Sam Brylawski, head of the recorded sound section at the Library of Congress, said its holdings of popular music recordings now total 1 million, while Recordrama’s is more than 2 million. Along with selling music, Recordrama has established a comprehensive discography called Music Master, which offers detailed information on hundreds of thousands of music recordings. Music Master was originally sold as a bound volume in the early 1980s. While it garnered praise from such pop music luminaries as Dick Clark, who referred to it as a required reference, it took a while to sell.
Today, Music Master is an Internet database with more than 600,000 listings, which they expect to market again in bound volumes this year. Recordrama always relishes being challenged by music lovers throughout the world who call seeking a hard-to-find recording. “The most valuable thing wasn’t the records but the information,” said Paul Mawhinney, owner of Recordrama. “The history was key. Without it, you can’t do anything.” Not to be satisfied to just have hit records, Paul boasts that he owns two-thirds of the misses. “Try to get a record by Nick Lomikin anywhere,” he challenges. Nick Lomikin? A local musician long forgotten — except by Paul.
Paul remembers buying 500 copies of a rare album made by Porky Chedwick, the famed local DJ of the 1950s. With the record backed by a funeral home, he remembers buying a casket full of them from Mr. Chedwick at 11:30 p.m. The deal was done in a graveyard, appropriately enough. As he trods through the neatly lined rows of shelves of his collection, the memories kick up like dust and the spin into stories.
Paul Mawhinney is the founder of Recordrama and the creator of Musicmaster.
I’ve wondered if there’s somebody who does that!
Now I know. :o)