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Swap meet attests to lure of vinyl, KUSF
Pop culture by Peter Hartlaub

September 9, 2012

The death of vinyl has been predicted for generations. And early last year, the University of San Francisco made a deal that gave up the college radio station's frequency. Add the two together, and the chances of the KUSF Rock-n-Swap reaching its 30th anniversary were slightly worse than a Creedence Clearwater Revival reunion.

"I figured by 2000 it would be over with," said Jim White, who has been a vendor since the first sale in 1983. "Back in those days, I wondered 'How can this keep going on?' "

But there it was on Sunday afternoon at USF's McLaren Hall, in all its musty musical glory. With the 30th approaching next spring, the latest Rock-n-Swap was packed and seemingly frozen in time.

The entrance fee is still $3. While there were quite a few students, many more patrons looked as if they just walked through the exit of a 1971 Jethro Tull concert. A few concert DVDs and collectibles - a Kiss doll here, a Styx "Mr. Roboto" concert T-shirt there - lined the tables. But crates and boxes filled with old vinyl made up the majority of the goods.

Even during the slow period after noon - the big spenders swooped in at 6:30 a.m. - customers were shoulder-to-shoulder, considering whether the rare Michael Jackson "Ben" album cover with the rat on the front was worth $30.

'Kind of like a fine wine'
Kenneth Pell was atypical of customers at the Rock-n-Swap. The merchant seaman hasn't been coming here forever, and he wasn't surprised that the swap meet is still going strong. The Rock-n-Swap is scheduled between two and six times per year.

"It's kind of like a fine wine," he said, in defense of vinyl. "If you've got a good (stereo) system, it's better than what you get on a CD."

Pell, who attended an early Duran Duran concert in the 1980s, was ready to buy the band's first album. He had already added Steve Earle's "Copperhead Road" to his collection of 5,000 albums, along with a record by the blink-and-you'll-miss-them 1990s band Liquid Jesus.

"It's a curiosity," Pell said. "I buy a lot of curiosities."

Several in the room wore "Save KUSF" shirts, a reminder of the turmoil surrounding the longtime college station. University officials sold KUSF's 90.3 FM frequency to classical music station KDFC without warning in January 2011, leaving the station off the dial for the first time since 1977.

The move was met with fierce resistance. A group seeking a return to the airwaves continues a legal fight, currently appealing the FCC's approval of the sale - while starting a streaming radio station, KUSF-In-Exile.

The university retained the call letters KUSF, and the radio station has moved into much smaller digs on the campus, with the promise of an online KUSF radio station in the future. The money gathered from Rock-n-Swap goes to the KUSF operating budget.

KUSF coordinator Miranda Morris, who has run the Rock-n-Swap for six years, says vendors have worried about the threat of online competition and digital downloads. But the sale continues to draw crowds - the next one is set for Nov. 11.

Labor of love for vendors
KUSF gets table fees from the vendors, but the sale may be less lucrative for the sellers. Jim White admits it's mostly a labor of love.

He and his wife, Charlene, have been running the Newark Music Swap Meet at the Newark Pavilion since 2000. The next one is Oct. 21.

"Some people say vinyl's coming back. I say it never left," Charlene White said. "There's always going to be an interest."

Peter Hartlaub is The San Francisco Chronicle's pop culture critic.

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Personal note: Yes, lovin' the vinyl!!