WAUKESHA — "My name's Albumman Compton and I have over 23,000 albums and 38,000 autographs."
That's not a nickname — it's his legal name. Born Jim Compton, he officially changed it to Albumman Compton in 2005 because of his deep love for music and album collecting.
"Well they just started calling me Albumman cause I had the albums," Compton said.
A collection that fills an entire attic
Albumman lives in Waukesha, where his attic houses more than 20,000 records. The space is literally covered from floor to ceiling with vinyl. Not one bit of space is available. The roof and entire floor are covered in albums like wallpaper. Albumman has basically every record from every major band or artist from the 1950s to the 1990s, plus a few modern ones too.
Many of the albums are signed by the artists themselves, including Patti LaBelle, Chubby Checker, Michael McDonald, Jimmy Cliff and Garth Brooks.
"And I have pictures. I have hundreds of pictures with the artists I met," Compton said.
How 'Albumman' got his name
He earned the nickname after attending Rock Fest in Wisconsin year after year. He would bring his albums hoping to get them autographed by the bands. People didn't know his name, but they always recognized him.
"Because I just became so well known up there, I might as well be Albumman."
He even got married at the festival.
For decades, Compton would go to concerts and festivals with 1 or 10 albums and try to get the bands to sign them. He was pretty successful.
"They're on a (tour) bus, you know, so try to find the (tour) bus," he said.
Watch the story to see more of Albumman's collection...
Sometimes he would walk around the downtown area of the city he was in before the concert started, hoping to see the artist or band.
"I partied with some, you know Willie Nelson, you know I got on his bus with him," Compton said.
I'm going to a Doobie Brothers concert at the BMO Pavilion on the Summerfest grounds in a few weeks. Seeing as Albumman is the expert at getting autographs, I figured if there wree any tips or tricks for getting the band to sign my records.
"Oh BMO? You go in the back when they come in. They might - by the lake - I got a lot of autographs back there," he said.
A collection meant for preservation
Despite his massive vinyl collection, Albumman doesn't actually listen to his records much anymore.
"I've already played everyone. I've recorded everything I need. I put them back on the shelf and they'll just stay there," he said.
Instead, he recorded his vinyl onto cassette tapes, which is how he listens to his music. Many of these records have gone untouched for years, and they'll stay that way until he hands the collection over to his daughter and grandkids.
Despite receiving offers to buy his entire collection, Albumman has no plans to sell.
"I've never sold one. I never will," he said.
After all, Albumman will do what Albumman wants to do with his own album collection.
"It's my collection. I enjoy it. It's just like anything else people collect," Compton said.
In the past 10 years, he has slowed down his collecting, but his passion for music and preserving these memories remains strong.
"This story was reported on-air by James Groh and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy."
It’s about time to watch on your time. Stream local news and weather 24/7 by searching for “TMJ4” on your device.
Available for download on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and more.
