The Smiley Smile Message Board

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Key-Holder-Home-Organizer-Leash-Holder-Wall-Mounted-LP-Record-Beach-Boys-/261584985713?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&var=&hash=item3ce7ae1e71

Painful

Ahh, the "re-purposing" trend strikes again.  :lol

It could have been worse, they could have used it to melt/bend/shape into a bowl for holding cheese curls and Doritos. Look what they did to Sinatra:

(http://media.treehugger.com/assets/images/2011/10/RecycledRecordBowl.jpg)

Totally tasteless.

Criminal.

Those in possession of such items, and the 'manufacturers' of these, should be penalized. E.g. ten mandatory daily listenings to the whole of SIP.

That'll teach them.

I wish I didn't look at that. It's terrible.

Why the heck would anyone do that? It had to be someone from my home state too. Geez. Wouldn't it have been worth more in its original condition? It sure as heck ain't worth anything now.

I'll play devil's advocate for a minute and say that in some cases, the record in question might be simply worthless due to its condition. I was at a sale early morning Sunday where one of the tables had a copy of Magical Mystery Tour, Capitol "rainbow" label, reissue minus the booklet inside the gatefold. They wanted a few bucks for it, I picked it up and looked at the record. It was unplayable, there was a major needle gash running through it and other scratches on the surface that would make it unplayable unless you wished to damage your stylus trying to play it. Not to mention a gash like that...the classic bumping the tone-arm accident that ruined tons of records...it would also skip besides damaging and blunting your stylus.

So a record like that really has no value at all, and if someone did want to melt and bend it to serve Doritos from it as a bowl, it wouldn't be losing any value either as a collectible or as a playable record that wasn't already removed by an unfortunate series of events like a bad scratch from the past.

So we don't know exactly what condition that "Holland" vinyl was in prior to it being re-purposed into a wall hanger, and for all we know it was already unplayable either by scratches, warping, flood or water damage, etc. prior to them reworking it.

That's the optimistic view of course. With the current market for vinyl, I'm thinking the only records being re-purposed like this would already have no value due to similar damage issues that would make them unplayable.

Coulda been worse - a copy of Holland with "We Got Love" on it.....

My wife saw it and legit got pissed. I was not happy when I saw it, either, but to her it was 'borderline blasphemous' (her words) and disrespectful.

If they MUST have something like that made from a Beach Boys vinyl album, why not one of those budget greatest hits albums, of which there's a ton of. Holland is a fabulous album. What a shame.

 :P

And ten listenings of Holland, then they decide which was worse. >:D

Feel free to ignore what I said earlier  ;) , but before turning all the anger against the people doing these things, consider there is a possibility that the records were already unplayable or damaged enough to be worthless before they were melted or re-purposed, which would then leave the owner with an option of what to do with a record that can no longer be played as it was meant to be played. So you take something that is no longer "working" or serving a usable purpose and try to do something else with it.

Unless no one among us has ever been unfortunate enough to accidentally scratch, warp, or damage a record in any way that would render it unplayable and unusable as a way to listen to the music. What do you do with a record than perhaps cannot be played?

I agree, though, if they're taking perfectly good records and ruining them for this stuff, that wouldn't be a positive thing. But finding a new use for something that would be worthy of throwing in the trash? Not a bad thing, is it? We just don't know.

This is one of the problems I see with the whole "up cycling" craze. Theoretically, I agree with repurposing things that ordinarily would go in the landfill. That's responsible recycling and is good for the environment. The down side is that a whole lot of people are "up cycling" anything old without regard to its collectibility in its original form. I see this a lot with mid-century modern furniture that would be much more valuable if left alone. Unfortunately the e-bay and flea market crowd who Pinterest think it's just old and give it a crappy "shabby chic" paint job that ruins the piece.

On the other hand - the album is getting recognition on someone's wall. Their attention is being drawn first to the clock design, then when viewed in closer proximity, the label. The album would otherwise be filed away in a record collection unseen until someone pulled it out of the sleeve and looked at the label information and/or played it. More than likely it would be a Beach Boys collector (a tacky one like Bgas) who would have a copy or two of the Holland album already filed away, in addition to having this piece displayed prominently on his living room or kitchen wall.

It's considered art. Take it or leave it. To me, it promotes the album (even though the vinyl is warped to hell).  ;D

Cyncie, I agree for the most part with your thoughts on re-purposing...it's something of a fad these days, with several TV shows dedicated to it if not having competitions for who can re-work an antique or collectible in what the judges/producers determine is the best way.

I find some of that absolutely ridiculous, just like I find destroying perfectly good records ridiculous in order to make projects like these on this page.

But if the record is in fact unplayable, damaged, or in some way is not able to reproduce music as it was designed to do, then I'm all for finding something decorative or purposeful to use it for, rather than throwing it in the trash.

Just to get into my mindset a bit, I'm into keeping things in their original state as long as the original purpose of that item or collectible can still be used or enjoyed. You cannot replace original paint after it's been stripped and sanded off, right? You can restore it, but it doesn't mean entirely changing the whole vibe of that antique in the process so it appeals to a modern, hip ethos.

I love old cars, especially from the 30's to the 60's, but I prefer them to be as close to their original state as possible. I'm not into chopping, customizing, or entirely redesigning and rebuilding a perfectly good classic car in order to make a custom rod, a lowrider, or something hideous from Chip Foose's garage of horrors with those terrible huge rims. If you find an original '56 Nomad somewhere that needs work, I'm all for restoring it to make it a drivable original-looking car, not turning it into a custom low-riding, chopped-down plaything for a professional athlete or entertainer who needs a lesson on how to drive it.  :)

well if the album skips and doesn't play then I can see something creative coming from it, for example my friend makes clocks and they look cool but he only uses albums that won't play anymore.. I admit though the key holder idea isn't one I would have chose, I like the clock idea or framing the album and or the cover in order to hang it on the wall to show off, but if the records are just sitting there collecting dust might as well do something cool with it...yeah I'm not too keen on the ashtrays either, I've seen those around town..

I want a Wild Honey stained glass window. Same size as the album sleeve or a little larger. 

now THAT would be cool....

Regardless of the condition of the disc, I think the fact it's been stabbed through is what leaves a nasty taste in one's mouth.  Other than that, the final product here just looks a bit crap.  If it was a better, wittier thing, people might not mind so much.

This 'up-cycling' reminds me of a boyhood chum I had, a really good thief, but enterprising with it.  He steal a bunch of clock parts from somewhere, then a bunch of postcards from some shop (postcards of films etc), then make little clocks out of them.  Then we'd go to a boot sale and set up a stall on the sly and sell them to people.  He'd sell them all.

I don't think it is just Holland that is available as a key holder... the seller also has pictures, and has listed as available: Love You, 15 Big Ones, Good Vibrations (greatest hits), Surf's Up, Best of The Beach Boys Vol. 2, Best of the Beach Boys, Endless Summer, and the Little Deuce Coupe and Fun, Fun, Fun singles. The pictures the seller has only show Holland in its mutilated, key-holding form, but since the seller has pictures of all those other albums too, I assume that one can buy any of them and the seller will turn them into key holders.

And yes, perhaps all of them are in bad condition and not really listenable... but they appear in good condition in the pictures...

If Brian see's this listing he would probably laugh his a** off!

....as I am. :lol

Great idea there!  Probably I should use my Single LP IN Concert acetate, since it's mostly unplayable anyway, and as it's a metal base it should hold the screws better...

That's the great unknown, I'll say again my opinion on this depends totally on whether the record is playable or not. And consider too that for some people, vinyl records in general are still considered a bygone/obsolete thing in the 'net era and perhaps those folks are not as tuned into the current resurgence and rediscovery of vinyl as a preferred medium for listening to music in some markets. Or maybe they saw that an old album they could sell for a dollar or two could bring 20 times that if they "converted" it.

Then again, if someone buys the album I suppose they have the right of ownership to do whatever they please with it, including turning it into a wall hanger.  ;D

this sort of stuff pops up all the time; not worth getting upset, seems to me   

http://mac-gurl.com/BEACH-BOYS-LP-DRINK-COASTERS-with-Corian-Granite-Base-P1874671.aspx

https://www.etsy.com/listing/190693418/beach-boys-coasters-vinyl-record-coaster?ref=market

https://www.etsy.com/market/beach_boys_bowl

I think the trick is knowing which thing can be altered without affecting its value and which thing should be left alone.  Some old dime store furniture from the 50's might make a cool piece if its painted and distressed. But, if you do the same thing to an iconic Eames sideboard, you've just ruined a valuable piece.

Same with cars. If I drag an old 40 Ford pick up out of the swamp, the thing's already toast. I can decide to put a bunch of money into it and restore it, or I can rat rod the thing and enjoy it as it is. But, a garage kept 64 1/2 Mustang needs to be left alone. My garage kept 83 Mustang is in good original condition. It will only be original once, so it's not getting a restoration. My 66 Vespa was a barn find and got a full restore with custom paint.

With the records, a flea market lot might be pretty beat up and not be worth much to anyone else, so fair game for arts and crafts. But, I think the crafter owes it to collectors (and themselves) to do a little research. It's all about knowing the value of what you've got.

They made that box out of a an original vinyl copy of Pet Sounds?? Oh... I think I'm gonna vomit.

I didn't look at it closely; but that is kind of cool. old covers are cheap enough, maybe I can get their instructions and make some of my own!