BILLBOARD MAGAZINE
By Rick Clark

In the mid-'80s, theadvent of the compact disc created a climate in which consumers were able to replace their old vinyl collections with new CD counterparts. The period also provided an opportunity to a handftil of devoted music lovers and collectors to enter the music industry and seek to expose great music to the public with quality reissues.

One such entrepreneur was Bob Irwin, a music fan who translated his passion into a living and in the process became one of the most knowledgeable and conscientious reissue producers in the industry.

"All I've ever really done is be involved with music in one capacity or another," enthuses Irwin. "I started playing guitar when I was 5. I bought records by returning soda bottles and doing anything that I possibly could to save up enough money to buy them. I eventually started playing in bands. When I went to college, I started working in record stores and went on to be the GM and buyer for a chain of record stores."

Irwin's retail experience fueled his desire to dig deeper into the music. When the CD revolution got under way, Irwin, at the urging of his friends, decided to dive into creating a reissue label called Sundazed, which he and his wife, Mary, started in 1989.

"I always loved the detective work and loved finding masters, and I always had a dream of having something to do with releasing cool music," says Irwin. "There was a point in time when friends of mine at the record store said, 'Man, why don't you just start a label?' It was literally the impetus for starting the whole thing."

The first releases by Sundazed — collections by the Knickerbockers and the Five Americans and the first volume of the "Surf And Drag" compilation — reflected Irwin's love for American'60s garage rock and surf. Those titles are still active in the label's catalog.

Since then, Sundazed has mined the recordings of the Beau Brurnniels, Nancy Sinatra, the Box Tops, the Meters, the Byrds, the Turtles, the New Colony Six, Syndicate Of Sound, Mojo Men, Buck Owens, the Trashmen, Albert King, Paul Revere & the Raiders, and Mitch Ryder, among others.

Shortly after Irwin started Sundazed, his work got the attention of major-label reissue departments, including CBS Records' Legacy imprint.

"I was very fortunate to be one of the first guys on the block when Legacy was formed, and they asked me to work with them assembling and producing releases," says Irwin. "It is a great relationship that continues to this day."

As a result, Irwin has had the opportunity to work on the catalogs or such icons as the Byrds, Carlos Santana, Janis Joplin, Stevie Ray Vaughan, John Denver, Johnny Cash, Jeff Beck, Moby Grape, Mose Allison, Taj Mahal, and many others, sometimes in consultation with the acts themselves.

Fans of the Byrds will be thrilled to know that the remainder of their catalog is due out on Legacy, including an expanded version of "Untitled" and a "Live At The Fillmore '69" collection that features the late Clarence White on guitar.

Recently, Irwin has been working on the individual Simon & Garfunkel albums after producing the duo's critically acclaimed Legacy boxed set "Old Friends."

Besides his work with Legacy, Irwin, has done reissue projects for Arista on artists ranging from Patti Smith to Lee Dorsey.

Whether working for another label or for Sundazed, Irwin applies the same philosophy to all his productions.

"Doing what I do is akin to having buddies over at my house and playing my favorite records for them," he says. "That's what it's all about."

While some of the acts on Sundazed aren't exactly household names, Irwin has always operated I on the sense that if he felt passionate about a particular band, there were bound to be others out there who shared his belief.

"Fortunately, because we follow our hearts on all of this, we've never had a disappointing release in the catalog," says Irwin. "Naturally, like all labels, we've had things that we wished had done better, but we've never issued an album that we wish we hadn't done."

One Sundazed release that was particularly close to Irwin's heart concerned the reissue of Alexander "Skip" Spence's "Oar." The album by the enigmatic former Moby Grape member was briefly released under Sony Special Products in the early '90s, but it didn't contain the mixes found on the original album. Irwin restored those, included every unreleased track he could find, and provided extensive liner notes by David Fricke and Jud Cost. It was a true labor of love for Irwin.

"It was one of the most heartfelt projects that has ever come out of Sundazed," says Irwin. "Skip died just as we were completing it, which naturally upset everyone. It put an even harder spin on this release to make it a fitting and lasting tribute to him."

Other upcoming Sundazed releases include albums by the Leaves, the Music Machine, the Ides Of March, Flamin' Groovies, and others, plus the launch of a new soul series of which the initial batch of will include titles by Solomon Burke, Clyde McPhatter, the Van Dykes, and Mighty Sam.

Irwin is excited about the future, and like any hardeore record collector, he has an extensive wish Iist of titles he is eager to address for reissue.

All I really ever wanted out of Iife is to have a job that I enjoyed going to in the morning, and I've got it," he says. "There has never been a day that I haven't looked forward to doing it, and I thank my lucky stars for it."