While the storage of a 3000-strong vinyl record collection may be causing a little domestic disharmony in a home in Millwater, the collection’s owner Christiaan Els is in no hurry to curb his obsession.
Christiaan jokes that his wife, former world champion high jumper and Olympic medalist Hestrie Cloete, often urges him to get rid of the collection, but he loves the records too much.
He is also keen to share his passion with other collectors and regularly holds retro record sales on the Coast and North Shore.
“When I was a kid in South Africa I worked at a national radio station’s record library during the school holidays and got paid in vinyl, so I started selling records for pocket money,” he says.
Some of those records are still part of Christiaan’s collection.
He went on to become a successful solo recording artist, known as Jurie Els and was signed with Sony Music until the couple – and Christiaan’s record collection – emigrated to NZ.
A gold boxed complete Beatles collection, that has never been played, is probably one of the most valuable items in the collection.
In a strange irony, the more popular an album was when it was released, then the less valuable it is likely to be now.
“Neil Diamond’s Hot August Night and a lot of the ABBA albums, for instance, were so popular that just about everyone has a copy,” Christiaan says. “Other albums by artists like the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, the Beatles and Jimi Hendrix were popular, but most were trashed at parties, so if you can find some of those old albums in good condition, they are worth something.”
Christiaan says it is not just older people wanting to remember their glory days who are collecting vinyl.
“Kids between about 16 and 23 are also big fans of vinyl and very knowledgeable about the records as well.”
He did have a laugh to himself though when one youngster asked how the remote worked on the record player!
Anyone interested in buying or selling records can catch-up with Christiaan at the Red Beach Methodist Church Hall on Saturday October 20 (9am-1pm) or the Silverdale Hall on Monday October 22 (9am-3pm).
