HIGH LIFE : A WEEKLY FORUM FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS : Record Show Offers Trove of Old, New : Music: Aficionados of everything from jazz to country to rap flock to the giant swap meet each month to search for recordings as well as memorabilia.

Whether it’s rock or reggae, jazz or funk, Elvis or Madonna, chances are you can find it at the Greater Orange County Record Show.

The Record Show--a swap meet of records, cassettes, CDs and assorted music memorabilia--is held at the Sequoia Athletic Club, where as many as 3,000 music lovers are drawn on the fourth Sunday of each month.

Collectors, dealers and music fanatics from throughout the Southland make their pilgrimage to the Record Show in search of, perhaps, a limited-edition Beatles poster or the New Kids on the Block’s latest video.

The Record Show was the brainchild of partners Mike Berkus, Steve Brunner and Gavin Riley. Their venture into the business, however, was not made blindly.

Berkus, 44, of Villa Park, is considered a veteran baseball card hobbyist and collector and along with his partners was responsible for the area’s first-ever card show in 1970. Ten years later, they put on the first national baseball card convention in Los Angeles. Next year, Berkus will serve as the business manager for the 1991 national convention, scheduled for July in Anaheim.

Berkus, who also owns a marketing company and is the developer of the dancing waters show at the Disneyland Hotel, said the idea for the Record Show came out of what the three men felt was “a need for collectors to have more of a disciplined, well-run show.”

One of the Southland’s first record shows took place in the parking lot at Capital Records in Hollywood in the late 1970s. That show later moved to the Pasadena City College swap meet, where it is still in operation on the first Sunday of each month.

The Greater Orange County Record Show, which has existed for three years, is a place to sell “used and rare items and collectibles as well as new products,” Berkus said. Admission to the show, which is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., is $3.

About 125 dealers from the county as well as San Diego, Los Angeles and occasionally from other states, attend each show. A table on which to sell their wares cost $45, and there is presently a waiting list for among prospective dealers for space.

“Many dealers are serious collectors themselves and this is just a hobby,” Berkus said. “They reinvest the money they make into their hobby.

“The returns would not be impressive to the normal business person, but some of the dealers are branching out to make a serious business venture out of it and are really making a profit.”

Jack Boyer, 32, of Los Angeles, said he has been selling records at such shows in California, New York and Canada for about 10 years. He said the money-making aspect of his venture is not his prime interest.

“I do it for the enjoyment,” Boyer said. “I make just enough to go out and buy more.”

Berkus said his show has evolved into the same dealers at 80% of the tables, with the other 20% filled by “wandering minstrels who are avid collectors that stop by to sell their duplicate materials on their searches to fill their collections.”

Gregg Thomas, 36, of Reseda is a former disc jockey and entertainer who has acquired thousands of records. “For me, (selling at record shows) is a hobby,” said Thomas, now an independent businessman. “It’s an outlet for me to get rid of records that I’ve accumulated from being a DJ.”

Thomas said the time he has spent at the Record Show has been fairly profitable. Despite his extensive record collection, he said he only brings the ones “to satisfy the demands that I perceive.”

The demand for any one type of record, however, is not so overwhelming that other dealers with other merchandise are left without business. Those who specialize in the new pop culture find as much a market at the show as those who deal in classic rock or jazz.

“We find that as diverse as music is, so is the crowd that we attract,” Berkus said. “Our customers range from people in their early teens all the way to their mid-60s.”

Noting the variety of merchandise available, Thomas recalled that “it used to be that the hot items were classic rock memorabilia. Now, the younger people are taking over with what we call the ‘new wave’ stuff.”

Records drawing the most interest among serious collectors, Berkus said, are early ‘50s rhythm and blues LPs, especially those on obscure labels and by obscure groups, followed by early black jazz records and country records.

“The real powerhouse collectible stuff rarely surfaces at shows,” said Berkus, adding that he has seen early Buddy Holly records go for $200 and albums by the Johnny Burnette Trio at $400 to $500.

“People can save money on new stuff here, too,” Berkus said. “Dealers have new cassettes and CDs that they sell for less than the stores, because maybe the cardboard box on the CD is bent.”

Dave Santos, 17, of Tustin said he comes to the Record Show “because there’s everything you could want from a band, besides the band itself.”

Santos is referring to the availability of hundreds of posters, pins, album covers, backstage passes and other rock ‘n’ roll paraphernalia.

Anita Hernandez, 27, of Santa Ana is a newcomer to the show. “I’ve never been here before and I’m totally amazed by all the stuff they have,” she said. “I came to get some rap music and ended up finding a lot of great Beatles posters and records I haven’t heard in years.”

Berkus said collecting records and music memorabilia “is a very unstructured hobby and industry that has the ability to really grow.”

As quickly as the baseball card business?

“Well, with baseball cards, interest gets renewed each spring,” he said. “That’s not the case with the record industry. Younger people enjoy their sound, what’s happening today. There’s not an appreciation of different eras and different sounds.

“Also, those weened on the CD sound are not buying records because of inferior quality of sound. There are fewer manufacturers even making turntables.”

So does that spell the demise of the Record Show?

“No, I think it’ll continue for quite a while,” Berkus said.

“But we don’t put them on to make a profit,” he added. “We do it for entertainment because we’re collectors, too.”