The House of Records Part III

THE RECOVERY

The doctors said James had suffered a severe manifestation of compulsive behavior.  They said he had a "binaural fascination" and should not be weaned away from records completely.  There was no chance of that anyway.  According to Joanne's calculations,  James had spent over half of his grandmothers money on non-returnable records.  There was no way to cancel the sales. The Holdenfield's were stuck with over 150,000 records.

Throughout this period, the contractor's bids for the house had come in.  The remaining monies would just about cover labor and framing materials.  Joanne was rightly upset and contemplated leaving her husband.  She told him he would have to sell the albums at a loss so that they could move out of their motorized habitat.  James couldn't bare to see his life long pursuit, of having the largest record collection, wrenched away from him.  He told his wife he had an idea that would please both of them.  This is how the world's first "house of records" was born.  

THE HOUSE OF RECORDS

After paying James and Joanne an outrageous sum of money, they graciously invited this writer to tour their house of high fidelity.  We set a date, Joanne gave me directions and within a week I found myself on the road leading to the Holdenfield's unique abode.  

The rough and rocky road leading to the estate ended before we reached the house. We parked the car and began our trek.  The hike in is a pleasant five mile journey through foothills of pastoral land.  Joanne made James build the house on the back five; In case of a relapse, James would have time to consider his actions before going on another record buying binge.  

As we got closer to the house the entourage, including myself, Bartholomew Consta, an award winning photographer, and Espirit, my dalmatian, saw what looked like the temple of Mecca perched on the hill.  It was an extraordinary sight.  Bartholomew made us stop so he could get a shot.  I implored him to hurry so we could see this architectural marvel at close range.

THE FRONT PATH

The front path was made of an amalgamation of 33 1/3 records. I bent down and read some of the labels. It was amazing, since 1940 roughly thirty songs with "walk," as the first word in the title, have made the top 40.  This walkway must have had every one of those titles.  The first title's I noticed were Walk Don't Run and Walk Away Renee.  As I strolled up towards the house I saw, Walk Hand in Hand, Walking After Midnight, Walking Along, Walking Away, Walking in L.A., Walking in Rhythm, Walking in the Rain, and Walking in the Rain with the One I Love.   

The walkway curved to the right where below my feet were, Walking on Sunshine, Walking the Dog, Walkin' Miracle and Walk Like a Man, by The Four Seasons.  The Bangles '86 hit on Columbia Walk Like An Egyptian, ran into Step by Step, Steppin' Out, and These Boots Are Made For Walkin', Nancy Sinatra's 1966 hit on Reprise.

At the front door I looked down at a gold record that had been left unmolested. The cut, I Am Not Your Stepping Stone, off The Monkees self-titled debut album lay beneath my feet.  I tied Espirit to the front fence. Bartholomew and I continued the journey and became entranced for the next six hours.  

THE FACADE

The house was simply amazing.  The sides of the house had real "Vinyl" siding.   Jim's contractors, Sabortini & Sun, had cut records in 6" X 3" rectangles.  The rectangular pieces abut and line the facade of the home.  The records looked like traditional clapboards.  I asked Elmer Sabortini how he made the records adhere to the outside walls.   "I hammered ‘em," he told me.

I looked at the clapboards and saw some familiar labels.  There were The Osmond's on MGM, The Jackson Five on Barry Gordy's Motown, Barry Manilow on Arista, Helen Reddy's I am Woman, on Capitol and several Dean Martin records on Reprise.  

THE FRONT DOOR

The door to the abode is a sight to see.  It's composed of thirty-six gold singles. I wondered where they got all these singles.  I knew a performer earns a gold record when his or her single sells 500,000 copies, (before 1989 they had to sell 1 million units.)  I wondered how Jim contacted all these people. I asked him.  "The dates of the records increase from the base to the top of the door.  I bought the collection from a gal in Kentucky.  She had bought Norm. N. Nite's Rock On Almanac and decided she had to find at least one gold single from each year since her birth.  She did pretty well.  I think she only missed a couple of years.  She sold me the collection, cause I paid her enough to do the same thing three times over."

At this moment Joanne looked slightly ill.  They beckoned me to continue the tour, but I wanted to get the titles down. Jim told me he'd give me a list before I left.  

Among the records on the front door were:

    1950    MONA LISA                         NAT KING COLE
    1951    HOW HIGH THE MOON           LES PAUL & MARY FORD
    1954    SH BOOM                            THE CREW CUTS
    1955    I HEAR YOU KNOCKIN'            GALE STORM
    1956    SEE YOU LATER ALLIGATOR     BILL HALEY & THE COMETS
    1956     CANADIAN SUNSET                HUGO WINTER WALTER
    1958     TEQUILA                            THE CHAMPS
    1960    THE TWIST                            CHUBBY CHECKER
    1961    RUN AROUND SUE                    DION
    1962    GOOD LUCK CHARM                ELVIS PRESLEY
    1963    IN THE WIND                         PETER,PAUL & MARY
    1964     CAN'T BUY ME LOVE             THE BEATLES
    1965    GET OFF MY CLOUD                THE ROLLING STONES
    1966    WILD THING                        THE TROGS
    1967    LIGHT MY FIRE                    THE DOORS
    1968    MRS. ROBINSON                SIMON & GARFUNKEL
    1969    LET THE SUNSHINE IN        THE FIFTH DIMENSION
    1970    I'LL BE THERE                    THE JACKSON FIVE
    1971    ME AND BOBBY McGEE        JANICE JOPLIN
    1972    AMERICAN PIE                    DON McLEAN
    1973    CROCODILE ROCK                ELTON JOHN
    1974    YOU'RE HAVING MY BABY        PAUL ANKA
    1975    FAME                                    DAVID BOWIE
    1976    AFTERNOON DELIGHT            STARLAND VOCAL BAND
    1977    SIR DUKE                           STEVIE WONDER
    1978    STAYIN' ALIVE                    THE BEE GEE'S
    1979    RISE                                    HERB ALPERT
    1980    GLASS HOUSES                         BILLY JOEL
    1981    JUST LIKE STARTING OVER              JOHN LENNON
    1982    I LOVE ROCK & ROLL                    JOAN JETT
    1983    DOWN UNDER                            MEN AT WORK
    1984    JUMP                                    VAN HALEN
    1985    WE ARE THE WORLD            USA FOR AFRICA
    1986    KISS                                    PRINCE
    1987    I WANNA DANCE W/SOMEBODY    WHITNEY HOUSTON
        
 Next: The Inside Story