Oh, another LI'L ANECDOTE (not to be confused with that other LI'L, ABNER):
BK mentions "the big Schwann music catalog at Wallich’s Music City". If you're referring to that humungous reference catalog found on the counters at good record shops, that one wasn't by Schwann. It was called "Phonolog" (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonolog), and one of my early jobs in L.A. was working for a company called Trade Service Publications on Beverly Blvd. (a block from the original Tommy's; the building now houses a Smart & Final) which published the Phonolog along with some highly technical and detailed catalogs for electronic parts and whatnot. A bunch of us had to become expert typists to keep the updated pages for these various catalogs coming. I worked on all of them, and whipped out quite a few Phonolog pages. I was permitted to take home an entire copy, rack included, and keep it updated. I only kept it around for a few years after working there.
There's a copy on eBay listed for $400.
A few fun images at:
http://goo.gl/6gSxToBut man, I loved me my Schwanns. Those, I discovered while in high school, and began buying them every month. Great, great publication. I still have a dozen or so issues from various years.
