As an homage to the classic JVC RC M90 boombox depicted on the cover of LL Cool J’s 1985 debut album, Radio, which featured the lead single “I Can’t Live Without My Radio,” and The Beastie Boys’ Solid Gold Hits, London-based candlemaker Cent LDN is offering King of the Boom Box, a hand-poured soy wax candle replica of the legendary blaster.
For those too young to remember, in between the advent of the cassette tape and the Walkman (ask your parents), portable boomboxes were a mainstay of urban life. Able to be taken anywhere — as long as you had extra D batteries — the portable AM/FM/cassette sound machines were a vital part of hip-hop’s musical and cultural rise in the ’70s and ’80s.
Though mainly intended as a piece of conversational home decor, each of the boombox’s 22 candles is made to order and burns for 100 hours. The piece weighs 1900 grams — 4.18 pounds — and measures 28cm width, 14cm height and 6.6cm.
Cent LDN’s King of the Boom Box can be yours for £149 (about $192). Compared to the sky-high asking prices stereotypical collectors are willing to pay for the actual vintage units, it’s an offer some boombox aficionados won’t be able to turn down.
