#989: Moving In Stereo

RECORD STORE TALES #989: Moving In Stereo

It was May 2002 and I was a first-time homeowner.  My dad taught me, “Never rent!  Only buy.  Put your money towards something.”  So I trusted his advice and lived at home as long as could I possibly milk it!

Moving in to my new place took a day.  I had a lot of help from family and friends.  We probably had 10 or 12 people total.  I packed up all my CDs and insisted that only I handle them.  It caused me more than a little anxiety.  I figured a few jewel cases would crack, but there were some special ones I took extra precautions with.  Coloured jewel cases are hard to replace.  The most precious CD case to me is the 1996 Deep Purple In Rock anniversary edition.  The case comes etched with signatures and other text.  Breaking one of those means either living with it, or trying to find another copy with case intact.  I desired to do neither.  In Rock survived the move intact.  I would not be lying to you if I told you that this one little item was of more concern to me than anything else I moved that day.  My stereo equipment came in second.

Some people say they have a hard time sleeping, their first night in a new home.  I did not have that problem.  After a full day of moving, I was wiped.  But also eager to get going the next day and set up my new place.  Against the better judgement of everyone who helped me move, the very first thing I did was set up my CD towers.  Having those discs sitting in boxes really bothered me.  I wanted them out, so I could inspect them and ensure they all survived intact, and I wanted them accessible.  A long day of painting was ahead!

I cannot remember the first album I played in my new home.  Strange, because normally I’d commit that sort of thing to memory.  It was probably Kiss.  I like to use Kiss for firsts.  I do remember the first movie I watched.  It was The Phantom Menace.  I wanted my first movie to be a DVD, and I wanted it to be a Star Wars.  The older Star Wars films would not exist on that format until 2004.

I set up the CD towers, put the discs back in their alphabetical homes, and was relieved that only a couple cases broke.  I then painted around them.  Priorities.

The funny thing about these memories is how much space I thought I had back then.  I had so many empty closets.  I didn’t have enough stuff to put on my shelves.  To say things have changed would be an understatement.  Due to lack of storage, there are CDs everywhere in random order.  We need to hire a carpenter and get some proper CD shelving made for this place!

After a solid weekend of working, painting and assembling, I was settled into my new place.  I had my first guests over that Monday.  I loved my new place, but I did not have long to enjoy it.  The following week, I was on my way to Prince Edward Island, determined to find the home of Stompin’ Tom Connors, and eat lobster at least once a day.  Success on both counts.  But I couldn’t wait to get home again.  I had a new Deep Purple box set of official bootlegs waiting for me to finish listening.  12 CDs.  I only had time to hear the first three discs before departure.  And you can bet your last dollar that I picked up where I left off, with disc four.

Jen moved here in 2008.  It’s cramped but we make due.  Her illness set us back in the sense that we haven’t been able to move somewhere bigger.  But it’s home.  It’s our home.  It has 20 years of memories.  I’m proud to say that many of them are musical in nature.

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19 comments

    1. The only time he advised me wrongly — and he acknowledged this — is when I asked him if I should quit my job at the store. He said no, not until you find something new. I tried but ultimately had to quit prematurely. He now says he was wrong.

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  2. What was George Lucas thinking not releasing the old Star Wars films on DVD until 2004? We wouldn’t have to watch the original theatrical cuts on laserdisc if he’d just done the decent thing and put out the originals in letterboxed 16:9 widescreen in 1997.

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  3. Great memories. Nothing like your first place. And when I set my house up, the stereo and CDs were first because I needed something to listen to while I was setting up the rest of the house. Only makes sense. I’m on my fourth place right now.

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      1. You can bet I know what it is. Richard Pryor is gonna karate kick some ass at the end. Great guest spots from Dana Carvey and Rodney Dangerfield too.

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  5. You’ve taken me back to when I bought a house in 1992 with my then wife. My experiences were pretty much similar to yours and the weird thing is that I remember playing that Cars album when we were house hunting.

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      1. Like you, I was moving all the boxes that had my CDs, Vinyl, DVDs, VHS and Cassettes. Basically anything to do with the Arts it was on me.

        So they all came with me to my new place. I had them in the garage for about 6 weeks while I got the house ready for the collection to be placed properly. Well the tradies also used the garage and one of em took the box. 50 vinyls in it. When I questioned em, they denied it as I found out the box was missing a few weeks after they finished their job.

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