Frankie Crocker

Condition, condition, condition... We have entered a new era. There are now millionaires bidding for these trophies, so objective values become totally irrelevant. If the record is mint enough to be reproduced, the owner possesses a commercial asset to make ‘legal’ reissues for financial gain. Keep an eye out for a lookalike release of Dean Parrish on the Scam label soon to be be available for £29.99.

Common as muck... Can buy it any and every month on eBay.

Dean Parrish - WOWEE! Jerry Williams - gobsmacked. Generation - baffled. Set Sale items went for book-prices, give-or-take. Still the best auction on the planet by far - other auctioneers can only look on with envy. Here’s wishing John and his staff a merry lock-in💰🥳💃🕺

It won’t sell for £1,500. That said, it is hugely in-demand so you will be lucky to find a copy for less than $1,000. In any case, I very much doubt a UK seller would part with it for a quick-sale price now it has been advertised at a totally unrealistic sum.

Agreed but probably fake Hollister or Superdry rather than Fred Perry. There are some situations when buying a fake Billy Arnell would be acceptable. A reputable dealer may choose to gather all bootlegs for reference. Youngsters in Outer Mongolia might fancy a cheap version for their DJ box knowing full well they will never own an original copy. Someone owning an original may choose to spin it in the record room as it is closer to hand than the locked away version. I could see some wag buying a copy for a wife/girlfriend for a laugh. Yes, there is a market for these forgeries but surely they do not need to be facsimiles designed to deceive. It’s reached the point where UK sellers on eBay are not worth considering - too many of them just add a vague word about the record’s age or admit to knowing nothing whatsoever about it to mislead buyers.

Auction finished at $1,400 ie £1.054.89. 31 bids from 11 bidders making for an interesting tournament. Went for appreciably less than a few weeks ago. Hope both parties are satisfied with the final outcome. Records of this stature are deserving of the fullest description when put up for sale.

Anytime Julian. Take care.

Due to finish at auction in just over two hours. Same copy sold last month. Was returned by the buyer due to distortion problem. Seller could not tell if it was vinyl/styrene or put up sound clip? Potential bidders and buyers are advised to message the seller who has not flagged up possible issues. I bid the first time around but am not bidding this time. Don’t want any fellow collectors to burn their fingers BUT the record could actually be OK QED.

Got to be a boot. Loads of them around. Did not sell at auction at this price so must be a set sale. Sold in pounds rather than dollars so UK flogger at work. Great record and one of the best blue-eyed soul releases of all time...holy grail...floorpacker...blah blah blah...perfect for some saddo to knock out forgeries🤮

Thanks for posting as usual. Yet another mixed-bag of figures with the Set Sale items dragging down the novelty. Overtones went cheaply for a great record but the copy was flawed. Little Richie went for far less than the copy on John’s website? Still, compulsive viewing for collectors and dealers alike.

Hi Andy. You always had good taste and bought wisely years ahead of the pack...

So, the best one to have must be the red label version! Here’s hoping there will plenty of silver label copies being dumped out of collections in the next few months🤑🤑🤑.

Sixteen copies of the red label version compared to twelve of the silver variant on Popsike. I was blind to the red label sales but have been watching the silver ones trickling out as I’ve been after this version for a while; not got a copy yet as the price has remained higher than it should be for a record that crops regularly.

Sinceres was £30 in the mid 90’s. I had 4 from A1 on Melrose in Los Angeles. Great warehouse, now sadly gone. Got me into collecting Pzazz by number. Thankfully I kept a copy - just amazed at what the one in question sold for. Great record anyway

I can’t recall seeing a red label Johnny Summers for sale before. It was on a Millionaires CD and Tim Brown’s rarest list about 20 years ago. The silver label alternate version has cropped up plenty of times in the last few years. If someone has a box of 25, and this is a possibility given their scarcity, the seller would be better off letting them go one at a time. I have not seen any evidence that a hoard might exist so let’s wait and see...

Christmas comes early to John Moneyship... Sinceres doubled in price. Kenny Shepard a similar increase. Si-Berians trebled in price. Johnny Summers rather disappointing for a good, rare record. Overall, a nice bag of quality items that should please the new owners.

Vastly overpriced so it won’t sell for that figure. May be rare, but not a glaringly obvious top-drawer sound. Perhaps the price can be negotiated down 50% to more realistic level?

You’re right, there’s been plenty sold - over 50 demos on Popsike, but all auctioned. Now it is in the £250+ class, it is auctionable on the off-chance it will realise a juicy sum. The number sold and filed away for good informs us there are now fewer out there to be snagged. I have the two variants of the demo, both bought at auction, but they will never be offered for sale. I doubt anyone will pop up on Soul Source with a mint demo for sale at an affordable set-sale price as this record is hugely in demand. The situation is made more complex by the shortage of genuine issues, so the safe way to go is to buy a demo. I take your point about auctions - sure, they push prices up, but it’s relative scarcity that contributes to this plus a willingness to pay for items that are fast becoming unavailable.

Correct, but there’s extremely limited availability! I doubt you will see a mint demo available at easily-affordable set sale price in the near future as it's an auction record. Sure, there’s been plenty around as evidenced on Popsike, but generally now firmly lodged in collections. Good luck with your quest.

In VG+ condition so probably Excellent as the seller grades conservatively. Not a record that can be picked up cheaply these days.

Got to be John’s feeblest auction ever. Just a couple of auction items fetching a high figure. Mainly Set Sale items fetching going-rate prices. Surely an auction should be for in-demand records that attract competitive bidders prepared to pay substantial sums. If a record sells for less than £200, it can’t really be a true auction item.

Let’s call it a coffee table book then. Something to flip through and look at the pictures (if there are any). Leave it lying around to impress people or inspire celebrities destined to feature on Desert Island Discs.

Well, I must say it’s good see my alma mater is publishing books, a worthy pursuit and much more worthwhile than caging up students behind fences at Owens Park. Academic books can be a hard read, even for academics, but they serve a purpose - this work could be the definitive text in decades to come. It is nice to know that someone’s interested in writing about our underground cult 45-50 years down the ages - also pleasing that someone with brains and a liking for books might just find the contents of interest. Studying society and it’s cultural aspects has become a growth area in Further Education - great that a music-scene can stand alongside a plethora of obscure academic topics. I hope people buy the books not destined for university libraries, and avoid the Kindle version. Record room shelves should be stacked with books to stop the records slipping over.

Actually, it’s ‘You Fine Foxy Thing You...’ Great sound by the way.

You’re absolutely right. Acetates are short-term records, extremely delicate and not designed or intended for frequent plays. Some can be truly unique and therefore worth having as they may be the only recording of the sound in existence. They can appeal to the DJ wanting to spin a one-off or the keen collector seeking all the work of a particular artist. Not totally sure, but ownership may involve copyright and offer scope to re-issue on a private label for financial gain - could someone confirm the legality of this?