jimwiehe

Music has always been one of the most important parts of my life; some of my first memories are of lying with my ear close to my folks' Electro-Voice Wolverine LT-12 speakers, fascinated by the sounds coming from the trumpet and orchestra on Bert Kaempfert's "Bert Kaempfert And His Orchestra* - Wonderland By Night", the layers of sound on Jackie Gleason's "Jackie Gleason - The Last Dance...For Lovers Only" and the festive sounds of Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass. Other regulars on our family "playlist" (aka, the stack of 4-5 records on our old 3-speed Garrard turntable) included albums by Al Hirt, Duane Eddy, Bent Fabric, the "Mitchell Trio* - The Slightly Irreverent Mitchell Trio" (ha!) and a handful of musicals, including "Gwen Verdon, Stephen Douglass, Ray Walston - Damn Yankees (An Original Cast Recording)" and "Various - How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying (The Original Broadway Cast Recording)". When we were a little older, my brother and I would spend hours listening to all of the old 45s my parents had saved from the fifties. Our favorites were what would now be called "novelty songs" -- Brian Hyland's "Brian Hyland - Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini / Don't Dilly Dally, Sally", Texas Jim Lewis' "Texas Jim Lewis And His Lone Star Cowboys - Where Did Robinson Crusoe Go With Friday On Saturday Night?", and the much newer "The Royal Guardsmen - Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron", Johnny Cash's "Johnny Cash - Oney / Country Trash" (loved the laugh at the end of that one!), "The Delegates (2) / Charles Kynard - Convention '72 / Funky Butt", Ray Steven's "Ray Stevens - The Streak" and, of course, Sammy Davis Jr's "[2636535]". The first 45 I purchased was Sonny & Cher's "Chér* - Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves / He'll Never Know" while my first album purchased was Lobo's "Lobo (3) - Of A Simple Man". As a teen, I became far more aware of the expressive beauty of lyrics, especially touched by the songs of Jim Croce, Gordon Lightfoot, Simon & Garfunkel and other singer-songwriters (still my favorite style...).

I'll freely admit that I have become a Discogs junkie, relishing the vast knowledge of this group. Over the past couple decades, this group and the Steve Hoffman Music Forums have helped me learn so much more about vinyl, music production and the history of music. I want to extend a special thank-you to W.B., whose encyclopedic knowledge of vinyl pressing plants, typesetting quirks, and label detail has taught me more than any book or guide ever could. I'm also deeply grateful to Jean-Michel Molkhou, whose understanding of classical music is unmatched, and to the always-meticulous Disneyfacts for his careful work across all genres and styles of music and the backbone of the record industry -- the pressing plants.

I love submitting new releases, challenging myself to be as complete as possible with information and images. Ahhh... images! I love album artwork and thoroughly enjoy scanning and editing the images to match the album jacket and labels as closely as my limited (but expanding) skills will allow.

As much as I enjoy the music and the contributions, I've equally enjoyed conversations with other members of this great community and look forward to meeting other like-minded lovers of music.