Gavin Walsh

Infobox Person
name = Gavin Walsh

---

image_size = 150px
caption =
nationality = Irish
known_for = Music memorabilia collection
occupation = Programmer
home_town = Sligo, County Sligo
website = http://www.whaah.com/

Gavin Walsh (born 1965 or 1966) is an Irish computer programmer, non-fiction writer, and collector of rare music memorabilia.

Walsh began collecting music memorabilia at age 14, travelling from his home town of Sligo to Dublin to purchase rare records and working in hotels to fund his hobby.cite news
author = Tallant, Nicola
title = Gavin's garden record store
work = Daily Mirror
date = 2002-06-03
page = 10 ] He is "one of the largest record owners" in the worldcite news
author = Tallant, Nicola
title = I'm going underground (or how one punk fan is building a bomb-proof bunker to save his Sex Pistols)
work = Daily Express
publisher = Express Newspapers
date = 2002-06-03
page = 24 ] and, as of 2006, had amassed a collection of approximately 25,000 memorabilia itemscite news
author = Clancy, Paddy
title = Golden punk singles
url = http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4161/is_20061224/ai_n17074680
work = The Sunday Mirror
date = 2006-12-24
accessdate = 2008-04-06 ] – up from roughly 20,000 in 2002-2003.cite news
author = Gillespie, Tom
title = Gavin's shot at Pistols record
work = News of the World
date = 2003-03-23 ] The collection includes memorabilia related to The Beatles, Dervish, Madonna, and U2, among others,cite news
title = Westlife collection set to go on show
work = Daily Mirror
date = 2004-07-26
page = 10 ] and contains around 1,100 posters, which Walsh has estimated to be worth as much as €1,000 each.

Walsh has travelled to at least 33 countries and makes use of a worldwide network of 6,000 people to expand his collection. In 2002, he ordered construction of a concrete bunker in his back-garden to hold his collection; the bunker is bomb- and earthquake-proof.

Walsh owns the world's largest collection of records and memorabilia linked to the 1970s punk rock group Sex Pistols: in 2002, it included roughly 11,000 items. He has also written two books about the Sex Pistols. In 2003, he published "God Save the Sex Pistols" as a "definitive guide" to "Sex Pistols memorabilia"; two years later, in 2005, he published "The Greatest Sex Pistols Collection". Walsh has published one other book, titled "Punk on 45: Revolutions on Vinyl 1976-79", which explores album art on punk rock records in the late 1970s. [cite web |url=http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6441526.html |title=Web-Exclusive Reviews: Week of 5/14/2007 |date=2007-05-14 |work=Publishers Weekly]

In 1999, the Royal Festival Hall took Walsh's collection on an international tour. In 2004, a portion of his collection relating to pop band Westlife were placed on display in Church Street Gallery in Sligo. The exhibit included items from 60 countries and rare items that even the band's members did not possess.

In addition to his collecting, Walsh operates an Internet firm.

elected publications

* —— (2003). "God Save the Sex Pistols: A Collector's Guide to the Priests of Punk". London: Plexus Publishing. ISBN 978-0859653169.
* —— (2006). "Punk on 45: Revolutions on Vinyl 1976-79". London: Plexus Publishing. ISBN 978-0859653701.

References