Is this Some Kind of Record?!?

The next time your spouse starts needling you to toss out the vinyl records taking up valuable real estate in the living-room bookcase, score some points by explaining that your stockpile pales in comparison to the one now up for sale by Neiman Marcus.

The Dallas-based retailer is offering a private collection that includes every rock and pop single that made it to the Billboard Top 100 from the years 1955 through 1990.

That one-hit wonder that debuted at 99 in 1978 and vanished (thankfully) the following week? It’s in there. A song that reigned supreme at the top of the charts for nine weeks (as did Bobby Darin’s 1959 single “Mack the Knife”)? You’ll find that one, too.

Some, like the 45 of the Beatles’ “Ain’t She Sweet” (with a rare photo sleeve) would sell individually for up to $500. The phenomenally complete assemblage, once the pride and joy of an obsessive hobbyist, is up for grabs for $275,000 and includes 18,400 records in all. Counting B-sides, that still gives you more music than you can comfortably fit on a late-model iPod.

So what if you’ll need to put an addition onto the house to store so much vinyl? At least you won’t hear any more complaints about excavating the living room bookcase.  —Thomas P. Farley

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