Foreign Affairs

A fresh post (the overseas kind) has brought the latest issue of the Japanese edition of WaxPoetics and a reprint of a story they saw on one of our posts (the blog kind).  I added some images to Dan Neely’s original story that you can see here if your Japanese is a bit rusty.  Regardless, study the image of each 45 insert carefully, and send along any you have that are impressively different.  We’re an archive you know, saving minutia so you don’t have to…

You can click to enlarge said minutia, and enlarge you must if you’re ever going to read the details on how you can sew up a complete new stereo system!  This bit of fluff was culled from an old British teen magazine, Jackie Annual ’86, adding a whole new dimension to choosing the right needle to get the best sound.  I expect quite a few of the LPillows as gifts this Christmas (hint, hint).  What no toile tune tote?

Brazilian Guitar Fuzz Bananas

As you may know ARC is building a Brasilian/Brazilian Collection.  Now if YOU are building a Brasilian/Brazilian Collection, I think the next record you should get is Brazilian Guitar Fuzz Bananas, Tropicalia Psychedelic Masterpieces 1967 – 1976. (Tropicalia In Furs, USA, WPFC TIF 102, 2010).  This was put together by Joel Stones, our pal over at Tropicallia In Furs, New York’s best (only) Brasilian/Brazilian record store.

Bananas is a deluxe two record set, with a 3-D cover, appropriate viewing glasses, and a 48 page booklet insert providing details on all the source material in English and Portuguese.  The discs sound wonderful and the illustrated booklet gives a bit of history and the inside scoop on the dogged tracking down of the sounds.  You may think you’ve heard it all before, the soft sambas of the past, or those now-sound tinkly elctrobeats.  Brace yourself.  This is psychedelic, fuzz guitar, acid 60’s rock-solid+sloppy, loud, proud, funky druggie music.  Like a good table set in Salvador, there’s plenty to eat, but you don’t know the names of any of the fruits.  And occasionally there’s a bit of sand in that last bite.

Cuts are taken exclusively from elusively available, mostly promotional Brazilian seven-inch singles. It was a time when Brasil was in dangerous flux, but a mere dictatorship couldn’t stop folks from creating great pop scrambles, like Celio Balona’s take on the Batman theme, “Tema de Batman”, or Mac Rybell glow in the dark version of the Stones’, “Lantern”.  Not that all of these songs are covers, but a visiting scholar, Tom Cvikota, noticed that “Som Imaginario De Jimmi Hendrix”, may begin with a Experience-like crescendo, but is an unaccredited cover of the James Gang’s, “Funk 49”.

ARC regularly trades with and shops at Tropicalia.  Sure it’s predictably colorful, and fun, and Joel is cute and lovable and knowledgeable – but go anyway.

Tropicalia In Furs, 304 E. 5th St., New York, NY 10003, near Second Ave in the East Village.  Open, more than likely, late afternoon into night.  Call to make sure: 212-982-3251  No webthing.  So just order it from Joel.  Say B. sent you.  $20 for the discs, and $6 for shipping and handling.  There’s also a documentary on the enhanced CD, What Are Fuzz Bananas, which highlights the hunt (hey Joel, where’s the ARC copy?)

Today I took two friends to buy copies.  Last night Fred, Beco + B (the Dino, Desi and Billy of crate digging) spent a few hours at the store and returned with these fine, finer, finest vinyl’s – first the Brazilian+ world, then other assorted:

• Joao Bosco.   Galos De Briga  (RCA Victor, Brasil, 103.0171, 12”, vinyl disc-Lp, 1976)

• Victor Assis Brasil.   Toca Antonio Carlos Jobim  (Continental, Brasil, LP 0-46 411 068, 12”, vinyl disc-Lp, 1981)

• O Pequeno Burgues.   Azes Do Samba  (Cartaz, Brasil, LPC 5062, 12″, vinyl disc-Lp, n.d.)

• Erasmo Carlos.   O Tremendao  (RGE, Brasil, XRLP-5.306, 12″, vinyl disc-Lp, n)

• Cartola.   Pranto De Poeta, Serie Documento  (RCA Victor, Brasil, 130 0058, 12”, vinyl disc-Lp, 1989)

• Manâ Do Cavaco.   Martinho Da Vila Apresenta  (RCA Victor, Brasil, 103 0068, 12”, vinyl disc-Lp, 1973)

• Dori Caymmi.   Dori Caymmi  (EMI-Odeon, 31C 064 422899, 12″, vinyl disc-Lp, 88)

• Nana Caymmi.   Renascer  (CID, Brasil, 8016, 12″, vinyl disc-Lp, Mid-70’s)

• Maria Creuza.   Pecado  (RCA Victor, RCA, 103.0306, 12”, vinyl disc-Lp, 1979)

• Carlos Dafâ.   Malandro Dengoso  (Warner Bros, Brasil, BR 26.036, 12”, vinyl disc-Lp, 1979)

• Djalma Dias.   Nno Faéa Drama,,, Caia No Samba  (Som Livre, 403 6050, 12”, vinyl disc-Lp, 1974)

• A.C.Jobim.   Matita PerÉ  (Philips, Brasil, 6349071, 12″, vinyl disc-Lp, 1973)

• Ed Lincoln.   A Volta  (Musidisc, Brasil, HI FI 2088, 12”, vinyl disc-Lp, –)

• Lord Kitchener.   Hot Pants  (Trinidad, Trinidad, TRCS 0002, 12”, vinyl disc-Lp, n.d.)

• Machito.   Machito Goes Memphis  (RCA Victor, USA, LPM 3944, 12″, vinyl disc-Lp, n.d.)

• Ruy Maurity.   Ganga Brasil  (Som Livre, Brasil, 403.6127, 12”, vinyl disc-Lp, 1977)

• Marilia Medalha.   Caminhada  (RGE / Fermata, Brasil, 303.0017, 12”, vinyl disc-Lp, 1973)

• Sencion Minaya.   Y Los Quisqueyanos  (Madely, 116, 12″, vinyl disc-Lp, n.d.)

• Marilia Medalha / Vinicius De Moraes.   A Caneno E A Voz De Marilia Medalha Na Poesia De V  (RGE, Brasil, 303, 12”, vinyl disc-Lp, 1972)

• Paulinho Nogueira.   Moda De Graviola  (Continental, Brasil, 1-01-404-110, 12”, vinyl disc-Lp, 1975)

• Cir Pereira & Jaime Santos.   Avante Brasil  (ACS, Brasil, LP 002, 12″, vinyl disc-Lp, n.d)

• Jair Rodrigues.   Abra Um Sorriso Novamente  (Philips, Brasil, 6349 120, 12”, vinyl disc-Lp, 1974)

• Claudette Soares.   Gil, Chico E Veloso Por Claudette  (Philips, Brasil, R-765 021 L, 12”, vinyl disc-Lp, 1968)

• Elza Soares.   Elza Negra  (CBS, Brasil, 1 38184, 12”, vinyl disc-Lp, 1980)

• Raimundo Sodre.   Massa  (Polydor, Brasil, 2451 144, 12″, vinyl disc-Lp, 1980)

• Sparrow (Mighty).   Sparrow Come Back  (RCA Victor, Trinidad, LPB – 3006, 12”, vinyl disc-Lp, n.d. [1962])

• Zimbo Trio.   Zimbo Trio Vol, 2  (RGE, Brasil, XRLP-5 277, 12”, vinyl disc-Lp, –)

• Nana [Vaconcelos].   Amazonas  (Philips, Brasil, 6349 079, 12”, vinyl disc-Lp, 1973)

• Marcos Valle.   O Compositor E O Cantor  (Odeon Brasil, MOFB-3413, 12”, vinyl disc-Lp, 1965)

• Vanusa.   Vanusa  (Continental, Brasil, SLP-10 156, 12”, vinyl disc-Lp, 1974)

• Veloso, Caetano & Chico Buarque.   Caetano E Chico Juntos E Ao Vivo  (Philips, Brasil, 6349 059, 12″, vinyl disc-Lp, 1972)

• Caetano Veloso / Gilberto Gil.   Tropicçlia 2   (Philips, Brasil, 79339, 12″, vinyl disc-Lp, 1993)

…and here’s the other odds + ends we got…

• David Robert Jones  [ David Bowie ].   ChangesThree  (GRACE, AZL1-1984, 12″, vinyl disc-LP, n.d.)

• Arnett Cobb.   Sizzlin’  (Status / Prestige, ST 7227, 12″, vinyl disc-LP, 1961)

• Julian Dash.   A Portrait of Julian Dash  (Master Jazz Recordings, MJR 8106, 12″, vinyl disc-LP, n.d.)

• Davis, Eddie “Lockjaw”.   Cookbook Volume 1   (Prestige, 7141, 12″, vinyl disc-LP, n.d.)

• Davis, Eddie “Lockjaw”.   Trackin’  (Prestige, PR 7271, 12″, vinyl disc-LP, n.d.)

• Freddie and the Dreamers.   You Were Mad for Me  (Columbia, UK, 33SX 1663, 12″, vinyl disc-LP, 1964)

• Ron Goodwin.   Music in Orbit  (Captiol, T 10188, 12″, vinyl disc-LP, n.d.)

• The Harmonizing Four.   Tommie, Lonnie & Me  (Atlantic, SD R026, 12″, vinyl disc-LP, 1970)

• Hollywood Saxophone Quartet.   Jazz in Hollywood  (Liberty, LJH 6005, 12″, vinyl disc-LP, n.d.)

• Carl Holmes & the Commanders.   Twist Party at the Roundtable  (Atlantic, 8060, 12″, vinyl disc-LP, 1962)

• Harlan Howard.   To the Silent Majority, With Love  (Nugget, NRLP-105, 12″, vinyl disc-LP, n.d.)

• Richard Hayman.   The Era of Cleopatra  (Time, USA, S 2080, 12″, vinyl disc-Lp, n.d.)

• The Jet Black’s.   Twist  (Chantecler, Brazil, CMG-2.184, 12″, vinyl disc-LP, n.d.)

• King Curtis.   Azure  (Everest, LPBR 5121, 12″, vinyl disc-LP, 1960)

• B. B. King.   Blues, The  (Crown, CLP 5063, 12″, vinyl disc-LP, n.d.)

• Brownie McGhee & Sonny Terry.   Guitar Highwway  (Verve Folkways, FV-90919, 12″, vinyl disc-Lp     , n.d.)

• Houston Person.   The Big Horn  (Muse, MR 5136, 12″, vinyl disc-LP, 1979)

• James & Bobby Purify.   James & Bobby Purify  (Bell, BELL 6003, 12″, vinyl disc-LP, n.d.)

• Reno & Smiley.   On the Road with Reno & Smiley: Songs Truck Drivers Love  (King, 911, 12″, vinyl disc-LP, n.d.)

• Reparata and the Delrons.   1970 Rock & Roll Revolution  (AVCO Embassy, AVE 33008, 12″, vinyl disc-LP, n.d.)

• Shorty Rogers and His Giants.   Shorty in Stereo  (Atlantic, SD 1232, 12″, vinyl disc-LP, n.d.)

• Sonny Stitt.   All God’s Children Got Rhythm  (Prestige, 7248, 12″, vinyl disc-LP, n.d.)

• Sonny Stitt.   Come Hither  (Solid State, SS 18057, 12″, vinyl disc-LP, n.d.)

• Al Wagner and his Philharmonic Strings.   £12 English Sterling – The Music of Randolph Adcock  (Soundscape, , SRC 33700 P, 12″, vinyl disc-LP, n.d.)

• The Who.   Pop History Vol. 3  (Polydor, France, 2673 007, 12″, vinyl disc-2Lp, n.d.)

• Sondra Williams.   Hark the Voice  (Atlantic, SD R003, 12″, vinyl disc-LP, 1967)

But You Need An Electron Microscope…

There are some great things to see in Ohio.

Having eschewed a junket to see Cleveland’s Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame when it first opened (knee-jerk reaction when I heard that they used funds from the Ohio school system.  Nice summary here ) I finally took the plunge.  It’s only an hour from the ancestral homestead (Poland, the first city of the Western Reserve), so why not?  Best thing was in the Springsteen exhibit, seeing all the handbill and fliers and promo activities it took to get his early band, The Castiles, off the ground.

The main reason for my CLE visit was to see the new Rock Hall Archive being set up by Andy Leach, the Director of Library and Archives. The new 22,500-square-foot facility is housed at Cuyahoga Community College, set to open in May 2011.   Andy had visited ARC last fall, so it was my turn.  I wasn’t the only one anxious to get in, as recently a passerby fired a few bullets into the glass façade.  Have a look at this swell building Columbia University – see what a Community College can do!  Inspired?

The Music Library and Sound Recordings Archives at Bowling Green State University occupies a Soviet era building on a bleak campus, across from a new arts building, with hopes of some architectural largess coming their way soon.  The man in charge since the late 60s is Bill Schurk, a good soul.  He’s still enthusiastic, curious, engaged.  Amid the manageable piles are trash and treasures, souvenirs and curiosities, in one of America’s great popular music collections.  The hall-walls are lined with paper ephemera and the main room a constellation of 45s dangling from the ceiling. They’ve managed to make an institutional space fun, while remaining on good terms with the fire marshal.  I got a tour and ARC donated a book we knew they didn’t have, about channeling wisdom from Gerry Garcia.

Other hotspots on my summer tour included Youngstown, OH and Ann Arbor, MI.

I attended Michigan (12 credits short – still waiting for the honorary degree) and had not been back for more than 20 years.  We visited friends and had wonderful food @ The Earl Restaurant. When last in AA the Earl was just starting up, Dominoes Pizza and Borders Books were small local businesses and the football stadium held a mere 100,000.  Lets just say it’s more of a party school these days, but it’s no longer the Rainbow People’s Party.  Pre-Earl party dining meant a visit to the Jolly Pumpkin Brewery for a heralded Belgian style ale, which they were out of.  Drove 500 miles and told to try the local supermarket – nice marketing savvy!  Always in stock is the annual bumper crop of helpful interns from the University of Michigan School of Information. For the past few years these students have come to the ARC in NYC as part of their alternative Spring Break Program.

As a student my breaks were rarely alternative, and one job I had in AA was setting up chairs at Canterbury House, a way to hear music for free.  Canterbury House was/is run by the Episcopal Church, and beyond its value as an important venue for more than 50 years, they also co-sponsored the very first Ann Arbor Blues Festival.  Big on Canadians (work cheap? Nearby? Great artists?) meant that I was lucky enough to see early gigs by Neil Young (Sugar Mountain set) and Joni Mitchell.

My tenuous Youngstown (Poland is a suburb) music connections were explored in an earlier blog, so lets just mention Charlie Staples Bar-B-Q.   Ribs here are as good as anyplace out East, and many down South. I stock up on their unmarked, quart size, Ball-jarred hot sauce.  But it means going to downtown Y-Town, a region few from my burb have ever visited.  This is the lone speaker in the beautiful formica-ed back room they will never see…

But YOU can see the room, and sample the Q, when you visit Y-Town next September for the opening of “Ronnie Wood: Paintings, Drawings and Prints.” at the Butler Institute of American Art. Mrs. Butler once lived in Poland and taught me to draw.

trickle-down donations

Just back from Ohio, ARC picked up portions of two recent donations that have been, and will be, given piecemeal, over the past and future years.  And what meals they are!   The first was the first donation of approx. 1,200 LPs, part of a larger collection over 15,000 recordings that were lovingly collected by Eric J. Schmuckler, and will all be coming to the ARC.  This generous gift was from his wife, Michelle Gelber.  Eric was a well known critic and writer for Mediaweek Magazine, and truly loved his music.

You can read a nice obit @  http://www.allbusiness.com/services/motion-pictures/4816200-1.html

While we have yet to process the whole batch, one lovely discovery was a two foot-think run (50 recordings) of Beatles-esqs, discs sorta, kinda, maybe about and because of the Fab Four.  This is meat and potatoes kinda stuff – the odds and ends that make our mouth water.  They will join our existing 2 running feet of bad Beatle wannabeats. There’s a complete discography at the end of this blog.  Pardon the quick out-of-the-box low res pics, but behold…

And some singles…

Our second pick-up (course) of the day came from old pal and collector AP Joseph.  For years now AP has slowly been emptying his larder into ours, this his fourth donation in recent years, also about 1200 LPs.   APs donations are always rock solid, a little less pristine sleeves with mint interiors and a little less mainstream than Eric’s.   A quick look reveals a pile of CRI releases, early Fast Folk – The Musical Magazine recordings plus print mag when they were called “the Coop” in the early ‘80s, and an unusual pair of Jorma Kaukonen acoustic recordings on Relix from the mid-eighties.  Here’s a few others that caught or eye/ear :

Lastly, the folks @ WKCR, a-way up in Harlem, dropped off over 300 CD and two 45s.  Thanks to Ben Young who keeps coming back with great stuff, year after year.

We would like to also thank that stalwart friend of ARCs, the 2010 Subaru Impreza, which is zippy AND can hold 12 one hundred twenty five count boxes of LPs, without even trying, or more importantly, sagging.

And we ain’t too proud to beg : Do send a donation to help with all this madness – it’s expensive AND the recession is officially over… and do let us know if you have recordings to donate!

The list of Eric’s Beatles obscurata :

• Abbey Road ’78.   Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band — Music from the movie  (Springboard, SPB-4111, 12″, 33.3, LP, 1978).   cheap cash-in of Sgt. Pepper film.

• Barock and Roll Ensemble / Valkyrie and the Rhine Maidens.   Ein Kleine Beatle Musik  (His Master’s Voice, UK, 7EG 8887, 7″, 45, EP, 1965).  First three tracks incorporate elements of the Beatles songs “She Love You,” “I’ll Get You,” “A Hard Day’s Night,” “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” “Please Please Me” and “All My Loving.”

• John Bayless.   Bach Meets the Beatles: Variations in the Style of Bach  (Pro Arte Digital, PAD-211, 12″, 33.3, LP, 1984).

• The Bearcuts.   Beatlemania!  (Somerset, SF-20800, 12″, 33.3, LP, ). cheesy Beatles exploitation. M-; 1 VG+

• Beats.   The Merseyside Sound  (Design, DLP 170, 12″, 33.3, LP, n.d.).   Possibly, the artist is THE MERSEYSIDE SOUND and the title is BEATS.  it is unclear on cover and label.  Shameless Beatles exploitation record.  Cover has a copyright date of 1962, but the two Beatle songs covered here were first released in 1964! M-; VG

• Ewa Bem.   Ewa Bem Loves the Beatles  (Polskie Nagrania, SX 2193, 12″, 33.3, LP, 1984). Who knew they were Polish!

• The Big Ben Banjo Band.   Happy Banjos Play The Beatles  (Capitol, ST 2642, 12″, 33.3, LP, n.d.). Medleys of Beatles songs performed on banjos.

• The Blue Beats.   The Beatle Beat  (AA, AA-133, 12″, 33.3, LP, N.D.).   Shameless Beatles exploitation album. Features NO Beatles songs!!!   1 VG+

• Ambrose Brazelton.   And the BEATles Go on and on: Hits of the Beatles  (Kimbo Educational Records & Educational Activities, LP 8080, 12″, 33.3, LP, n.d.).  Educational record with Beatles songs used to illustrate rhythm, locomotor movements and balance.  Ambros Brazelton is the narrator.  No mention to who performs the songs.  Side one has narration and songs.  Side two is music only.

• The Brothers Four.   A Beatles Songbook : The Brothers Four Sing Lennon / McCartney  (Columbia, CS 9302, 12″, 33.3, LP, n.d.).  STEREO.

• The Buggs.   The Beetle Beat  (Coronet, CX-212, 12″, 33.3, LP, n.d.).    Shameless Beatles exploitation record.  VG

• Lee Castle & the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra.   The Big Band Beatles Bag!  (Pickwick/33, SPC 3174, 12″, 33.3, LP, n.d.).

• Leo Chauliac Orchestra.   The Best of The Beatles  (Concert Hall, UK, SVSC 2571, 12″, 33.3, LP, 1968).

• The Chipmunks.   The Chipmunks Sing The Beatles Hits  (Liberty, UK, NUTM 31, 12″, 33.3, LP, n.d.).  Eighties UK reissue.  Cut corner.

• Wynken, Blinken and Nod and the Golden Rock-A-Twisters / Milton DeLugg and Orchestra.   Dance and Sing Mother Goose With a Beatle Beat  (Golden, LP 127, 12″, 33.3, LP, 1964). Nursery rhymes played as if Beatles songs.

• The Entertainers.   A Tribute to the Beatles  (Citation, CSR-1005, 12″, 33.3, LP, ). shameless Beatles exploitation album.
• European Show Orchestra.   The Masterworks of The Beatles  (EMS, Australia, EMS 4001, 12″, 33.3, LP, n.d.).

• The Current Event.   Hits of the Beatles  (Ambassador, S98095, 12″, 33.3, LP, n.d.).   Shameless Beatles exploitation album.

• Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops.   Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops Play The Beatles  (RCA Red Seal, LSC-3117, 12″, 33.3, LP, 1969).  Filed under BEATLES RELATED.  NO DOG ON LABEL.  Last two tracks are not Beatles songs. VG+

• The Ginks.   A Tribute to the Beatles  (Summit, UK, ATL 4176, 12″, 33.3, LP, 1965).  shameless Beatles exploitation album.

• François Glorieux.   François Glorieux Plays the Beatles  (Vanguard, VSD-79417, 12″, 33.3, LP, 1978). Beatles songs played as if classical pieces.

• François Glorieux.   François Glorieux Plays the Beatles Vol. 2  (Vanguard, VSD-79428, 12″, 33.3, LP, 1979). Beatles songs played as if classical pieces.

• Ofra Harnoy / The Armin Electric Strings.   The Beatles Connection  (Fanfare, Canada, DFC-9016, 12″, 33.3, LP, 1985).    Cut corner, sticker on cover.

• The Ted Heath Orchestra.   Beatles Bach & Bacharack  (London Phase 4, SP 44148, 12″, 33.3, LP, n.d.).

• The Hiltonaires.   Dance to Beatles Hits in the Glenn Miller Sound  (Stereo Gold Award, Canada, GA-36, 12″, 33.3, LP, n.d.).

• The Hollyridge Strings.   The Beatles Song Book Vol 2  (Capitol, T 2202, 12″, 33.3, LP, n.d.).   MONO.  1 VG- w/ taped up cover, sticker on cover and label; 1 VG+

• Hommage Aux Beatles.   Hommage Aux Beatles  (Revelation, Canada, KF 154, 12″, 33.3, LP, n.d.).

• Lester Lanin And His Go-Go Getters.   40 Beatles Hits  (Philips, PHM 200-211, 12″, 33.3, LP, n.d.). WHITE LABEL PROMO

• James Last.   The Greatest Songs of The Beatles  (Polydor, UK, POLD 5119, 12″, 33.3, LP, 1983).

• Enoch Light and His Orchestra.   Beatles Classics  (Project 3, PR 5084, 12″, 33.3, LP, n.d.). QUAD!!

• The Liverpools.   Beatle Mania in the U.S.A.  (Wyncote, W 9001, 12″, 33.3, LP, n.d.).   Shameless Beatles exploitation album.  1 VG+

• Johnny Mann Singers.   Beatle Ballads  (Liberty, LST 7391, 12″, 33.3, LP, n.d.).   STEREO  M- w/ taped cover.

• The Mustang.   Mustang Plays The Beatles Song Book on Swingin’ Hammond Organ, The  (Stereo-Fidelity, SF-23000, 12″, 33.3, LP, n.d.). VG w/tape and sticker on cover.

• 101 Strings.   A Tribute to John Lennon  (Alshire, S-5380, 12″, 33.3, LP, 1980). shameless Beatles exploitation album.
• Orchestral Ensemble.   In Tribute to Brian Epstein  (World Record Club, Australia, S/T 4415, 12″, 33.3, LP, n.d.).

• Rostal & Schaefer / Ron Goodwin.   The Beatles Concerto  (MMG, MMG 1121, 12″, 33.3, LP, 1979).   Peter Rostal and Paul Schaefer play piano duets.  The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Ron Goodwin.  M- w/ sticker on label.

• The Rubber Band.   Beatles Song Book  (GRT, 10015, 12″, 33.3, LP, n.d.).  An anonymous band performs Beatle songs.

• Russ Sainty with the Johnny Arthey Sound.   Million Copy Sellers Made Famous by the Beatles  (Boulevard, UK, 4064, 12″, 33.3, LP, 1971).   Shameless Beatles exploitation album.  VG+

• Broadway Cast.   Beatlemania  (Arista, AL 8501, 12″, 33.3, LP, 1978).  One copy  White label promo.  Recorded live at the Winter Garden.  “Not The Beatles.  An incredilbe simulation.”  Right.  Both cut corner.

• original cast recording.   John Paul George Ringo…& Bert  (RSO, UK, 2394 141 SUPER, 12″, 33.3, LP, 1974).   Musical involves The Beatles and their music.

• The Sydney Symphony Orchestra conducted by John Lanchbery.   The Fool on the Hill : Music Based on Themes by The Beatles  (His Master’s Voice, Australia, OASD.7589, 12″, 33.3, LP, 1976). Ballet based on Beatles songs.  Sticker on cover.

• Tribe.   Tribe Sing the Creative Genius of George Harrison, John Lennon & Paul McCartney  (Pickwick/33, SPC-3265, 12″, 33.3, LP, n.d.).

• Various Artists.   Beatlesongs!  (A Collection Of Beatles Novelties) Vol. 1  (Rhino Records, RNLP 803, 12″, 33.3, LP, 1982).     Cover art by William Stout.

• Various Artists.   The Original Liverpool Beat!  (20th Century Fox, TFM 3144, 12″, 33.3, LP, n.d.).    Shameless Beatles exploitation record.”PROMO on label.  VG+

• Various Artists.   I Hate the Beatles Even More Vol. 2  (Rape Records Limited, LP 002, 12″, 33.3, LP, n.d.). Collection of Beatles novelty records.

• Various Artists.   Artfully Beatles Volume 1: The 25th Anniversary Salute to the Beatles  (Artful Ballance, ABI-7210, 12″, 33.3, LP, 1986).

• Arthur Wilkinson and His Orchestra.   Beatle Cracker Suite  (His Master’s Voice, UK, 7EG 8919, 7″, 45, EP, 1965).  Beatles songs arranged ala Nutcracker Suite.

• Arthur Wilkinson and His Orchestra / Zack Laurence.   The Beatle Concerto  (His Master’s Voice, UK, 7EG 8968, 7″, 45, EP, 1965).  Beatles songs arranged ala classical compositions.

• Woofers and Tweeters Ensemble.   Beatle Barkers  (Passport Records, PB 6032, 12″, 33.3, LP, n.d.).   Dogs bark out Beatle songs.  Corner cut. We once found a copy of this for Matt Groening!

• The Leon Young String Chorale.   Liverpool Sound for Strings  (Atco, 33-163, 12″, 33.3, LP, 1964).  MONO. shameless Beatles exploitation album.
M-

Here’s the info on APs recordings we photographed and spoke about:

• Monty Alexander.   Spunky  (Pacific Jazz, USA, ST 20094, 12″, 33.3, LP, n.d.).

• Chris Connor.   Chris Connor  (Atlantic, USA, 1228, 12″, 33.3, LP, n.d.).

• Martha Davis.   Martha Davis and Spouse  (ABC-Paramount, USA, ABC 160, 12″, 33.3, LP, ).  Spouse = bassist Calvin Ponder.

• Jorma Kaukonen.   Magic  (Relix, USA, RRLP 2007, 12″, 33.3, LP, 1985).

• Jorma Kaukonen.   Too Hot To Handle  (Relix, USA, RRLP 2012, 12″, 33.3, LP, 1985).

• Imitation Life.   Ice Cubes and Sugar  (Veebltronics, USA, Veebl 50, 12″, 33.3, LP, 1986). OK New Wave trio of New Jersey-ites, this originally released on France’s New Rose label. Promo release.

• Mickey Katz and ‘Der Ganser Gang”.   Sing-Along With Mickele  (Capitol, USA, T 1744, 12″, 33.3, LP, n.d.).  In honor of the recently departed Mitch Miller.

• Lisa Kindred.   I Like It This Way!  (Vanguard, USA, VRS 9196, 12″, 33.3, LP, 1965).  mono. Check out her relationship with the Lyman Family!!!

• The Pipkins.   Gimme Dat Ding!  (Capitol, USA, ST 80483, 12″, 33.3, LP, n.d.).

• Wanda Robinson .   Black Ivory  (Perception, USA, PLP 18, 12″, 33.3, LP, 1971).  Odd little packaging with booklet making up the front cover.

The State Radio Orchestra of the U.S.S.R. (Scriabin).   The Divine Poem  (Classic Editions, USA, CE 4, 12″, 33.3, LP, n.d.).  We do not collect Classical music, but who can resist nipples!

• Various Artists. The Coop – fast folk music magazine September ’82  (The Coop, USA, SE 108, 12″, 33.3, LP, 1982).  genetic cover with sticker and magazine insert.

• Various Artists.   The Coop – fast folk music magazine August ’82  (The Coop, USA, SE 107, 12″, 33.3, LP, 1982).  genetic cover with magazine insert.

• Various Artists.  The Coop – fast folk music magazine April ’83, Vol 2. #3  (The Coop, USA, SE 203, 12″, 33.3, LP, 1983).  with magazine insert.

ARC SUMMER RECORD + CD SALE

It’s hot, it’s sticky, it’s another ARC Summer Record & CD sale!

Saturday, JUNE 12 – Sunday, JUNE 20
Everyday 11 am. to 6 pm
BONUS DAY Monday June 21 – because it’s the equinox and Make Music Day in NY

Admission is free! New items daily.
Over 20,000 items for sale

Join the ARC and other ARC members for our fab COCKTAIL PARTY, Thursday, JUNE 10. You get to shop before the general public and have Hot Wings donated by Bonnie’s Grill in Brooklyn + Champagne from the great folks @ the Bubble Lounge.

You can now join online via our website or Call for details : 212-226-6967

We haven’t moved, still at our ground floor office: @ 54 White St. 3 short blocks south of Canal, between Broadway & Church in Tribeca. Take the 1 train to Franklin, or any train to Canal.

Help support the ARChive – a not-for-profit music library – America’s largest and BEST popular music collection.

CDs are NEW donations from record companies, NOT used, returns or defects! Mostly pop and rock recordings. Collectible LPs are priced below book value. Hundreds of CDs are priced at $1 to $5 each. Cassettes + Classical LPs – 2 for $1.00.  Boxes of Classical LPs, 125 records for $5.   Just released NEW & HOT CDs are $5 – $10.

PLUS – 7″ singles – ARC has recently alphabetically sorted the singles in the basement, so if you like bands beginning with ‘C’ or ‘D’ there will be 100s of 7 inch singles on SALE. many desirable and hard to find – Old + new music books – sealed/unopened LPs – African, Reggae & world-music releases – laserdiscs – videos – For the dis-en-vinyled our Astroturf Yardsale of 50s kitchen stuff and clothing!!!

Come on down + tell Your friends = face, tweet, link + blog us.

Walkin’ 9-5

Yup, that’s how I spent my last tree huggin’ beach lovin’ day in San Fran, touring Muir Woods, Chimney Rock, Point Reyes (et fried oysters), Inverness (et Bar-B-Que’d oysters) and the Drake Bay Lighthouse – all north of the Golden Gate.  Muir is Redwoods a go-go, high and mighty, while the lighthouse ‘may be’ the ‘windiest point on America’s Pacific Coast,’  not to mention the loudest, with a drone to make you believe in the Siren’s call.   It’s all true.  Uh, and did I mention I like oysters?

But my REASONS for being in SF was to organize placing our catalog online, (something I try to do every ten years or so) and work on getting the Muslim World Music Day website built and hosted.  Thanks to all those helping with the tasks: the crews at Gracenote and the Internet Archive, and Scott San Filippo (who also donated copies of his single from a bygone era, “No, No, No”/”I Know What You Are” by his our-voices-haven’t-changed-yet band, The End (Friendly Ghost Records, 5536, 7″ single, n.d.).

Sidelines and highpoints include visiting author and critic Greil Marcus, getting a brief tour of the UC Berkeley Music Library, dinner at Chez Panisse, a buying frenzy at Arhoolie Records/Down Home Music and seeing a very nice show on the history of the SF rock.  Here’s two of many new adds to the ARC collection – you decide the sublime or absurd…

That’s Earl Bostic’s  Let’s Dance (King Records, 395-529, 12″, vinyl disc-LP, n.d.) and Jean (the gal) and GenII (the computer) on Two Loves Have I (Mark Records, MC 8518, 12″, vinyl disc-LP, 1974) in nothing less than Quadraphonic.

“Somethin’s Happening Here – Bay Area Rock ‘n’ Roll 1963-73” was the show at the Museum of Performance and Design, co-curatored by ARC pal Alec Palao.  Alec graciously donated a copy of the book and 4 CD set chronicling the scene. Stephen Braitman, my redwood guide, also donated a pile of rarities to the show, including what is thought to be the only copy of a single celebrating White Levis by the Jefferson Airplane.  Ironic that the show is in the Veteran’s building, with many Viet Vets coming and going, while the show celebrates the same era with a decidedly anti-war POV.

Another treat was the murals @ the Beach Chalet.  By Lucien Labaudt, they rival the more well know group in Coit Tower, but overlooking the Pacific and surround by craft brewed beer ($2 a pint on Monday nite).

Tooling around SF in my rented Chevy, and seeing a pile of Chinese electric scooters @ the Internet Archive, forced me to buy this paean to forgotten glories.  I’m a former Wobbly and Michigander, so there ‘s a special place in my heart for Union songs and the vanishing breed of autoworkers.

Joe Lisi and His Guitar.   It’s the UAW All the Way (LEM Productions, ESS-1185, 12″, 33.3, LP, n.d.).

Speaking of auto-neurotica I’ve lived in NY for over 40 years and never gotten a parking ticket.  EVERY time I go to CA I get a parking ticket.  Is it me or signage?  Maybe it’s this side that is the easy-going coast?  So I love CA, but it’s a song I sing with an expression as below…

Thanks to Brooke and Gabby (Sonny Stitt’s grand-daughter) who made a week in SF possible and palatable!

Minuet of Mayhem

My ‘Minute of Mayhem’ honoring punk impresario Malcolm McLaren (who I was not a fan of, but, geeze, he did do something) is the 45 rpm 12” Booji Boy version of “(I cån’t gèt mé nö) Satisfaction” by Devo (BOY 1, 1977).  Malcolm was buried today, and the family suggested a fitting alternative to a minute of silence.

Boogie Boy was the boy’s own label outa CLE, Ohio.  It’s a sheer joy homemade mix, sticker pasted on a generic sleeve, with an opening that is way red, back when there were VU meters that needed to be adjusted.  No really, red as in the speakers are about to pop, what real pop is all about.  You can get the later, limited Warner Brothers and Stiff versions, professionally mixed by Eno – my favorite producer makes it palatable, but it’s no plate breaker.  So get loud for just a minute or so today.  My Earth Day is seismic.

What Happened in 2009?

As we send out deeds of gifts (if you sent materials), thank you’s (for services or monetary donations), and plan, as best we can, for what we should be doing in 2010, we have POSTED our “2009 Year End Roundup” on the website.

In a nutshell, we have begun our partnership with Columbia University with some very nice projects and events, AND, the ARC grew by approx. 44,000 CDs, 30,000 LPs, 9,000 twelve-inch singles and assorted tens of thousands of music related videos, magazines, 78s, cassettes, singles, press kits and books.  The devil is in the details, so we list the angels who made it all happen.

The whole story is also below…

	ARC 2009 Year-end Roundup! Well finally, the second worse year of a pretty bad decade, ends. Small change, some hope. We hope all of you, who have been so generous in helping us preserve popular music over the past 2.5 decades now, will keep in touch. Thanks for everything. Heard a new term on the radio, and maybe you too are suffering from dreaded ‘frugal fatigue.’ Hope so. With your help, and luck, we’ll celebrate our 25 Anniversary next fall with our first big party in many years.Here’s our overview of 2009 – what we’ve done, who helped and some news on future projects… We’ve just wound down our Holiday Record + CD sale. Once again vinyl is king, crowning our best winter sale since we moved to White Street. There were fewer CDs for sale this year, because there are fewer CDs, period. When we did get large batches, they were usually multiples of the same disc, as companies relocated, scaled down or closed. Many of our donations come from music critics, or off the promo shelves of the record companies here in the city, and, well, the cupboards are bare as more and more downloads have replaced sending out physical product. Speaking of what was not sent out, this year we passed on the postcard to advertise the sale. I missed the graphics, and perhaps we missed reaching some people, but it saved $4,000. We did not miss dealing with the postoffice. Since we did better than ever, and crowdsize was the same or better, lets say it was an OK decision. Thanks to all who attended the party and the sale. As always, bravo to labels large and small for donating materials for the sale, and well, just surviving. Need I remind everyone, attending our sale party is just one of the perks of becoming an ARC member. Not only do you meet tons of nice folks, get food and drinks, but you get first dibs on all the best recordings. The next sale is June 12. Make sure we have your e-mail address so you get the virtual invite. BMI, the rights organization, sponsored the Holiday Sale this year. Thanks to VP Robbin Ahrold, a long time supporter of ARC, who made it all happen. It’s not an exaggeration to say we could not have done it without him. Downtown Express was an advertising partner, providing a nice display ad and write-up in their papers. Thanks to go-getter, Dani Zupanovich. Other friends of long standing, Mike Nabors of Bonnie’s Grill in Brooklyn supplied the beer and hot wings, while Emanuelle, of the Bubble Lounge, provided the bubbly. Volunteers working the sale included Tim Bourn, Henry Beer, Patrice George and Jessica Thompson. The clean-out crew – the great folks who buy everything that’s left after the sale – included vendors Gene Gritzen, Fred Shapiro and Jamal from Village Music World. THE BIG NEWS The big news of 2009 is our partnership with Columbia University. that began in late February. We are still feeling our way around the many departments, divisions and diversions that make up a great university, but are starting to get a few things accomplished. ARC’s approach is to bring musical ideas and projects to the university to work across a variety of disciplines, to enrich and enhance course study. Our closest allies in all of this are Jim Neal, Head of Libraries and Greg Mosher, Director of the Arts Initiative. With luck, with patronage, with vision we hope to move towards the establishment of a full-fledged Center for Popular Music that we all envision. On November 19 we joined with the Columbia University Libraries and the Arts Initiative to present a Lecture As Performance by author and historian Greil Marcus celebrating the 20th anniversary release of his book, Lipstick Traces. This was a rollicking evening of an influential text made audible. The lecture was accompanied by a showcase display of Greils books and recordings and books by ARC’s director, B. George, at the Wiener Music & Arts Library. Thanks goes to Greil, Michael Ryan in rare books, Elizabeth Davies and Nick Patterson at the Music Library, Matt Hampel in Special Events, Damon Jaggars the Associate University Librarian for Collections & Services and all the folks at Harvard University press, esp., Andrew Battle. We are now planning our next lecture, an evening with Leiber and Stoller, in the works for next fall. In September we laid the foundation for our first major project with Columbia, Muslim World Music Day (MWMD) – a worldwide, one-day, two-part event. The first is a live online attempt to identify and catalog all of the recordings of Muslim music in the world in one day. The second part is a series of live concerts from a variety of venues to celebrate the diversity, beauty and cultural importance of Muslim music. Our target date is April 12, 2011, and we set the project in motion when B. visited the Columbia University Middle Eastern Research Center (CUMERC) in Amman Jordan. You can read a bit about it on the blog here. Here we set up a small office, visited government and NGO cultural organizations, talked to media leaders and enlisted support from universities and scholars. To our great delight we discovered unknown caches of wonderful music at the state radio station and at Jordan University. It is hoped that CUMERC and Jordan will house a permanent collection of music from the region when the project is completed and continue to maintain the database. Thanks to Kareem Talhouni, Nisreen Haj Ahmad, Dr. Safwan Masri and all the very kind folks at CUMERC who made the visit so enjoyable and productive. The key element of the website for the MWMD, the database housing the information on the recordings, is being built and donated by Gracenote – the folks that provide the metadata for i-Tunes. ARC has been working closely with this important American media company to create the core database and make sure it suits our needs and is robust. The Internet Archive, the only company in the world dedicated to saving the entire Internet, is donating the bandwidth, to insure that there will be no crashes on the day of the event. Thanks to all the folks at Gracenote – Craig Palmer, Scott San Filippo, Ross Blanchard, Stephen White, Mike Gubman and Stephen Braitman. Over at the Internet Archive, “Hi!” and thanks to Brewster Kahle. A blog, acting as a defacto website, has been created and the latest information on the project is posted there until the official website is ready to launch. To learn all about Muslim World Music Day visit us here. TRIPPIN’ On the way to the Middle East B. gave a talk at the International Association of Sound and Audiovisual Archives (IASA) in Athens, Greece. This was a successful first step in gaining support from a variety of institutions willing to contribute data and essays to the MWMD. Thanks to Dimitra N. Kitsiou at the Hellenic National Audiovisual Archive for her invaluable help and graciousness. We also gave a presentation on our proposed International Discography (iD), “One Click Hit! The International Discography” at the 43 annual Association for Recorded Sound Collections (ARSC) Conference in Washington DC in May. The goal, with Gracenote’s help, is to get the iD up and running by March of 2010. ARSC has become quite chummy lately, with ARC hosted two meetings for them this year at our White Street address. This was fun and we were surprised to learn that we owned and filled 60 chairs. In February we gave a short tour of ARC and heard a presentation by Tim Hawkins on the Naropa Institute Sound Archive on the work of Alan Ginsberg and Anne Waldman. In April archivists Hillel Arnold and Tiffany Loiselle talked about audio treasures in the Woody Guthrie Archives including wire recordings made in 1949. Mastering and restoration engineer Steve Rosenthal of the The Magic Shop explained his role in the restoration and other projects, like remastering all of the Rolling Stone’s catalog. By the way, the NYC Spelmanslag a Scandinavian dance ensemble, also used ARC space to do a few practices this year. In December B. spoke at The Colloquium on Resources at Columbia University’s Music Department, providing a short overview of the ARC’s history and collection, and outlining some of the completed and upcoming projects that we are doing with the University. Again thanks to Elizabeth Davis who organized and co-presented at this event, and moderator David Gutkin. NEW PROJECT ARC is involved in helping to launch the Music With Subtitles / World Music Lyric Translation Project, the brainchild of ARCpal Robert Singerman. This exciting new project will allow professionals and online users to view and translate the lyrics from any song, in any language, with the music, in the first such authorized and fully legal, website. Robert is also helping us in our search for a site in Europe to house second copies of recording at ARC. He favors Paris, and we agree. Our point man in the City of Lights is music luminary Jean Claude Ast. More news later this year after we visit with the Minister of Culture in Paris. Ideally I want to be on the Rue des Archives! Why not? Over the years second sites have held lots of promise, but scant results. But hope springs eternal, and I’ll be in Paris in the Spring. ONGOING In May we officially finished up primary entry work on The New York Musicians Index and ARChive (NYMIA) and said goodbye to project director Dr. Daniel Neely, and researchers Bryan Koniarz and Jon Hammer. The NYMIA is up and running – an online listing of all working musicians and music related businesses in New York State. This project was funded by ARC, Columbia University and a grant from the New York State Music Fund, administered by Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors. We urge all musicians, or those working in a music related field in New York State, to go online and make sure you’re listed. NEW COLLECTIONS This year we began a focus on a few forms of music not well represented in American collections, Colombian and Brazilian music. So far the Brazilian collection has blossomed through the help of Beco Dranoff. Beco is the director of the new and spectacular documentary on Brazilian music, Beyond Ipanema. He has helped us secure the help of the Brazilian Consulate and we are searching for a partner in Brazil. To date our Brazilian holdings number over 3,000 recordings and growing. Another contributor is Joel Olveira who runs the Brazilian record outlet, Tropicallia in Furs. Joel has been trading rare Brazilian releases for some of our third copies of pop here at the ARC. Of great value is David Byrne’s offer to donate his collection of Brazilian recordings to the collection. Another essential add are the 400 Brazilian recordings courtesy of an incredible donation by Jerry Rappaport – more about that in the donations list below. As to the Colombian collection – Shakira, give us a call? With that other Columbia, with the help of Elizabeth Davis, head of the Wiener Music & Arts Library, we set in motion the purchase of a ton of Cuban recordings. We are dealing directly with Cuba in order to get them the most bucks for the bang. Our main contact is Alberto Salazar Rodriguez, Sales Director at Egrem Records in Havana. ON THE AIR ARC was featured on a BBC Radio 4 show – Beat Mining With The Vinyl Hoover, broadcast primetime in the UK in March. Basically the show explored how record collectors changed the way we listen to and make music. In the promo, host Toby Amies says he, “soon realises he is collecting record collectors, getting dusty fingered as he digs out the world’s most committed vinyl maniacs with contributions from: DJ Mr Scruff; 45 King; Bob Stanley; Steve Stein (aka Steinski); Aaron Fuchs (Tuff City Records); Coldcut; Pete Waterman; DJ and compilation compiler Keb Darge; funky drummer Idris Muhammad; and B George, the director of the ARChive of Contemporary Music.” The beeb also used the ARC as backdrop in November for a documentary on Chris Hughes, one of the co-founders of Facebook and a consultant who help Obama win the Whitehouse. He faced the interviewers in front of rows and rows of ARC LPs. Other media news is that B. has done two segments for National Public radio (NPR) this year, both on Sunday Morning Weekend Edition. . In August David Greene did an interview – a quick tour and he played a few choice cuts from the ARC’s collection. They asked ARC back in September and we spoke with host Lynn Neary in a segment titled, “Forgotten Music, Found In The Archives.” This time we got a chance to play slightly longer cuts including, “In the Land of My Dreams” by Anna Domino, “Did You Ever Hear the Blues” by Big Miller and a Colombian Terapia snippet. Thanks to producers Thomas Pierce for initiating it all. We hope to do more, and maybe one day play an entire song on NPR! PEOPLE Fred Patterson continues to minister to the ARChive’s collection, making sure that every new recording that enters the ARC is catalogued properly and compared to the existing collection for variations. It’s a nightmare of work that few other libraries bother with. Our goal is to keep two copies of every version of every recording issued–covers, labels, catalog numbers, etc. are all considered. In this way, a label history is chronicled as the recordings are preserved. You can catch Fred on the action side of the music at The Wang Dang Doodle, his groovy record hop, currently held on the fifth Friday of the month (when there is one) at the Trophy Bar in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Fred is also a regular DJ at the monthly Subway Soul Club events held on the third Friday of the month at the LOFT, also in Williamsburg. More details of his extra-ARChivial activities can be found here. Part-timers staff in 2009 were Juan Amaya and Karim Vickery. Juan will continue and you can find Kareem at Halcyon record store in Dumbo. Volunteers this year included, Joe Flynn, Marcos Sueiro Bal, Andy Schwartz, Melwita (Wita) Mahadi (now in Indonesia), Damien McCaffery (now in Scotland), Mark Pajerski, Jillian Flexner and the indispensable Tim Broun. Collection pick-ups are by the ever-reliable Fleshtone-playing, sometimes truck-drivin,’ Alpine skiing, Keith Streng. Once again the wonderfully helpful University of Michigan School of Information organized two interns over Spring break. When I went to Michigan, Spring Break wasn’t even invented yet! Noah Liebman helped create a new db for us, while David Jackson spent the week cataloging ‘classic rock’ LPs. Thanks to Kelly Kowatch for organizing it all. This April another former Michigander, John Schott, Chair of Cinema and Media Studies at Carleton College, brought a gaggle of media students to tour ARC, with a few students volunteering for a few days. REMEMBERED We lost another Board Members this year, Ellie Greenwich (October 23, 1940 – August 26, 2009), and in October were able to honor Jerry Wexler (January 10, 1917 – August 15, 2008) at a memorial held by his family. You can read a nice overview of the service and remembrance on Andy Schwartz’s New York Rocker website. Ellie had been pretty much a recluse for many years now, and we rarely saw her. Happily her great music lives on through classic songs like “And Then He Kissed Me,” “Da Doo Ron Ron,” “Chapel of Love,” “River Deep, Mountain High” and “Be My Baby.” She also sang some perfectly silly ones like “Niki Hoeky.” She will be missed. The above LP is from the ARC’s collection : Ellie Greenwich Composes Produces and Sings. (United Artists, USA, UAS 6648, LP, 1968). Joining our Board of Advisor next year is Michael Feinstein – more about that in the blog this Feb. Very exciting for us. We are also looking for new people to join our working Board of Trustees. If anyone is interested – helping to shape our projects and purpose – please give us a ring. ENTERTAINMENT is US A lot of industry projects this year, most notable is working with the newly revived Knitting Factory Records on the first American overview on the music of the late Fela Kuti, Nigeria’s premier activist music maker. The Knit has just acquired the US rights to the entire Fela catalog from EMI and others, the project organized by Fela’s longtime manager, Rikki Stein. ARC scanned 12 rare covers in our collection, all of them available nowhere else, and digitized two LPs, replacing lost or damaged content, from our collection of over 200 Fela releases. Look for a massive set of box sets, on vinyl, sometime next year. This is EXACTLY the kind of work we love doing, and can do. Thanks to Tim Putnam and Stephen Hendel at the Knit. Mr. Handel has also been instrumental in bringing the Bill T. Jones musical Fela to life. Scans of labels and covers continue to be the ARC’s most requested work, this year including one of our rare Robert Johnson 78 for BMG Records, some Monkee singles for Reader’s Digest, a big pile for Oprah Magazine, Nonesuch and classic jazz originals for a reissue series for the Verve Music Groups (thanks Harry) and popstuff for Universal. We continue to provide all the scans of important recordings added to the newly formed Grammy Hall of Fame in LA. Project head Ken Visite visited ARC in May and on Grammy night 2008 I sent off the batch of scans for this years inductees. FILM Film work this year included searches for Ang Lee’s, “Taking Woodtock.” Richie Havens asked us to locate a rare promo live single, “Handsome Johnny” that was attached to a live LP. Well we had one, sealed, and sent it off to be professionally copied and synched to film footage – it’s a long story why Warner Films won’t let Warner Music use the song from the Woodstock film! Joe Boyd, the music supervisor, also asked us to locate, “Inside Bert Sommer” by the self-same Bert, an LP from 1969 on the Eleuthra label. Believe it or not Bert (who?) performed at Woodstock and they have been searching for months for the LP. ARC had four Bert Sommer LPs – honest, I had never heard of him! Of course Freddie had. This is why we save everything. You never know. Fruitless work was done on the Bob Marley film that Director Jonathan Demme was readying for release in February. But mysteriously, like Martin Scorsese, he was off the project. Well, we don’t have any other directors on our Board, so I guess this film will never be released. CHINOISERIE There’s more than a massive trade deficit connecting the US and China, so ARC offered a tiny bit of help to bring The Chinese Underground Invasion Tour to the USA. The tour was masterminded by Charles Saliba and Michael Pettis of the Beijing label Maybe Mars and the club D-22, and included a series of concerts by punk-inspired bands P.K. 14, Carsick Cars, Xiao He, and White. Photographer Matthew Niederhauser was also here to release Sound Kapital, his book chronicling the Beijing music underground. ARC was given a wide range of over 50 recent CDs from Maybe Mars and other small Beijing labels offering alternative music made outside the scope and scrutiny of the Chinese government. Also donated were support materials includes hundreds of posters and handbills advertising local Beijing shows, most designed by the hot graphics team, the Cult Youth Collective. A lot of this material was brought back and donated by Ben Bernstein, son of ARC Board member Alan, who was studying in China last summer. IDEAS After years, I am getting back to doing reviews and overviews. I contributed a story on “Ási Es…Con Salsa!” an LP by Alfredo Gutierrez and Los Caporales de Magdalena for Wax Poetics. It’s in ish #35, in the “re:discovery” section, at the beginning of the mag. A mighty fine music magazine worth checking out. Employing an editorial eye, I have begun work on a book of punk 45 covers. Most books on this subject, and most graphic ‘cover’ books in general are pretty lame, so there’s a need. We have an incredible collection here, mostly from having put together, Volume, The International Discography of the New Wave, in the early 80s. Should be fun. DONATIONS Here’s the round numbers on the materials donated in 2010 : 44,000 CDs, 30,000 LPs, 9,000 twelve-inch singles and assorted tens of thousands of music related videos, magazines, 78s, cassettes, press kits and books. The devil is in the details, so here’s a few of the angels who made it all happen : Lois Weiss bought ARC a hi-end Nikon Coolscan slide scanner with auto feed for us to scan her donation of slides she made as a member of the Fillmore East’s Joshua Light Show. Of course of great benefit for other projects – like maybe the 40,000 slides of musicians from press kits in the basement! Ron Saja, who has given over 10K recordings in the past and was the owner of Footlight Records in the Village, again donated a big batch; 17 DVDs, 685 CDs, 237 books, 134 ten-inch singles 78rpm, 40 twelve-inch singles, and 1152 LPs. Ben Young, Director of Broadcasting and Operations up at WKCR, continues to bring carloads twice a year, last batch about 600 CDs and an equal number of LPs. A killer donation was delivered by Ken Richardson over at Sound and Vision, totaling 3245 CDs, 668 DVDs, plus assorted other formats in the 100s. Other generous businesses include Chris Thieke @ Shore Fire Media (807 CDs), Mark Fotiadas @ Mute, (1000+ CDs), Cory Robbins @ Robbins Entertainment (4954 LPs, 622 seven-inch singles, plus tons of high end audio equipment), Jonathan Lang of the Beggar’s Group US (464 CDs), and Randy Haecker, Robin Manning and Gabby Gibb over at Sony BMG/Legacy (191 CDs, 55 LPs). Jerry Rappaport, who used to work for Mango and Island Records, moved to a real Caribbean island recently, and cleared out his storage space to the tune of 6132 LPs. This was one of the best gifts we have gotten in years, wonderful material in great condition, and he says, there will be more next year. Keeping to the Islands. Steve Bartels, from the Island Def Jam Music Group threw in 2,669 CDs and hundreds of other goodies. Extra-ordinary citizens include; Rich Kim (226 ten-inch 78 rpm discs), Julie Lipsius (60 CDs), Robert Singerman (753 CDs plus hundreds of magazines and other assorted goodies), DJ Ray Velasquez (410 CDs, 256 twelve-inch singles), DJ + artist Lucien Samaha (528 LPs), Jim Leavitt (430 CDs), Jim Eigo (195 CDs) graphic master Eric Zim (128 CDs, 116 books), James Conlin (953 LPs), and recordman Fred Shapiro (142 DVDs, 1254 CDs, 105 LPs). Board member Fred Schneider continues to amaze with his donation of peculiarly wonderful LPs (867), as does longtime ARCpal AP Joseph (1881 LPs, 362 music books). 465 Latin Recordings, all catalogued (we LOVE electronically catalogued collections) were sent by Abby and Maria Lugo. Just for fun Dean Taucher sent signed LPs by Jerry Lewis and Ice-T. Nice that the tag on Ice-T’s says “F— the Police,” now that he has a starring role on TVs Law and Order. There were countless donations of 10, 20, 40, 125, 200+ by countless others, including; June Hildebrand Abrams, Billy Adler (mostly wonderful X-mas music), Bruce Alexander, Marcos Sueiro Bal, Jennifer Ballantyne @ EMI Music Marketing, Kyle Benson from Verve / UMG / Universal Music, Alan J. Bernstein, David Bither, Nancy Breslow, David Browne, Lucas Cooper at ROIR, Barry Cohen, George Cuttingham, Adam Dolgins, Engine Room Audio, Michael Fremer, Tom Gould, Randall Grass, Jana Hollingshead, Peter & Kathleen Kapp, Bryan Koniarz, Anne Leighton, Sarah Lazin, Adam Lisberg (187 music magazines), Sandy Mancuso over at Putumayo World Music, Cheryl McEnaney, Bryan Mechutan, Dan Morgenstern over at the Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers, Nate Oberstein @ Eagle Rock Entertainment, Tom Monday at the Limewire Store, Andy Schwartz, Lawrence G. Sucsy, Guy Smith (over 200 ten-inch 78rpm recordings), Ed Steinberg, Jessica Thompson, Holly George-Warren, David Withers, Peter Wright, and Kevin Yatarola at Palm Entertainment We wish also to thank Columbia University, and the many corporate donors who helped us get through the year, foremost of which is the Jaharis Family Foundation. Also thanks to Gracenote and BMI. Of course we really appreciate all of you out there who have joined ARC and purchased a membership. Maybe this is finally the year we print up those nifty membership cards? By the way : Anyone can make a donation these days through Paypal or via this webthing (below). If you can help out with materials, a donation, or spare time, please let us know. Keep in touch. B. George ARChive of Contemporary Music 54 White Street, New York City, 10013 tel : 212-226-6967 e : arcmusic@inch.com url: http://arcmusic.org blog: https://arcmusic.wordpress.com

300 LPs make a great stocking stuffer!

The ARChive Holiday Record + CD Sale is a success so far with plenty of folks shoppin’ n’ boppin.’

Still plenty of tasty vinyl and CDs left.  300 LPs make a great stocking stuffer!  So come on down and tell your friends.  Join the fun.  Support the ARC.  Everyday, 11-6, from now until Sunday Dec 20.  Thanks to all who have already visited or donated materials for the sale.    B.

ARChive of Contemporary Music
54 White Street  New York City, 10013
3 blocks South of Canal between Church + Broadway
Take the #1 train to Franklin St, or any train to Canal
tel : 212-226-6967          e : arcmusic@inch.com
http://www.arcmusic.org              blog: https://arcmusic.wordpress.com

Sale Almost Here!