Hello and welcome to Volume 11 of Clutter Tales, a series where we tell the stories of our lives through our clutter. There’s a new guest post coming next week but today I’ve got a Clutter Tale of my own. If you’re a music fan, I know you’ll relate to this story about the memories inspired by a chart-topping birthday gift.

In Musically Rolling Along, guest blogger Cher told us of the memories rekindled by finding an old iPod. It was a tale I could relate to because I haven’t been able to part with two crates of old LP records that sat silently in a closet in our basement for over 20 years – until now.

This chart-topping birthday gift is #1

Last summer, when I cleaned out the basement closet, I pulled out the crates of records, thumbed through them, and then put them right back. I just couldn’t bring myself to part with them. Even though I was breaking the number one rule on my easy decluttering checklist, there were far too many memories sitting in those crates.

At Christmas, when my daughter Laura came home from college she showed me a gift she had received from a friend – a turntable. That’s right! My 21 year-old daughter is listening to music on vinyl. It turns out what’s old is new again.

While she was home, we took the turntable down to the basement and dragged out my crates of records. We went through them and chose a few to listen to. We sat on the floor in the basement listening to music while I reminisced about the memories inspired by those albums.

A trip down memory lane

My album collection brings back so many memories.

I recalled saving my allowance and babysitting money and walking downtown, or taking the bus to the record store at the mall, to buy a new album.

I recalled painstakingly trying to set the needle down at the start of a song while I had one finger on the record button on my cassette deck. Those mixed tapes I spent countless hours making were a big hit at parties back in the day.

But most of all, I recalled how a new album was an experience. When I’d bring my new purchase home, I’d spend hours poring over the album cover artwork and the liner notes. I’d listen to the music and sing along with the lyrics that were usually printed on the inside sleeve until I had them committed to memory. All these years later, I might not recall what I had for lunch yesterday but I still remember the lyrics to those songs.

When Laura went back to college after the Christmas break, I packed up my albums and put the crates back in the closet. They might sit there in silence for another 20 years, but there was no way I was going to part with them.

Fast forward 6 months to my birthday in July. When I opened my present, I was delighted to find this! A turntable. My old LPs were about to get new life.

Once again, I dragged those crates of LPs out of the closet in the basement.

As I went through them, I snapped some pictures to give you an idea of the treasures I found in those crates.

The Bryan Adams collection

I’m a big fan of Bryan Adams. I have his later albums on CD, but not the first two. Listening to those two albums takes me back to 1981 when I first saw him in concert at the Kitchener Auditorium. He was relatively unknown back then. He opened for Loverboy and it was the loudest concert I have ever been to. My ears were still ringing at lunchtime the next day.

I’ve seen him seven or eight times in concert since then. Those concerts weren’t quite so loud but they were every bit as awesome.  

Movie soundtracks

80s movies had iconic soundtracks. Younger readers might recognize the young lady on the cover of Pretty in Pink as a young Molly Ringwald. These days she plays Archie’s mom on the new Riverdale series.  

Rick Astley – Whenever You Need Somebody

This was one of the albums that I listened to with Laura last Christmas. Who knew that Rick’s 1987 hit “Never gonna give you up” would get new life over 30 years later and surpass a billion views on YouTube? My daughters couldn’t believe I actually owned the album where that iconic Rickrolling song came from.

Eddie Murphy – How Could It Be

Yes, this is the Eddie Murphy of Saturday Night Live, Beverly Hills Cop and Shrek fame! He released this album in the 80s. The only song I really remember from the album is “Party all the time”.

Although he’s better known for his acting abilities, Eddie is a decent singer and has released a few albums over the years.

The Queen collection

And, of course, my beloved Queen collection! Other than “Queen Live Killers”, I have all these albums on CD and have played them many times over the years. I remember listening to the Live Killers album while I looked at the concert photos inside the fold-out double album cover, and pretending I was at an actual Queen concert. Such fabulous memories!

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This turntable is definitely at the top of my Hot 100 best birthday gifts of all time. I am so excited to give these albums new life.

I heard recently of studies showing that listening to music has a positive effect on brain function. Patients with Alzheimer’s or dementia respond positively when they listen to music from their youth. Maybe music is the fountain of youth. I’ll give it a try.

I cleared a space for my album collection on the bookshelf in my office. They’re never going back to the basement.

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I hope you enjoyed this installment of Clutter Tales. If you’d like to write a guest post for Clutter Tales, please get in touch. I’d love to give you the opportunity to properly thank your clutter by sharing its story too!

What’s your favourite song or album from when you were young? Tell us about it below.