time frames when all the conversion started taking place. Would someone respond to this blog and shed some light on this? I don't want to be looking for something that I think is on an album when it actually came out on a CD. Thanks guys and gals.

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Comment by BallroomDays67 on April 19, 2014 at 6:42pm: I worked at a record store chain that stopped selling records in 1988. I doubt that everything was still coming out on vinyl at that time.

Comment by Jeffery Kite on April 20, 2014 at 4:39am: Al, Rick, Zip, Ballrom, and let's not forget Joey......thanks for all the info. Not real sure why I was called a commie; perhaps Joey you should check out the History group on this site and see all the Medal of Honor recipients that I write to. Those guys are the bravest of the brave.

Comment by Steve Zarelli on April 20, 2014 at 8:01am: Guys... Let's not take Joey D too seriously. Lol. It is a role someone is playing. Probably a 25 year old guy getting a kick out of yanking your chains. I think he is a riot.

Comment by Steve Zarelli on April 20, 2014 at 8:06am: I think most realizes were cd, vinyl and cassette probably until 1992 give or take. After that vinyl and cassette faded fast.

Now if you want something on vinyl, it will cost you double.

I sold a few hundred classic rock albums in excellent condition for $1 each at a garage sale a few years ago. Still kicking myself for that. A dealer pulled up in a van and bought them all immediately. I then knew I severely underpriced them. The problem is they take up so much space to store.

Comment by Mike Kaminski on April 20, 2014 at 8:08am

Comment by Jeffery Kite on April 20, 2014 at 3:12pm: Hey, Zip....I caught on to that with the first rant about The Candy Man vs. The Chairman of the Board! Don't feel too bad about underpricing your vinyl, Zip. They guy is probably still trying to those to this day, I bet. The store I get my records from, Sweet Melissa Records in Marietta, GA, sells vinyl for anywhere from $1 - $4. Now if you want one of those pristine, still in the plastic ones that Jim keeps in the back, you're looking at $10-$20. Beattle's albums, when he has them, $25. Picked up The Lovin' Spoonful's album Hums and The Marshall Tucker Band's Greatest Hits album up there for a grand total of $16. Deals are out there if you have the time to sift. And Mike....hillarious as always! LOL!!!!

Comment by Clive Young on April 20, 2014 at 3:56pm: The CD Player was introduced in Japan in 1982 (first CD made in Japan was Billy Joel's "52nd Street") and the players were introduced to Europe and the US in 1983. Dire Straits' "Brothers In Arms" was the first CD to sell over 1,000,000 copies and is often thought to be the "killer app" that got the public interested in them (prices dropping from $800-900 for a player didn't hurt). By 1988, CDs outsold LPs for the first time and it was all downhill from there for vinyl.

Comment by Jeffery Kite on April 20, 2014 at 7:14pm: Thanks, Clive. I remember my uncle telling me about these little disks with rainbow colors that would one day replace records. I thought to myself, "Yeah, right." Now, that's all I have! :) You guys think that digital downloads will kill the music autograph genre? Will folks go more into collecting pictures of bands / artists instead?

Comment by Travis Christenberry on April 20, 2014 at 7:40pm: Of course you have rare releases like this little gem that was never released in the United States but rather the United Kingdom all the way up to 1996.

Comment by Josh Board on April 20, 2014 at 11:58pm: Message to Steve Cyrkin and administrators...Can we stop with the Joey Caluca crap already? Seriously.