Last modified: Tuesday, April 29, 2008 2:36 AM EDT Records still have faithful following BY STEPHEN PETERSON SUN CHRONICLE STAFF While compact discs are disappearing from store shelves and sales are drastically dropping in this digital music age, the old vinyl record has continued to have its faithful followers and is even making a comeback of sorts. While CDs seem like they came out yesterday - in the early 1980s to be more precise - records have lasted a century or so. Partly for nostalgic reasons, fans of records have really never gone away, just decreased in numbers as CDs, music downloading and sharing, and MP3 players and iPods became more popular. "There are still a lot of vinyl people," said Luke Renchan, who the past three decades has run Luke's record store off Broadway in Pawtucket that is shutting its doors after this weekend in the face of digital music taking away so much of his business. In recent years there has been somewhat of a resurgence in interest in records, Renchan said of the music business going retro at the same time it is moving technologically ahead. For record enthusiasts, many enjoy the artwork of albums and the larger lyric sheets tucked inside those colorful album covers. Others are attracted to the more authentic sound of records. When CDs were coming out, rocker Neil Young called it the "dark ages" of music. Fans of records also find the CD too whitewashed, too commercial. "Records are highly collectible," said Renchan, telling of how his wife, after going through a pricing guide, saved him from selling an old jazz record that he later sold for $7,000. "I would have sold it for 50 cents," he said. Another very valuable record he had and sold for a hefty profit was the first one that mentioned The Beatles, a UK 45. "A lot of people who came in here got bargains." Most of the highly collectible records are now sold only via the Internet, he said. Many are now dusting off their old record collections as a big seller now are electronic devices that can transfer albums to CDs and digital music. Others get into the older music of the 1950s, '60s and '70s and seek out vinyl singles by listening to dj Barry Scott's "Lost 45s" Sunday nights on Boston's 103.3 FM and other oldies radio shows. While it can be a task to track down albums and singles, one can find them at a few surviving record stores in the region. They include The Time Capsule in Cranston, R.I. and Round Again Records on Wickenden Street in Providence. Newbury's Comics has a small section of albums, many new and used by dj's. Then there always are the flea markets, yard sales and eBay. Joseph Lieteau, who recently moved from Attleboro to Stoughton and boasts an album collection of more than 15,000, visits the local Army Surplus store for used albums. "I'm one of those who never gave up on vinyl," Lieteau said. Many high school age kids are heavy into classic rock and collect albums and frequent record stores. "I like how it shows the history of music. It brings you back to a time, an era I personally haven't lived," said Rachel, 17, of Smithfield, R.I., who didn't want to give her last name and was shopping with her mother at Luke's for some Doors LPs. "A CD wouldn't bring the same feeling," Rachel said. "The art is a different style. It is more meaningful," she added of records. David Flynn, 46, of Pawtucket, is another. "There are still a lot of old- fashioned people. Not everyone owns a computer," Flynn said. "A lot of people still have turntables. A lot of djs still spin records." Finding a record player can be a challenge, but they are out there on the Internet and in some stores and catalogs, from the replica old fashion wooden phonographs to state-of-the-art dj turntables. STEPHEN PETERSON (speterson@thesunchronicle.com) is a Sun Chronicle staff writer.