Ventures photo posed 1960 1500 crop

who was the first rock band to sell a million albums?

I HAD TO ANSWER THIS QUESTION: “Who was the first rock band to sell a million albums?” It was on Quora and immediately seized my attention. Why? Because not only had I never thought about it, but I had never heard a record-collecting friend or a professional music writer address it. [Continue reading]

CrewCuts InPerson 1960 1500 crop

should the crew-cuts be in the rock & roll hall of fame?

THERE ARE GOOD PEOPLE AMONG US. They see a wrong and right it. Mostly, they fail. Nonetheless, we think of them as heroic for their efforts. There are others who set out merely to succeed at their own goals. While achieving those goals, they may also break down a barrier or expand an established horizon. [Continue reading]

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about collectables and their alleged collectability and value

BUYERS AND SELLERS of collectables—whether records or memorabilia or Beanie Babies—often fail to achieve their goals of financial success because they do not understand a few basic concepts on determining collectability and value of the “seldom found.” Because this a record collectors website, I will generally refer to records below, but you can substitute almost any other collectable and the comments remain virtually unchanged. [Continue reading]

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should pat boone be in the rock & roll hall of fame?

THE QUESTION ON QUORA was “Who was the first rock & roll superstar to be discarded and forgotten to time?” I answered with Bill Haley, Pat Boone, and Connie Francis. Each singer was a big star in their heyday—the word “superstar” did not exist then—but each has been under-appreciated by most critics and historians since rock & roll became self-reflective decades ago. [Continue reading]

ATOG TS header 1955 Haley 1500 crop

the first discarded and forgotten superstars of rock & roll

THE BURNING QUESTION on Quora today was “Who was the first rock & roll superstar to be discarded and forgotten to time?” Of course, I couldn’t resist, although my answer may not have been exactly what the questioner was looking for in forgotten superstars. But who knows—maybe this is exactly the kind of thinking-provoking answer the asker wanted? [Continue reading]

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the frank daniels discographies & labelographies project

FRANK DANIELS has been collecting records for a long time. Somewhere along the way, he started collecting all sorts of record-related data and information. For years now, he has been researching, compiling, assembling, and publishing several incredibly detailed and accurate Frank Daniels discographies (listings of records) and labelographies (breakdowns on the visual changes in the label designs of a given record company). [Continue reading]

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what exactly was a “rock & roll album” in those days?

WHAT EXACTLY IS A ROCK & ROLL ALBUM? To answer that question, we need to answer another: What is rock & roll music? After sixty years, we still don’t have a definition that everyone agrees with! Arguments about its definition and its origin in the early ’50s—no wait, was it the late ’40s?—have [Continue reading]

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what was the first “rock” double-album of the ’60s?

 IT IS ACCEPTED “FACT” that two seminal works of popular music—the Beach Boys’ PET SOUNDS and Bob Dylan’s BLONDE ON BLONDE—were released on the same day, May 16, 1966. And there was a second reason to celebrate that date: BLONDE ON BLONDE was also the first rock double-album of all-new studio recordings, beating the Mothers of Invention’s FREAK OUT! [Continue reading]