Record Collecting Update Week Ending 5/26/2007

A very cool week, lots of superb rare and interesting records got high bids, and gave further evidence of where the record collecting market is today. One still sees the talking heads on collectibles television shows talking about Elvis and Beatles Yesterday and Today butcher block covers. The reality is, once again, that record lovers are out there, willing to spend money, but they already have their Beatles, Elvis and Stones. They want the obscure, rare, kick-ass, and even just weird and novel. Hell, some of those Psych LP's really really suck! Playing fuzz guitar should have required a license.

So, the top auction this week went to a copy of the rare Philips LP of Frank Frost's "Hey Boss Man", closing at $4650 with 27 bids from a starting bid of $10.88. Close behind, from the same seller, was another R&B LP, Frank Ballard's "Rhythm Blues Party". The seller says he is handling a superb private collection of this genre, so look for more early Rock and R&B to top the auctions in the coming weeks.

Another Al Williams 45 RPM, "I Am Nothing " on La Beat sold for $4371. This was many hundred more than a copy which sold earlier this month. However, this copy was a DJ promo, rarer than a common copy.

Other records of note sold above the $3500 mark, including an acetate of "Piper At The Gates of Dawn" and a private release 1969 Psych LP by the band Stack.

Record Collecting Update Week Ending 5/19/2007

This week saw further evidence that the record collector's market is more interested in the truly rare, completely independent and fascinatingly odd, than in the standard bearers of Beatle butcher blocks and the like. A 45 RPM picture sleeve, with signature, sold on a Buy-It-Now for $8000.00. The record was by American Indian music legend, Buddy Red Bow, released on Tatanka Records in 1978, with songs "Indian Love Song" b/w "Red Bow's Breakdown".

Highly priced acetate pressings of records by Frank Sinatra and David Bowie went unsold, while numerous Northern Soul 45's sold in the $2000 - $3000 range. Northern Soul has dominated the higher priced 45 record market for close to five years now, and will likely continue to dominate as Hip-Hop follows a more R&B flavored trend, and these records are sought after for sampling.

A record sale worth noting: A beautiful Vogue picture disc sold for $2000, with 11 bids from a starting bid of $1025. Vogue made a line picture discs in the late 1940s, some of them children’s records like the one that just sold, but most of them focused on post-war Americana with scenes of family home life and western landscapes.

Record Collecting Update Week Ending 5/12/2007

A Northern Soul 45 RPM record by Dennis Edward took the top spot this week, selling for $4827.00, with 12 bids from a starting bid of $600.00. Not much else worth mentioning this week, a lot of red numbers (unsold items) filled the top-price eBay pages for vinyl records, with what looked liked unrealistic expectations on the part of sellers. More than a few Beatle butchers went unsold, which further demonstrates that there are a few more than one would assume floating around out there. A number of private press Psych LP's went for a fair price, a The Finite Minds acetate selling for $1825.

Of note, though I don't monitor collections, was a collection of 52 Indonesian Psych LP's which sold for $1499.00. Very cool.

Record Collecting Update Week Ending 05/05/2007

A fairly typical week on eBay, an ultra-rare classical 7 LP Box set of Mozart on the French Pathe label brought the highest sale price at $4350, with 8 bids. This was a little more than half what the set brought exactly one year ago, and siginificantly less than a set which sold at the beginning of April.

A northern soul record topped the 45 RPM sales, Al Williams "I Am Nothing" on La Beat sold for $3716, with 6 bids.