Bring your records and take them for a spin

At the moment, though, the pressure was on. A voice from the bar had announced that Robinson was “up,’’ and so here she was near the stage, gingerly holding an LP - Wilco’s “Summerteeth’’ - and taking instruction on how to put the record down properly on the turntable and work the tone arm. When the opening notes of “She’s a Jar’’ filtered through the speakers at last, relief swept over her.

“I was kind of scared to put the needle down,’’ Robinson said, beaming over her drink a moment later. “It was the first time I’ve played a record since I was in first grade - I had a Fisher-Price record player. But it was really fun.’’

That is precisely the point of “Sunday Spins,’’ a new and novel piece of programming that takes place between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. at Toad every Sunday. The idea, hatched by bartender and musician Josh Buckley, is part listening party, part social club, and part four-hour foray into people’s vinyl record collections (no CDs or iPods allowed), not to mention a cool window into the eclectic musical tastes of the stranger at your elbow. All you have to do to get in on the fun is write your name on the sign-up sheet and then get ready to spin three songs in a row - either from your own stash or somebody else’s (just ask them if it’s OK first).

“It’s a great way to meet people and keep the tradition of listening to albums alive,’’ Buckley said last Sunday as he juggled the tricky task of filling drink orders and darting from behind the bar to spin his next selection, which included songs by Townes Van Zandt and the Sir Douglas Quintet.

During the afternoon, a little bit of everything blared from the speakers, courtesy of the small but devoted clientele who braved the dreadful weather: Springsteen and Ween; Blind Faith and Band of Horses; a scattered sample of 45s spanning doo-wop to grunge. The 30-something and-up demographic made plain the nostalgic draw of the programming.

“Modern technology is great, but I think [the appeal of LPs] has to do with what you’ve learned on,’’ Buckley said. “If you learn how to drive a car on a stick shift, you don’t want an automatic.’’ Buckley, 36 and amply tattooed with the likenesses of blues titan Robert Johnson and country icon Hank Williams, admitted that the first LP he owned was “Sesame Street Fever,’’ though he says he quickly moved on to Billy Idol’s “Rebel Yell.’’

For some spinners like Greg Ghazil, 37, the LP format was already an antiquated relic - all but extinct by the time he began listening to music in earnest. But now the ritual of pulling an LP from its sleeve, gazing at its darkly lined grooves, and firing up the turntable feels like an exciting new experience.

“I just started getting into vinyl a couple of years ago,’’ Ghazil said moments after dropping the needle on a track from Okkervil River’s album “The Stand Ins.’’ Ghazil said he “started out on tapes’’ as a teenager and fondly remembered wearing out his first cassette, a constantly played copy of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.’’ Eventually he moved on to compact discs. But one day while browsing a Goodwill store, he spotted a stack of records. “I remember seeing all of these big, old album covers and going, ‘Wow!’ ’’ He’s been making up for lost time ever since.

That wasn’t the case with longtime LP collector Jim Davidson, a 40-year-old computer systems specialist who, along with Buckley and Toad regular and fellow vinyl obsessive Ethan Young, went in on a turntable for $300 on eBay. The three friends used to get together and play records for one another every Tuesday night.

“There is a communal aspect to it, but we’re also impatient,’’ Davidson said with a wry smile. “There are only so many songs you want to listen to before you want to put on your own.’’ With its three-song, round-robin format, “Sunday Spins’’ is a lot like that private Tuesday night ritual, but placed in a fun public forum.

“It’s like a cool jukebox times a million,’’ said Nelson Holland, 34, who signed up to spin and was pondering what to put on. (She settled on New Orleans R&B veteran Snooks Eaglin’s stark version of “St. John’s Infirmary’’). “You know that thrill that you get when your tune comes on? It’s just like that thrill - that you own the bar for three songs.’’

AD IT UP Ad Frank and the Fast Easy Women host a CD-release party for their latest album, “Your Secrets Are Mine Now,’’ tomorrow night at 9 at Great Scott. Go to www.greatscottboston.com for complete show info.