Shelly the K brings Vinyl to Vanier

The inauguration of Linda and Sheldon Kagan Collection of music to the library of Vanier College was meant to be a quiet affair, but, as with most evenings Sheldon Kagan is involved in, the night quickly turned into a celebration of music, records and a brilliant career.

Before the official ceremony, guests of all ages were gazing wistfully at the vast selection of records and tapes that had been amassed over 50 plus years. There were gasps of surprise and many hushed « I used to have that record » could be heard.

Music department coordinator Glen Ethier was especially thankful for the Patsy Cline albums, and looked forward to his students discovering her and the many other artists collected by the famous DJ.

« There is a bit of everything, including signed copies of Rolling Stones albums and other rarities. There is so much variety; our students are going to be very busy. I look forward to getting their feedback as I am sure they have never heard of some of the bands and musicians, not to mention figuring out tape cassettes, » said Ethier.

Got the party started

Last Wednesday’s ceremony began with a retrospective of Montrealer Sheldon Kagan’s career with colleagues and ex-employees praising him as a friend, pioneer and leader.  Father John Walsh gave a moving tribute about Sheldon’s ability to bring people, cultures and faiths together through music.

Then Sheldon took the mike.

In a few minutes, he had told the tale of how he went from a teenager winning radio contests to meet the Beatles in 1965, to becoming Montreal’s first mobile DJ, Shelly the K and his Mobile Discotheque and how he parlayed that job into an entertainment business with multiple DJs and bands, and then founded the promotional powerhouse that bears his name.

With his typical aplomb, he explained how happy he was to offer his music collection to Vanier College, though only after he had visited feeling like a « father scoping out his daughter’s boyfriend ».

Surprises

As the evening continued there were some special moments including a rendition of Happy Birthday for Sheldon’s wife Linda and presentation of a cake. The biggest surprise of the night, though, came after Sheldon’s speech when he asked his friend and Quebec chanteuse Patsy Gallant to sing. Her acapella version of Edith Piaf’s Hymne à l’amour brought the house down.

The Linda and Sheldon Kagan Collection has been added to the Vanier College Learning Commons/Library, which was itself recently unveiled after extensive renovations. Totaling over 10,000 items, it contains EP and LP Records, 45 singles, mixed music cassettes, CDs, some equipment and a batch of music books from the showman’s years of work.