Sixth appointment dedicated to discovering directors, museum managers and avid collectors of the ‘dear old’ Rock, and not only, in all its sonic manifestations. I write not only because with the latest interviews I am exploring realities that preserve various genres of sonic memory, in addition to Rock. First interview to Rolando Giambelli, creator and director of the Beatles Museum in Brescia (here). Second interview to Tiziano Gerli, curator of the Clash City Rockers Cafè, a museum dedicated to the Clash and their world (here). Third interview to Mariano Freschi, founder of the MADE IN ROCK association, a passionate collector of hundreds of basses, guitars, amplifiers (Kinks, Kiss, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, etc.) memorabilia, posters, gadgets, fundamental building blocks of Rock History (here). Fourth interview to Jacob McMurray, Director of Curatorial Affairs at MoPOP – Museum Of Pop Culture in Seattle, USA (here). Fifth interview to Sawako Ishii, a curator of the Hamamatsu Museum of Musical Instruments, city of Hamamatsu, Shizuoka prefecture. Japan (here). Now I move virtually to the United States to interview B. George, director of the ARChive of Contemporary Music in New York. The discovery of this legendary archive took place in 2011 while watching the beautiful documentary – which I recommend – by director Paolo Campana, dedicated to vinyl culture and entitled ‘Vinylmania – Quando la vita corre a 33 giri’ . After quite some time, and also accomplice to this column, I thought an in-depth look at the ARChive and an interview with its director was in order. Who was most willing to talk about the birth, history and everyday life of this very important archive dedicated to preserving musical memory everywhere. Over to you as always to read and then a tour of the museum’s website, a mine of incredible images and information.
Here you can find the Italian Translation
When was the The ARChive of Contemporary Music founded and why?
(home: B. George in the Keith Richards Blues Collection room) ARC was founded in 1985 by Robert George and David Wheeler (deceased). The physical collection began in an 800 sq. ft. third story walk-up in Tribeca, with 47,000 sound recordings accumulated and funded by Mr. George through his work as a DJ, a record producer and author. The goal was to create a collection that was rooted forever in the present; that would go beyond genres. Hence a name to accommodate all future twists and turns in popular music, The ARChive of Contemporary Music.
After exhaustive research into what other institutions and record companies were doing, we determined there was a need to preserve two copies of all variations and formats of all titles, all genres, from all nations – something no other entity was doing. As the collection grew to more than 500,000 recordings we sought partnerships. The collection was primarily punk, reggae, hip-hop, 12”dance singles and experimental music. That no other library or archive in 1987 was interested in these genres (except the experimental), or willing to take on such a large collection, convinced us to remain independent.
Where is it?
Originally in Tribeca, NYC, for 35 years, during the pandemic ARC relocated to a temporary location in Staatsburg, in upstate NY.
How is it structured?
The ARChive of Contemporary Music is a non-profit public benefit corporation, Chartered by the Board of Regents of the State of New York, recognized as tax exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the United States Internal Revenue Code.
Our Mission is To collect, preserve and provide information on the popular music of all cultures and races throughout the world from 1945 to the present. Robert George (aka: B. George) is the current Director. The property and affairs of the corporation are managed by a Board of Trustees. Our Board of Advisors is comprised of distinguished entertainment industry members. Current and past Advisors include David Bowie, Marin Scorsese, Paul Simon, Keith Richards, Nile Rodgers, Q-tip, Youssou N’Dour, Lou Reed, Coutney Love, Jonathan Demme, Jerry Wexler and many others.
Can you explain what the collections at The ARChive of Contemporary Music include?
ARC currently houses more than three million physical sound recordings in all formats (LPs, CD, 45s, 78s, flexidiscs, acetate cassettes, reel-to-reel tapes), 40,000 music books, and more than four million pieces of attendant materials (photographs, sheet music, songbooks, magazines, newspapers, fanzines, posters, flyers, handbills, press kits, tear sheets, academic papers, Films, VHSs, DVDs, Laserdiscs, hard drives, online data, audio- visual equipment, and music related ephemera and memorabilia).
Cataloged materials to date include 127,000 singles, 156,000 LPs, 280,000 CDs, and 16,400 music books. We have digitized more than 250,000 recordings with our partners the Internet Archive in San Francisco. Now in its 39th year of operation, ARC is the largest popular music collection in the world.
What kind of collections does the The ARChive of Contemporary Music have?
ARC maintains hundreds of Named Special Collections, including The Keith Richards Blues Collection (21,050 catalogued discs), Zero Freitas Brazilian Music Collection (20,900+ discs), John Rockwell Collection (4,056 catalogued discs), and David Byrne’s Luaka Bop Records Archive (60 file boxes). More information on our focused collections can be found on our website: https://arcmusic.org/catalogs/special-collections/
What can you do at the The ARChive of Contemporary Music? Is it possible to do research at the The ARChive of Contemporary Music?
The collection is not open to the public. We answer telephone/online research queries from the press, the entertainment industry, and, when possible, individuals creating special projects. Some special collections, like the Keith Richards Blues material are shelfed and can be accessed by staff to answer research inquiries.
We do out-of-office work including picking up donated materials as well as offering appraisal services for materials not donated to us. Anyone can request help with organizing, cataloging, cleaning and digitizing collections.
Once we are in our new, permanent home the goal is to allow students, educators, historians, musicians, authors, journalists, and the general public access to the collections and provide a wide range of public programing.
Are there any interesting stories about the The ARChive of Contemporary Music?
Hundreds; like pulling 125,000 LPs from a house that was condemned and sinking from the weight; going into Little Italy in NYC to sing and identify an old Italian pop song for Martin Scorsese; tracking down rare Beatles 78s in New Delhi, India; traveling under the protection of a cartel in Columbia to visit a vallenato accordian competition in Valledupar, Columbia; helping Chic reform so they could perform at one of our fundraisers hosted by David Bowie; organizing and shiping 40,000+ seventy-eight shellac discs from Copenhagan, Denmark to be digitized by the Internet Archive in San Francisco.
What is the best way to experience the The ARChive of Contemporary Music?
For now, online @ our website, www.arcmusic.org. There are a variety of posts offering histories of recordings, discographies, record collecting and random musings. There are many image galleries, like vintage C&W songbooks, Beatle imposter LPs and 362 record covers with people wearing space helmets! There are also in-depth overviews of the music of other cultures through our World Music Weeks. These online and live events on Cuba, Brazil, India and the greater Muslin world featured hundreds of contributors and thousands of participants. At our discretion individuals and groups are welcome to visit.
Is the The ARChive of Contemporary Music on social media?
Website: www.arcmusic.org
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ArchiveOfContemporaryMusic
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arcnyc/
Threads: https://www.threads.net/@arcnyc
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thearchiveofcontemporarymusic
Twitter: https://x.com/ARCnyc
Staff here, Fred Patterson and Tim Broun, produce radio programs and playlists drawing from our collection, Fred’s GO Mechanism on Mixcloud and rare 45s Tim found in our collection at ARCeology, on YouTube.
What is your relationship with the USA government?
None, other than maintaining our not-for profit tax exempt status.
Is the The ARChive of Contemporary Music open to external collaborations with institutions, associations, research centers?
Yes. Our various World Music Weeks with Cuba, India, Brazil and the greater Muslim world involved hundreds of institutions, libraies, archives, universities and music related not-for-profits. These events featured live performances, lectures, essays, films/video, downloadable music, photographs, discographies and bibliographies.
Do you have any possible developments in mind? For example a book or a documentary that tells its story through interviews and videos?
ARC has been featured in many documentary films and videos in the past, as well as many books about collectors. You can see a recent feature by CBS TV Mornings at https://app.cimediacloud.com/r/y8jA45Q1I49S
A current documentary by Josh Moise has been filmed and is currently being edited. Director Joshua Moise made “KRS-One Brooklyn To The Bronx”, that premiered at SXSW.
Do you have any projects or exhibitions in progress?
Our major focus in 2024 is our Capital Campaign and search for a permanent new home.
MAY I ADD?
The value of the ARC’s collection is not only in the rareness of many of our recordings, but in the breadth, size and organization of the collection. For every signed and unique copy of an early Rolling Stones LP, there are hundreds of relevant, formative, relatively unknown recordings that contributed to its creation, and thousands that benefit from its existence.
Link: The ARChive of Contemporary Music Home Page
Link: The ARChive of Contemporary Music Facebook Page
Link: The ARChive of Contemporary Music Instagram Profile
Link: The ARChive of Contemporary Music Twitter Profile
Link: The ARChive of Contemporary Music Youtube Page
