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World's Greatest Record Collector


Parrot

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This is a link to a fascinating video of a guy with--his guess--a million records.

Hat tip to the Steve Hoffman forum, for mentioning it.

I hate to poke holes in "The Greatest" but there are probably a whole bunch of folks who put this "collector" to shame. Paul Mawhinney, in my hometown of Pittsburgh, is the first that comes to my mind. Here's a link to Paul's little store: http://www.recordrama.com/

The guy in the video claims 1 Million. Paul has 2 Million. Do I hear 3????

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Wow, that guy is quite a character! Thanks for the link, Paul. I was able to contact him, and I invited him to Hope. I think he'll be driving with us to Pigeon Forge.

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YIKES that dude is so HIGH

Wonder if he has heard them all ?

Reminds me of the guy on Letterman who could look at the grooves and tell you what the record was Dave tripped him up with Alvin and the Chipmunks.

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That is interesting Paul, But I read somewhere that Elton John had the largest LP collection of all time.

I just checked on this out of curiosity. Elton's collection numbered a mere 48,000 records. That's nothing to sneeze at but it's not up there with the video man. Elton collection's was auctioned by Sotheby's in 1993 for $273,000, with the proceeds going to AIDS charities.

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I guess you're kidding about the crack. No way does that apply here. The guy is unusual, which should go without saying since he has a million records, but that doesn't mean any drugs are involved. (Or are you talking about Elton?)

Crackheads, on the other hand, will sell anything and everything to buy more crack--they aren't going to buy records. Crackheads will sell their furniture, their TV, their microwave, ***** out their bodies, even sell their children. I heard of a crackhead who sold his toilet!

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Uh, aren't LPs supposed to be stored edgewise, and not in big piles?

This guy is a collector, not an audiophile. He's too focused on his passion for stuff like that. If he didn't collect records, he'd be collecting stamps, or magazines, or furballs...

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This guy is a collector, not an audiophile. He's too focused on his passion for stuff like that.

You've hit on something. I've DJ'ed since 1961 and have "collected" records as a by-product. My goal has always been to create an atmosphere via the music, sound system and lighting. So I hardly ever buy a record just for its' potential monetary value. I did buy a copy of "Stoned" by the Stones, just because it seemed cool. Paid a whopping $10 for it in th seventies. It's worth a little more than that now, LOL. I buy records and CD's for their artistic content and potential.

But I've friends who are positively manic about collecting, in and of itself. They are clueless as a DJ but have collections that are astounding. The don't even listen to them that much. The acquisition process is paramount.

Sometimes they will organize a cross-country trip, searching old record stores, flea markets, record shows, etc. And they usually travel in pairs, so it's kind of a social event.

The more I think about the guy in the video, the more "normal" he seems. I guess I have some weird friends. But I'm better for having them. [;)]

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1 Million records @ 20 minutes per side average = 40 million minutes.

If he sat down to listen to all of his records, once each it would take 76 years without pause playing 24 hours per day.

This does not take into account unpacking the record from its sleeve, returning it after play or flipping sides.

I would surmize, therefore, that he has not listened to them all. I would guess he has listened to 1-3% of them.

This is collecting for the sake of collecting - there is nothing wrong with that - but it has nothing to do with being an audiophile or even, particularly, a music lover.

An impressive collection for sure - but he has nothing in common with me, for example, save the fact he owns vinyl records and so do I.

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