man. I'm gonna break the bank buying a 20 year old radio. imagine the 
XYL if I went and bought that collection? I think I'd be the only other 
person in history to have been reserected only to die a slow and painful 
death.


On 22/02/2008 1:29 PM, the old scribe known as matt v was able to impart 
this pearl of wisdom:
> dont think i'll be bidding on that lol
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Senk, Mark J. (CDC/NIOSH/NPPTL)" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Thursday, February 21, 2008 9:05 AM
> Subject: OT - record seller is legally blind
> 
> 
>> Off topic, but the recent discussion of novelty records makes me think
>> there is some interest in this article
>>
>>
>> He was also interviewed on NPR a day or two ago.
>>
>>
>>
>> North Hills treasure trove of music goes up for sale on eBay Wednesday,
>> February 20, 2008 By Scott Mervis, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
>>
>> Steve Mellon/Post-Gazette
>> Paul Mawhinney examines a Rolling Stones album he said is worth $10,000
>> at Record Rama in Ross.It started with a 1951 Frankie Laine single
>> called "Jezebel." From there, Paul Mawhinney's obsession grew into the 3
>> million records that now fill the Record Rama archives.
>>
>> When the clock strikes 6 p.m. tomorrow, it may be out of his hands and
>> on the way out of Pittsburgh.
>>
>> Mr. Mawhinney has put what he calls "The World's Greatest Music
>> Collection" -- bigger than the one at the Library of Congress -- up for
>> auction on eBay. He is selling the collection, housed in his store below
>> a strip mall in Ross, as one unit with a starting bid of $3 million.
>>
>> Mr. Mawhinney estimates the value at $50 million and said that CD Now
>> nearly bought it for $28.5 million earlier in the decade, just before
>> stock in the online Web site plummeted. He added that over the years,
>> the Library of Congress and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum have
>> both expressed interest in the collection.
>>
>> But, between the digital revolution and the shrinking population of
>> oldies collectors, the retail record industry is dying fast and a lot of
>> the old-timers just want out.
>>
>> Mr. Mawhinney, 68, said he's more determined than ever now to sell.
>>
>> "I want to retire. I'm legally blind and I had a couple strokes four
>> years ago. My vision is really getting to be a problem. And the record
>> industry also has changed. Kids are used to downloading stuff. The
>> world's changed."
>>
>> The name Record Rama doesn't even do justice to the seemingly endless
>> aisles of Mr. Mawhinney's vault, each longer than a bowling alley. It's
>> more like Record Nirvana. It has just about anything you'd want -- in
>> bulk.
>>
>> You can stop and count 29 copies of Led Zeppelin's "Houses of the Holy"
>> and more than a dozen of the Velvet Underground debut with the banana
>> cover designed by Andy Warhol.
>>
>> The rarest piece is a Rolling Stones record of early mono singles,
>> remastered in stereo for FM radio stations. Mr. Mawhinney said only 300
>> copies were made, and it's worth up to $10,000. The original pressing of
>> Elvis Presley's first Christmas album, which comes with photo booklet
>> gatefold, is worth $700. He has 17 copies.
>>
>> Just the other day, Mr. Mawhinney said, he came across a '60s soul
>> single, which are all the rage right now, in his collection that is
>> listed for $500 in Canada.
>>
>> One of the things that separates Mr. Mawhinney, who opened his store in
>> 1968, from most collectors/retailers is his meticulous archiving. In
>> 1983, he published a two-volume Music Master discography that became a
>> reference book for the industry and drew the praise of Dick Clark. Now,
>> he has nearly 1 million records archived on an electronic database.
>>
>> "I want to keep the collection together," he said. "It's my life's
>> work."
>>
>> Mr. Mawhinney's rare combination as collector, retailer and archivist is
>> mind-blowing to colleagues such as Jerry Webber of Jerry's Records in
>> Squirrel Hill and Val Shively of Val's Records in Philadelphia.
>>
>> "I have a computer that sits on my shoulders," said Mr. Shively. "It's
>> called my head. I don't even know how to get onto a computer."
>>
>> Mr. Webber and Mr. Shively both talk of having warehouses full of boxes
>> and not even knowing what's in them. That's partly why it's hard to back
>> up Mr. Mawhinney's claim of having the world's largest collection. The
>> other collectors aren't entirely sure what they have.
>>
>> Mr. Webber, a vinyl-only dealer who built some of his collection from
>> Record Rama, estimated he has around 1.7 million records. Mr. Shively
>> claims to have more than 4 million records, with the world's largest
>> collection of 45s. Craig Moerer of Records by Mail in Portland, Ore.,
>> claims more than 2 million records.
>>
>> Mr. Webber recently tried to unload his whole collection for $400,000
>> but couldn't get it. Part of what makes Mr. Mawhinney's vault so
>> valuable is that he never sold the last copy of a record, so it is
>> filled with rarities.
>>
>> Mr. Webber and Mr. Shively both doubt that anyone in this country is
>> going to come forward with the asking price. "I think he'll get between
>> $3 million and $5 million," Mr. Webber said. "It'll be someone overseas,
>> who will have it shipped there. They're really into these records in
>> London, Germany, Japan. They'll buy it and make millions on it."
>>
>> "I know there are bidders," Mr. Mawhinney said. "A guy in Germany went
>> to the bank [Monday] to get money. There's a guy in London, too."
>>
>> Mr. Mawhinney regretted seeing the collection leave the city and said he
>> tried to get local politicians and foundations interested in raising the
>> money to keep it here, but got very little response.
>>
>> David Grinnell, chief archivist at the Senator John Heinz History
>> Center, said the collection is too broad for their interests. "We're
>> more concerned with local materials than national. Tony Bennett's first
>> album doesn't fit with our collection policy."
>>
>> Even though Mr. Mawhinney's collection lived here for the past 40 years,
>> people never had full access to it at Record Rama. The vault was kept in
>> the back of the 16,000-square-foot space, closed to browsers. Between
>> that and Record Rama's higher prices, Mr. Webber said, a lot of
>> collectors didn't shop there.
>>
>> Mr. Mawhinney said that when the right bid comes through, he'll let go
>> of every last piece -- even his private collection, which long ago was
>> absorbed into the archive.
>>
>> "I had a wonderful life doing what I've done. I've lived a full life. I
>> have three children and five grandchildren."
>>
>> If all goes well tomorrow, they can expect new houses and healthy
>> college funds. And, for that, they can thank Grandpa, Frankie Laine and
>> Jezebel.
>>
>> Scott Mervis can be reached at [log in to unmask] or 412-263-2576.
>>
>>
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