Zombies vinyl for $1000?

Hi all,

Just doin my usual ebay surfing last night and followed this LP auction--I had no idea a Zombies Lp would bring almost $1000---

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=250434627007

Can folks fill me in on this--whats the attraction at this level--

Thanks.

 

The price has been creeping up for years. It's a rare one.

 

A few weeks ago I was lucky to acquire a stone mint UK stereo copy of O & O. My friends said I was nuts for paying $350...

I have every other pressing of that album except the UK Mono. A UK mono sold last week for GPB 632!

Anyway, the UK stereo is sonically much more vibrant than the original US or Canadian Date pressings and the Japanese and Big Beat reissues. It really is one of the best "sounding" 60s rock records I've ever heard. (which was quite a surprise when I first listened to it)

O & O was recorded at Abbey Road studio at the same time as "Sgt. Pepper" and "Piper at the Gates of Dawn" and it was recorded using many of the same techniques and instruments as those famous records. For some reason, though, Odessey and Oracle, unlike "Pepper", was a commercial flop. Very few LPs were pressed in the UK. Many of the first issue US albums with the original covers are cutouts because the album did not sell well. Two years after it was recorded, "Time of the Season" became a surprise hit, mostly as a single in the U.S. Columbia tried to revive the LP with a newer cropped cover, but LP sales were still slow. All this adds up to something that really can be termed "an impossibly rare record."

That particular ebay auction you are linking points to one of the highest auction prices for that LP ever. Also, notice that the item had been relisted--the exact same album had sold two weeks ago for GPB 510.

 

Thanks for all of the info TLS.

Mike

 

There are a few UK sellers who, despite the relentless (and sometimes misleading) hyperbole filled descriptions, apparently are reliable or trustworthy in their grading. Part of these prices, besides the coveted first pressing status, is the reputation of the seller. For example, many so-called Excellent+ or 'near mint' looking UK records of the sixties have worn or damaged grooves from the titanic weight tracking tone arms of the day......often with a worn sapphire stylus.

So when you get a seller that can guarantee the sonic aspect of scarce or rare records, you see the prices go up accordingly. I can overlook the fact that a seller says a UK album "sold only in teeny-tiny numbers" (when it actually sold in decent numbers) but its harder to overlook paying a competitive price for a NM looking record, then getting it and finding out its fuzzy and/or distorted.

 

This is so true. I find there are two main ways to try to obtain nice UK pressings.

1. Buy a pile of low and mid-price copies from unknown sellers--only occasionally resulting in the acquisition of a playable copy. And paying tons of shipping

2. Or spend the equivilent amount (50-200 quid these days!)once from a trusted seller, and getting a really superb record.

Lately, I've been favoring option two...