Scott Dudelson, 45, friends out over the cabinets of Santa Monica vinyl store File Surplus. First opening its doorways in 1985, its been his residence away from residence since childhood. Whereas different youngsters have been popping CDs into their middle consoles, Dudelson thumbed by means of bins of one-dollar data. It was a luxurious he may afford, provided that the going fee for the then-new, compact expertise was anyplace from “$12 to $18” per disc within the late ’90s — a far cry from what he had stuffed away in his pockets.
There’s a lingering despondence in his expression. Maybe it’s as a result of only a week earlier, on Tuesday, Jan. 7, he watched Hellfire climb over the Palisades hills, finally trickling into his neighborhood. It might cut back his residence to ash alongside along with his vinyl report assortment, tallied at roughly 8,000 albums and constructed over 25 years.
“Before the fire was even reported, I walked outside and I smelled the fire,” Dudelson says, recollecting particulars over the telephone, along with his girlfriend by his aspect to corroborate the account. “10 minutes later, I just saw the smoke rising over my hills, right over my community. And I knew at that point, that this was really, really bad.”
Certainly it was. The fires went on to destroy practically 3,000 houses throughout Palisades and Malibu. Simply 20 miles away, Altadena was hit with a equally disastrous destiny, the place wildfires consumed effectively over 9,000 constructions because the blaze started.
However Dudelson remained composed within the second, as he and 6 different residents have been “toying with the idea of staying.” In any case, simply three weeks in the past a home he’d been constructing — and deliberate to maneuver his assortment into — close to Pepperdine in Malibu survived a collection of fires. He’d misplaced round 1,000 data throughout that incident, as wildfire smoke, like mould, taints the thick paper board album covers, rendering them poisonous over extended intervals of publicity.
He’d additionally spoken with a few of his friends who had saved their houses throughout 2018’s Woolsey hearth (his personal survived with little injury, and 500 data have been misplaced). He was naught to know that the Palisades and Eaton fires would go on to burn greater than double the city acreage that Woolsey had.
“I thought, if you’re smart about it, you could do it,” he added.
It didn’t take lengthy for actuality to set in: “I realized I’m not a firefighter and it’s time for me to go … so I left, I went across the street on PCH, and I watched my community burn.”
He ended up evacuating with the assistance of his ex-wife, Melissa, who’d paradoxically simply helped him transfer his assortment (a complete of 55 containers) out of her Latigo Canyon residence resulting from renovations. She’d let him preserve them there while his personal future residence down the highway from Pepperdine was present process renovations of its personal. He’d thought it was a great transfer because the canyons of Malibu have been particularly vulnerable to burns: “Fire is part of the lifestyle,” he famous, having lived within the space for 20 years.
A video recorded earlier that day by Dudelson exhibits him panning throughout a room stuffed to the brim with data: “God-willing, all this stuff survives,” he says calmly whereas navigating the maze of containers. “I feel hopeful. My house didn’t burn last time and it’s going to survive this time.”
Collectively, he and his ex-wife saved six containers, or a complete of about 450 data. Fortunately, his earlier experiences with wildfires left him effectively ready, labeling some containers to rescue prematurely based mostly on something from sentimentality to worth to a intestine feeling that it was value hauling off.
“I set out two of my favorite albums of all time: Neil Young’s ‘Everybody Knows This is Nowhere’ and ‘On the Beach,’” he mentioned. “These are not expensive records — I could go to any store and probably find a nice, clean copy for five, 15, 20 bucks.”
Others, like “The Psychedelic Sounds of The 13th Floor Elevators,” his Nick Drake albums, Elvis’ self-titled debut, a sealed “The White Album” from 1968, and Massive Star’s “#1 Record” ended up in these containers as a result of they’re value lots of to 1000’s of {dollars} every.
“There’s been so many people that have reached out to me, both individuals in the vinyl community and record labels,” Dudelson mentioned.
(Christina Home/Los Angeles Occasions)
However there may be nonetheless a lot that he misplaced.
“I misplaced all my Smiths data, the mintiest, shrink-wrapped, unique model of Slayer, ‘Reign in Blood,‘” he recalled mournfully. “I mean, I lost everything. I had every David Bowie record, every Fleetwood Mac, you name it … it’s all gone.”
His copy of another cowl of The Beatles’ “Yesterday and Today,” generally referred to as the “butcher cover,” was additionally misplaced. These days, it’s handled as extra of a historic artifact than merely a uncommon vinyl report — solely 750,000 have been printed in 1966 earlier than they have been recalled and repackaged.
There’s a normal feeling that the worst is but to return, as Dudelson nonetheless doesn’t have a whole understanding of what data have been left behind. He just lately discovered a uncommon Blue Be aware was left behind: a 1956 urgent of Jutta Hipp’s “At The Hickory House Volume 1” (at the moment listed for ~$2,000).
“There’s been so many people that have reached out to me, both individuals in the vinyl community and record labels,” Dudelson mentioned, his voice warming. “Two of the first people that reached out to me were friends at Rhino Records and Universal Music Group … and they’re like, ‘We’re so sorry, let me know how I can help you rebuild the collection. Come down and grab some records from us.’”
He wept because the direct messages started to flood in.
Above all, Dudelson and the vinyl report neighborhood are music lovers who’ve a deep appreciation for the “unsung heroes” of the business. He described your entire affair as “emblematic” of L.A.’s persistence to exist within the face of the Earth’s try to set it adrift.
“I’m never going to rebuild what I had, but I’m okay with that,” he says. “I had great memories with them. I learned so much about music. I read so many liner notes.”
“But I’m also a music junkie,” he confesses. “I’m never gonna stop buying music. I’m never gonna stop listening to music. I’m never gonna stop playing records all day.”
