My husband is a collector (okay, borderline hoarder) but I have learned over the years how to put a kink in many of those perversions. Let’s just say that things that have sat ignored in a closet for over a decade have a habit of disappearing and rarely does he even notice. Last week we had a heat wave and since I don’t get along with hot and dry weather, I decided to tackle the closet wherein seven boxes full of vinyl records have been stored since 1993.
The truly scary part of this endeavor was, those records had not even been sorted by genre before being dumped into cardboard boxes for the move!
Now, if I’d been smart I would have taken the boxes to Rasputin’s (our nearby “we will buy records and vintage clothing and jewelry” hippie dippie thrifty place) and donated them all. But I hated to do that without giving our children a chance to claim some part of their wacky childhoods. And so I spent two days categorizing and then alphabetizing the records. The closet is now empty and the totals are below – in case you’re interested.
We had over 300 albums or album sets in these approximate genres:
- Rock & Roll, Rhythm & Blues, Jazz
- Funk, Folk, Punk, Soul, Raggae
- Grunge, Live on stage albums and What-the-Hell is this?
Most of them are in very good condition but worthless. Too common; too many sold.
There were around thirty albums I classified as Classical (Beethoven, Bach, Mozart, etc.) Another twenty that there were Classicalish:
- Leonard Bernstein conducting symphonies for “everyday consumption”
- Lawrence Welk’s favorite waltzes
- Soundtracks from various movies
- And … does anyone know Greek?
From my Mother-in-Law (who was a kindergarten teacher and loved to travel) we had one full box of:
- Children’s records
- How to Learn either Russian, German or Spanish
- Music from Hawaii, Mexico, India, Java, etc.
- Easy listening and popular hits by Perry Como, Frank Sinatra, Julie Andrews, Burl Ives, etc.
I did run into a couple of albums I thought might be valuable. One because it was beautifully packaged and the other because it was so tragic. After some research it turned out I was right about both . . . although by valuable, they’re probably worth what someone paid for them!
I’ll get to my treasures tomorrow, if you’re interested! Let me know!
Saying nothing in particular 
My painter took my late husband’s vinyl collection; I liked the guy and was happy to get rid of it as my husband’s taste and mine rarely meshed. Plus, he had 10 copies of every John Denver album. I like JD but I’m not as obsessed with him as my husband was! John (boyfriend) is also a “collector”/marginal hoarder and has gotten himself into a situation with too many garage and estate sale “finds.” But we don’t live together, so I gently prod him to have his own garage sales and even mention the cost to his kids to have professionals clear his house the way it currently is. (when he dies) I talk about my late mom’s house (she wasn’t a collector at all) and how, even as much as we emptied out of her house, it still cost me about $500 to have the guy come in to finish the job. Right now, John’s house would cost multiple thousands of dollars, probably close to $10,000 to clear. The guy on the right of that album looks like Tiny Tim–but isn’t. What language is that?
My husband was happy to collect and bring home all the books and records his mother collected and so I’m sure he really believes that his children will feel the same. But kids these days are different. To be honest – I have hoarded a lot of books and artwork by friends over the years and so our children may just have to suffer! I guess … to be fair … I will have to brutally face my hoarding next
I copied the album cover into Google images and it sad:Artist: Mikis Theodorakis and Vasilis PapakonstantinouTitle: Tis Exorias… (Of Exile…)Genre: Greek Folk/Protest Music
Wow! Thank you Jim! I am in your debt!
It was no problem at all JT, and I am always her to try and help out.
I love these finds… Now they are sorted what’s the plan? I found the English version of the greek album here is the link https://share.google/GydcFUCG0K5Ye5R3x and here’s what is said about it. Tis Exorias (Της Εξορίας…) is not a band, but rather a landmark collaborative album released in 1976 by two major figures in Greek music:
Mikis Theodorakis (Composer): A world-renowned Greek composer, songwriter, and political activist. He composed, arranged, and conducted the music for this album.
Vasilis Papakonstantinou (Singer): A famous Greek singer, largely known for his work in Greek rock. He provided the vocals for the tracks on this record. Hope that helps? 💜🌻🌻
Wow – thanks Willow. No wonder that record was so carefully preserved. I’m going to wait to see which records the kids want and then donate the rest.
Well done a wise decision 💜💜
sorry did the above before seeing Jim had already done so 💜🌻
I sold my entire collection of vinyl records (most were 12-inch singles) on eBay many years ago. I was shocked by how much bidding was done on some of them. I sold all the picture discs and any ‘first singles’ by well known groups or singers separately. It took a lot of time and effort, but all that space that I claimed back made it all worthwhile.
I agree – there’s nothing like having some extra closet space.
Good luck. LOL I think some of those have their own box…by themselves. 🙂
They sure do!
Hi Jan, I have my mother’s records. There are about 40 of them and most are West End or broadway musicals. I grew up listening to them and am glad I have them.
But do you think your children will want them? We are getting ready to downsize and I really don’t want to move 7 boxes of records (they’re heavy!) Since few people have turntables – keeping records is often just sentimental!
Probably my kids won’t want any of my special things but that’s fine. They can throw them all away after I die because I won’t care then.
It’s very difficult to throw away your mother’s treasures. At least it was for me. But all kids are different – one of our daughters would probably just bring in a dump truck and have everything tossed!
My sons may keep everything. I don’t know and I’m not going to worry about it. What I love and value is not necessarily someone else’s cup of tea and I accept that. My things make me happy now 🤗
It’s a fine line between collector and hoarder. I do walk that line often.
I don’t speak Greek, but I can read most of the alphabet. The record is by Mikis Theodorakis, a Greek musician and composer, who wrote the music for Zorba the Greek… Keep it.
If you don’t have one, I suggest you buy an LP turntable. They’re not expensive, and some LP’s are treasures. (I still have the Beatles’ double white album…) (You can mention that to ‘Hubby’.) 😉
We do have a record player, receivers, speakers, sub-woofers thingies… I need to hook them up for the kids (who are now excited to listen to a record again – life sure is odd). The only record I have from my youth is Meet the Beatles which my father gave me one very memorable Christmas.
That record is a fine piece of family history… (When we have a family get together at home one of my daughters or the grandkids are the first to put a record on.)