Dates: 1970-1990. [Bulk 1977-1986.]
RESTRICTIONS: NONE.
Provenance: The D.F. Cusic Collection is an open collection
donated to the Center for Popular Music by Don Cusic beginning in 1986.
Although Cusic has donated numerous sound recordings, books, photographs,
student papers, and press releases, all gifts but those which directly
document his work as an entertainment journalist, member of the Gospel
Music Association, and recording industry management assistant professor
are filed separately from the material described below.
Biographical Sketch: Don Cusic was born in St. Mary's
County, Maryland, and received his bachelor's degree in journalism from
the University of Maryland in 1972. He also holds an M.A. and D.A. in English
from Middle Tennessee State University, where he has been on the faculty
since 1982. During that time, he primarily has taught Recording Industry
Management classes in the Mass Communications Department.
But Cusic's activities have not been limited to the classroom. Since
the beginning of his career in music journalism, Cusic has authored more
than 500 articles and has been the Country and Gospel Editor for Record
World and Cashbox magazines. He was a columnist for Music
City News, and an album reviewer and special correspondent for Billboard.
Cusic also has authored the textbook Marketing Music, as well as
biographies on country music artist Randy Travis and gospel music artist
Sandi Patti. He contributed entries to both the Grove Dictionary of
Music and to The Dictionary of Literary Biography.
Cusic is a lifetime member of the Gospel Music Association, for which
he has served on various committees.
Scope and Content: As much as they document his research interests, work as an entertainment journalist, and professional affiliation in the Gospel Music Association, the materials contained in the D. F. Cusic Papers document the subjects Cusic researched and the GMA itself.
Included in the collection are business correspondence; magazine and
newspaper articles, some of which were written by Cusic but most of which
were used by him for research purposes; music industry related mailing
lists; information on professional organizations; business records of the
Gospel Music Association; and information pertaining to the yearly Gospel
Music Association's week-long conventions and Dove Music Awards.The collection
is divided into three series, two of which are further divided into subseries.
Series one contains materials primarily related to Cusic's journalism career,
while the second series is composed entirely of GMA materials. Series three
contains research materials Cusic used is writing a biography of contemporary
Christian artist Sandi Patti, as well as two copies of the manuscript--one
of which is marked for editing. Some materials in each of the first two
series have been filed separately because their size requires them to be.
.
Location: D. F. Cusic Papers are filed by accession number
86-001 with other manuscript groups. Photographs are filed in the photograph
file.
Related Materials: Student papers for RIM 462, Merchandising
of Recordings, and RIM 481, Topics in Recording Industry Management from
Fall 1986 to Summer 1988 are primarily filed in vertical files by subject
or performer. One box, however, is filed as a unit for current students
to use as examples. Because the press releases document their subjects
more than they document Cusic, they are filed by subject in the vertical
files. Audio materials were turned over to the sound archivist.
Series Description:
Series I: General
1970-1986
2.03 l.f. (Boxes 1-3 and 15-22)
Business correspondence; published reviews and articles by Cusic; personal
invitations and Christmas cards; mailing lists for gospel and country radio
stations, Christian bookstores, television shows, and religious affiliated
colleges and universities; information from the National Entertainment
Journalists Association; information from the National Music Publishers
Association and the Church Music Publishers Association; handwritten notes;
music news publications and catalogs; research materials--primarily, but
not limited to, magazine and newspaper articles on evangelical religion,
gospel music, contemporary Christian music, rock music, the Broadway musical
"Jesus Christ Superstar," performing artist Kerry Livgren, televangelists
(some of which came from the Jimmy Swaggart Ministries), politics and ethics,
and politics and religion; student papers; a survey of country radio stations;
and unsigned reviews and articles. Research materials are arranged in two
subseries: material received 1986-1989 (boxes 1-3) and material received
1990-1991 (boxes 17-22). Each subseries is arranged alphabetically by subject.
Subseries 2 is further arranged alphabetically by article title. A list
of articles is filed with the accession record.
Series II: Gospel Music Association
1977-1987
.87 l.f. (Boxes 4-7)
Gospel Music Association business, primarily including committee reports
and meeting minutes; Gospel Music Week and Dove Awards information; information
on the Gospel Music Association's Coalition to Save America's Music; newspaper
clippings; various issues of the Gospel Music Association's publication,
Good News; Gospel Music Association directories from the late seventies
and early eighties; and miscellaneous material. Arranged first in two sub-series,
GMA Business and Gospel Music Week, then chronologically within each subseries.
Series III: Sandi Patti
ca. 1977-ca. 1988
1.14 l.f. (Boxes 8-15)
Research materials, including articles and author notes, for Sandi
Patti: The Voice of Gospel, written by Cusic and published in 1988;
two copies of the manuscript, one of which is marked for editing.
CUSIC, D. F. 86-001 et. al.
PAPERS
Box and Folder List
Series Folder Title Box/Folder
I. General
Correspondence 1/1
Cusic Reviews and Articles 1/2
Invitations and Christmas Cards 1/3
Mailing Lists 1/4-6
Miscellaneous 1/7
Music News Publications
and Catalogs 2/1
National Entertainment
Journalists Association 2/2
National Music Publishers Assoc. 2/3
Notes 2/4
Preliminary Listing of
Proposed Entries 2/5
Research Materials 3/1-4
Student Papers 3/5
Survey of Country Radio Stations 3/6
Unsigned Reviews and Articles 3/7
II. Gospel Music Association (GMA)
*GMA Business 1974, 1977, 1978 4/1-4
GMA Business 1977, 1978 4/5
GMA Business 1979 4/6
GMA Business 1979 4/7
GMA Business 1979 4/8
GMA Business 1980 5/1
GMA Business 1980 5/2
GMA Business 1980 5/3
GMA Business 1983 5/4
GMA Business 1985 5/5
GMA Business 1987 5/6
*GMA Business 1981 6/1
*GMA Business 1982 6/2
GMA Dove Awards 10th Anniversary 6/3
GMA Week 1981 6/4
GMA Week 1982 6/5
GMA Week 1983 6/6
GMA Week 1984 6/7
GMA Week 1985 6/8
*materials were taken from plastic notebooks for preservation reasons;
original order maintained.
Box and Folder List
Series Folder Title Box/Folder
II. Gospel Music Association (GMA)
GMA Week 1986 6/9
GMA Week 1987 6/10
*GMA Week 1987 6/11
GMA Week 1988 6/12
GMA Coalition to Save
America's Music 7/1
Newspaper Clippings 7/2
(GMA) Good News 7/3
Miscellaneous 7/4
GMA Directory and Yearbook, 1977 7/5
GMA Directory and Yearbook, 1978 7/6
GMA Directory and Yearbook, 1978 7/7
Gospel Music '79 7/8
Gospel Music 1981 7/9
Gospel Music 1981 7/10
III. Sandi Patti
1977 8/1
1978 8/2
1979 8/3
1980 8/4
1981 8/5
1982 8/6
1983 8/7-8
1984 8/9
1985 9/1
1986 9/2-4
1987 9/5-6
1988 10/1-2
1989-1990 10/3
No Date 10/4
Family 10/5
Anderson College 10/6
Miscellaneous 11/1
Notes 11/2
Anderson, Indiana 11/3
Anderson, Indiana Telephone Dir. 11/nf
Early Sandi 12/1
Star Spangled Banner 12/2
Honeymoon 12/3
Sandi Patti 12/4
*materials were taken from plastic notebooks for preservation reasons;
original order maintained.
Box and Folder List
Series Folder Title Box/Folder
Concert-Next To Last 12/5
Early Morning Light 12/6
Press Kits 12/nf
Edited Draft 13/1-8
Final Draft:
Chapters 1-6 14/1
Chapters 7-13 14/2
Chapters 14-20 14/3
Chapters 21-27 14/4
Chapters 28-35 14/5
Chapters 36-42 14/6
I. General
Cusic Reviews & Articles
Drafts/Notes 15/1-4
Cusic Reviews & Articles
Drafts/Notes 16/1
Cusic Reviews & Articles In Print16/2
Research Materials
Politics 17/1
Jim Bakker 17/2
Pat Robertson 17/3
Jimmy Swaggert 17/4
Religion: A-C 17/5
Religion: E-G 17/6
Religion: H-Pil 18/1
Religion: Power-Reagan 18/2
Religion: Religion-W 18/3
Jimmy Swaggart Ministries:
Undated-June 1987 19/1
Jimmy Swaggart Ministries:
July 1987-April 1988 19/2
Jimmy Swaggart Ministries:
Gift Catalogs 19/nf
Jimmy Swaggart Ministries:
The Evangelist 19/nf
Gospel Music: A-C 20/1
Gospel Music: F-H 20/2
Gospel Music: L-R 20/3
Gospel Music: S 21/1
Gospel Music:
Sacred Music of Black Religion 21/2
Gospel Music: T-W 21/3
Country Music Association 22/1-4
Box and Folder List
Oversize
Record World Presents, Gospel Music:
A New Decade 23/1
Record World Presents, Gospel '82:
Music to Believe In 23/2
GMA Week 1985 Information 23/3
Christian Research Report,
April 1988 23/3
Saturday Evening Post, Issue on
Christianity 23/4
Record World, Country Music 1973 23/5
Record World Presents, A Special
Section, Gospel Music: A Growing
Market, 1 October 1977 23/5
Oversize Cusic Articles 23/5
Cashbox 16 April 1983 23/5
Research Materials 23/6