BIRMINGHAM RECORD COLLECTORS
DEDICATED TO THE COLLECTING OF MUSIC, ITS PRESERVATION AND LASTING FRIENDSHIP
THIS MONTH’S MEETING WILL BE THE SECOND SUNDAY, AUGUST 10TH 2:00 PM
HOMEWOOD PUBLIC LIBRARY 1721 OXMOOR RD BIRMINGHAM, AL 35209
NEXT MONTH’S MEETING WILL BE HELD THE SECOND SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 14TH AT 2:00 PM
HOMEWOOD PUBLIC LIBRARY 1721 OXMOOR RD BIRMINGHAM, AL 35209
THIS MONTH’S MEETING
Thanks to the gang who showed up last month and helped prepare our postcards. Over 2,000 postcards went out as part of our advertising campaign for our upcoming August record show.
This month BRC club member Martin Johnson who heads up our BRC Music Hall Of Fame will be presenting this years’ inductee’s bio (see below) plus he will then do a presentation on one of his favorite topics when it comes to the music world, the West Coast music scene specifically bands who preformed at L.A.’s Whiskey-A-Go-Go. Drop by and be taken back to the music of the 1960’s, West Coast style.
And a ‘heads up’ for our September meeting. At this time we have Henry Lovoy and Ross Gagliano set to be our guest. Henry and Ross are cousins and played together in one of Birmingham’s well-known bands, The Rockin’ Rebellions. Don’t miss it!
BRC’S 40TH ANNUAL RECORD SHOW
We look forward to another successful show and as time goes on we will be asking for your help in making this type of project happen. Without your help and support, each year could be our last show. We are always looking for IT help, help at the door during the show and any ideas in advertising among other things that have to get done. The show will again be at the Gardendale Civic Center in Gardendale, Alabama. The show dates and times are Friday, Saturday, Sunday, August 15-17. Friday, BRC members only from 10AM – 2PM and the public from 2PM – 7PM. Saturday 9AM – 5PM and Sunday 10AM – 4PM.
THE BIRMINGHAM RECORD COLLECTORS MUSIC HALL OF FAME 2025 INDUCTEE
You may know him as a former DJ in Birmingham or a current Blues DJ known world-wide or you may know him as a dealer at our annual record shows or you may not know him at all. But you need to know about him and the work he has done in the world of Blues music. Gil Anthony is our 2025 BRC HOF inductee and here is his bio. I know you will agree his induction is well-deserved. Congratulations, Gil!!
Blues Power DJ, Gil Anthony, (born Gilbert Pavlicek on October 2, 1946) was raised speaking Bohemian in the Czechoslovakian/Catholic section of Dickinson, North Dakota. He loved music from an early age, listening to the radio, copying lyrics from the Hit Parade, and buying records.
When he was eight, his mother worked at a hotel and a jukebox vendor there would sell two 45 rpm records for 25 cents to Gil. By age 13, he already had an impressive record collection, especially early soul records. This love of Black music would later forge Gil’s career as one of the foremost blues DJs.
At 18, Gil joined the Air Force as part of the Missile Security/Honor Guard and was stationed at Vandenberg Air Force base in California and later Johnston Island, an atoll in the North Pacific Ocean. He left the Air Force for his first radio job at KDAK Carrington, ND.
He returned to California in 1969 for college and a job at KRUZ and later KACL, both in Santa Barbara. Later that year, Gil attended a Santa Barbara Swap Meet where he bought recordings by three blues artists on the Excello Records label: Lightnin’ Slim, Lonesome Sundown and Slim Harpo. Thus began his obsession with blues and the collecting of thousands of blues records over his career.
Being a radio DJ moved Gil to various markets and stations. He lived and worked in Eureka and Lompoc, California before accepting a job that would move him cross-country to WAGF in Dothan, Alabama in 1978. It was in the Wiregrass area that Gil would start the Blues Power Radio program at WDMT in Eufaula in 1995. Gil also began attending the Blues Music Awards and the International Blues Challenge in Memphis in 1997 where he befriended major blues artists such as Shaun Murphy, Robin Rogers, and Paul Hornsby whom he later featured on Blues Power and at his Blues Power Christmas Parties.
Blues Power was distributed to stations across the country and would later become its current nine-hour weekly offering on Sunday and Monday nights on WDIG in Dothan along with live streaming from his website (http://www.gilanthonyblues.com) and on Facebook Live. Blues Power Radio has built a worldwide audience given Gil’s infectious passion for and encyclopedia knowledge of the blues.
In 2010 and 2011, Gil was part of a board that initiated a fundraising program and awareness campaign through music to benefit ALS research. He later co-founded the Wiregrass Blues Fest in 2011. In 2013, Gil was awarded the prestigious Blues Foundation’s Keeping the Blues Alive Award for Radio, given his stellar contributions through Blues Power Radio.
Later that year he became a charter member of the Wiregrass Blues Society and has worked ever since to honor the contributions of Wiregrass musical artists. In conjunction with the Wiregrass Blues Society, he has conducted Blues in Schools programs for over 12,000 area students. The Wiregrass Blues Society’s mission to educate and celebrate the blues would simply not have been possible without Gil’s tireless effort.
Gil has been one of Big Mama Thornton’s most relentless advocates. He most recently led the charge to rename a street in Ariton, Alabama after the city’s most famous native. He was also instrumental in having a street named after another famous blues artist from Ariton, J.W. Warren. Gil, with another tribute to Big Mama, opened the Big Mama Museum on Main Street in Ariton. The museum is stocked with a comprehensive collection of Big Mama’s memorabilia from his personal collection.
In 2024, Gil, along with family members of Big Mama, attended her induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio. Big Mama was inducted in the Musical Influence category.
The Birmingham Record Collectors is honored to have been associated with Gil Anthony since its founding. Gil was the first president!
BRC RADIO
And don’t forget you can find BRC Radio shows on the BRC website. Our 3 hosts play all kinds of music including hit songs from the 1950’s – present, LP cuts, songs that received little or no air-play, and all genres. Just go the birminghamrecord.com and click on the ‘RADIO’ icon and chose a show.
Here are the last three shows, on from each of the guys. Joe’s show celebrates the music of singer, songwriter and Birmingham’s own, Baker Knight. Charlie’s show is remembering the space race and the moon landing which occured 56 years ago. And Tom’s show is about the music of The Doors, specifically discussing the sound of original issues compared to reissues on Best Of, Great Hits, etc.
Joe: https://app.box.com/s/fmovbvrmouf1epuvcuh032wo0yo7gnrh
Charlie: https://app.box.com/s/w4vk6aiqh68p05ai7il3pqm8iy750kit
Tom: https://app.box.com/s/tzys6ko0l3redcgk6nwf8qla9qx8wdhf
See ya,
Charlie