Vinyl records are making a comeback!  Why?  Well, for those of us who lived through the days when that was our only option for buying music, it reminds us of that time in our lives (a long, long time ago). For the millennials who love a little throw back to a time before they were born, they are requesting and purchasing vinyl versions of songs and it’s actually becoming the “cool” thing to do!  Wherever you land in these groups, chances are you will need a place to store these gems we call “Vinyls”.

Can you remember your first record? 

I remember the first record I ever bought for myself…it was Depeche Mode. I remember saving up for the $11.91 to buy it with my own money. I cherished that record, and listened to it until the entire album was scratched – front and back. I bought Air Supply and Chicago as my next two records, and played them over and over. To this day, I still know every word to an Air Supply song. Why? Why didn’t I remember algebra or chemistry? Ahhhh… the little things that bring us joy in our lives… it’s just fun to sit back and cherish those memories (both good and bad) as we listened to music the only way we knew how to at the time. Now…music is at our fingertips. It was so different then.  I pinched pennies to save enough to buy an album, and would listen to the radio for hours just to hear them play my favorite song. It’s much different now. So I ask you… is it better to have the music at our fingertips? Or was is better to save and wait to hear our favorites?

Music has always been a part of my life. When I was little, my dad discovered a small band playing in San Francisco called “The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo”. I was about 5 years old and I remember my dad coming back from a business trip and playing a record for me. He said that they had an amazing sound… and made me listen for the horn section, and the piano section… reminding me with a smile why I HAD to take piano lessons. The music sounded pretty wild to me but I played it over and over again to hear the piano.I would say things like “the drums are too loud” or “I can’t understand the words”, but my dad would say to listen again – and listen even closer to hear things that most people would overlook. He said that what I was hearing was an example of how people create beauty and express themselves. Once I found that in any song, my little eyes would grow bigger showing the little light bulb that went off inside my head, and he would give me a nod of approval which meant more to me than the actual words my dad would say. My dad brought home more and more records over the years like REM, the Bangles, the Go Go’s and Cheap Trick.  I listened to those over and over again, listening for the same parts that I was taught to single out. While I thought all the music was a little strange, I loved that I got to play their songs and hear about their wild adventures with my dad. What I didn’t realize at the time was that my dad had started a record label, and these were the people that he chose to work with. And the “wild adventures” were but snippets of what really happened on the road… a fact I didn’t understand for many years.

It was a colorful childhood when I was with my dad. He and my mom had divorced with help from divorce lawyers in Maryland when I was two years old, but I went back and forth between my dad’s house and my mom’s house. I remember going to concerts when I was little and falling asleep in the control room while the bands were on stage playing. I still get VERY sleepy when someone blasts the radio. I’m classically conditioned to fall asleep to loud music!

With the “Mystic Knights…” I could never pronounce the ENTIRE band name, so I just called them Oingo Boingo.  When I was seven years old, my dad told me that they shortened their name for me. I realize now that may have been a tall tale, but at 7 years old, I just thought it was really sweet of “uncle Danny” and the guys.

In the 80’s, my dad sold his share in the record company to A&M Records, who was bought by MCA and now is owned by Universal Music Group… a sign that I pass by every day on the back lot of Universal Studios Hollywood, where I work. It seems like a lifetime ago that I first listened to those records. Life has a way of coming full circle, and every time I pass that division of Universal, I know my dad is giving me that little nod.

Now I do have to say that my dad was a story teller… and the stories got larger and larger each time they were told.  And although I lived through many of them, there are still questions I have today about the validity of these stories…validity that will never come now that he has passed away…. but it all made for one fantastic childhood.

My dad passed away last year just a couple of months before my wedding to Jase. We knew he wouldn’t make it to the day to walk me down the aisle, but he gave his blessing to Jase before he passed, which meant the world to me. I sold my house that my dad was living in, and had his possessions transferred into storage. I haven’t had the heart (or the head space) to go through his things until now. What I uncovered made my heart leap with joy! All of those records that he gave me to listen to over and over again were still there! Both the ones I played and new ones in their shiny (but dusty) plastic covered cardboard cases… there for me to cherish for the rest of my life. I couldn’t leave them in a box… I wanted to display them proudly as a remembrance of my dad’s life and colorful past. So this is a tribute to him and a reminder to me: Stop and play the music… and listen for the hidden tidbits that lay beneath the bass and brass of the tune. Find the beauty in any music, enjoy this art form and remember that it’s an expression of someone’s life that should be cherished.

So, with ALL of that in mind, and in honor of our special Home & Family guest, Olivia Newton-John, I have come up with a cool DIY to store these treasures with you and show off your record collection in style! Here is what you will need to get started.