Melted Wax
When A Vinyl Collection Goes Up In Flames
S.W. Lauden is my pen name. The person behind it is Steve Coulter.
My family and I sadly lost our Altadena, CA home to the Eaton Fire. We are all safe, but the road ahead will no doubt be difficult.
These “Vodka Sauce” posts are more Coulter than Lauden, but I’m trying to spread them out between our regularly scheduled “music, books and music books” programming.
I’ve been stubbornly lugging crates of vinyl around since I first moved out of my parents house at 19.
Many were shuffled through various apartments, storage spaces, garages and rehearsal studios over the decades before landing at our house in Altadena twelve years ago. They all went up in flames, along with my wife’s and kids’ collections, when we lost our home in the Eaton Fire.
I was never the most serious collector, but I ended up with a lot of vinyl. Many of the oldest records dated back to my tweens and teens. I knew every crackle, pop and hiss, the reason for cover blemishes, and—in many cases—how I originally acquired them.
All those little imperfections were like secret scars that the albums and I shared.
Like so much else about this experience, it’s making me really think about my relationship with objects.
I’d already gone fully digital with my modern reading, but for some reason I kept acquiring physical music media. Nostalgia had a lot to do with it. There’s romance and ritual to carefully placing the platter on the turntable, dropping the needle, studying an album cover while listening.
Flipping it over and starting again.
Time will tell if I eventually start rebuilding my collection—it’s an expensive hobby and this recent loss is pretty heartbreaking—but for now I wanted to write about a few albums that have been on my mind this past week. This is not a list of favorites, just a few that randomly popped into my head as I slowly process all of this loss.
One Way Ticket by The Nerves
This career-defining collection is a top contender for the vinyl album I’ve listened to the most. Which is saying a lot since I didn’t even acquire a copy until about 4-5 years ago. I meant to bring it with me when I went to see The Nerves’ drummer/songwriter (and King of Power Pop!) Paul Collins live in December, but forgot. Then again, losing a signed copy would probably make this situation even harder than it already is.
Simple Dreams by Linda Ronstadt
Linda Ronstadt was always a bit of a guilty pleasure for me growing up. I developed a residual crush on her as a pre-tween thanks to a poster on my older brother’s bedroom wall, but really fell for her music in my teens and 20s. My wife and I spent many days singing and dancing to this album in our Altadena living room when our kids were little. Those are memories I will cherish for the rest of my days.
Alien Lanes by Guided By Voices
This will always be my favorite Guided By Voices album. I splurged and bought this brand new when I first dipped my toe back into vinyl about a decade ago. “Motor Away” is an important song for my wife and me dating back to the earliest days of our relationship, so it was pretty magical to spend many afternoons listening to that track and others favorites like “My Valuable Hunting Knife” and “Closer You Are” with my youngest daughter when she was a tot. I almost turned her into a lifelong fan…almost.
The Records by The Records
I was driving by a well-known Silverlake record store one day and decided to pop in on a whim. I had a specific album in mind and decided they would have it. I walked through the door, went straight to the “R” section and, incredibly, there it was—a U.S. pressing of The Records’ debut album, including a promotional poster. It’s a fantastic collection, but my beloved copy was special because I conjured it like a vinyl wizard.
Too Fast For Love by Mötley Crüe
I was at the Licorice Pizza near my childhood home to buy a friend’s birthday gift. While we were there, I convinced my mom to let me get something for myself as well (perks of being the youngest). For obvious reasons, the cover of the first Mötley Crüe album drew my hungry tween eyes. I’d never heard of this band with the weird name, but I was instantly sold on the umlauts. Devilish metal? Yes, but rough around the edges in a way that borders on punk. The copy that went up in flames last week was the one I bought in the early ‘80s and kept with me for decades. Well played, Satan.
New Day Rising by Hüsker Dü
More umlauts! My SoCal high school bandmates and I fell hard for three Minneapolis bands—The Replacements, Soul Asylum, and, of course, the mighty Hüsker Dü. I was already a fan of their Metal Circus EP and stuck with them for their entire run in the ‘80s. I love all of their albums for various reasons, but New Day Rising has long been my favorite. “Celebrated Summer” feels like my personal anthem from those heady days. The copy I lost in the fire originally belonged to my best friend Keith Brown, retrieved from his family storage space as a personal memento after he died in 1995.
Welcome Interstate Managers by Fountains Of Wayne
I was reluctant to include this one here because I wrote and spoke so much about it around the 20th anniversary in 2023 (here’s an RTL example). I even developed some pretty out there fan theories (I’m better now). If all you know about this band or album is “Stacy’s Mom,” I strongly suggest you check out “Mexican Wine,” “Hackensack,” “Hey Julie” and “Bright Future In Sales.” This flawed pressing ruffled some feathers with the band and fans, but I always loved holding it in my hands while I listened.
Hit To Hit by 2nd Grade
If any band convinced me to start writing about modern music again, it was Philadelphia’s 2nd Grade. I discovered them through the combined video for “Velodrome”/“My Bike,” instantly falling for their lo-fi power pop chops. My vinyl acquisitions up to that point had mostly been focused on older releases, but that all changed for the better when I ordered a copy of Hit To Hit on Easter yellow vinyl. I hope the wax melted into an egg shape, waiting for me to find it in the ashes.
Bleed Your Heart Out by Kate Clover
This is one of my favorite albums to come out of LA in recent years. Interestingly, I first discovered Kate Clover’s music thanks to a streaming algorithm. Her high-energy songs mix the attack of first wave LA punk with timeless pop hooks to create something that’s hard to ignore. This is also an artist that I bonded over with my daughters. I believe we lost two copies of Bleed Your Heart Out in the fire—the one I ordered for myself and another my oldest daughter bought at one of Clover’s shows.
#1 by The Brothers Steve
The frenzy to get out of our house on the fateful Tuesday night entailed many snap decisions. It didn’t help that one of our cars was in the shop, which meant we had extremely limited space. I made a last minute sweep through my office minutes before we left and grabbed framed copies of other Big Stir Records releases I was part of—including Popsicko and Generation Blue—but sadly left my band’s debut album behind. I’m sure I could get a copy from our label, but this one had a lot of sentimental value.
That specific piece of vinyl is gone, like so many other objects that populated my life, but the music and memories live on.
Flipping it over and starting again…
Insurance replaces stuff but not what that stuff meant. So sorry for what you and your family and so many others are going through. Can’t even fathom it
This was a loving tribute to records I know meant so much to you! Had to laugh a little at the Motley Crue blurb, though. I'm glad you are able to still find a bit of humor in all this.