Hi Folks,  I guess I missed the "thread" that started the MMD Awards
and thus do not know the "ground rules" for nomination.   Even without
knowing the rules, I can heartily endorse MMD Award consideration for
Stephen Kent Goodman and enter a new nominee, Ronald Schmuck, both
frequent contributors to MMD.

Stephen Kent Goodman. of California --

His musical talents and contributions over the years were well know to
many but only recently became known to us.  In 1995, we acquired the
only known Blessing Robot Band from the Bellm Museum.  (The Band was
among the first pieces to be sold to collectors by Walt Bellm.
Unfortunately, I understand that all else is now gone.)

The Band consists of three, larger-than-life "Robots": (1) a seated
drummer who actually plays a snare drum, bass drum, rhythm cymbal,
crash cymbal accompanied by Indian Block and triangle; (2) the piano
player in front of a full size player and (3) the accordionist with
full 120-bass accordion.  Each of the figures has 8 to 12 elements of
movement, i.e., head, eyes, brows, arms, hands, feet, body, lips (for
whistling).  A modern equivalent to this antique piece might be
Disneyland's Animatronics in "Bear Country" etc.

When we purchased the Band, we received eleven big rolls full of music.
Unfortunately, each roll had the same 10 minutes of music.  When we
answered Stephen's plea (on MMD) for a source of rolls for his newly
acquired, extremely rare Berry-Wood AOW, we realized that he was the
answer to our prayers.   I owned the only 10 minutes of customized
music "in the whole world".  With more highly complex music, the Robot
Band is priceless; without more music, the Band is almost worthless.

Although Stephen was compensated, the 5 additional hours of extremely
complex music for the Robot Band were primarily a "labor of love" with
some of the finest musical arrangements I have ever heard.  When you
consider that these arrangements are accompanied by hysterically funny
animation by all three figures, the effort is even more amazing.  When
the lips of the drummer pucker and he whistles along (chest full of
flute pipes), it is "unreal".  Stephen's motto of , "No job is too
large, too small or too complicated" was certainly proven on this job.


Ronald Schmuck of Canada --

Although  my wife and I had been doing our own restorations of all
kinds for nearly 30 years (perhaps 200 machines), we "discovered"
Ron (with a "tough" last name) on MMD.  As a test of his talents and
low-cost pricing, we offered him a "horrible basket case", a 54 keyless
Bruder, that had been "butchered" by two previous "technicians??".
It was a machine we had decided not to waste any more time on.

The result was a fantastic band organ, restored to perfection with a
"picture perfect" facade.  So when the rare Robot Band was available
for rebuilding and necessary redesign, it was quickly on its way to
Canada.  The results are beyond description.

The Band is now "enclosed" in a German "Beer Garden" (as it was 25
years ago) with back wall, roof, movie marquee overhead, complete with
beer steins on the wall and full coo-coo clock.  Two full-size street
lamps support the roof on the front right and left corners.  The final
piece measures 17-1/2 feet wide, 11-1/2 feet high and 6 feet deep, just
right for our display room.

Here again, the work was of detailed museum quality at "labor of love"
prices.  For the MBSI members of the MMD, look for the full story on
the Robot Band in the April 1998 issue of the MBSI Technical Journal.
It contains lots of technical stuff and history with lots of fun along
the way.

I am sure there are other fine arrangers and museum quality restorers
in MMD and they can be nominated by others with whom they have worked.
But my two candidates above need everyone's careful consideration.

Now maybe Robbie or Jody will explain to me, "Just what is an 'MMD
Award' anyway" ???

Respectfully Submitted for Consideration,

Rick Cooley

P.S. Should anyone care to comment on this article , please e-mail me
at RCCX@AOL.COM


 [ Roger Waring proposed the awards in Digest 971225, saying, "It is
 [ customary in the UK to have annual awards for just about anything,
 [ so here are mine for the MMDers!"  Others thought the idea fun, and
 [ several more nominations came after Roger's first posting.
 [
 [ I'd like to buy a nice video cassette about the instrument, so that
 [ I can hear and see the work accomplished by your artisans.  Could
 [ you provide it, Rick?  -- Robbie