Feb
14, 2019 Steve Palace
David Bowie released
Ashes to Ashes on vinyl in 1980. Though the Thin White Duke was ahead of his
time, even he couldn’t have foreseen how prophetic the release was… a radical
way of treasuring departed loved ones is proof of this.
Should someone be
musically inclined, or just want to be remembered in style, then there’s a
quirky option which ensures their remains are not only seen but heard.
If you have the money
you can press your ashes into a vinyl record, at the rate of a teaspoonful per
disc. The company providing this offbeat service is And Vinyly. It was formed
in the Noughties by music producer Jason Leach from Scarborough, England.
Bowie during the Ziggy Stardust Tour from 1972–73. Photo by Rik
Walton CC BY-SA 2.0
A combination of
family accidents involving “cremains”, a sense of his own advancing years (he’s
middle-aged) and his mother working in a funeral home helped Leach come to the
conclusion that vinyl was the answer.
“It was not intended
to be a business,” he told the BBC in 2017. “It was the result of having a bit
of fun with what at the time felt like a shocking and disconcerting
inevitability.”
As the name suggests,
And Vinyly takes a light-hearted approach to the Grim Reaper. Their slogan is
“Live on from beyond the groove!”
Manufacturing vinyl records in 1959
Back in 2010, Wired
described the business of manufacturing the discs, which “involves a very
understanding pressing plant.”
The remains “must be
sprinkled onto the raw piece of vinyl (known as a ‘biscuit’ or ‘puck’) before
it is pressed by the plates. This means that when the plates exert their
pressure on the vinyl in order to create the grooves, the ashes are pressed
into the record.”
It isn’t a flawless
procedure and the ashes can make their presence felt on the recording as the
needle moves over them. But for Leach it’s all part of the magic. He said in
his BBC interview “There will, of course, be some extra pops and crackles
resulting from the inclusion of ashes — but we like these, as this is you.”
Vintage black and white photo from the sixties of a young woman
looking at vinyl records.
The content of the 7 –
12-inch can range from the standard greatest hits, specially-composed tracks,
audio of the deceased person’s voice, or even just plain silence so families
can really hear their loved ones crackle!
Like any kind of end
of life arrangement, the price tag isn’t cheap. The minimum cost is £900
($1,160) and with luxury features such as RIV artwork, the price can rise to
around £3,500 (about $4,600).
“There will, of course, be some extra pops and crackles
resulting from the inclusion of ashes — but we like these, as this is you.”
What is RIV artwork?
It stands for “Rest In Vinyl” and involves having a portrait of the
formerly-breathing client painted by James Hague of the National Portrait
Gallery. The ashes are blended with the paint so it becomes a rendering of the
subject in every sense.
Should a customer wish
to remember their pet as a vinyl treasure, the company are agreeable to that
also.
Mental Floss wrote
that Leach had found “a major untapped market in people who aren’t content with
standard afterlife traditions.” This extends beyond vinyl grooves and into all
manner of commemorative areas.
There is a growing trend for non-traditional ways of paying
tribute to our loved ones.
Ashes can be turned
into other desirable items, such as diamonds, or pottery. Gone are the days
when remains would be scattered across the ocean with a prayer against windy
weather.
Businesses like And
Vinyly are breaking from the norm to create a loving tribute that could last
forever. For Leach, a key part of the enterprise is a legacy.
“This is about as
close to time travel as I’m going to get,” he said to the BBC. By hitting the
turntable every now and then, the producer can make his presence felt down the
generations. For him, that’s the very definition of groovy.
https://www.thevintagenews.com/2019/02/14/vinyl/
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