THE "GULA HUSET" (The Yellow House)

The famous yellow house at Långbrodalsvägen 51, Älvsjö, Stockholm, Sweden was a star story on its own. Blue-eyed Major bought it in 1965, not knowing he couldn't just evict the up and downstairs tenants pronto. Major, par hazzard, found a great solution. The turn of the century wooden structure was soon becoming a haven for homeless musicians from all across the globe. The solution that did the trick was Dave, a Scottish tenorsax player who doubled on bagpipes. Often when the other musiciens were out of the house, (and Major was away teaching) he practiced that (instrument) and the sound echoing up the walls drove the tenants crazy. The straw that broke the camels back was the terrible winter of 65/66 when the only toilet (for 3 families) conviently placed at the entrance of the house froze, both INTAKE AND OUTTAKE! The family of five living upstairs having to use the postoffice WC, applied for social help, jumped the mile long queue, and got a nice new apartment down the road. One down, one to go. Needless to say, all were relieved, Major would get more room and the other musicians could move upstairs. Before they moved up, Major recalls a memorable moment. "Early one morning, the occupants heard a commotion and smelled a strange smell. It seemed that a musician, after partying, made a mistake and urinated on the frontroom and only (kerosene) heater in our part of the house. So we froze for a few days trying to get rid of the odor". Great parties and great times were had by all which can be attested to by the multitude of beautiful and lovely ladies who passed through the doors of the "gula huset".