92 in the Shade

by Anthony Medici in Opinion Posts, Reviews

92 in the shade.   An emblem of heat.  The title of Tom McGuane’s modern classic novel.  Phoenix was not quite that cool.  It might have been all of a balmy 98 in the shade on my last trip there.  102 in the sun.  Carless, and on foot, I was in search of LPs.  Vinyl.  Jazz vinyl.  I scored my first vinyl at Grandiose, on East Pierce,  a hip boutique with records, clothing and art.  There I picked up a sealed copy of Stuff Smith’s  Black Violin on MPS.  I also picked up a double-LP on Arista Freedom (a short-lived but great label), Ornette Coleman’s The Great London Concert, recorded 1965, with David Izenzon, Charles Moffett and a small classical ensemble.  I hadn’t seen this one before, and was glad to get it.  There was also a nice copy of Jimmy Lyons’ “Some Other Afternoon” on BYG, but I already had that, so left it for the next vinyl hunter.   In search or more vinyl, I was directed to Wax ‘n Trax, further along on Central Avenue, at Camelback; too far to walk.  I would need to take the light rail train that runs along Central.  As I attempted to finagle a ticket from the station dispenser, as the sun beat mercilessly down,  and my hot sweaty hand clutched my bag of vinyl treasures, the question occurred to me: what is the melting point of vinyl?

I had to wait for my return to find that out.  In the meanwhile, I gamely trudged on.  The light reail (”trolley” in my old neighborhood) took me within a few hundred yards of Wax ‘n Trax.  Getting there was a segment from Man v Nature.  Once arrived, I found a good, old-fashioned record store, that must have seen many thousands of LPs transit its shelves.   Oddly enough I found two more Jimmy Lyons records (was there some connection to Phoenix, I wondered?).  I picked up one of them, Wee Sneezawee, with Lyons on alto, Raphe Malik on trumpet, Karen Borca, bassoon, William Parker, bass, and Paul Murphy, drums, on the Black Saint label. ( I already had the other Lyons LP, Give It Up).  I also snagged the double LP, Circle:  Paris-Concert, on ECM, with Anthony Braxton, Chick Corea (back when he was making real music), David Holland (back when he was making real music), and Barry Altschul (who has never stopped).  I picked up another couple of pieces as well.  I headed back to the trolley, well-satisfied, if fried, baked and broiled.

So, what is the melting point of a record, which is made up of poly chloride vinyl?  Seems to be about 360* from the various online resources I checked out.  Since I was hardly an “A” student in chemistry (I spent a good deal of time dodging erasers and chalk thrown by my exasperated chem teacher to keep me focused), anyone with more knowledge, please chime in.    While it was hot in Phoenix, it wasn’t that hot, so I guess my records were safe. 

In the process of researching this vital question, I found some other curious folks asking the same question; however, there motives were far more alarming.  While I wanted to preserve records, others wanted to destroy them for various purposes.  On Yahoo! Answers, I saw this chilling question: 

“I recently saw a bowl made of melted and twisted old vinyl records. Does anyone know the melting point of a vinyl record and the consistency it is when it melts?”

On Wikipedia, one finds how to make bowls out of vinyl records: 

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Bowls-out-of-Vinyl-Records.

What’s up with vinyl bowls??).  How about these “domestic goddesses”  who want to make jewelry from vinyl records? 

http://domestikgoddess.com/recycled-vinyl-record-jewelry/

I found dozens of more uses.  No wonder those old Blue Notes are going for hundreds of dollars!  Stop Vinylclasty!