About The Records

Q. Where did the records come from?

A. Many of the records here come from what was my private collection. The vast majority are from the collection of John D. Floyd Jr of Laurel, MD. He now owns what was my collection and also maintains the "Glen Richards Memorial Milk Crate O' Records" (the few records that are still mine) in his basement. The records have been found in various places: a dusty chicken coop outside of Erie, PA, multitudes of antique stores, an elderly retired US Government weatherman's bathtub (I kid you not!), rat-infested basement storerooms, you name it. One of the best parts of record collecting is "the thrill of the hunt" - you never know where you'll find something interesting.


Q. Who is John D. Floyd Jr?

A. One of the world's great sousaphone players, record collector par excellence, and all-around nice guy. His collection of records numbers well over 20,000.


Q. What equipment did you use to record?

A. A Newmark TT-100 turntable and a Stanton 500-series cartidge from KAB Electro-Acoustics. The signal was run through a standard amp to a CD recording deck. Nothing fancy! I whole-heartedly recommend KAB - Kevin Barret is a great guy to do business with.


A. Where do you get the recording/band information from?

Q. The discographical info comes from Brian Rust's "Jazz Records (1897-1943) 5th Edition", published by Mainspring Press and "The American Dance Band Discography (1917-1942)", published by Arlington House (no longer in print). Some of the info comes from musicians I've known over the years (Spencer Clark, Woody Herman, my own father and his friends); much comes from the myriad of books out there. Also, having "good ears" helps, as well as being exposed to a vast amount of this music over my lifetime.


Q. Where can I find further info about 78 rpm records?

A. At some point (real soon now!) I'll put together a list of all the books I have concerning vintage jazz and dance music. Many are out of print, but can still be found in remainder piles, if you're lucky!


Q. Are *my* (Bing Crosby, Glenn Miller) records valuable?

A. Well, generally speaking, no. There are lots and lots of big band and vocalist 78s out there, and common sense says that if there's lots of something available, it's not going to command a high price. That's not to say *your* records aren't valuable - your best bet is to talk with someone knowledgable. Feel free to email me a list of the titles, performers and label name and number, or do a quick search via Google for 78 rpm record dealers.