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Not having much to do yesterday—because bah humbug, we don’t do Christmas—we finally started loading singles into my Wurlitzer jukebox. Singles, for those born this century, are little circular vinyl yokes with one song on each side. We hadn’t quite gotten around to it before, having only moved in here six years ago.
My brother bought me the jukebox for my 21st birthday, so it’s been travelling with me for the past 42 years and, much like myself, despite some wear and tear, it remains in fine working order. Which is just as well, as Wurlitzer has since closed down, apparently no longer having a place in this world. The end of an era.
At the time, I’d just bought my first house: two storeys over basement, acquired for the princely sum of £30,000 and sold a few years later for 60,000. When it was sold again in 2021, it fetched 1.195 million euro.
I carpeted and wallpapered the living room in black. The only furniture I allowed was a curiously shaped black metal coffee table, a sound system ( record player/radio/cassette player), and a designer sofa, so uncomfortable we had to sit on the floor. I was the original minimalist before minimalism was invented, so when my brother told me he’d bought me a dining table and chairs, I was horrified. Flat surfaces encourage clutter. Then the jukebox arrived. Relief. Delight. The colours looked enchanting in the total blackness of the room.
When I moved to Amsterdam in 2000 and started a holiday rental business, the Wurlitzer was installed in one of the apartments.
one of our vacation rentals in Amsterdam
How it survived the experience is anyone’s guess, but survive it did, living to make the return journey to Ireland in 2014.
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I still have boxes of 80s singles, the soundtrack to my youth, and watched by four admiring hounds, we spent a fine Christmas Day dancing away to such classics as (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais - The Clash and The Smiths - Cemetary Gates.
Real music!
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That Wurlitzer jukebox is quite the beauty. So wonderful that it still works. It seems that records of all kinds are becoming popular again, so more "singles" may show up soon, if not already.
I have a black Wurlitzer piano (I know, not even close) that was my Grandmother's. It is so heavy and has lasted a lot of years. I paid a piano mover separately just to move it 8 miles! LOL.... but it was worth it and I'm glad I have it.
Enjoyed your post.
Things were made to last in those days. There was no such thing as planned obsolescence.
That's a pretty neat collection of singles you have there. I bet it's just 1/1000 of the collection or something in that ballpark?
Not quite! I have maybe a few hundred. I've spent my life moving about...hard to keep hold of anything.
Sounds like a fun day!
The nostalgia of jukeboxes...
I remember frequenting a pool bar in Gouda to play pool, drink beer and listen to songs on the jukebox ( in the late 90s ).
It had CD singles in it though and one song cost 1 Euro or maybe één Gulden.
I miss my record collection, stored in a friend's attic in Portugal.
CD singles me arse!:) There's nothing like the old vinyl.
I agree.
I love tables, the older and quirkier the better. They are generally covered with stuff, dog toys on one, music on another, plants on a few, papers strewn around on the one I sit at the most.
That juke box is phenomenal.
No, no. that wouldn't do atall, atall. Though I have chilled out quite a bit since then:)
We have that Bauhaus (and a few others). Been listening to a lot of records of late.
Ah, we probably have more in common than you'd care to admit😊😉
#hive #posh