MARCH MEETING

Our next meeting is March 22nd. We gather at 2 pm for refreshments and music conversation. The business meeting is at 3 p.m. Visitors are welcome to drop by and meet us! We’re at the Homewood Library, located at 1721 Oxmoor Road, near Homewood Park. We meet in Room 110 in the lower level.

THANK YOU!

Thanks for a great show this past weekend!   Biggest crowd in years. Many, many young people showed up to search for vinyl gems. Our show is not just for the older Rock and Roll generation, but for all ages and musical tasters. Multiple international buyers came from England, Germany, Sweden and even Japan. People have emailed us to say that they were able to find records that they've been trying to find for years. ARCA's friend, R&B singer and Birmingham's own, Roscoe Robinson dropped by on Saturday to meet the folks and talk about his days in the music business. Next year's show will be March 4th and 5th, 2016 at the Bessemer Civic Center, so if you missed this one, make plans now to attend the next one. Get on our mailing list and you'll receive a post card before the show. Keep checking our facebook page or our website for future announcements and details about the show.

 

2015 Record Show

Our CD and Record Show will be held at the Bessemer Civic Center on March 6 & 7, 2015.  On Friday, the Early Bird session starts at 1 pm with an admission charge of $10. The $3 general admission hours on Friday are 4-9 pm and 9 am – 5 pm on Saturday.

All dealer space is fully reserved.  We have added a few extra tables this year to help accommodate demand, but still have a waiting list.  Please contact Joe Reddick at heyjoe1357@aol.com if you wish to be added to our waiting list or for additional dealer information.

Customers can expect the largest selection we have ever had at our current location.  Make sure you allow plenty of time to search dealer inventory.

Additional details for the show can be found in our CD & Record Show Blog.

ARCA is 35!!

Did you know that ARCA is 35 this month?  That’s right, 35!  Back, way back, in 1980, Fred Dahlke made a decision to start an organization for music lovers and collectors.  There was no such organization in the state of Alabama.  The seeds were actually sewn as much as five years earlier.  Fred had talked with other music collectors off and on.  One, in particular, was from Florida.  Fred ran into him at a thrift store looking through records.  The man told Fred that there was a music club in Florida that held record shows and such.  Fred was intrigued to say the least, so after a while, he decided to form the Alabama Record Collectors Association.  The beginnings were small.  With six others meeting in Fred’s living room, they formulated the plans of what ARCA would be.

ARCA then worked out a deal where UAB would provide a room for the monthly meetings, so beginning in March, the group left the coziness of Fred’s living room to go to the UAB campus.

During this same period, Fred had also been in negotiations with Program Director, Tom Reynolds, at WAPI about doing a weekly show to play the GOOD older music that we all grew up with.  He also reasoned that it would be a very good way to promote ARCA.  WAPI agreed to try a one-hour show beginning in March, 1980.  The show was called, “Original Gold Wax.”  Response was so great that, not only did WAPI continue the show, but they expanded it to two hours.  Fred remembers driving one day and hearing a promo on the radio announcing his three hour show.  Fred was thrilled, but also taken aback, because this was the first time he had heard of his show going to three hours.  By the way, Neil Evans had heard the show and joined ARCA the second month.  He would also join Fred on the radio show, so it became a two-man show.

The radio show certainly did help boost ARCA’s membership which exploded after the show began.  A few of those original members are still members today.

In the spring of 1982, ARCA decided to sponsor Birmingham’s very first Record Show.  It was held at the now-gone Parliament House on 20^th Street.  Fred recalls how nervous he was on the way to the show on that first day, wondering if anyone would show up.  As he approached the building, he was simply amazed at what he saw.  There was a line of people from inside the building, spilling out the front door and down the walkway.  The attendance at that show was over 1200.

The Record Show continued to grow and stayed at the Parliament House for two or three years, then moved to the F.O.P. Lodge on Greensprings Ave. where it remained for many years.  After brief stints at the Cascade Plunge and the BJCC, the show is now at its current home, the Bessemer Civic Center, where it has been for several years.

Although now gone, ARCA chapters would spring up in Huntsville and Montgomery.

Members have come and gone, but the core principles of why ARCA was started remains.  It is to help preserve recorded music and to give people a place to go to talk with others who share this love of music with regular meetings, to give them a place to go and expand their own collections be-it large or small with the CD & Record Show, plus just make new friends with people of similar interests and have fun events like the picnic, Christmas party and occasional field trips. 

You don’t have to subscribe to one particular genre of music.  Music is music, whether it’s Country, Jazz, Classical, Blues, New Age or Rock, nor is the age of the music important.  I grew up with 60’s rock, but also love Big Band music of the 30s and 40s, Southern Gospel music and music of today as well as all of the other genres listed.

At this month's meeting, we will celebrate 35 years.  Come join us.  Guests are always welcome!

 

February Meeting

Our next meeting is February 15th. We gather at 2 pm for refreshments and music conversation. The business meeting is at 3 p.m. Visitors are welcome to drop by and meet us! We’re at the Homewood Library, located at 1721 Oxmoor Road, near Homewood Park. We meet in Room 110 in the lower level.

January Meeting Is Record Show Workday

We don’t have an official meeting in January. Instead members are invited to our annual gathering at Bob & Debbie's house on Saturday the 17th at noon. Don’t be late or you’ll miss lunch! Remember to bring your request for music to be played at the gathering.

BTW we will be preparing the Record Show mailings.

ARCA Christmas Party

There is no business meeting in December. Instead we’ll be gathering for food, fun and fellowship at our annual Christmas party on December 13th.

Specific details are in your ARCA newsletter. We hope to see everyone there!

November Meeting

Please join us at our next meeting on November 16h. We gather at 2 p.m. for refreshments and music conversation. The business meeting is at 3 p.m. Visitors are always welcome!

This month’s meeting will be all about television theme music.  Mike had an article in last month’s newsletter about his passion for this type of music collecting.   He  now has over 1,000 TV theme songs and is still going.  Mike will talk about the history and stories behind some of your favorite themes.  It is just unbelievable how many television shows there have been. Themes cover all genres and many have been hit songs and others should have been.  Be thinking about some themes you would like to hear and chances are you’ll hear it Sunday.

We meet at the Homewood Library, located at 1721 Oxmoor Road, near Homewood Park. We're  in Room 110 in the lower level.

October Meeting

At the October meeting we will be discussing the incredible music of Bond, James Bond.  Since the movie series of the world's best known spy started in 1962, one of the best loved aspects of each movie is its fantastic theme song and musical score.  Some of music's best known artists have performed theme songs, such as Paul McCartney and Wings, Tina Turner, Sheryl Crow, Gladys Knight and Madonna,to name but a very few, have all put their particular twist on Bond theme songs which all have that obvious Bond sound.  It all started with probably the most recognized tune in all of movie lore, "The James Bond Theme,"  originally composed by Monty Norman, but arranged beautifully by John Barry.

We will also be having a trivia contest of this topic and we should all learn a little more about the music of James Bond.

September Meeting

Our next meeting is September 21st. We gather at 2 pm for refreshments and music conversation. The business meeting is at 3 p.m. Visitors are welcome to drop by and meet us! We’re at the Homewood Library, located at 1721 Oxmoor Road, near Homewood Park. We meet in Room 110 in the lower level.

Annual Picnic

Instead of a normal meeting in August, we have our annual picnic. It will be at Rickwood Caverns on August 23rd. There will be plenty of food, music & fellowship. Don’t forget your swimsuits! Please consult your member newsletter for details.

Our next regular monthly meeting will be on September 21, 2014.

Bill Grant talks to ARCA

ARCA wishes to thank Bill Grant for a very informative and musical meeting mixed with background and funny stories of 'The Gents' as a Birmingham band in the early 60s.  He obviously loves to talk about music and was very entertaining to listen to. 

Bill was another in a long line of special guests ARCA has had over the years.  These guests help us to get some insight into these bands and into music radio (behind the scenes).  We are working on several more guests in the coming months, so please keep checking this website or 'Like Us' on facebook to find out when the next one will be appearing.  Guests are always welcome.  You do not have to join ARCA, but we would welcome anyone who does.

Special guest at July meeting

ARCA will welcome a special guest at the July meeting.  Bill Grant was the lead guitarist and founding member of the Birmingham band, The Gents.  Bill wrote "Breezy" which was the A-side of their only record recorded on the Vestal label in 1963.  Bill is full of musical stories about the band and loves to talk about music.  Please make plans to attend this month's meeting to meet Bill.  Guests are always welcome.

July Meeting

Our next meeting is July 20th. We gather at 2 pm for refreshments and music conversation. The business meeting is at 3 p.m. Visitors are welcome to drop by and meet us! We’re at the Homewood Library, located at 1721 Oxmoor Road, near Homewood Park. We meet in Room 110 in the lower level.

JUNE MEETING

Our next meeting is June 22nd. This is one week later than normal due to the Father's day holiday.  We gather at 2 pm for refreshments and music conversation. The business meeting is at 3 p.m.

Visitors are welcome to drop by and meet us! We’re at the Homewood Library, located at 1721 Oxmoor Road, near Homewood Park. We meet in Room 110 in the lower level.