Record Research
- Place of Publication: Brooklyn, NY
- Language: English
- Date of Publication: 1955-1977
- Periodicity: Generally bi-monthly
- Editors: Bob Colton & Len Kunstadt
- Publishers: Leonard Kunstadt
- Lacunae: Nos. 3, 13, 44, 134, 137-38.
- Numeration Irregularities: Initially maintains two parallel issue numerations, one for each volume and one for the cumulative run. This practice continues until 1959, when volume numbers were abandoned in favor of cumulative issue numbers only.
- Type: Full Text
“The Magazine of Record Statistics and Information,” Record Research was a long-running, informally-produced, veritable mine of research and information on recordings, labels, musicians, and those persons associated with the recording industry. Edited by Bob Colton and Len Kunstadt, 250 numbered issues were published from 1955 to 1995; many issues are double numbers.
Perhaps the most noticeable aspect of Record Research is the layout and design. Clearly assembled from rough cut photocopies in a pasteboard style, issues have the look of an underground zine or a collage production. Newspaper clippings, typewriter texts, advertisements, photographs are laid out sometimes at angles or rotated; lists of recordings are often printed in a miniscule font size. This aesthetic belies the significant and serious research found throughout, ranging from research articles to discography and analytical lists. While jazz was the principal genre, research on early recordings in other genres is also found, often on lesser-known figures. Record Research also published a sister periodical, Blues Research (1955-1970) to focus on this genre, also found in RIPM Jazz.
Contributors to Record Research include a large number of record collectors, discographers, and enthusiasts, many of which also published elsewhere, including Walter C. Allen, Woody Bankensto, John H. Baker, Paul Charosh, Samuel B. Charters, Roger Dunn, Richard DuPage, Harold Flakser, Barry Hansen, Sheldon Harris, Frank Kelly, Carl Kendziora, John McAndrew, Mike Montgomery, Anthony Rotente, Ernie Smith, Harrison Smith, John Steiner, James Vazoulas, Howard Waters, Ray Wile, Mike Zaccagnino, and Paul Sheatsley.
Discographical lists and record sale lists are a regular feature; lists of musicians on given recordings (session lists) also appear.