Why no uptick in interest for lps by Chicago , Moodies , Yes

Talking to a friend who owns a store in Eastern PA , we were discussing how things he use to always price at a $1 or less , lps by Rod Stewart , Elton , ABBA , ONJ , Rick Springfield , Blondie , The Cars , all of the common 80's R&B titles : Luther , Sade , Freddie Jackson , etc , , all of the common late 70's/80's country lps Willie , Waylon , CDB , etc , pretty much , just on and on , things that he use to nearly give away. Now sell anywhere from $5 up , with no problem.

Case in point , he had just received Elton's catalog , US pressings of everything from Empty Sky to the Live from Australia , earlier that morning , and pretty much all were sold by mid-afternoon at anywhere from $5 to $25 each.

With the same collection , he purchased Rod's catalog from the 1st Rod Stewart Album to the later 80's WB titles , also had all of the Faces lps , again by mid-afternoon , nearly all gone at anywhere from $5 to $40 each.

Yet the Moody Blues , Yes , and Chicago albums , he passed on buying them as he already has multiples at $1 or less , and they do not move, also ELP , he stated is the same way , tough to give away.

Another example he used was ELO , the Eagles (and all of the off-shoots : Walsh , Frey , etc solo lps ) , 2 yrs ago he could not give them away , now they are an immediate sell at $5-$10.

So why have have certain artists , starting selling and others have not , your thoughts?

Also , he brought up April Wine , immediate sales at $5-$10 , 2 yrs ago he could not give them away

 

another weird thing he brought up : Kim Wilde , Banarama , Janet Jackson , Bangles , 80's female artists , are now immediate sales at $5 + , he explained Madonna and Joan Jett , always did very well. Though noe he sells any Madonna and Joan Jett lp at $25+ , and they sell within a day or 2.

But Pat Benetar , priced at $0.50 , on all of her lps and still no takers

 

Speaking as a record store owner, while we seem to have a lifetime supply of Moody Blues LPs, our Yes records are selling fairly well and our ELO records do okay.

 

Yes , he did state ELO had an nice uptick, nearly an immediate sale in a day or 2. Usually at $5 each

 

And Hall & Oates also never go below $10 where I shop for Lps.

 

you are right on H&O , he did mention them , another group who suddenly you can sell their stuff at a decent price

 

There does seem to be some sort of dividing line between artists with cred and those with none. For example at my local store, The Byrds, Beach Boys, Grateful Dead have their own sections, priced $5 - $10. But Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin , Jethro Tull all end up in the dollar bin. Part of this may just be the tastes of the owner, but these also reflect what sells.

 

Supply and demand?

It's strange that Chicago just sits there. I think it's because they've had dreadful reissue campaigns, no word of mouth and people don't know how good the work is outside of the greatest hits. And in a way they never came "back" in any sense that's why some of their records just sit there.

 

The word may have gotten out that US pressings of Moody Blues LPs are not that great? I think they are sonic garbage compared to the British Deccas,that readily sell for $50 and up online.

Simple.Everything Chicago did after 1972 or so is sleep inducing pablum,played to death on "adult contemporary" radio,in hotel lobbies,dentist's offices,etc for decades,that it has killed any interest in their older stuff.

Same reason no one wants Billy Joel or Barry Manilow.

 

I would absolutely love the first five Chicago albums, especially an ex or mint copy of the live album, but I would take out a restraining order against Hot Streets or any of the later, non Kath albums being allowed anywhere near my collection...I suspect these bargain bin squatters are not the first five records....

 

partly has to do with overkill as had been mentioned either on radio etc....or some of those records just sold so much when they were released.a lot has to do with current taste the moody blues and yes just sound dated and the "kids" have not (yet?) picked up on that style of music i would guess.the snarky answer would be because they aren't really that good!

 

changing tastes with a new generation of buyers. REM and Radiohead used to be hard to find in the used bin, now there's several rows of cds by both artists.

 

When I worked in a record store, Yes and the Moody Blues just didn't sell. My best guess as to why is that there's no contemporary artist who cites these bands as influence, neither band has had a song showcased in a hot movie soundtrack or TV show in recent memory (at least not that I can think of), and magazines like Mojo & Rolling Stone have basically forgotten that these artists ever existed, so young readers of those magazines are not exposed to these artists.

 

Not yet mentioned, I've built a nice Traffic collection on vinyl for under $5 per lp.

 

That's the nice thing about a 70s artist being unpopular with the kids today. I like Judy Collins, Linda Ronstadt, Carly Simon … and the first five Yes albums, and I have the pick of those artists' albums at used record stores, for next to nothing. I picked up a beautiful NM original mono copy of Judy Collins' Fifth Album yesterday for $4. If no one else cares about her, that's OK with me.

 

Well, YES is always picked over at my local shops. But I think some of these these things are cyclical. The Moodies will return to favor (or Favour) soon enough. As far as Chicago, I attribute the plethora of available LP's to the fact that they sold 38 billion of them in the first place.

I built up a nice minty collection of the Chicago LP's I was interested in.

 

Chicago did it to themselves by ruining their reputation post-Kath. I think people really forget how good they were on their first 4-5 albums. But most of what you see in the bins is the subsequent fifteen LP's that no one really wants.

 

Not on vinyl.

 

Chicago Quad Lp's go for a pretty penny on eBay and you never see them in stores.

 

My local has a smallish selection, and between 15-25 Chicago lp's in there right now for $1 each.

 

Blame me for driving prices up on ELO. A couple years back, I kept finding all the different UA/Jet/CBS pressing for stupid cheap, and I'd pick it up whenever I saw it. I've got several Ole ELOs, OOTBs, ANWR, and duplicates of Time and Secret Messages.

I can vouch as a mid-30something...no one my age, and certainly not younger, cares at all about Chicago. I happen to like them, though, and have picked up nice and clean pressings of CTA, Chicago II and IX for next to nothing. They all sound great...better than any CD or cassette I've heard.

Not so sure about the Moody Blues. They sold like hotcakes back in the day, and they're plentiful and cheap now. But I don't know anyone of a hipster/arty bent who doesn't swoon when they hear "Nights In White Satin."

 

yeah, but we've all heard it so often, I can see little need to actually buy the record to listen to again. Not sure the same can be said for Yes and Chicago -- might just be lack of interest.

 

I Blame The Simpsons...

 

Well every Chicago album sold millions, so for every title..... theres lots of them available. I do know younger folks into Chicago; the most common albums that get mentioned are the CTA debut, II, and the Greatest Hits. Chicago was intentionally part throwback in sound back in their hey day i.e. the big band influence. The albums have that mix of rockers along with poppier AM radio stuff plus a soft ballad or two. I can see why they are an 'acquired' taste.

The (US) Moody Blues albums are also numerous. However, almost every young person I know, once they hear the Moody Blues.... loves 'em. And when a good UK or German pressing lands in the bins, it doesn't tend to last long. The US ones may be there a while (until they're priced down).

 

I think ELO got kinda big with the hipster crowd. I was at a party a few years ago talking to some people about music and some guy asked me "Have you ever heard of Electric Light Orchestra? I just heard them for the first time, they rule"

Chicago, well can't say I ever heard a song by them that I liked except 25 or 6 to 4. A bit of a shame as someone who grew up in Chicago. Maybe it's due to being 31 and it being way over played on the radio all my life. Can't say I have listened to too many deep cuts though.

Same goes for Moody Blues, I always felt like their music was a bit boring.