Don McLean has likely sung American Pie hundreds of times wearing the glasses that Kim Brice now wears every day.
The 77-year-old singer/songwriter is in Nelson for ‘The Day the Music Died’ Tour on 2 May, but Mahana-born Kim will be back in Thailand by then, so will not get to sing along with the crowd.
Kim bought two pairs of Don’s glasses at an online auction and had the lenses replaced to suit his own prescription.
Now, he has glasses that have toured the world on someone who sang some of the most famous songs of all time.
His penchant for collecting items that tell a story goes back to his childhood, beginning on his very first day at school when the old wind-up clocks were replaced with battery-powered models.
He took the old clocks home and so began his ‘museum’.
“From that day I became an avid collector, particularly of clocks which I could pull apart.”
He now lives in Bangkok - visiting Richmond family and friends every six months - and he is still a collector.
He buys collectibles from around the world, keeps what he wants and resells a lot of it. When two pairs of Don’s glasses came up for sale from the singer’s personal collection, it was too good an opportunity to let slip by.
Both were bifocals in acetate frames that he was able to buy for about US$200, which he says is a bargain considering one set was handmade in Italy and were worn by the legendary singer.
Kim has collected items from other singers as well, including a train set that belonged to Neil Young’s son and one of Aretha Franklin’s day suits.
Don McLean’s concert at the Trafalgar Centre is part of a tour celebrating the 50th anniversary of American Pie.
