Record Collecting Update Week Ending 04/28/2007

The Rolling Stones topped record collecting auctions this week with a copy of the pulled 45 RPM single picture sleeve of Street Fighting Man. The final sale prices was $15,2oo. From a starting bid of $15,000, the auction received 3 bids. No other public sales of this item had been published since 2003.

Another auction of note - the ultra-rare Organie Ray Hubbard Sweet Love 45 RPM on Dixie, considered the holy grail of rockabilly 45's, sold at auction for $6050.00, receiving 6 bids from a starting bid of $4025.00. This beat out the top Northern Soul 45 of the week, which was a copy of Shirly Edwards "Dream My Heart"/"It's Your Love" on Shrine. The final sale price was $3,605.99, with 16 bids from a starting bid of $10.00.

Record Collecting Update Week Ending 04/21/2007

Bach's music again is featured in this week's update. This time an original pressing of Jacques Dumont solo on Belvedere playing Bach's Partitas & Sonatas sells at auction for $3350 with 19 bids. Four of them have been seen this year, with no others have been sold dating back to 2002.

The record has been reissued twice, the last time in the 1970s. Those pressings typically sell in $1k - $2k range.

Also of note was a sealed mono Beatles Sgt Pepper which closed at $2738 with 19 bids.

Record Collecting Update Week Ending 04/14/2007

The power of the Buy-It-Now showed itself on eBay with the record-breaking sale of a rare JS Bach 3LP Box set. This was a VG++/Mint USA pressing of JS Bach Sonatas No.1-6, Georges Enesco soloist, released on Continential in the 1950s. One of the holy grails of the classical market, this set in varying conditions closes at auction for typically less than half of this weeks sale.

Another sale of note last week was A Cane Mutiny Soundtrack LP that closed for $6220 with 35 bids. The claim about this LP is that the records were supposedly scrapped at the factory with only a very few making it out the back door.

The top sale for an R&B 45 was for The Magnetics I Have A Girl /Love and Devotion on Ra-Sel. Final sale price was $5,100 with 24 bids.

Problem In The Pond

It looks like vinyl record lovers in Europe may suffer the same fate as book lovers, as reported in the International Herald Tribune:

NEW YORK: The U.S. Postal Service is taking the "ship" out of shipping, and thousands of small online booksellers are bracing for trouble.

The Postal Service said last month that as of mid-May, it would no longer transport goods internationally via cargo ships for individual customers. These "surface" deliveries have been the crucial method by which booksellers have sold books to foreign markets, because the cost is about one-third that of airmail.

Here is the link to the full story: http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/04/09/news/ecom.php

Economy Letter and Parcel Post is going the way of the Pony Express.

Here are the new rates: http://www.usps.com/ratecase/simplified_international_rates.htm

The cost to ship records will be increasing by as much as 300%, with the average for an LP base cost of shipping being around $21.00US.

Rare 45 RPM Record - Los Hooligans - Acapulco Rock / No Esta Aqui - 1950's Latin Rock

Early rock n roll is like a fine wine . . . well, no . . . more of a home brewed beer - ok, forget this analogy. It's simpler to state that early rock n roll divides into two camps - killer stuff full of energy, and teeny bopper candy. History south of the US border plays out the same, and Mexican rock n roll of all genres has been left an unexplored land. The rest of us European descended asswipes deserve two eons in purgatory for letting this happen.

Los Hooligan's rendition of Acapulco Rock deserves a seat in the pantheon. The teeny bopper Los Teen Tops is the most well-known version. Forget that one. This is a lost gem. It's great a great rock n roll 45 record. High school Spanish will suffice.

Listen for these tracks on my Live 365 Station