Gerry Long Biography

Self-described “poster addict” Gerry Long was born in Detroit in 1950, and while in high school he played guitar in a band called the Sweet Wine which also featured his younger brother Ken on drums, appearing at countless local sock hops, battles of the bands and recreation centers. In 1968 he saw the Who perform during his first trip to the famed Detroit area venue the Grande Ballroom, and during his subsequent visits to the club he began accumulating the “Grande Cards” advertising upcoming shows; soon Long was in possession of literally thousands of the cards, regularly giving stacks to friends while plastering others upon the walls of his college dorm room. In 1989, a friend sold 30 of the Grande Cards which Long had given him decades earlier to the San Francisco-based rock poster retailer Artrock; Long soon dealt 1400 of his own cards to the same company, keeping a cache of 200 which he began trading with other local collectors. In time he began accumulating the full-size Grande posters as well, and after discovering Wes Wilson’s poster collecting magazine Off the Wall he also expanded into Fillmore Auditorium memoribilia. Long ultimately formed his own business, The Poster Addict, and began frequenting collectibles shows across the country, translating his love of rock concert art into a profitable enterprise.