Recent Acquisitions at the ARChive

As our collection of LPs grows ever larger and more complete, it's only natural that our attention turns a bit towards unique 78s. One of the more exciting groupings is our growing collection of Vogue Picture Discs. Vogue was a short-lived label out of Detroit in 1946 and 1947, owned by Sav-Way Industries. Way ahead of their time, the Vogue folks couldn't imagine songs without pictures, and along with a few specialty pressings, issued 67 of these ten-inch discs. Pictured here is one of the two dozen Vogues we own, "Vem Vem (the Cuban Kissing Game)"/"Mujercita" performed by Enric Madriguerra and his Orchestra, (Vogue, R776, 10" 78rpm, 1947 [?]). Learn more and see every picdisc they released at www.voguepicturerecords.org.

While the Vogue discs represent a particular focus, it's the everyday donations that make the ARChive America's largest popular music collection with over 1.6 million recordings. Here is a list of recent 2003 donors:

Goran Andersson donated over 700 mostly Euro-CDs, as he cleaned his closets and jetted off to Sao Paulo. Dividends from his relentless shuttlebuggin' are regular supplies of traditional and modern Brazilian releases from Tratore Distribution . The equally exotic Jellybean Benitez donated 1479 singles and 214 CDs; Mark Bevan, 200+ UK music mags, 123 singles and over 400 cassettes; David Browne, (Entertainment Weekly) sent 322 CDs + assorted LPs, DVDs and books. Speaking of which, Simon Carlos over at The Rough Guides made sure we had his latest and greatest music tomes. Marcia Elliott mailed two batches this year from far-off Michigan, including 83 CDs and a pile of LPs and CSs; Patrice A. Fehlen gave 30 CDs; out of the blue Eric Fierke gave 2600 LPs (thanks Nick Hill for the big pickup down in Maryland); Mark Fotiadas (Mute Rec) gave 251 CDs and 26 LPs; White St. neighbor Kimiko Fujimura dropped by with 15 LPs; Randy Haecker (Sony Legacy) was good for 68 CDs; while regulars Jonathan Hafter (48 CDs), John Hammond (150 DVDs) and Bruce Hartley (15 CDs, 83 LPs) kept the goodies coming.

Like clockwork, critic David Hinkley at the Daily News sent his annual 2000 or so CDs. Peter Kapp gave 112 CDs, plus DVDs & Videos; Ms. Camile Larghi, 245 LPs; Sarah Lazin, 412 music books; Ann Leighton, 45 videos, 5 DVDs, 48 CDs, 119 mags and boxes of press kits and photos; Al Lopez, 25 CDs; Robert Molnar, 88 LPs; David Passick, 806 LPs; Kevin Patrick, 138 music mags; Fred Schneider gave over 400 LPs; Andy Schwartz, 314 forty-fives and monthly boxes of press kits and CDs; Michael Shore 225 LPs; Ed Steinberg over 2000 LPs; and Nick Thompson, 30 CDs. Regular donor Lois Weiss gave 645 LPs, 112 CDs, 50 singles and 100s of press kits; Dick Wingate, 718 cassettes; and the lovable Eric Zim, 134 LPs, 33 CDs + 17 videos.

A big bump came from international distributor Musicrama, who dropped off a whopping 9000 CDs last year. Ken Braun at Sterns Music was another worldly donor who sent over a bulging box of African CDs. Sara Shenasky at Atlantic Records continues to amaze us with her largess: 1444 CDs, 250 LPs, 157 twelve-inch singles. Tom Evered of Blue Note came through with 200 new CDs; Cheryl McEnaney over at Narada sent 60 CDs; Robin Manning at BMG Records, 113 CDs, and Holly and Anita at Intercultural Niche Strategies cleaned out the office and donated 1248 CDs, 137 Videos, plus desk lights and furniture. Peter Wright at Instinct Records gave 216 CDs and organized a donation of 1500 CDs from the Knitting Factory and Shimmy Disc labels.

A special thanks goes out to Mr. & Mrs. Richard Kelly who gave a wonderful collection in memory of their son Chris. For many years Chris worked buyback at Sounds (NYC store) and accumulated a great assortment of rare and wonderful material, with an East Village, 80s emphasis. This truckload donation included 667 forty-fives, 2435 LPs, 60 seventy-eights, 115 books and 300 cassettes. Thanks to Mike Naber & Keith Streng for helping with this donation.

Another genuflection goes to James M. Doran who gave some of his best loved material, a specialty collection of recordings by jazz pianists Eroll Gardner and Herman Chittison. Jim, the author of Herman Chittison : A Bio-Discography, (International Association of Jazz Record Collectors, monograph No. 2, 1993) dropped off 50 CDs, 41 LPs, 18 ten-inch LPs, 54 CSs and 61 books. Just for fun he also bought us a much needed CD burner.

Ed Salamon also deserves a big thanks for remembering us as he made the big move to Nashville. Ed donated an incredible Country collection of 11,460 singles, 3300 LPs, 250 CDs and 65 seventy-eights!