A Portrait of Ian Levine : Collecting Through Coincidence
09.05.07 By Collin David
What do these three motown records have to do with the wildly nerdtastic Dr. Who? More than you might think.
A few weeks ago, I came across this trio of soul-funk-motown records baking in the August sun outside of the library, presumably dropped off by some passing ex-record-collector. As someone interested in all possible music, I decided to make them mine and, hopefully, funk myself out. Because I have an affection for the interconnectedness of all things, a closer inspection of these records revealed that almost all of the songs were written by a Mr. Ian Levine. Had I just assumed that he was just some prolific soul brother, I never would have learned about the terrible fate of dozens of Dr. Who tapes, destroyed by the BBC.
See, Ian Levine, author of almost every song on these records, is not a soul singer. He’s a wealthy English man (having made a small fortune in record production) with an obsession concerning Dr. Who and DC Comics. Not only does this man have a ‘complete’ collection of every DC Comic ever published (which, presumably, would include Action Comics #1, a near-mint copy valued at about $1.5 million dollars, or in layman’s terms, MORE THAN YOU), but he’s also been instrumental in the collection and preservation of early Dr. Who episodes. He’ll be the first person to tell you that, based on his extensive MySpace page.
In order to make room in their archives, as well as to upgrade to more current broadcast standards, the BBC had decided to destroy large collections of films - almost all of which were the sole existing copies of a performance or an episode of various TV shows. Unfortunately, Dr. Who fell into the category of shows that were not deemed worthy preservation, and as a result, 108 episodes remain missing today, and presumably gone forever. For plotline and compulsive continuity completists like myself, this is a nightmare, but it’s a nightmare that Levine actively fights against and has been instrumental in halting. Audio from various episodes still exist, and various parties have been trying to reconstruct the lost episodes through animation and other means.
Interestingly, his fandom and fortune brought him deeper into the show’s history than your average fan. He’s claimed partial authorship on an episode (which was outright denied by that episode’s other authors), he assembled (and later denied assembling) a horribly failed Dr. Who tribute single called ‘Who Cares’ when the show’s cancellation was rumored, and even is referenced as an obnoxious and grotesque collecting monster called Absorbaloff in the modern Dr. Who series. While it truly seems like an example of a collector falling in too deep and generally causing discomfort with those around him, it can’t be denied that his efforts towards the reclamation of the lost Dr. Who episodes are exceptionally positive, making the rest (at least as a distanced fan) easy to forgive.
So that’s how some motown records led me to learn about the troubled history of Dr. Who, and it brings up the interesting phenomenon of fan interaction altering the course of certain properties. Family Guy was brought back into production due to fan response, and Futurama is coming back soon also. Xena and Gabrielle shared a kiss at the end of Xena : Warrior Princess, and the Joker beat Robin to death - all because of fan response. And judging by the Dr. Who fanbase that crawls around out there, making perfect replicate Dr. Who scarves and life-sized remote controlled Daleks, that force is strong. And by having a small collection of Ian Levine records, am I collecting the collector?
I won’t answer that, as I don’t want the universe to collapse in on itself. Not before I get my Star Trek Pinball machine.
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Article Tags: Absorbaloff, DC, Motown, Mr. Ian Levine================
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September 5th, 2007 at 9:21 am
As always, an interesting ‘read!’ The things we do not know cannot harm us, but this is alarming! It’s a continuous delight to read your blogs!
September 5th, 2007 at 6:36 pm
It’s like I’m a magnet for all things NERD!