Brown and Brown Present -Daniel Sheldon

Many thanks to Daniel Sheldon who is 2012's first collection feature.  When I sent him the questions he asked if it was alright to do it specifically on one artist.  As a Metallica completest, I get it.  I get the need to have 'every pressing'.  Though this depth is not understood by all collectors, needless to say THIS IS IMPRESSIVE!  Thanks again, Daniel - a wonderful collection indeed. Enjoy!

IDIGS: What do you collect and why?

I was born in 1971. In the late 70’s I remember listening to the radio and really enjoying the music. By the 1980’s my love was solidified. I would listen to the radio nonstop from the time I got home from school until the time I went to bed. I loved the music and the DJ’s and everything about radio! I would buy the hit records of the day and play them on my parent’s record player and pretend I was the DJ. Most of my early collection of records was late 70’s and 80’s records, most of which were bought new. I started a mobile DJ business in 1989 while still a senior in high school. I continued to buy the hit records of the day including lots of 12” singles. In 1996 I started my dream job as a radio DJ at WXTA Country 98 in Erie PA. I have worked at many different formats including country, oldies, alternative, classic rock, CHR, new rock, adult contemporary and currently at 106.3 WCTL the local Christian contemporary station and I do an 80’s show on the local college station WERG. I have been surrounded by tons of different types of music and it is engrained in my soul. My love for all types of music is represented in my collection of over 2,000 albums, 2,000 12” singles, 4,000 45’s and over 10,000 CD’s.

I also have a “sub collection” as I like to call it and this is what I am going to focus on for the rest of my answers. In 1983 I heard a song on the radio called “Little red Corvette”. I didn’t think much about it at the time. In 1984 I started hearing more songs from this artist named Prince. First “When doves cry” then “Let’s go crazy” and I realized I really liked this guy. His songs were unique and like nothing I had heard before. I bought my first Prince 45 that year. I just had to have “Let’s go crazy” in my collection. It was an R&B song with a great guitar solo at the end which was just crazy to me. The version of the song on the 45 was much shorter than the album version. I ended up buying the cassette of “Purple Rain” to get the longer version. I liked it so much I ended up wanting to hear more so I bought his whole back catalogue. I was hooked. I ended up buying every Prince album after that on the day they were released. In about 1987 I noticed the local record store sold 12” maxi singles and they had a lot of records in their Prince bin. Most of the 12” singles included longer versions of the songs. I decided to get as many of the Prince 12” singles as I could. Little did I know that 25 years later I’d still be collecting those 12” singles! Little did I know how many there were world wide! I know I don’t have the biggest Prince 12” single collection in the world but it’s not too shabby for a kid in Erie PA!

The one that started it all...

A cool side story. In 2004 Prince was inducted into the Rock-N-Roll Hall of Fame. I e-mailed the Hall and asked if they would like to borrow some of my collection to their new inductee display. To my surprise they e-mailed back saying they would love to use them! The story I was told is that one of the big wigs of the Hall of Fame also worked for Warner Brothers records at one time and Prince didn’t want to help out with the display out because of it. Prince was not happy with WB records, in fact, that’s the reason he changed his name to a symbol to try to get out of his contract with them.   

 Rock&Roll Hall of Fame display with Daniel's items.

IDIGS: How big is your collection?

In my Prince collection, I own every officially released CD from 1978’s “For you” to 2010’s “Twenty10”. I own every song released as a download from his former NPG Music Club as well. I have about 100 bootleg CD’s.  As for my vinyl collection I have all the officially released US 45’s and over 200 12” singles from over 10 countries. I also have every UK picture disc and some odds and ends collectables like 8-tracks, a laser disc and a few vinyl albums.

Complete UK picture disc collection (and two Mexican pressings)
 
Laser Discs and 8-Tracks are important for any completest! 

US 45's

IDIGS: Explain your storage/display techniques.

There isn’t much to how I store my records. My main collection is on a homemade shelf. My Prince collection is in crates in my bedroom. My wife, for Valentine’s day, took it upon herself to hang some of my rarer pieces in frames on the wall. It was a great surprise when I saw it. I love my wife who doesn’t mind that I have a hobby of collecting Prince records.



IDIGS: Tell us about an odd record in your collection.

I don’t know about odd but I do have some pretty rare pieces. My prize piece is the unreleased “51 hours” promo. It’s believed that only 30 copies got out. It featured Prince’s back up dancers, Diamond and Pearl, on vocals and only about 15 seconds of Prince’s voice. This 12” single is the only place this song was available as it was never released, although bootleg recordings are out there.

51 Hours 12" Promo

I also have the rare UK promo copy of “DMSR” from the 1999 album. It is believed that less than 30 exist. In the UK, “1999” was only released as single album with “DMSR” missing from that version. After the US success of the album, Warner Brothers decided to release the double album in the UK, to promote it they pressed 12” promos for “DMSR” and sent them to radio stations. There was a T-shirt sent with it. Unfortunately, I don’t have the shirt.

Another rare 12” single is the one sided promo for “Gett off”. It was released to club DJ’s on his birthday. The song was not originally on the “Diamonds and pearls” album but after releasing this record they changed the lineup of the album to include this song. This promo has a longer version of the song than what is available anywhere else.

IDIGS: What elusive gem are you still looking for?

Any 12” single I don’t have yet! Including the rest of the Australian pressings, the rest of the UK promos, the rest of the Philippine pressings and Ecuador pressings. The one I am actively searching for is the Brazilian promo of “America” from 1985. I’d also really like to have the Hong Kong pressings of “Trust” and “The arms of Orion” but they go for so much I’m not sure I’ll ever get them.



IDIGS: How do you keep track of what you have/need? 

Believe it or not it is mostly by memory. I know what I have and don’t have. I think collector’s have a special memory for stuff like that. I do, however, have them catalogued on a Word document.





IDIGS: Discuss your stance on using the Internet for collecting? Are you only using Ebay, or a combination of stores and online?

I’m all for it! I started my collection by going to record stores as noted above. In the mid-90’s I started going to a record show in Buffalo NY twice a year. One of the vendors knew I’d spend money on Prince 12” singles, so he made sure he had lots of them. There was also a nice store in Pittsburgh called “The 12” collector” that had a whole section of Prince records. Unfortunately that store is no longer there. As great as that was, when e-bay came around I started finding records I never would have found otherwise. I also use Gemm.com and I still look at record stores too. It doesn’t matter where I find the records as long as I find them!


IDIGS: Do you have a long-term plan for your collection?

Funny you should ask. I told my wife when I die I want to donate them to the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame. She says she’s going to sell them to pay for the funeral! I guess I better make a will.





IDIGS: What is the longest you looked for a record before getting it? How did you feel once it was in your hands?

Sometimes it takes years to decades but that is the fun of collecting. I usually just hold the record in my hands and stare at it in awe.




IDIGS: What’s your all-time favourite record, regardless of value or rarity?

The 1986 album “Parade” is my favorite Prince album. It was the soundtrack to his second movie “Under the cherry moon”. The album is just an amazing selection that show off his different sides. It includes the beautiful song “Sometimes it snows in April”. When I saw him live in 2004 he did the song live in between all his hits. I was brought to tears by it because it’s always been my favorite Prince song and it reminds me of an old friend who died many years ago.

Parade- Daniel's Favourite from the lot!

 US 12"

 Even More 12"

 Promo 12"

 Even More Promo 12"

As of the writing of this, I have 10 Prince records on the way. 5 I bought from E-Bay sellers and 5 coming from a seller on Prince.org. I have a feeling I’ll be collecting for a long time to come.

IDIGS:  Most impressive.  If you are interested in participating in this series, fire me an email at Deathbydigital@hotmail.com  Please include what you collect, how long you've been at it, and why you feel like you should be included.  Remember - Quality, not quantity!