[78-L] tolerance

[Bill McClung]

I am a 78rpmcoholic.  Yet I'm not strange.   I have an enthusiasm that
sometimes borders on an obsession but it does not consume or dominate my
life.  This is not denial talkling.  I have many people in my life making
sure I don't fall through the labels and disappear.  And because of this
balance these same people are interested in my 78s and have been known to
spend an evening here and there with me as we see what we can hear.

I'm looking forward to the time when I can retire from full time work and
spend more of my time on my collection.  Until then I am happy to go where
my enthusiam takes me and if I have those several thousand 78s I haven't
played or even cataloged yet calling to me from my music room then I'll
just have to get to them when I can.

I hope to never become my father who was consumed by Civil War history and
as he grew older talked more and more of little else.  He was a southerner
who thought the North was right so he may have had other issues than just
the need to explain to me the blow-by-blow and shot-by-shot events that
turned the tide at the Battle Of for the seventeenth time.  Maybe I will
but I hope I won't.

I'm happy to have Steven B. collect them all.  I'm happy to have Royal P.
notice the hiss in a transfer.  I'm happy to have Mr. Biel shout at the
educational establishment.  I'm happy and a little jealous to have someone
else find the good stuff at their local Goodwill store.   I don't know how
many members of 78-L there are but I'm happy there are that many who are
out there in the world preserving and enjoying our musical heritages and
sharing their thoughts and allowing me glimpses into their lives as they do
it.  I don't read every post or follow every thread.  My knowledge of and
interest in Portugese 78s before 1920 is fairly limited.  So is your
knowledge of or interest in Texas label 78s.  But I do try to log on every
day.  I feel I'm part of a very tolerant and, for the most part, patient
community.  

If you really want to spend some time in the middle of a group of eccentics
then have a cup of coffee in a booth at the 24-hour gas station/Wendy's in
Van Horn, Texas some 3 am and just look and listen.

I am a 78rpmcoholic and I'm proud of it.  I'm in very good company.


> [Original Message]
> From: Michael Biel <mbiel at mbiel.com>
> To: 78-L Mail List <78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
> Date: 7/16/2009 1:55:13 AM
> Subject: Re: [78-L] tolerance
>
> From: buster <busterdog at mac.com>
> > You can't be serious. But you probably are, since you are\
> > so immersed in it yourself, as is your poor child.
> > Her trailer, specifically the montage of individuals, is
> > the best evidence against your "not examples of misfits" remark.
>
>
> I don't think you have any real knowledge of the people we have profiled
> in the documentary.  Here in reverse alphabetical order is the list --
>
> Seth B. Winner  -- one of the top five world-class transfer engineers
> and an important technical staff member at the Rodgers and Hammerstein
> Archive of Recorded Sound of the New York Public Library at Lincoln
> Center
>
> Fred Williams -- a retired stock broker from one of the largest
> international firms, and one of the most important experts of the
> history of American military bands, author of many band discographies
> and producer of many LP and CD reissues of historic military band
> recordings including a best selling box set containing one example of
> every Sousa composition that was recorded by Sousa's band.
>
> Ray Wile --  retired Queens College librarian, author of several
> important Edison discographies, and dozens of articles and presentations
> that have detailed and uncovered the most important information about
> the first 25 years of the phonograph industry
>
> Terry Solomonson -- broadcast technician, and owner of one of the
> largest private collections of original broadcast discs and the author
> of a dozen detailed broadcast logs of important radio series
>
> Joe Salerno -- expert in piano recordings and recording transfer
> engineer, producer and provider of recordings for reissues.
>
> Dennis Rooney -- noted classical broadcaster, lecturer, writer, and
> producer for RCA and many other classical record labels.
>
> Steve Ramm -- certified public accountant by profession, collector of
> ephemera of the record industry, and writer of a monthly column of media
> reviews  
>
> Graham Newton --  former disc mastering engineer at Canadian RCA, now
> owner of a remastering firm, and noted expert in music and sound library
> companies.
>
> Kurt Nauck -- originally an antique dealer, now runs one of the most
> important record auction companies
>
> R. Peter Munves -- noted classical record producer and marketing
> director of Masterworks at Columbia Records and then RCA and many other
> labels.  Creator of many unique concepts in marketing classical records
> -- the industry hasn't been the same since he retired.
>
> Peter Muldavin -- researcher and author of The Complete Guide to Vintage
> Children's Records
>
> Rich Markow -- international conference director at a major medical
> facility, and a collector of personality recordings who has provided
> masters for many reissues
>
> David Lennick -- notable former CBC broadcast personality and producer
> of hundreds of reissue CDs at many labels worldwide
>
> Tim Brooks -- former director of audience research at NBC-TV and retired
> vice-president of Lifetime TV, National Book Award winning co-author of
> ten best selling editions of "The Complete Directory To Prime Time
> Network and Cable TV Shows 1946-Present", and "Lost Sounds", Grammy
> Award winning co-producer of "Lost Sounds" CD set, noted expert in sound
> recording copyright, chair ARSC Copyright Committee, longtime author of
> Bibliography of Discographies column and book, former president and
> incoming 2nd vice-president/program chair of ARSC.
>
> Bill Bragg -- longtime Dallas broadcaster and engineer, production
> director of E.D.S, former owner of National Broadcasting Museum, owner
> of YesterdayUSA Network, and the voice of Big Tex at the Texas State
> Fair.
>
> Michael Biel -- retired professor of electronic media, former president
> and two time 2nd-vice-president/conference program chair of ARSC, author
> of numerous conference presentations at ARSC, Broadcast Educ Assoc,
> Friends of Old Time Radio, Popular Culture Assoc, International Assoc of
> Sound Archives, etc., author of Ph.D. dissertation "The Making and Use
> of Recordings In Broadcasting Before 1936".
>
> Steven C. Barr -- author of "The (Almost) Complete Guide To Dating 78
> RPM Records"
>
> > Isn't it better to wear the badge proudly than to live in denial?
> > No one's denying the scholarship or the seriousness of this little 
> > collecting world, but to consider it anything even close to
> > mainstream or normal is laughable...or fatally sad.
>
> While you might have your issues with Steve Barr whose problems lie in
> several medical conditions, most of the people in this list have worked
> for (and even were executives of) some of the largest firms in the
> country,  many not connected with their collecting, but some have been
> able to integrate their collecting into their professional life.  Many
> are noted authors and some have produced, engineered, or contributed to
> award winning LPs and CDs.  This is not a list of small-timers.  They
> have a life, and some have national and even international reputations
> in and out of the field of recordings.   
>
> > Everyone finds their niche eventually, and here we are.
>
> And for most of this list, their record collection is only a small part
> of their niche.
>
> Mike Biel  mbiel at mbiel.com  
>
>
>
>
> On Jul 15, 2009, at 8:15 PM, Michael Biel <mbiel at mbiel.com> wrote:
>
> > buster wrote:
> >>> This group, by definition, is composed of a higher than average 
> >>> number
> >>> of "eccentrics." That's what we record collectors are, to 
> >>> ourselves at
> >>> least, as has recently been discussed. Outsiders are less kind, 
> >>> often
> >>> (seen "Ghost World" or "American Splendor"? 78 collectors are
> >>> pitiable freaks and outcasts). We have bombastic pontificators,
> >>> tightwads, endless repeaters, egotists, antisocial hermits, whiners,
> >>> and who knows what else. I mean, fergawdsakes, if you need any
> >>> evidence just look at Leah's trailer, or go to an ARSC event.
> >
> > Not quite. If you pay attention to what Leah's whole documentary is
> > about, it was the rebuttal to "Ghost World" and other such films,
> > especially "Vinyl". The collectors selected are among those we knew 
> > who
> > had made positive contributions to the scholarship and appreciation of
> > the recording industry and the content of recordings. And the same is
> > true of ARSC, which actually is a serious group of professional
> > archivists and advanced collectors, researchers, and enthusiasts -- 
> > and
> > those who aspire towards those goals. Sure we are a friendly lot and
> > filled with diverse personalities -- some of them extreme -- but we 
> > are
> > not examples of misfits. The documentary does touch on the compulsion
> > to collect, and as Graham Newton says with a laugh in the documentary
> > "We're all crazy. We're nuts!" and as one of the posted clips show
> > there were some extremes in The Syndicate, but on the whole it shows
> > collectors with a life.
> >
> > Mike Biel mbiel at mbiel.com
>
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