^ That's an amazing find Tim
Maybe we might consider featuring these pages in the project somewhere?
***This post is simply an example of how some things are worked out for the archive - given that, without access to the records of the thing itself, we have to look at what the most sensible thing is from pulling in info from other sources... ...so it may well be hugely dull to most of everyone.***
Tbh, it was mostly just about a bit of evidence for it being the right Ronnie Taylor - not that i was in any way uncertain, but it's good to be able to demonstrate that something's true...
...though the other useful thing is that it gives the number of members in (from what i can make out from the squinting at the back of the pages) late June-early July 83 - since the magazine looks to be from early-mid July.
Well, in a mostly unrelated conversation about the likely numbers printed of something else, i used the fc as an example of something where there needed to be thousands or tens of thousands of each thing, but some bits simply don't show up; & the point was countered with questioning whether the membership card numbers might have been at least partially invented... Which was perfectly reasonable of course.
So, what we now provisionally know is that around late June 83 there were ~10,000 members - & the November 83 newsletter (i assume put together in October) states that there were "over 20,000 members"...
...so in those 4 months, give or take, they *gained* (ie this is a net figure, as some people will have dropped out) roughly 10,000 members.
[NB at this point they computerised the thing; & there's a reasonable number of merch sheets, particularly from the early & late days, where you had to give the membership no to order - showing that each person's number was an identifier.]
However, November 83 is when it became the international DD Club & there was a push to expand the international membership - for example, the flyer being included with the 7&TRT LP in the US & those card album cover folders which had details of the fc in...
...though naturally tying in with the huge interest in the US SBS tour, The Reflex being a massive hit in many countries, TWB & then AVTAK being hits, etc - so their world wide popularity being at a high...
...so, to get to 76,377 in late 85, which is when i joined up, would only be around 50-55,000 members in 2 years - which wouldn't appear to be ludicrous.
Then, post signing my own soul away, i know that there needs to be at least another 10-15,000 people (i don't know the last card issued but i know they go up to at least the high 80 thousands)... ...which, doesn't seem completely unrealistic over 3 years; esp as i would have expected a reasonable number of italian fans to sign up during this latter time period.
Yeah, so without suggesting that no cards at all were ever lost or destroyed or whatever before getting to each member, gauging the overall scale of the number of people who joined up for at least a year from the card numbers doesn't seem to be completely ridiculous.
Anyway, as said, probably dull as dull, but such is life.