Frankie Crocker

Thanks for posting. I can also see the credits on the right hand side are spaced out differently so there is another way of identifying the bootleg.

The copy that just sold, has a spot on the Stereo side label, just to the right of GSF. On Popsike, there is a copy that sold in December 2020 with a spot in the same position. I’m wondering if this is the same record or has the scan been reused? I certainly think there is a bull market for prime records like this - buy for 2K and sell for 3K soon after - so, is this record being flogged on again quickly?

Edwin Starr - WOW, went for less than half this on eBay within the last week. Saxie Russell - UNBELIEVABLE, tripling in price. Perfectly understandable though as it’s a great record, now in very short supply as who would part with their copy? Danny Price is virtually unknown. Odd considering it’s on a major label. Valentines shot up a fair bit, doubling in price. Another classic that collectors evidently want. Big tune back in the day and one of the best on the label. With hundreds of potential buyers out there, it’s hardly surprising the wealthiest scoop up the tiny number of scarce or rare records offered in top condition. Thanks to John for another riveting auction

Thanks. I got in late from work and in my excitement, did not spot this. Will not be a bargain price next Wednesday, but the winner will have a piece of perfection in their hands.

Saxie Russell was a bargain - such a fantastic record. Freddie Chavez was on eBay a few months ago for $2K...great B side by the way, so two for the price of one; not an investment at this price if you pay 100% over the odds. Most of the US records flopped and went for set-sale prices or less than they would fetch on eBay. John has stepped up the auction offerings - I counted 48 a few days ago - but quantity has eclipsed quality, despite there being a couple of rarities every week. Buying records is investing seriously in your leisure time. If you want to investinvestinvest, then there’s always crypto-currencies to blow your money on. Still the best auction around. Give me a weekly feeding-frenzy anytime - I don’t see the point of 28 day auctions like Tim’s and Pat’s.

I’m really looking forward to being forced by the Mrs to travel abroad. We have cancelled three trips to the States already, and the two we have booked up for this year may not go ahead. I always look forward to the city visits and doing a bit of shopping🎶🎶

I recall Kenny Smith’s ‘O Lord’ on GAR selling for £200 (or just over) at the time it was spun at Wigan - not sure when exactly, but possibly 1975/1976. In those days, £25 a week was a typical wage. You could buy a leather bomber jacket for £20 and a long trench-coat for £35. In those days, you had to save up for ordinary items - to buy a TV, you paid in instalments over a year or two. So, to learn of records selling for awesome sums in the 70’s was just unbelievable. The ultra-high prices paid in the 70’s could be explained or justified if the buyer was a DJ and could recoup the outlay in a month of bookings.

Not much ‘income surplus’ in my household... Don’t know too many record collectors with spare cash either. I’d rather have records than cash, so am pleased to have picked up some nice sounds over the last year instead of travelling abroad. It’s good to hear the European economy has ticked over adequately during these awful times, but the numbers of cash-rich punters are probably dwarfed by those scraping by judging from the record collections being offered for sale. John's records are often trophy items that are targets of long-term collectors - once they have the common records, the quest is to chase after the scarcer ones hence the bidding frenzies.

Yeah, there’s loads around. See one or two every other week. Great top side but the flip is pretty decent.

Could have been the last copy? I think some of John’s auction items have been bought by another dealer, possibly for resale, maybe web-page window-dressing or even to record for re-release.

Joe Jama - big jump in price. Victors sold for well over the usual auction price. Tony Galla crept up in value. Surprised about 7 Nombres - on the scarce side but not one that has the hunters chasing after. Thought the Jelly Beans would make more - thanks to John for flagging up the flip side. Don’t see Art Falls very often - expected it to go for more. Not come across Bee Vee before - hard to figure why this reached a jaw-dropping sum.

Like yourself Rick, I enjoy thumbing through the boxes when I’m in the mood, and what a great feeling it must be to hold a copy of Johnny Hendley or John and the Weirdest. Two great records way up high on my Wants List. Sorry, no info on the artists but I bracket them together with Johnny Hampton - only stumbled across the three of them in the 80’s and they all feature on a ‘best of the best’ mix-tape I did back in the 90’s.

A bit like the Executive Four on Lumar - another ‘overrated record’ and the whole of Motown’s Detroit output, recorded in an echo chamber of a studio? Try reading Temples of Sound by Cogan and Clark to find out about the 60’s recording industry. Maybe visit the Sun, Stax or Motown studios and see the equipment used to produce the sounds. And hats of to the ‘overraters’, the know-alls who don’t collect records but think Aquamen, Manny Cockadoodledoo and Al ‘Snake’ Wilson are the greatest ever as they play You Tube clips on a smartphone. You’ve convinced me - chuck Arthur Willis in the dustbin with Walter and his Admerations, Saints, Chuck Jackson, Parliaments, Eddie Parker, Delites etc anything sounding too raw and atmospheric for these who prefer CD fidelity.

Compared to what? There’s only about five copies in existence and you rarely hear it played out unless it’s one of the top DJ’s. A record I can only dream of owning...

But dead, dead rare and an awesome floor-filler. Perhaps one of the late, great discoveries on the scene. When you can’t buy a mint copy, you have to settle for second best and sort an upgrade out later.

Absolutely gobsmacking... Went for more than three times the usual amount. Buyer must have unlimited amounts of dosh to blow on records. Great tune by the way.

A few nice, affordable US 45’s, conservatively graded. PM to reserve please. Payment via PayPal, buyer to cover fees. UK postage £2.50 or £7.50 depending on below/above £50 insurance; overseas postage by arrangement. Thanks for looking. Shirelles-Look Away-Scepter VG++ DH £25 Jimmy Delphs-I’Ve Been Fooled Before-Carla VG++ unplayed store stock needs cleaning £30 Sherwoods-Ice Cream-Kapp WD M- £30 Sean Taylor-Too Late To Turn Back Now-Magic Touch WD Ex small ink mark on both labels £30 Richard Brown-Sweet And Kind-Steeltown VG++ blue label £20 C L and Pictures Talking About My Baby-Kirk VG- label stains £25 (Obscure but soundbites on YouTube and Popsike).

Ah ha... Outsourced low-wage labour reading off a card, passes for customer-service in bonus-oriented corporations. Well shabby.

You were lucky to be able to contact eBay and deal with a real person. eBay are THE problem. They impose the VAT. They factor in extra VAT on postage charges. Is there any evidence this US TNC pays taxes after diverting revenues via tax-havens? Some US dealers have found a way around the eBay imposition whilst others do not seem to be able to disconnect. Switching addresses has become increasingly complicated, and after one cancelled sale, I managed to amend my primary address to the US, preventing the falling through of another sale. US dealers must be getting fed up of this restrictive practice, so let’s hope they complain to eBay and things might change?

All the Price Guides are now out of date, and that's what they were, simply a rough guide, not a price-list. Each time a rare record sells nowadays, it fetches more than the previous copy, supply decreases further so prices rise. On John's website, the condition of auction items makes a huge difference to the final sales price but there’s the assurance you are buying from one of the world’s top dealers. That’s why you see ultra-rare records like Paulette up for auction on John’s site.

Thanks for posting as usual. Sparkels worth more than this, such a great record, virtually priceless, don’t expect to see many of this one up for sale in the near future. Kenny Carlton also a quality sound, hard to find in nice condition, someone will be mighty pleased with this purchase. Some really good records up for auction in the next few weeks so more PB’s expected. Full marks for John for livening up Wednesday evenings.

Some decent sounds. PM to reserve. Payment by PayPal please, buyer to cover fees. UK postage £7.50 fully insured: overseas postage by arrangement. Thanks for looking. Barbara Lynn-I’m A Good Woman-Tribe DJ VG++ £175 Orlons-Envy(In My Eyes)-Cameo VG WOL on reverse (Thanks & name) £60 Original Bluebelles-You’re Just Fooling Yourself-Rainbow Ex one small label stain £90 Sonny & Phyllis-I’ve Got Something On My Mind-Soft VG+ couple of scuffs £100 Delcos-Just Ask-Sound Stage 7 WD VG+ £75 Gwenn Stacey-Ain’t Gonna Cry No More-RCA Ex one small mark WOL on reverse (name in black so barely noticeable) £50

A small but select batch of good sounds. PM to reserve. Payment by PayPal please, buyer to cover fees. UK postage £2.50 insured up to £50 or £7.50 insured up to £500; overseas postage by arrangement. Thanks for looking. Commodores-The Zoo (The Human Zoo)-Mowest WD VG- £20 Edwin Starr-Time-Gordy VG++ £75 Contours-Just A Little Misunderstanding-Gordy M- £25 Stevie Wonder-Ain’t That Asking For Trouble-Tamla VG+ DH £15 Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell-Two Can Have A Party-Tamla VG++ £15 Temptations-(Loneliness Made Me Realise)-Gordy VG+ few light marks £15 Temptations-Check Yourself-Miracle VG+ few light marks DH £30 Miracles-Save Me-Tamla VG+ light marks £15

What an awesome piece of music journalism this is. Great photos, interesting summaries and handy links to the records. If I was in an airport right now, I’d buy a copy of Rolling Stone for the flight. Articles like this remind us what a phenomenon Motown was back in the day, and of course, going forward, every single day on the radio, all around the world. I think a Motown Top 1,000 would be entirely possible, and we would still be hearing lesser known tracks, familiar to later generations. For me, the Detroit years were the best; Motown went in a new direction as Berry headed for La La Land. Detroit era, early ‘60’s were the formative years; 66-69 was the vintage period when copyists all over the States tried to emulate the Motown sound, and hey presto, here we are, fans of the off-shoot music just looking over our roots. When this Covid thing is behind us, get yourself over to Detroit and visit the Motown studio - it is a humbling experience whatever’s on your Top 100 list...

...and TV adverts with BBC currently using an instrumental version to plug itself. I’ve got the Eddie Foster boot, the UK reissue and purple vinyl test press so admit to liking it a little. It certainly was great back in the heyday, and is worthy of its place in folklore.