Category: Announcements

bookmark_borderItems I’m looking for in 2025

Posted on by PAO Productions
With 2025 now underway, I am laying out my plans for the new year. Alongside the usual new year's resolutions and the incentives to myself to get healthier, I'm also putting some thought into what blog and other personal projects I'd like to see realized over the coming months. Toward this end, I've compiled the following list of "must have" and "would be nice" items that will help bring those plans and ideas to fruition. If you (or anyone you know) are aware of a source for any of the following items, or have some examples that you are willing to donate, potentially sell, or just allow the use of for various blog features and/or research projects, please reach out to me:
  • Original, non-commercial (i.e., amateur) photo prints, snapshots, negatives, and slides of the Dallas-Fort Worth area from the 19th and 20th centuries, particularly those showing buildings, streets, and important events (but not parades). This includes amateur real photo postcards, and especially includes amateur photos from local band performances taken prior to the advent of digital cameras.
  • Original flyers for local shows at area clubs and music venues from the 1990s and earlier, or originally made (i.e., not taken off the internet) high quality images of them
  • Original memorabilia of any kind related to businesses located on or along Poydras Street in Dallas, from any time period, especially photos, postcards, business cards, advertisements, and physical promotional items (advertising handouts, branded items and other such artifacts) (high priority)
  • Cabinet cards and CDVs produced in the Dallas-Fort Worth area from 1870 through 1900
  • Vintage, original photo prints, negatives, and slides of areas and attractions I've visited on prior road trips
  • Vintage, original 8mm films of sites in the DFW area (amateur films, not commercial, and not films of private events such as weddings and birthday parties unless they include notable individuals)
  • Photos of interracial couples predating Loving vs. Virginia (i.e., before 1967), including slides
  • Original music-related  'zines from the Dallas-Fort Worth area, from any time period
  • Route 66-related slides and photos, amateur only (not commercially produced)
  • Any "found footage" style audio and video recordings related to DFW happenings, on any format I can play (cassette, 1/4 inch reel-to-reel, home-recorded 8 track cartridges, microcassettes, VHS/VHS-C, Video8, Hi8, miniDV, DVD-R and other recordable DVD media)

When it comes to cabinet cards, photos of places outside the DFW metroplex, and the pre-Loving photos, I am looking to acquire originals, but in all the other instances, I only need permission to reproduce materials and don't need to actually acquire originals as long as a good quality copy can be provided. This is particularly the case for the various historical research projects that concern local history or the DFW music scene in particular.

Plans for 2025 include finishing up the Ghosts of DFW Music History blog series, some historical posts concerning Dallas history, completing my Road Trips and Live Performance Photography photo galleries, a few recipe and cooking-related posts, and possibly some photography-related experiments and/or videos. And of course, whatever else I may feel like doing at any given time.

All original material on this page is © 2025 Peter Orozco. All rights reserved.

bookmark_border2024 recap and looking ahead to 2025

Posted on by PAO Productions
2024 was a bit of a mixed bag as far as this site is concerned. I started out pretty strong, lost focus somewhat, and worked to bring things back together at the end. All told, a total of twenty-eight blog posts made it to publication, along with thirteen album comparisons and (barely) four road trip galleries. I'm going to reflect a bit on what I was able to accomplish and on the areas in which I was lacking.

Continue reading "2024 recap and looking ahead to 2025"

bookmark_borderBack to work on the “Ghosts of DFW Music History” series

Posted on by PAO Productions
The last post in my "Ghosts of DFW Music History" series was on April 30th, a full 3 1/2 months ago. I managed to get the post up just before starting my sabbatical from work and embarking on my long road trip up to Alaska. Since my return, following a couple of weeks taken to recharge and recover, I resumed work on my other long-term projects with the aim of returning to the "Ghosts" series in a couple of weeks. Those couple of weeks have, without my ever intending them to, extended to over three months. I have been at work gathering historical materials and following up on a couple of leads, but overall I have been focusing heavily on getting all my other in-progress tasks out of the pipeline - clearing the table, so to speak. Vintage photo galleries, research on a few historical DFW sites, working on my long-delayed road trip travelogues, and, notably, finally getting some business cards created, have been my main priorities since returning from Alaska. But now it's time to get back to work on the "Ghosts" series. If all goes according to plan, I hope to edit and post about half a dozen more entries over the next few months, and to wrap up the entire series by the end of 2024. I'm also strongly considering making an eventual print edition of the completed project, which would not only allow me to expand upon a few things that were left out of the online posts, but also to update the overall text with additional information I've gathered since the original versions went up on the site. I have a potential cover image and design already put together as a proof of concept, and I have some ideas on whom I would like to tap for a potential foreword. This won't happen until sometime in 2025 if I do indeed proceed with the idea. In the meantime, be on the lookout for new series installments in the coming days. I'm waiting to hear back from a few sources and have found new wells to tap for memorabilia, so fingers crossed.

bookmark_borderGhosts of DFW music history blog series

Posted on by PAO Productions
Silver Dollar Rock House photo, courtesy Rockulapresents YouTube channel

The 1980s and '90s were arguably the heyday of local, home grown music in North Texas. On the west side of the DFW metroplex, the 1980s bore witness to the birth of the local metal scene in Arlington and Fort Worth, and, on the east side, the solidification of the rock/punk/pop scenes in Dallas, all of which led directly to the national prominence of the area in mid to late 1990s radio and culture. "Ghosts of DFW music history" is an ongoing blog series in which I visit the former locations of DFW area music venues and record labels of days past, showing them as they are today and putting each into the context of its time. Each entry will feature a bit of historical background, an up to date photo of each location as it is today, and period flyers, photos, and/or memorabilia. As this series progresses, direct links to each of the planned posts will be added below. Once the entire series has been posted, this page will be retooled to serve as an official table of contents. Please enjoy the installments and feel free to comment if you remember or were a part of those days!

Featured posts:
East wall of 2111 Commerce, © 2023 Peter Orozco
East wall of 2111 Commerce Street, former site of various iconic punk clubs in the 1980s
All material on this page is © 2023 Peter Orozco (all rights reserved) except the following:
Silver Dollar sign photo reproduced from Rockulapresents YouTube video upload, used per terms of Creative Commons Attribution license. Original footage taken by Laurel and/or Dee Wilson of Dallas Music Videos.