Cheryl Pawelski (for the record, it’s pronounced Pah-vel-ski), is as much of a rare find as the music-related objects d’art she collects. We were first introduced in 1996, when I received a magazine subscription check from her that stood out because it arrived in a Capitol Records envelope.
Since subscribers were still a bit of a rarity at that point, I picked up the phone to call and thank her. And, since my curiosity was in overdrive, I just had to ask what exactly she did at Capitol.
Cheryl told me her specialty was “catalogue.” That means re-issues and boxed sets of classic and underappreciated albums. Since 1990, when she moved from Milwaukee to Los Angeles, she has produced hundreds of albums with artists all over the musical map: Michelle Shocked, Fanny, The Beach Boys, The Band, Bette Midler, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Chicago, Aretha Franklin, Martha Davis and Rod Stewart, to name but a few. It’s a very cool gig that has even earned her a Grammy nomination.
In 2007, Cheryl got her “dream job” as Vice President of A&R at the legendary catalogue label, Rhino Records. Soon after Cheryl’s arrival, Rhino earned its very first-ever Billboard #1 album with the soundtrack to the film, Juno.
In the years since our fateful first conversation, Cheryl and her equally accomplished partner, Claremont College professor and yoga instructor Audrey Bilger, have become dear friends, supporters of my numerous projects and when I’m in Los Angeles, they even let me crash on their couch. I often run ideas past Cheryl to see if she thinks they have “legs.” That’s how much I value her opinion. And, unlike me, she has never become jaded or bitter. Maybe it’s her fine Milwaukee upbringing, but she’s one of the nicest, most enthusiastic people you could ever hope to meet.
Cheryl doesn’t just love everything about music, she lives everything about music. She owns more than 50,000 records and has an extensive personal archive of music memorabilia. She is practically a one-woman museum.
It seems only fitting that Cheryl’s hobby would eventually find a larger audience. Now, it has. In cooperation with the Experience Music Project and Science Fiction Museum in Seattle (EMP/SFM), a selection of Cheryl’s interplanetary-themed albums are on display through January 3, 2010, in an exhibit called “Spaced Out“. The exhibit showcases 117 space-themed album covers from the ‘40s to 1969, a by-gone era that heralded the dawn of the space age. Seriously, Cheryl’s albums could be considered their very own final frontier.
Since the only thing I have ever collected is dust, I was fascinated to learn more about Cheryl’s love of cool stuff. As always, she was gracious enough to answer my questions.
CD: How did you become interested in collecting?
CP: I always wanted as much music as I could listen to and get my hands on. My collection grew quickly and in some ways on its own after a while. I just tend it now. I keep it organized, teach it manners and make it behave in public.
CD: How did you come up with the idea for “Spaced Out”?
CP: The exhibit was partially started when I visited EMP/SFM a few years ago and saw that there were two distinct parts of the museum: music and sci-fi. It was like chocolate and peanut butter. I thought it was the perfect place for my collection of space-themed album covers. I recall mentioning it to someone at the time, but ultimately, the gentleman at EMP/SFM who put the exhibit together, Brooks Peck, happened to be friends with Brian Rochlin, a writer/music pal of mine in LA. Brian mentioned my collection to Brooks and eventually it all came together. Brian wrote all the listening-station copy for the exhibit.
My ultimate goal is to put together a book of the space-themed album covers with Brian writing the text and another friend, Greg Allen, doing the design.
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