B. George
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Bob George, known professionally as B. George, is the co-founder and executive director of the ARChive of Contemporary Music in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
. He also published the first comprehensive discographical reference work on
punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...
and
new wave music New wave is a music genre that encompasses pop music, pop-oriented styles from the 1970s through the 1980s. It is considered a lighter and more melodic "broadening of Punk subculture, punk culture". It was originally used as a catch-all fo ...
and founded the company One Ten Records.


Education

After coming to Ann Arbor in the late 1960s, George attended the
University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...
College of Art and Design. George went to New York City in 1974 as a
visual arts The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics (art), ceramics, photography, video, image, filmmaking, design, crafts, and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual a ...
student at the Whitney Museum Studio Program. From 1975 to 1979, he co-directed performance artist
Laurie Anderson Laura Phillips "Laurie" Anderson (born June 5, 1947) is an American avant-garde artist, musician and filmmaker whose work encompasses performance art, pop music, and multimedia projects. Initially trained in violin and sculpting,Amirkhanian, Cha ...
's stage show.


One Ten Records formed

In 1977, he formed One Ten Records and released the first commercial compilation of audio work by visual artists—a two record set entitled ''Airwaves'', that included the initial recordings of Laurie Anderson and unreleased work by Meredith Monk. In 1980, he received a
National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...
grant to produce recordings by visual artists, and in 1981 released Laurie Anderson’s first single " O Superman". This single went to number two on the UK charts and reached the top 20 in 16 countries. It was eventually released by WEA and has sold close to a million copies worldwide.


ARChive of Contemporary Music

George cofounded the ARChive of Contemporary Music in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
, which, with over two million sound recordings, the ARC is the largest popular music collection in the United States. The initial donation of 47,000 discs that began ARC's collection came from George himself, who accumulated them in the interval between moving to New York and publishing the International Discography, noted below.


Publications

In 1981, George published the first comprehensive discographical reference work on punk and
new wave music New wave is a music genre that encompasses pop music, pop-oriented styles from the 1970s through the 1980s. It is considered a lighter and more melodic "broadening of Punk subculture, punk culture". It was originally used as a catch-all fo ...
, titled '' Volume, the International Discography of the New Wave''. By its second edition in 1982, the book had grown to over 700 pages and was co-published and distributed internationally by Omnibus Press. ''Volume'' continues to be the definitive reference guide to this material, cited in The Readers Catalog, England's Dreaming, and many other publications.


Other career achievements

As a consultant, Mr. George selected soundworks for the Paris Biennale in 1981 and 1983, and for New Music America in 1984. From 1982 to 1985, he produced an occasional survey of new American pop and experimental music for the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
that was broadcast as part of ''The John Peel Show'' in the UK. From the mid-to late 1990s, he helped program Arts & Events at NYC's World Financial Center. George also co-produced singles by Orchestra Jazira (
Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...
/UK) and Sonny Okuson (
Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...
). He has written about music for
The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...
,
Playboy ''Playboy'' (stylized in all caps) is an American men's Lifestyle journalism, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, available both online and in print. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, funded in part by a $ ...
, Creem,
ELLE Elle may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Elle (magazine), ''Elle'' (magazine), a fashion publication ** Elle Style Awards * Elle (India), ''Elle'' (India), the Indian edition * Elle (film), ''Elle'' (film), a 2016 French film * ''Elle: ...
, Spin and ''
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
''. Mr. George was the music editor for ''Benetton’s Colors'' Magazine and has done occasional writing about "music & food" for '' Saveur Magazine''. He contributed to the planning of and provided research material for ''Goodtime Kings'' by Billy Bergman (Planet Rock/Quarto Books, 1985), the first American book on contemporary African Pop. He has consulted on many film projects including
Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November17, 1942) is an American filmmaker. One of the major figures of the New Hollywood era, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Martin Scorsese, many accolades, including an Academ ...
’s ''The Last Temptation of Christ'' and '' Goodfellas'', Tom Hanks' '' That Thing You Do'', and
Jonathan Demme Robert Jonathan Demme ( ; February 22, 1944 – April 26, 2017) was an American filmmaker, whose career directing, producing, and screenwriting spanned more than 30 years and 70 feature films, documentaries, and television productions. He was an ...
’s ''Something Wild, Beloved'' and '' The Manchurian Candidate''. From 1993-1999 Mr. George sat on the Blue Ribbon Awards Committee for ARSC (
Association for Recorded Sound Collections Association may refer to: *Club (organization), an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal *Trade association, an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry *Voluntary associatio ...
) choosing the best music books published, and in '99-00 was a member of the Yahoo Academy, voting on the Internet Life Awards for outstanding websites. In early 2009 the ARChive partnered with Columbia University to create innovative academic initiatives and online content to help with the study, understanding and enjoyment of popular music from around the world.


References

* Gonzalez, D.
“If It Rode the Airwaves, It’s Probably Here.”
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
, May 8, 2009. {{DEFAULTSORT:George, B Living people American music people Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design alumni Discographers Record collectors Year of birth missing (living people)