
Old Records Never Die
One Man’s Quest for His Vinyl and His Past
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $24.47
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Ramiz Monsef
-
By:
-
Eric Spitznagel
About this listen
High Fidelity meets Killing Yourself to Live in this memoir of one man's search for his lost record collection.
As he finds himself within spitting distance of middle age, journalist Eric Spitznagel feels acutely the loss of...something. Freedom? Maybe. Coolness? Could be. The records he sold in a financial pinch? Definitely. To find out for sure, he sets out on a quest to find the original vinyl artifacts from his past. Not just copies. The exact same records: the Bon Jovi record with his first girlfriend's phone number scrawled on the front sleeve, the KISS Alive II he once shared with his little brother, the Replacements' Let It Be he's pretty sure, 20 years later, would still smell like weed.
As he embarks on his hero's journey, he reminisces about the actual records, the music, and the people he listened to it with - old girlfriends, his high school pals, and, most poignantly, his father and his young son. He explores the magic of music and memory as he interweaves his adventures in record culture with questions about our connections to our pasts, whether we can ever recapture them, and whether we would want to if we could.
©2016 Eric Spitznagel (P)2016 Blackstone Audio, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
-
How to Write One Song
- Loving the Things We Create and How They Love Us Back
- By: Jeff Tweedy
- Narrated by: Jeff Tweedy
- Length: 3 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There are few creative acts more mysterious and magical than writing a song. But what if the goal wasn't so mysterious and was actually achievable for anyone who wants to experience more magic and creativity in their life? That's something that anyone will be inspired to do after listening to Jeff Tweedy's How to Write One Song. Why one song? The idea of becoming a capital-S songwriter can seem daunting, but approached as a focused, self-contained event, the mystery and fear subsides, and songwriting becomes an exciting pursuit.
-
-
Practical and actionable recipes for songwriting
- By Dry Toast Fan on 11-20-20
By: Jeff Tweedy
-
Rock Stars on the Record
- The Albums That Changed Their Lives
- By: Eric Spitznagel
- Narrated by: Michael Butler Murray
- Length: 5 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Rock Stars on the Record is a collection of firsthand tales by artists of all ages, backgrounds, and musical influences, remembering the meaning behind the records that mattered most to them. From Laura Jane Grace to Ian MacKaye, Don McLean to Cherie Currie, Alice Bag to Mac DeMarco, and many more, best-selling author Eric Spitznagel talks to rock stars across the sonic spectrum about the albums that changed them in ways only music can change someone.
-
-
First book I ever enjoyed and rated before I finished
- By Chris Lane on 03-09-21
By: Eric Spitznagel
-
Let's Go (So We Can Get Back)
- A Memoir of Recording and Discording with Wilco, Etc.
- By: Jeff Tweedy
- Narrated by: Jeff Tweedy
- Length: 8 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Few bands have inspired as much devotion as the Chicago rock band Wilco, and it's thanks, in large part, to the band's singer, songwriter, and guiding light: Jeff Tweedy. But while his songs and music have been endlessly discussed and analyzed, Jeff has rarely talked so directly about himself, his life, and his artistic process.
-
-
A best book of the year
- By jdukuray on 11-30-18
By: Jeff Tweedy
-
Daisy Jones & The Six
- A Novel
- By: Taylor Jenkins Reid
- Narrated by: Jennifer Beals, Benjamin Bratt, Judy Greer, and others
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Daisy is a girl coming of age in LA in the late '60s, sneaking into clubs on the Sunset Strip, sleeping with rock stars, and dreaming of singing at the Whisky a Go Go. The sex and drugs are thrilling, but it’s the rock and roll she loves most. By the time she’s 20, her voice is getting noticed, and she has the kind of heedless beauty that makes people do crazy things. Also getting noticed is The Six, a band led by the brooding Billy Dunne.
-
-
I wanted to love this book...
- By Stine on 03-17-19
-
If I Stay
- By: Gayle Forman
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter
- Length: 5 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a single moment, everything changes. Seventeen-year-old Mia has no memory of the accident; she can only recall riding along the snow-wet Oregon road with her family. Then, in a blink, she finds herself watching as her own damaged body is taken from the wreck.
-
-
The Ultimate Choice
- By AudioAddict on 09-15-14
By: Gayle Forman
-
NOFX
- The Hepatitis Bathtub and Other Stories
- By: NOFX, Jeff Alulis
- Narrated by: NOFX, Jello Biafra, Tommy Chong
- Length: 12 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
NOFX: The Hepatitis Bathtub and Other Stories is the first tell-all autobiography from one of the world's most influential and controversial punk bands. Fans and non-fans alike will be shocked by the stories of murder, suicide, addiction, counterfeiting, riots, bondage, terminal illness, the Yakuza, and drinking pee. Told from the perspective of each of the band's members, this audiobook looks back at more than 30 years of comedy, tragedy, and completely inexplicable success.
-
-
*%#!
- By Jonas on 10-10-16
By: NOFX, and others
-
How to Write One Song
- Loving the Things We Create and How They Love Us Back
- By: Jeff Tweedy
- Narrated by: Jeff Tweedy
- Length: 3 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There are few creative acts more mysterious and magical than writing a song. But what if the goal wasn't so mysterious and was actually achievable for anyone who wants to experience more magic and creativity in their life? That's something that anyone will be inspired to do after listening to Jeff Tweedy's How to Write One Song. Why one song? The idea of becoming a capital-S songwriter can seem daunting, but approached as a focused, self-contained event, the mystery and fear subsides, and songwriting becomes an exciting pursuit.
-
-
Practical and actionable recipes for songwriting
- By Dry Toast Fan on 11-20-20
By: Jeff Tweedy
-
Rock Stars on the Record
- The Albums That Changed Their Lives
- By: Eric Spitznagel
- Narrated by: Michael Butler Murray
- Length: 5 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Rock Stars on the Record is a collection of firsthand tales by artists of all ages, backgrounds, and musical influences, remembering the meaning behind the records that mattered most to them. From Laura Jane Grace to Ian MacKaye, Don McLean to Cherie Currie, Alice Bag to Mac DeMarco, and many more, best-selling author Eric Spitznagel talks to rock stars across the sonic spectrum about the albums that changed them in ways only music can change someone.
-
-
First book I ever enjoyed and rated before I finished
- By Chris Lane on 03-09-21
By: Eric Spitznagel
-
Let's Go (So We Can Get Back)
- A Memoir of Recording and Discording with Wilco, Etc.
- By: Jeff Tweedy
- Narrated by: Jeff Tweedy
- Length: 8 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Few bands have inspired as much devotion as the Chicago rock band Wilco, and it's thanks, in large part, to the band's singer, songwriter, and guiding light: Jeff Tweedy. But while his songs and music have been endlessly discussed and analyzed, Jeff has rarely talked so directly about himself, his life, and his artistic process.
-
-
A best book of the year
- By jdukuray on 11-30-18
By: Jeff Tweedy
-
Daisy Jones & The Six
- A Novel
- By: Taylor Jenkins Reid
- Narrated by: Jennifer Beals, Benjamin Bratt, Judy Greer, and others
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Daisy is a girl coming of age in LA in the late '60s, sneaking into clubs on the Sunset Strip, sleeping with rock stars, and dreaming of singing at the Whisky a Go Go. The sex and drugs are thrilling, but it’s the rock and roll she loves most. By the time she’s 20, her voice is getting noticed, and she has the kind of heedless beauty that makes people do crazy things. Also getting noticed is The Six, a band led by the brooding Billy Dunne.
-
-
I wanted to love this book...
- By Stine on 03-17-19
-
If I Stay
- By: Gayle Forman
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter
- Length: 5 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a single moment, everything changes. Seventeen-year-old Mia has no memory of the accident; she can only recall riding along the snow-wet Oregon road with her family. Then, in a blink, she finds herself watching as her own damaged body is taken from the wreck.
-
-
The Ultimate Choice
- By AudioAddict on 09-15-14
By: Gayle Forman
-
NOFX
- The Hepatitis Bathtub and Other Stories
- By: NOFX, Jeff Alulis
- Narrated by: NOFX, Jello Biafra, Tommy Chong
- Length: 12 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
NOFX: The Hepatitis Bathtub and Other Stories is the first tell-all autobiography from one of the world's most influential and controversial punk bands. Fans and non-fans alike will be shocked by the stories of murder, suicide, addiction, counterfeiting, riots, bondage, terminal illness, the Yakuza, and drinking pee. Told from the perspective of each of the band's members, this audiobook looks back at more than 30 years of comedy, tragedy, and completely inexplicable success.
-
-
*%#!
- By Jonas on 10-10-16
By: NOFX, and others
-
Petty: The Biography
- By: Warren Zanes
- Narrated by: Warren Zanes
- Length: 13 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
No one other than Warren Zanes, rocker and writer and friend, could author a book about Tom Petty that is as honest and evocative of Petty's music and the remarkable rock and roll history he and his band helped to write. Born in Gainesville, Florida, with more than a little hillbilly in his blood, Tom Petty was a Southern shit kicker, a kid without a whole lot of promise. Rock and roll made it otherwise.
-
-
Tom Petty gets some bio love
- By tru britty on 12-15-15
By: Warren Zanes
-
Not Dead Yet
- The Memoir
- By: Phil Collins
- Narrated by: Phil Collins
- Length: 12 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The long-awaited autobiography from Phil Collins, one of the best-selling music artists of all time. This is the roller-coaster journey from his beginnings as a child actor to his domination of the charts as both a solo artist and part of Genesis. His success is astounding, his music has global reach, and his story is legendary.
-
-
Funny, moving and honest
- By Brian Haworth on 11-03-16
By: Phil Collins
-
Miss Fortune
- Fresh Perspectives on Having It All from Someone Who Is Not Okay
- By: Lauren Weedman
- Narrated by: Lauren Weedman
- Length: 8 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lauren Weedman is not okay. She's living what should be the good life in sunny Los Angeles. After a gig as a correspondent with The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, she scored parts in blockbuster movies, which led to memorable recurring roles on HBO's Hung and Looking. She had a loving husband and an adorable baby boy. In these comedic essays, she turns a piercingly observant, darkly funny lens on the ways her life is actually not okay.
-
-
Good
- By Ajules29 on 04-02-16
By: Lauren Weedman
-
Do You Feel Like I Do?
- A Memoir
- By: Peter Frampton, Alan Light
- Narrated by: Peter Frampton
- Length: 10 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Do You Feel Like I Do? is the incredible story of Peter Frampton's positively resilient life and career told in his own words for the first time. His monu-mental album Frampton Comes Alive! spawned three top-20 singles and sold eight million copies the year it was released (more than 17 million to date), and it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in January 2020.
-
-
Boring
- By Anonymous User on 12-05-20
By: Peter Frampton, and others
-
The Electric
- By: Andrew David Barker
- Narrated by: Nigel Peever
- Length: 9 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the summer of 1985, 15-year-old Sam Crowhurst discovers an old, abandoned cinema that screens movies made by ghosts, for ghosts. Sam and his friends Emma and David find themselves drawn into a world where the likes of Humphrey Bogart, Lon Chaney, and Theda Bara are still making pictures, where Harold Lloyd and John Belushi team up for roustabout comedies, and Karloff and Lugosi appear in films scripted by Edgar Allan Poe. Sam comes to learn the mysteries of the Electric cinema and his part to play in its long and strange history.
-
-
The Electric
- By MeDi on 01-30-19
-
Led Zeppelin
- The Biography
- By: Bob Spitz
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 21 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the author of the definitive New York Times best-selling history of the Beatles comes the authoritative account of the group many call the greatest rock band of all time, arguably the most successful, and certainly one of the most notorious.
-
-
Sex & Drugs & Rock-n-Roll.... in that order.
- By Joe on 01-03-22
By: Bob Spitz
-
The Scar Boys
- By: Len Vlahos
- Narrated by: Lincoln Hoppe
- Length: 6 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A severely burned teenager. A guitar. Punk rock. The chords of a rock 'n' roll road trip in a coming-of-age novel that is a must-read story about finding your place in the world...even if you carry scars inside and out. In attempting to describe himself in his college application essay - help us to become acquainted with you beyond your courses, grades, and test scores - Harbinger (Harry) Jones goes way beyond the 250-word limit and gives a full account of his life.
-
-
Absolutely Astonishing
- By Maya Irías on 07-20-20
By: Len Vlahos
-
World in My Eyes: The Autobiography
- By: Richard Blade
- Narrated by: Richard Blade, full cast
- Length: 16 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Richard Blade’s autobiography is much more than a spotlight on any one decade. Instead, he gives you a jaw-dropping, uncensored insider’s look into the world of music, movies, and television and its biggest stars, starting in the '60s and continuing through to the new century. Richard takes you on a journey that few have experienced, from his early days as a student at Oxford to the wild, lascivious nights of being a disco DJ touring the clubs of Europe to coming to America and breaking through into the LA radio scene.
-
-
Sweet Trip Down Memory Lane 80s Style
- By D. Torres on 12-04-18
By: Richard Blade
-
A Dream About Lightning Bugs
- A Life of Music and Cheap Lessons
- By: Ben Folds
- Narrated by: Ben Folds
- Length: 8 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ben Folds is a celebrated American singer-songwriter, beloved for songs such as "Brick", "You Don’t Know Me", "Rockin’ the Suburbs", and "The Luckiest", and is the former frontman of the alternative rock band Ben Folds Five. But Folds will be the first to tell you he’s an unconventional icon, more normcore than hardcore. Now, in his first book, Folds looks back at his life so far in a charming and wise chronicle of his artistic coming of age, infused with the wry observations of a natural storyteller.
-
-
I wanted to like this more than I did.
- By R on 10-02-19
By: Ben Folds
-
Like a Rolling Stone
- A Memoir
- By: Jann S. Wenner
- Narrated by: Dennis Boutsikaris, Jann S. Wenner
- Length: 17 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Rolling Stone founder, co-editor, and publisher Jann Wenner's deeply personal memoir vividly describes and brings you inside the music, the politics, and the lifestyle of a generation, an epoch of cultural change that swept America and beyond. The age of rock and roll in an era of consequence, what will be considered one of the great watersheds in modern history. Wenner writes with the clarity of a journalist and an essayist. He takes us into the life and work of Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Mick Jagger, Bono, and Bruce Springsteen, to name a few.
-
-
Name-dropping on steroids
- By Tim on 09-19-22
By: Jann S. Wenner
-
Dave Hill Doesn't Live Here Anymore
- By: Dave Hill
- Narrated by: Dave Hill
- Length: 6 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With his signature matter-of-fact humor, comedian and musician Dave Hill explores his increasingly close relationship with his recently widowed father in a series of painfully funny essays you will want to listen to again and again by the fire, at the beach, in a truck stop men's room, or just about anywhere. It's your call, really.
-
-
Easy to listen to. Fun and entertaining
- By Amazon Customer on 02-28-25
By: Dave Hill
-
Your Band Sucks
- What I Saw at Indie Rock's Failed Revolution (But Can No Longer Hear)
- By: Jon Fine
- Narrated by: Jon Fine
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jon Fine spent nearly 30 years performing and recording with bands that played various forms of aggressive and challenging underground rock music. And, as he writes in this memoir, at no point were any of those bands "ever threatened, even distantly, by actual fame". Yet when members of his first band, Bitch Magnet, reunited after 21 years to tour Europe, Asia, and America, diehard longtime fans traveled from far and wide to attend those shows.
-
-
Life in a band-the ups, downs and truth!
- By C Christopher Taylor on 07-10-18
By: Jon Fine
What listeners say about Old Records Never Die
Highly rated for:
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- A Piccolo
- 09-18-19
find out
This book is like a happy place It warmed my heart, Made me think deep
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- ta0paipai
- 10-17-20
The Nostalgia Train
I grew up in the era of cassette tapes, but that didn’t matter. The plot traces the author’s quest to relocate his childhood vinyl and his struggles to understand why it mattered so much for him. The quest, the payoff, the ending, I loved it all.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Dubi
- 06-14-21
Hard Copy Nostalgia
When vinyl records start to make a comeback, rock journalist Eric Spitznagel regrets selling his collection away. He sets out on a search for all of his old records -- not any vinyl copy, but the exact copy that he used to own. With each record that he finds, or even contemplates, there is a nostalgic series of memoir sketches that are dredged up, as well as the impact on his life, his wife and son as he grows obsessed with his quest.
All of this is lots of fun for music lovers and record collectors like myself -- although I don't regret giving away thousands of my old LPs which I would never listen to again, keeping around a hundred or so that have those indelible memories associated with them (but I do regret accidentally letting the guy "take" my collection of Beatles Parlophone LPs).
I do have one issue, though, that nagged at me throughout the listen -- not to the point of ruining things, just nuisance level annoyance around the edges of the experience. Mostly, the author uses his indigence as a freelance journalist to add some drama and conflict to his search -- he turns down a lucrative editing job so as to not compromise his independence and ability to hunt down his old records. What he never mentions but is obvious to readers of the book that resulted from all this is that his true goal is not to find his old records but to write a book about trying to find his old records (which he obviously succeeded in doing, to what level of success beyond me reading it for free on Audible I have no idea).
Part of that is my personal disdain for his type of privileged life that allows him to turn down a good job to pursue a possible book deal. I grew up poor, worked my way through school, and succeeded at the type of work Eric is too principled to undertake, putting my own artistic ambitions on hold. I had no choice. Neither do millions of other people who have to work for a living. Which is all fine and dandy for him to make his own choices, set his own priorities -- it's just all the whining about not having enough money that is hard to take.
Still, a four-star read for music lovers -- and I would be remiss in not pointing out that you don't have to share Spitznagel's specific tastes in music to enjoy his book (I certainly am not a fan of his favorite artists and albums, but could still appreciate the feelings evoked by his memories of that music).
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jonathan
- 10-16-20
If you came of age in the 80"s its a must
Great narration and story - well written and thoughtful. Brought back a lot of memories. Perfect listen - when you are done with this listen to Sting Ray Afternoons too - loved this book!!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- justin
- 03-22-17
should be made into a movie
excellent narration, heartwarming story, nostalgic trip, should be produced as a feature film. bravo guys
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Hugo O Codina
- 03-31-21
love it!!
As a vynil record collector, I love the storytelling !!! . . . . .
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- D.Hoffman
- 12-23-20
A hero's journey for middle aged men
I love books like this. The author goes on a journey to recapture a major piece of his past, his old records. Not just the same titles, but the same actual records that he had sold. Does it really matter? To him it did and it took him on a quest where he discovered many things about himself and explored his past, reconnected with old friends, and came to terms with middle age and the changes in his life.
The author is 45, the same age I am, and I think the real value in this book is his ability to describe where he is emotionally, which is hard for anyone but especially dudes. We're unsatisfied and despondent, but we don't know why. This very well could have been me because I've gone on almost identical quests as he has. I repurchased many of my favorite GI Joe toys from my childhood and had three magical years playing with my son with them. 100% totally worth it.
I've gone back to old places, like my favorite record stores from East Lansing (Flat, Black, and Circular) and Mt. Pleasant (New Moon Records), only to see them closed and the store something else now. What he did in visiting his old childhood home was magical to me, something that I've dreamed about for most of my life having moved around so much.
This book was amazing and I identify so strongly with it. Wonderful tale.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Brian North
- 10-08-20
A nice trip down memory lane
I thoroughly enjoyed taking this musical memory journey reminiscing about my own record collection and the times of my life that they were the sound track of. Well written and narrated.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Caz
- 03-22-17
Exactly what I needed to hear
Read extremely well. Written extremely well. And exactly what I needed to hear to take me back to my also buried but never forgot days of how music moved and defined me. Bravo!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Queen of Halloween
- 11-01-22
Excellent!
Highly enjoyable and very relatable story. Perfect for any music lover. Excellent narration. Highly recommend!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!