Brian's Music Musings

A few posts back, I talked about record values, their worth to you and prices in general. There was a good post by Fred that you should read, if you have not done so yet. There is certainly another aspect that drives this whole hobby, and that is the passion. There are many groups on my website that I have a passion for. You can see them fairly easily when you look at the content and can see that I have most of their records. Groups like the Aquatones, Rosie and the Originals, Gene and Eunice, and the Tonettes. I love the Tonettes/Vince Castro recordings. I have some good documentation and a fair representation of their records. Or do I?

One of the things that has always bugged me about my collection of thier records, is the lack of any Canadian recordings. Most likely for the Tonettes, it would be on the Canadian Sparton label, since ABC (Oh What A Baby) already had an established program in place with them. And it didn't have to be a huge hit already, or an established artist. I believe that it was a decision made quickly, depending on the sales figures available and distributor reports for many regions. And then the question arises, if they pressed it on Sparton, were there 78's and 45's? I have not seen a complete discography for Sparton, which would make these questions easily answered. OK, so I think I have actually answered both of them.. Click this link

Sparton had a pattern of releasing late 78's and records on 78 that were only on 45 in the USA. So, if there is a 78, there must be a 45. That's my theory on this one. I have never seen the Tonettes on Sparton, so it's certainly new to me. Now the search is on for the 45. And to throw another consideration into the mix: The Sparton 78 has the "second" version of the song, per my website info and sound bytes. I don't know that it was released second, but is just a point of reference. Is there also another Sparton pressing with the first and most common version? Ooyyy. Just the time I thought I had a handle on it..........

I had a good interview with Mickey Kipler of the (Rockin) Rebels. I will need to start editing that and plan to air it on my June 16th show. I am scheduling an interview with Russ Hallett of the Russ Hallett trio, and should get that going early next week.

In the ongoing battle of Internet radio, it seems Soundexchange offered to defer new copyright-payment rates for small Webcasters who claim the new payments would bankrupt them. Savenet radio rejected the plan, citing that the big broadcasters would be "Thrown Under The bus" and the small webcasters would never be able to be a major broadcaster, since that would incur the higher fees. Several blogs ago, I had mentioned that Soundexchange would need to come up with a compromise and that it might look good when compared to the outrageous plan they have currently. It's interesting and appropriate that Savenet radio rejected it. Here is a brief story with a summary. Just in, there is a new bill on the horizon with a good story here. legislation has been introduced to set up a system that is fair.

Another slow week here for records. The Fay Simmons stock release on Popside, the Virtues Guitar Boogie Shuffle on Sure, and Kenny Vance's Looking For An Echo on Atlantic, from 1975. The record collecting hobby is still good even when I'm not trying to give the mailman a hernia.

I did get in touch with Mickey Kipler of the Rockin Rebels. If all goes well, I will be interviewing him on Monday. Very interesting guy, and very informative in the brief conversation i did have in setting up the interview. I also am back in touch with Russ Hallett, and am asking a few more questions about his group and history. All in an effort to update the Rockin Rebels page.

You may have read that Bo Diddley had a stroke about a week ago. He seems to be doing better, but does have some speech issues. I have know a few people that had strokes, couldn't speak well, but were able to sing with no problem at all.

Not too much new on the copyright/Soundexchange/Internet broadcasting fiasco. I read a lot of arguing and discussion of facts, but not much movement. I also don't see many Internet broadcasters halting that aspect of their station. This one could drag out for a while.

Not too many new records over here, I suppose because I have not seen many I thought I needed. Well, OK, a lot I thought I needed but few that I was moved to part with the cash for. I did finally get a copy of My Hero on Val-Ue, but that was long overdue. I have had the one on Jalynne, and probably should get the 2nd press Val-ue with the different PO box, along with the Red Top issue. The Val-ue was also pressed on blue wax.

I was sent a picture of the ultimate first press of Wild Weekend by the Rebels. It had the stamp from "Phil and Tom", which was their way of calling it a promotional copy. I am trying to get a few more facts on the Rebels, to update my page. Anyone know how to get in touch with Mickey Kipler, one of the original Rebels? Tried to go through his work with email, but to no avail. It would be nice to get his take on the Rebels and their history.

I had an interesting call from a listener to my radio show last week. Not only is he a listener, but a friend and fellow collector. He said "Brian, what have you heard about record values going down with the music of the 50's and early 60's?" I told him I hadn't really heard that, but that I knew that "Northern Soul" was hot and has been for several years, and that many dealers mention that it sells better than anything else they have. It is especially true for European and Japanese buyers where in many cases the exchange rate is good vs. US dollars. He said" Many of the sellers I deal with are actually LOWERING their prices - and Brian, the 800 dollar Little Richard record I have didn't go up in value from last year's price to the new book price." That was quite a series of statements, with the possibility of quite a few discussions that I could have with him, but not while I was doing my radio show! And by the way, I want to know your dealers that are lowering their prices!

Let's take high end seller John Tefteller. I get his monthly auctions sent to my home, and the asking prices don't appear to have gone down any. I suppose I would need to ask him if they all were sold and the realized prices, to get the most accurate picture. However, he has increased his Ebay presence by selling more and more records on the famous auction site that he all but trashed a few years ago with his bottom feeder remarks. He does have a series of 78's up for auction at the moment with a reasonable opening bid of 9.99. Go figure.

The trends on Ebay at the moment do make it appear like some of the mid value records that run between 50 and 100 bucks, are showing starting bids around 30.00 with minimal bidders. Conditions and desirability vary, but in the last few months, I have noticed this. The flip side is Chuck Higgins 78's at 200.00 and outrageous asking prices for some other common records, and naturally they don't sell.

One very interesting by-product of Ebay and other auction sites, is that some records thought to be fairly scarce, turn up so often that it's obvious they sold more than collectors and price guide publishers realized. Subsequently, the price paid for those records is declining as I type. A clairification here is that maybe they didn't sell more, but there were more pressed than originally thought.

LP's are another interesting story. The bottom fell out on LP's several years ago, at least according to Ebay sales results, and it is tough to get anywhere near book value for 90 per cent of them. That trend continues today. A great example is when I bought a stereo copy of the Fireflies on Taurus for about 20 bucks. The book value is over 200, but I doubt you find many buyers willing to spend half that.

So what about that Little Richard record that didn't go up in value? Well, not all records do. There are plateau's even with high end mint records. But, another increase could be right around the corner. Or are the records pricing themselves so high that just the ultra wealthy will be able to afford them? As you mature in the record collecting hobby, you are looking for some of the rarer records because you already have some of the common records in your specific interests. or you might be branching out into other areas, and find you have another set of hard to find records that need to be purchased. Time to re-finance the house!

There will always be high end sellers and there is always the auction sites like Ebay. Then there all things in-between. I have several sources for records and continue to look for more. I never have an issue with paying a reasonable price, but there in lies the rub. What is reasonable? That could be discussed until the cows come home. For me, I take many things into account. The condition, the pressing, how bad I want it, and what I think it's worth based on what I know and think I know, along with the trends I currently see. Then I set a price and see if i can buy one for that amount.

The rest of this month, I am out searching some additional details on the Rockin Rebels. I have an upcoming project and am trying to fill in a few gaps.

As promised, the Chuck Alaimo record on Ken was added to my first and second labels page. While I was at it, I also put the Ken/Dot labels of Frank De Rosa's record below it. Both great instrumentals.

Check out the comment from Gino on the last post. He provides a link to contact your representive of Congress concerning the new fee structures on Internet radio. Here is another bunch of comments, showing May 15th as D-Day - though here, it has now been extended. There is no doubt that payment for royalties needs to be made on Internet radio, and is being paid by many legitimate broadcasters and stations. The organizations that are not paying, should be. But, not at the outrageous fees proposed.

No major record purchases over the last week, but a couple of possibilities on the horizon later this month.

I was sad to learn of the passing of Zola Taylor of the Platters. She sang lead on several songs including "He's Mine", Bark, Battle and Ball, and certainly a pre-Platters record, "Maggie Doesn't Work Here Anymore". I played a small tribute on yesterday's radio show, but wished I had played more songs.

Back to Chuck Alaimo. Besides the Ken release and the four on MGM - including Leap Frog that was on Ken, does anyone know of other releases for the group on MGM or other labels in the US? I have MGM 12449, 12508, 12589, 12636. Let me know what you know!