Short Documentary for Vinyl Lovers

soundart1 · June 2009

I rarely post, but saw a 7-min documentary short ("The Archive") at the LA Film Fest and thought it might be of interest here. It's about a music-loving guy in Pittsburgh who has amassed the largest record collection in the world (2.5 million titles), 83% of which he says is not available on CD. (I'm sure Ed could find another Christmas gem in there somewhere).

Unfortunately, toward the end, you learn the guy has fallen upon somewhat hard times and has to give up his passion (not a spoiler). He is now trying to to sell the whole collection for $3 million (which he feels is a low-ball price), but has no takers.

If you are curious to check out the short doc -- or perhaps have an extra $3M in your pocket after selling your Istanbul poster -- I found the short playing on the guy's site, below. Not an amazing doc, but you may find it interesting, especially if you're into vinyl and/or collecting (which probably covers 90% of the people here). Again, it's only 7 minutes long, so no big investment of time. Also, check out the David Bowie story on his site (another 4 minutes), which isn't in the doc itself.

http://www.recordrama.com/index.html

dimitrispearljam · June 2009

THANKS

OceanStone · June 2009

Thank you. I have watched this about 6 months or so ago, very impressed about his collection. It said was estimated around $50 million worth. It's a bargain for $3 million, only $1.20 per record. I wish I have that kind of money to buy.

justam · June 2009

It seems like some organization should buy the collection as a library doesn't it? :geek:

pearljammer · June 2009

What an amazing and sad story. To dedicate your life to something as meaningful as preserving the greatest artform of the 20th Century, but to encounter no support in his time of need. WOW. That man's basement is a National Treasure and should be treated as such. It is a monument. And I only saw a 7 minute documentary. I hope this story has a happy ending.

Viva La Vinyl

ramblinpony · June 2009

This may be a long shot.....anyone interested in helping start a non-profit to save this collection? Just a gut feeling that there is a lot of people like us, general music lovers, who would donate to this cause. Maybe make this a museum?

Stephen Flow · June 2009

ramblinpony wrote:

This may be a long shot.....anyone interested in helping start a non-profit to save this collection? Just a gut feeling that there is a lot of people like us, general music lovers, who would donate to this cause. Maybe make this a museum?

That would be a great if enough people backed it... I wonder if anyone famous is aware of this situation... People like Ed would certainly be interested in this story, I'm sure.

pearljammer · June 2009

ramblinpony wrote:

This may be a long shot.....anyone interested in helping start a non-profit to save this collection? Just a gut feeling that there is a lot of people like us, general music lovers, who would donate to this cause. Maybe make this a museum?

I think thats a great idea, and would gladly donate what I could to this cause. Sadly, I don't think it would be enough. I'm actually quite surprised that this hasn't received more attention from the government, heritage groups and historical preservation type groups. This isn't your average collection here, this is on the extreme end of the scale of cultural significance. Maybe we should rally some support and start a letter writing campaign to the State government where they are, Pennsylvania, and see if they can't make it a heritage site.

Kudos to that man and his family for their dedication.

pearljammer · June 2009

Ps. I'm going to spin nothing but vinyl tonight in honour of this story. First up, In Rainbows.

soundart1 · June 2009

ramblinpony wrote:This may be a long shot.....anyone interested in helping start a non-profit to save this collection? Just a gut feeling that there is a lot of people like us, general music lovers, who would donate to this cause. Maybe make this a museum?

That would be a great if enough people backed it... I wonder if anyone famous is aware of this situation... People like Ed would certainly be interested in this story, I'm sure.

Yea, I thought the same thing, which is one reason why I posted. At the very least, I thought this deserved awareness and perhaps by spreading the word, it would get to some benefactor out there who can help. Raising money is an idea I also considered, but after you buy the collection, there is the issue of storing it. There would certainly be an on-going cost, etc.

Best case scenario that I can think of, a group of us raise money to buy the collection and then donate to some entity like a NARAS or something who could then take ownership and maintain it.

Or (pie in the sky) what if you got Ed/PJ and 10 other artists to go into the collection, find 1 obscure song each, each artist rerecords their one song, you put all the songs one CD, and then you sell the CD as a digital download for 4.99 -- with the proceeds going toward buying the collection (and then donating the collection to some institution that can bear the costs to maintain it).

TT8270 · June 2009

Very interesting story and sad that there's no buyer. Talk about passion

Short Documentary for Vinyl Lovers

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