OK, you're convinced! You want to dip your toes into the world of 45 record collecting, but how? I've been doing this for over 45 years now, and I still feel like there's so many great 45s I've never seen or heard of. The universe really is ever-expanding as one starts to collect 45s.
This is a big topic, so I'm just going to mention a few suggestions to get you going:
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Get a chart book. I highly recommend Joel Whitburn's Record Research books, which compile the chart and sales data from Billboard, Cash Box, and Record World magazines — industry trade journals that published weekly charts of the hits in various markets (Country, Black, Pop, Adult, Christmas, Dance, Modern Rock, etc). For example, get "Top Pop Singles", which lists each artist alphabetically and shows all the 45s they released that hit the industry charts. Find the artists you like and begin to collect their hits. In my case, I started by buying "Greatest Hits" albums of artists from the 1940s-60s, but you quickly find favorites that don't appear on greatest hits albums. (And besides, what appears on those albums isn't necessarily what appeared on the hit 45.) Classic 45s provides a way for you to search our inventory by the Billboard charts — check it out!
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Collect a list. Given how large the universe of great 1950s-60s music there is, I have found hiring a professional guide to be helpful. The first "list book" that I used was "The Book of Rock Lists" by Dave Marsh and Kevin Stein from Rolling Stone magazine. First published in 1981, it was updated in the 1990s. The book contains, as its title suggests, many interesting lists that parse the rock/soul universe into digestible chunks — for example, "Motown's Top 40," "10 Non-Beach Boys productions by Brian Wilson," "Prehistoric Rock and Roll (10 Records That Served as Important Stepping Stones)," "The 25 Best Instrumentals," "The 50 Greatest Dance Hits," "100 Greatest Number 1 R&B Hits," and "Original All-Time Greatest Top 40 Hits" (which lists the best 40 hits for each year starting in 1956).
- Collect writers, producers and arrangers. In my experience there are certain writers, producers and arrangers whose work is consistent enough that I look for them when shopping 45s. If I run across a 45 I don't know, but which was written, produced or arranged by one of the many names I look for, I'm more likely to take a chance and possibly discover something new and wonderful.
- Collect labels. It's often a good idea to pick up unknown 45s if they're on a label whose artists and music you generally enjoy. In addition, some collectors focus on certain labels and try to collect every record that they released. Some labels employed house bands, producers, arrangers and writers that from experience you know make consistently great music, so it's worth taking a chance on an unknown artist if their work appears on one of these labels. Examples include not only the Motown family of labels (Gordy, Tamla, Motown, V.I.P., etc) but labels like Fame, Stax, Goldwax, Ric-Tic, and Golden World.
- Get a price guide/discography. Price guides are only marginally useful for giving you a rough idea of what a record may be worth. No price guide I'm aware of should be used as a reference for what a record is actually worth. The best guide that covers both 45s and LPs is "Rockin' Records" by Jellyroll Productions. It is published each year, and each edition is an improvement on the last. The main reason I recommend "Rockin' Records" is that it offers the most comprehensive discography (either in print or on the web) by covering many more artists than the similar "Goldmine Standard Guide to American Records," which mostly covers big name artists. I use the Goldmine guide in some cases because it provides a full discography for each artist, whereas in many cases "Rockin' Records" simply lumps all singles by an artist into one entry — for example, for Abba, it lists all their Atlantic 45s as one entry with one price range, rather than listing each Atlantic Abba single individually. For Soul fans, get a copy of John Manship's "Guide for USA Rare Soul 45s," which is more comprehensive than Rockin' Records for Soul music. Manship's guide is also useful when you're trying to collect only the "best" 45s from a given artist, assuming you buy into Manship's opinion about the relative value of that artist's singles.**
- Originals or Reissues? The ultimate 45 collector's dream is to own pristine original pressings of the 45s that will make up his/her collection. However, not only will this prove to be a daunting task — one that will certainly keep your hobby alive for many years! — because pristine original 45s from the 1950s-60s (in particular) are very rare, but it will be a costly one as well. The value of original-pressing 45s in Mint condition continues to increase, and prices can range from $10 to well over $1,000, depending on the title. So, it's a good idea to incorporate high-quality reissues into your collecting strategy, since these often have the same 45 mix as on the original 45s, are easier to find, and cost much less. Reissue prices (for new or like new copies) generally range from about $4.00 to $15.00 or so. The difficulty with reissues is that quality varies; you can't always be sure you're getting the original mix (Mono is what you want up until about 1968), and some reissue labels are better mastered, producing much better sound.
- Clean your 45s well. Even brand new 45s should be cleaned before playing, so it goes without saying (yet I'm saying it anyway) that you should plan on cleaning any 45 you buy before subjecting your diamond stylus to it. The benefits are enormous, in my experience. How you clean the records is up to you, and you have basically two choices: The inexpensive, low-tech approach and the pricey, high-tech approach. At a minimum, you should plan on dampening a clean cotton cloth or sponge and wiping the 45 several times in a circular motion, being careful not to get moisture on the label. Follow this up with a good buffing with another clean cloth. Some records will be so dirty that you may need to repeat the process. When you no longer see dirt, film or other residue on the vinyl, but only scuffs, scratches and any other actual abrasions to the wax, you've done your job. If you have the money, there are many expensive record cleaning machines on the market that you can use instead of, or in addition to, the manual process. I recently reviewed the market for record cleaning machines (again) and found that nearly all of them are geared toward cleaning LPs. The best choice, which is also one of the least expensive, is the Nitty Gritty record cleaner. This type of machine lets you moisten the record and then uses an internal vacuum to suck the dirt out of the grooves. (Newer devices that use sonic waves to loosen dirt particles from the grooves are not suitable for 45 records at this time.) I use the top-end Nitty Gritty system, which moistens both sides of the 45 at the same time and then vacuums both sides simultaneously... a real time-saver. The main downside to this approach is the maintenance required over time: Specifically, the rubber capstan used on the device wears down after repeated use and must be replaced frequently (one or two months), and the velvet pads that moisten the record also need to be replaced periodically. But I can attest to the power of the vacuum: Many times I've had 45s that played with Near Mint audio (only a tiny bit of surface noise) get bumped up to Mint audio after a deep clean with the Nitty Gritty.
That said, keep in mind that the lists and guides are only guideposts to keep you from getting totally lost in the big, bad, wooly universe of 45 rpm records. The opinions of Dave Marsh, Kev Roberts, etc, do not necessarily reflect my own, and if I ever put together a list of the top 45s from the 1950s-80s, you can be sure of two things: (1) It will be a lot bigger than any existing list, and (2) the order and inclusion of songs will certainly differ.