Scott Dudelson, 45, looks at the shelves of Santa Monica vinyl store Record Surplus. First opening its doors in 1985, it has been his home away from home since childhood. While other kids were putting CDs in their center consoles, Dudelson was browsing through boxes of $1 records. It was a luxury He could Because the going price for then-new embedded technology was “$12 to $18” per disc in the late 1990s — a far cry from what he had in his pockets.
There is a lingering desperation in his expression. Maybe because just a week ago, on Tuesday, January 7, he watched Hellfire climb over the Palisades Hills, eventually streaming into his community. This will reduce his house to ashes along with his vinyl record collection, which numbers around 8,000 albums and has been built up over 25 years.
“Before the fire was reported, I went out and smelled the fire,” Dudelson says, recalling the details over the phone, with his girlfriend at his side to confirm the story. “Ten minutes later, I just saw smoke rising over my hills, right above my community. And I realized at that point that this was really bad.
Indeed it was. Fires continued to destroy nearly 3,000 homes in Palisades and Malibu. Just 20 miles away, Altadena suffered a similarly disastrous fate, where wildfires broke out Expendables More than 9,000 buildings have been destroyed since the fire began.
But Dodelson remained calm at that moment, as he and six other residents were “contemplating the idea of staying.” Just three weeks ago, a house he was building — and planned to move his collection to — near Pepperdine, Malibu, survived a series of fires. About 1,000 records were lost during that incident, as wildfire smoke, like mold, contaminates thick paper album covers, making them toxic over long periods of exposure.
He also spoke with some of his peers who saved their homes during 2018 Woolsey fire (His escaped with little damage, losing 500 records.) Little did he know that the Palisades and Eaton fires would go on to burn more than twice the urban area Woolsey had.
“I thought if you were smart about it, you could do it,” he added.
It didn’t take long for the truth to set in: “I realized I wasn’t a firefighter, and it was time for me to leave…so I left, crossed the street on PCH, and watched my community burn.”
He ended up evacuating with the help of his ex-wife, Melissa, who, ironically, helped him move his collection (55 boxes total) from her home in Latigo Canyon due to renovations. She let him keep them there while his future home down the road from Pepperdine underwent renovations of its own. He thought it was a good move because Malibu’s canyons were particularly susceptible to burns. “Fire is part of the way of life,” he noted, having lived in the area for 20 years.
A video recorded by Dudelson earlier that day shows him moving through a room full of records: “God willing, all of this stuff will survive,” he says quietly while navigating the maze of boxes. “I feel hopeful. My house didn’t burn down last time and it will survive this time.”
The painful truth of what happened didn’t come out until the next day when he caught a glimpse of what was left of his house during a CBS News broadcast.
Together, he and his ex-wife saved six boxes, or a total of about 450 records. Fortunately, his previous experiences with wildfires had left him well prepared, ticking some boxes for saving beforehand based on anything from emotion to value to a gut feeling that it was worth saving.
“I made two of my favorite albums of all time: Neil Young’s ‘Everybody Knows This Is No Place’ and ‘At the Beach,’” he said. “These aren’t expensive records—I can go into any store and probably find a nice, clean copy for five, 15, or 20 dollars.”
Others, like “The Psychedelic Sounds of The 13th Floor Elevators,” Nick Drake’s albums, Elvis’ self-titled debut, and the sealed “The White Album” from 1968, Big Star’s “No. 1 record,” ended up These funds are worth hundreds to thousands of dollars each.
“I’ve had a lot of people reach out to me, whether it’s people in the vinyl community or record labels,” Dudelson said.
(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)
But there is still a lot that is lost.
“I lost all my Smiths recordings, the original, smaller, shrink-wrapped version of Slayer, Reign in Blood,” he recalls sadly. “I mean I lost everything. I had all the David Bowie records, all the Fleetwood Mac records, you name it…it was all gone.”
His copy of the alternate cover of the Beatles’ “Yesterday and Today”, known as the “Butcher Cover”, was also lost. Nowadays, it is treated more like a historical artifact than just a rare vinyl record – only 750,000 copies were printed in 1966 before it was recalled and repackaged.
There is a general feeling that the worst is yet to come, as Dudelson still does not have a full understanding of the records left behind. He recently learned of a rare blue notebook that had been left behind: a 1956 print of Jutta Heap’s At The Hickory House Volume 1 (currently included For approximately $2000).
But his lament turned into admiration in the coming days, as he began posting about the loss to his 55,000 Instagram followers. the account, @alldayvinylhas been cultivating a community since he started sharing his discoveries in late 2018. A few years later, he embraced it further by starting his own podcast, “LEGENDS,” which has hosted the likes of classic rock singer-songwriter Dave Mason and Robbie. Krieger from the doors.
“I’ve had a lot of people reach out to me, whether it’s people in the vinyl community or record labels,” Dudelson said in a warm voice. “Two of the first people to reach out to me were friends at Rhino Records and Universal Music Group…and they were like, ‘We’re so sorry, let me know how I can help you rebuild the group.’ Come get some records from us.
He cried as the DMs started pouring in.
Above all, Dudelson and the vinyl record community are audiophiles with a deep appreciation for the “unsung heroes” of the industry. He described the entire affair as “symbolic” of Los Angeles’ determination to survive in the face of the Earth’s attempt to push it adrift.
“I would never rebuild what I had, but I’m okay with that,” he says. “I had great memories with them. I learned a lot about music. I read a lot of liner notes.
“But I’m also addicted to music,” he admits. “I’ll never stop buying music. I’ll never stop listening to music. I’ll never stop playing records all day long.
