There are hundreds of ways to discover music across competing social media platforms right now, and we want to help make the process easier. Many record collectors are sharing their latest finds and highlights from their personal collections on Instagram, and each month our own IG record blogger, @lostrpm, spotlights one account he admires in hopes of turning you on to something you may not have heard before. We call it #NoFilter.
Sixties garage rock is a genre that continues to fascinate record collectors to this day. The moment the final chords of the Beatles’ “I Want To Hold Your Hand” rang out on The Ed Sullivan Show in February of 1964, every kid from California to Maine was scrambling to imitate THAT sound.
This fact, coupled with the relative ease of making a 45rpm record at the time, led to thousands of primitive garage bands in the United States (and beyond), to find some way to put out a disc. Many of these great, lost garage gems have appeared on LP compilations with titles such as Pebbles, Back From the Grave, and Psychedelic States. But for true collectors, only the real thing will do.
That’s where @indianhead78 comes in. His extensive knowledge of the genre and killer 45 collection makes him a valuable resource in the ongoing excavation of lost 60s garage bands.
Tell us a little bit about yourself
I’m a 38-year-old male who is a fan of mostly American music from the 20th Century. I also run a small mail order store, specializing in records, vintage clothing, and cool old junk.
When did you start collecting records and why?
When I was growing up you could still buy records at Caldor & Woolworth's, so I’ve bought records my whole life, but I started collecting 45s seriously in the mid 1990s.
I started with punk, and after getting into the Mummies & John Waters films I started seeking out the songs they were using.
When I heard Link Wray's "The Swag" playing at the beginning of John Waters’ Pink Flamingos it blew my mind. We didn’t have the Internet to find records, so you had to search.
What is your specialty in collecting?
1960s Rock n' Roll 45s
How many records are in your collection?
At least 5,000
What are your favorite places to dig?
If I told you that, I'd have to kill you
What’s the rarest record you’ve ever found?
When I lived in NYC I found an extremely rare Garage Punk 45 at flea market for a dollar. The Primates "Don't Press Your Luck" on Marko. Only a handful are known to exist.
What advice do you have for the next generation of record diggers?
Start small and work your way up to really understand the music. Too many people own $500 records but don’t own a copy of “96 Tears.”
Give us 5 record-centric IG handles we should be following:
The following people are real record diggers. Lots of people collect and have great blogs but these guys are out there digging....
@flipside_scotty @lonestarstomp @dothe45 @styles_at_the_controls @chippysdad
Jeffrey David Harvey is a record collector/archivist/music historian who focuses most of his time looking for lost and forgotten music at thrift stores, garage sales, and junk shops. You can check out his latest finds at on his Twitter and Instagram. He also runs lostrpm.blogspot.com for those who prefer nostalgia in their internet surfing.
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