`Magazine, Vocal Hall of Fame team up`

By Laurel Bosshart
Herald News Intern

In a collaboration announced Saturday afternoon (June 6), The Vocal Group Hall of Fame Foundation has teamed up with Goldmine magazine, a bi-weekly international music industry magazine, to conduct national balloting to select the first round of nominees to be inducted into The Vocal Group Hall of Fame and Museum.

Goldmine magazine, which was first published in 1974 and now has a circulation of about 40,000, is a magazine published in Iola, Wisc., for music ``buffs'' who collect rare records, CDs, posters, autographs and the like dating back from the early 1900s to today, said editor Greg Loescher.

Loescher said he and his company are very excited to be connected with the museum.

He said James E. Winner, Jr., who along with Tony Butala is co-founder of the museum, is not only seeking to revitalize Sharon through the museum, but is also interested in bringing groups and memorabilia into the area.

Loescher and the other 11 Vocal Group Hall of Fame Foundation induction panel members, including Debbie Reynolds and Andrae Crouch, finalized the nominees to be inducted Saturday afternoon.

Readers will be able to cast their vote for their favorite vocal group from among 48 groups dating from the 1940s until the 1970s, from which 10 groups will then be inducted into the museum.

Some vocal groups who will be voted on in the July 17 edition of Goldmine magazine, which will available at the museum, are The Andrews Sisters (1940s), The Platters (1950s), The Four Seasons (1960s) and The Jackson 5 (1970s).

Loescher said the museum, in collaboration with Goldmine magazine, will be unique because the public will be involved in the voting process.

``The thing about The Vocal Group Hall of Fame and Museum is that groups don't have to be inducted into the Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame to be inducted into The Vocal Group Hall of Fame,'' Loescher said, adding that this will be appealing to those groups who may not have been as successful as others.

Loescher said he believes Goldmine magazine will play a role in getting more memorabilia for the museum.

``I get calls all the time from people with huge record collections wanting to know what they can do with them,'' Loescher said.

Jack ``Johnny Angel'' Hunt, whose group, Johnny Angel and the Halos, is represented in the museum, said ``doo-wop'' music and memorabilia is a very popular collectible at this time.

He said he hopes though what Goldmine magazine will be doing, people will realize if they give their memorabilia to the museum, it can last forever.

Hunt also added there will be a Pittsburgh All-Stars benefit show for the museum to be held Friday, June 12 at Tiffany's Banquet Center, Brookfield Township, Ohio, where various artists and groups will perform.

Several members of The Marcels will be performing, and other groups such as The Four Dots and Jimmy Beaumont have been invited.

Dinner begins at 6:00 p.m., with the show beginning at 7:15 p.m. and Johnny Angel and the Halos taking the stage at 9:00 p.m.

``This is just a preview of things we're trying to bring to the Sharon area,'' Hunt said, adding the energy needed to make both the newly-formed collaboration and the museum a success is out there.

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Updated June 14, 1998
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