Record Whirl
- Place of Publication: Chicago, IL
- Language: English
- Date of Publication: 1955-1956
- Periodicity: 9 nos., generally monthly
- Editors: Jack Tracy & Norman Weiser
- Publishers: Maher Publications, Inc., Record Whirl Publishing Company
- Lacunae: Vol. 1 no. 1, 3-4. A copy of these issues could not be located.
- Type: Full Text
Record Whirl, “Everything in the World about the World of Recordings,” was published in Chicago as a division of Maher Publications, the publisher of Down Beat. Dating from a time in which Maher published a wide range of magazines – Record Whirl notes ten others at the time, seven of which in Spanish – Record Whirl shares many writers with Down Beat, including Nat Hentoff, Leonard Feather, Hal Holly, and Les Brown (writer, not the band leader). Of note are the regular female writers credited in Record Whirl, including Hannah Altbush, Mary English, and Edith Schonberg.
Musically, Record Whirl covers the spectrum of mid-1950s commercial popular music, ranging from big band jazz to singers, vocal groups, and some country and western. Leonard Feather publishes his trademark Blindfold Test in most issues, focused on singers; Record Whirl also publishes a readers poll, recommended records lists, and profiles of popular musicians.