We have the largest collection of popular music in America.
Today another six boxes of recordings arrived, by surprise I might add, with the latest installment of the massive Richard Zirinsky Collection. Sure there were the usual 10 Paul Weller box sets, more than 250 music DVDs and dozens of Jamaican singles. … read more >>
Grand Funk is getting ready to rock out at Jones Beach Theater (opening for Bob Seger) in Wantagh, New York, on May 30, at 7:30 PM. In 1968 (?) it would have cost you $3.00 – $3.50 to see the band in… read more >>
What’s a desk jockey to do? It’s been five sedentary years since my last out-of-office experience (see Colombian stories; Picolandia and Vallenato) — much too long to go without nudging the equator, swizzle-sticking fuzzy drinks and scooping up rare petroleum based audio… read more >>
“See. Up, down…up, down…pick up, pico.” Dago, one of Colombia’s mobile DJs was defining the term “pico.” It’s slang for the tonearm or “pick-up arm” you raise and lower to cue a record, and, by extension, it has come to mean a… read more >>
With a mixed cultural heritage (German/British), mixed-up cultural focus (noise/reggae) and a mixmastered public persona (art school/wild child), Ari Up brought a disjointed beauty to her vocals that remain haunting. I had seen her perform with the Slits @ Tier3 in 1980… read more >>
We think you should take the long weekend off and find some time to dance! In honor of this new commitment, may we show you a few of our favorite Cha Cha Cha LP covers (from our collection of over 300 here… read more >>
To celebrate the new year, the end of summer, strikes in France or as the kids say, “whatever,” I took the day off and made a trek way uptown to the Whitney Museum. Prime reason was to see the Christian Marclay exhibition… read more >>
Easing into the new year, slowly. An old friend, Richard Fleming, aka DJ Richard Nixon, has worked his obsessions (music, hiking, the Caribbean, birding, photography) into a wonderful new book and photographic gallery show. I first met Rich in Cartegena, Colombia in… read more >>
A founding member of the ARChive’s Board of Advisors died today. With sadness we report the death of songwriter Ellie Greenwich. Pretty much a recluse for many years now, her great music lives on through classic songs like “And Then He Kissed… read more >>
• We recently found four Elvis bracelets at a flea market. While the packaging looked right, the bracelets themselves seemed a little iffy. What did these rocks have to do with Elvis? The date is 1956. So maybe “Jailhouse Rocks?” Our pal… read more >>
File this as Part Two in an examination of the wonderful world of K-Tel as an instrument of dance education. The kids loved Dan’s previous Pop and Lock post featuring Breakdance (K-Tel NU3360) which helped spread the good word about the hip… read more >>
B. came back from Europe yesterday with all sorts of exciting stories and a stack of great records. One record that caught my eye was this 45 with an instructional picture sleeve about how to do a dance called the “Casatschok”: As… read more >>
The ARChive is a deep and wonderful place. As I was sorting through the children’s section for the records I wrote about yesterday, I came across these two gems, both from 1984 and I just had to share. First, we have Break… read more >>