CK’s Collection

One of my favorite Instagram vinyl guys.

Name/Location:

Many of my friends known me as “CK” (my first name is Chee Keong and my last name is Teo). I am from Singapore.

Bio:

I am a happy husband and a father of a 10-year old boy. I actually co-founded a record shop back in 2013 called “Vinylicious”. We ran the first official Record Shop Day event in Singapore back in 2013 and it was amazing to see queues outside our humble shop. We have also co-run the RSD2013 events with Fred Perry and #vinyloftheday back then.

I sold my Record Store shares to my business partner after a year to focus on my Kids’ enrichment schools. I am currently running 3 centres in Singapore to develop soft skills in your children. 

Years collecting:

I don’t really DJ except for some very rare occasions where my DJ friends invited me to do a co-show like the one we did recently to pay tribute to John Peel in a bar called “The White Label” in Singapore.

Do you remember the first record you ever bought?

The first record I have purchased is Nirvana “Nevermind” in a local record shop called “Zenn Audio”. That was before I even have a turntable.

Approximate number of records in your collection:

I don’t really count the number of records I have but based on my estimation on how many each shelf can take, it should be around 6000 plus. I have stored them all onto my custom made shelves. It is my childhood dream to have a very tall record shelf with ladder and my dream came true 2 years ago when I shifted into my new place!

Genres you collect:

I collect almost everything from rock to pop to Jazz, funk and soul to heavy metal. Basically music in all forms and kinds!

Artist you have the most records by/Label you have the most records by:

It got to be Prince! I will buy anything from Prince if I see it in a record shop. As for label, I have around 150 plus of releases from the Blue Note label. I have also collected the Peel Session series from Strange Fruit label and currently I have around 80 pieces

Is there a holy-grail record/records you’re still trying to get?

Yes! Prince and his 1987 release “The Black Album”. My last check on Discorgs shows that an original US pressing of “The Black Album” is selling at US$38,0000 and I don’t think there is a recent original reissue. Hopefully, one day I will be able to find a copy that I can afford.

How are your records arranged?

I am quite a messy person when it comes to organizing my records. Generally, I have arranged them in genre (“80s pop”, “Funk and Soul” and “Jazz”) and then sub-categorize back in alphabetical order. I have also separate artistes/bands that I have a bigger collection like Prince, Depeche Mode, The Housemarins/Beautiful South, Mayday (a Taiwanese Pop-Rock band), etc so that I can find their stuff easier and quicker.

Favorite place to dig/favorite record shop:

I love to travel around the world to crate dig! As I live in Asia, the best play in my opinion to crate dig is in Japan. There are so many great record shops conveniently situated in the heart of Tokyo. Shops like Face Records, Disc Union, General Records, Manhattan Records are all fantastic place to crate dig! I have also fulfil my dreams last Dec where I visited a total of 22 record shops across Paris, London and Liverpool! I had the best time of my life! Back here locally in Singapore, I like to visit all the wonderful shops with great people running them, like Zenn Audio, The Analog Vault, Hear Records, Retrocrates, etc. In fact, Singapore is a great place to crate dig and as we are a small country, it is easy to travel from one shop to another.

Anything else you want to say about your collection?

I started collecting vinyl records only in 2011 but I was a music fan since I was 10 years old. It all began with my dad’s mini-compo player and cassette tapes. I remember playing my dad’s bootleg cassette tapes on his mini-compo player and got blew away with the many catchy 80s music. Songs from Michael Jackson to The Police to Eurythemics to Bonnie M. I fell in love with music even more after exposing to the Casey Kasem’s American Top 40 and the legendary John Peel’s show where I started to diversify my musical taste. My obsession in collecting music in its physical format never stops since then, although it was a little surprise that it was only 29 years later that I decided to start my vinyl collection after a close friend of mine inspired me with his collection. I am deeply in love with the vinyl format as it offers a warmer sound and the bigger album artwork is certainly more fun and engaging to look at. Record collecting has also become the greatest bond between me and my son!

Any social media and projects you want to promote:

My Instagram account: myllck