for those who never gave up their turntables
DAVID BOWIE’S “SPACE ODDITY” was originally released during the second half of 1969. Several original pressings are rather rare and valuable records. In some countries, the record included a picture sleeve, many of which are even rarer and more valuable. This article offers a nutshell history of the record with a gallery of Space Odditys. [Continue reading]
“STREET FIGHTING MAN” by the Rolling Stones—the US issue on London Records—is the most valuable picture sleeve in the world! At least, that’s what I wrote nine years ago. At the time, I was unaware of any real contender for the title. Then I learned about the Japanese “Space Oddity” by David Bowie. [Continue reading]
THE TERM “PICTURE SLEEVE” has a specific meaning in record collecting. Basically, it’s a paper envelope with a photograph or artwork on at least one side made to hold a seven-inch, 45 rpm record. Japanese picture inserts for 45 rpm singles are not picture sleeves no matter how many collectors and dealers conflate the terms. [Continue reading]
WHAT IS A “PICTURE SLEEVE”? I know—this is a dumb question to the thousands of collectors who know the answer. But based on ads, articles, and comments on the internet, thousands of other collectors and sellers do not know the answer. Or they don’t know the correct answer. [Continue reading]
IT WAS JUST ANOTHER DAY on Medium when I found the article, “Embarrassing Songs By Major Artists.” Written by Alex Markham for The Riff, its tagline was “Even the biggest music superstars had moments when taste deserted them.” He could have written “every music superstar” and substituted “intelligence” for “taste” and I would have agreed! [Continue reading]
HERE’S ANOTHER QUESTION ABOUT VINYL on Quora that distracted me from various writing projects! The question is, “What vinyl album cover empty is worth more than a mint vinyl album without the cover?” Or, as I have worded it in this article’s title: Are there albums with covers that are worth more than the records? [Continue reading]
THERE ARE A HANDFUL OF RECORDS from the ’70s that are so common among British collectors that they receive little attention from them. But they are all rather rare records outside of the UK—so rare, that most non-UK collectors have only seen them as images on the internet! [Continue reading]
FAKE AUTOGRAPHS are back in the news, this time featuring a mother-son combo forging the signatures on thousands of sports items. And while it hasn’t made any headlines, the recent unexpected deaths of two beloved superstars should have every collector of Bowie and Prince autographs treading cautiously as this is when they are ripest for a rip-off! [Continue reading]
THE ORIGINAL TITLE to this piece on David Bowie was “Damn That Damn Disco Music!” But that was really an inadequate opening for the tone of this ‘true story’ about conversion. Then I dallied with variations on “The Day I Came Out as a David Bowie Fan,” which was an allusion to his androgynous Ziggy Stardust period. [Continue reading]