By Susan Sliwicki

Jazz music and 45s are the order of the day in this edition of Market Watch. But which format took top honors for this countdown?

10. $1,800 — Various artists, 500-plus vintage picture sleeve 45 RPM collection. If your New Year’s resolution was to branch into collecting picture sleeves, this lot offered a great way to get started without totally blowing your budget. In a move that’s atypical for bulk lots, this seller included a photograph of virtually every single picture sleeve included the listing — kudos on such a thorough effort. We were saddened to read these were from the seller’s remaining store stock, as he was moving on to new ventures. The seller assigned an “average” lot grade of VG+ to the group, with some NM vinyl and sleeves and VG vinyl sleeves also in the mix.

9. $1,863.18 — U2, “Three” 12-inch single. Ireland may not be known as the record-rarity capitol of the modern world, but when you’ve got a rare, hand-numbered pressing of a U2 12-inch single, who’s going to quibble? “This is probably the most desirable U2 collectible and a treasured item for any collection,” the seller wrote. “U2 ‘Three’ is special, because it is the earliest U2 collectible you can find.” This copy of CBS 12-7951, which was made in England and released in 1979 by the Irish division of CBS, comes in VG condition. The sleeve shows obvious wear and tear, plus some handwriting.

“This is not just a pile of junk,” the seller wrote. “These are all very saleable, collectable, whatever. If you are just collecting, the buy it now is a helluva deal. If you are looking to resell, well, you aren’t doing too shabby either as an average price per record.” We agree.

8. $1,900 — Lee Morgan, “Lee Morgan Vol. 3,” LP.  This Mint Minus mono record on the Blue Note label (BLP 1557) is sure to please any jazz fan, if not for its lovely, glossy condition, then surely for its sonic quality. “Overall a beautiful first clean copy; sound quite amazing in my Celestion speakers,” the seller wrote. “The winner should be pleased with this first copy.” The laminated cover, which grades in NM shape, shows light wear on the front, browning spots on the back cover and a small split on the top seam, the seller said.

7. $2,005 — Marlon “Madman” Mitchell, “Ice Cold Baby” b/w “Bermuda Shorts,” 45. You know you’re hard-core rockabilly artist when you can perform a song about a much-maligned fashion staple of the suburbs to back a song about a once-amorous girl giving you the cold shoulder. This VG++ treasure  on the Vena label (HC-100) is a “killer two-sider” issued in 1957 from Alabama indie rocker  Marlon “Madman” Mitchell. Other than some minor stacking soil on the label and superficial sleeve marks on the vinyl, this record is in great shape, the seller said. “This the copy you’ve been waiting for,” the seller wrote. “This is a gem; bragging rights come with it at no extra charge.”

6. $2,100 — Art Blakey, three jazz LPs. One bid was all it took for this trio of rare, original pressing Art Blakey LPs to find a new turntable to call home. Other than giving the titles — “Orgy In Rhythm” (Blue Note 1554), “The Jazz Messengers at The Café Bohemia Vol. 1” (Blue Note 1507) and “The Jazz Messengers at The Café Bohemia Vol. 2” (Blue Note 1508) — the seller literally only shared that there are “clear graphics front and back and no splits.”

5. $2,121.33 — The Split Decision Band, “Watchin’ Out” b/w “Dazed” 45. When an online seller puts “Funkyou!” in his tagline, you can bet you’re in for something fun. But whether this NM ’70s soul record, issued in 1978 on the Network Records label from previously undocumented soul mecca of Des Moines, Iowa, lives up to that hype will have to be decided by the new owner, who valiantly battled to squeeze in the 34th and winning bid.

4. $2,313.88 — The Five Chances, “All I Want” b/w “Shake-A-Link,” 45. The Five Chances only put out one record on Chicago’s Blue Lake label  — BL-115 — and what a visually interesting label it is. The seller had nothing definitive to say about the condition of this record, other than that the “labels are clean with stacking ring marks” and that it “plays fine with some surface noise and light scratches.”

3. $2,750 — The Beatles, “The Beatles” (The White Album), double LP. They’ve been broken up for more than 40 years, yet the Fab Four never seem to miss the Market Watch countdown. This time, they appear with a “mega rare” U.K. export copy of The White Album with the yellow and black Parlophone label (P-PCS 7067 and P-PCS 7068). The poster and color pictures earn the best grades of the lot at Mint Minus. The seller graded the cover “almost Excellent +,” while the records themselves are in VG condition with a lot of small hairlines that the seller says don’t appear to affect playing. The labels scored a VG+, and the inner sleeve is in Excellent, according to the seller.  “This is a wanted record and you won’t find this again!” the seller warned. “Highly collectible!!”

2. $3,000 — Bobby Rich, “There’s a Girl Somewhere for Me,” 45.  This record on the Sambea label (SBS-101) is making its debut on eBay — at least, according to the seller — who touts it as super-rare, impossible-to-find Northern soul 7-inch. The seller had little else to share, other than it’s a first pressing (vs. a reissue or copy) from 1974.  The record earned a visual grade of VG++, but “plays mint,” according to the seller.

1. $3,989.89 — The Crowd Pleasers, acetate. Apparently this record really is by a group of crowd pleasers — or at least, their VG+ record of covers and originals on the Musicol label pleased potential buyers, who exchanged 27 bids before a winner was declared. “Unreleased acetate from one of the hottest soul/funk party bands on the Columbus, Ohio, scene,” the seller wrote. “Kicks off with a smoking instrumental funk jam and includes covers of Marvin Gaye’s ‘What’s Going On’  and Neil Young’s ‘Down By the River.’”

EDITOR’S NOTE: Goldmine compiles its Market Watch countdown from eBay auction results and seller descriptions. Any images shown with Market Watch stories are the same ones that appeared with the seller’s description of the piece.

In the new book “Put The Needle on the Record: The 1980s at 45 Revolutions Per Minute,” author Matthew Chojnacki shines a light on the artistry of picture sleeves. Here’s a sampling of the stories and images of the more than 250 picture sleeves featured in the 272-page book from Schiffer Publishing Ltd.

THE ARTISTRY OF KEITH HARING

Artist and social activist Keith Haring emerged in the early ’80s inspired by New York City life alongside friends and artists such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Grace Jones and Madonna.

Haring’s instantly recognizable bold lines and active figures covered the gamut — birth and death, love and sex, peace and war. Haring initially found a presence in NYC subways (his “laboratory” for experimentation), creating as many as 40 large, chalk drawings a day for millions of commuters to view.

By the mid-’80s Haring was an international sensation, appearing in numerous group and solo exhibitions, creating designs for companies such as Swatch and Absolut vodka, and lending imagery to charitable campaigns (e.g., “A Very Special Christmas”).

On rare occasions, Haring designed cover artwork for musicians that he admired, including disco icon Sylvester (of “You Make Me Feel [Mighty Real]” fame) and Emanon, Doug E. Fresh’s beat-boxing protégé.

Haring passed away in 1990, but his imagery and activism lives on.

Longtime friend Madonna paid extensive homage to Haring’s work during her 2008–2009 Sticky & Sweet tour (notably during “Into the Groove”).  Madonna spokesperson, Liz Rosenberg: “It certainly goes without saying that Madonna’s feelings about Keith, as well as his art work, are heartfelt and passionate.  Her homage to him, and the early ’80s when they spent time together, was so apparent in the show [Sticky & Sweet].”

A ‘SINGULAR’ MASTERPIECE

An impressive seven hit singles were released from Def Leppard’s “Hysteria.”

Each of the single sleeves comprised a portion of the album’s cover art. The two final puzzle pieces were sold in a limited edition U.K. box set for “Love Bites.”

“Hysteria” designer Andie Airfix:

“Those were the days when record companies stretched the limits of 7- and 12-inch single formats. Since Mercury Records had confidence in the success of so many singles from the album, they immediately agreed to the puzzle concept.”

The pieces: “Hysteria” (row one, center), “Love Bites” (row one, right), “Armageddon It” (row two, left), “Animal” (row two, center), “Women” (row two, right), “Pour Some Sugar on Me” (row three, center), and “Rocket” (row three, right).

Airfix vividly remembers the band’s reaction to her artwork:

“The band saw my preparatory sketch and absolutely loved it. They wanted to retain a powerful image in line with hard rock, but also to modernize it and avoid the clichés. The head was intended to express dark fears associated with the psychotic state of hysteria. The computer background was one of the first computer-generated graphics. Believe it or not, the image was a black-and-white drawing, fed into a computer, colored very primitively, and then output as an 8 x 10 transparency — essentially a screen shot (hence the screen texture).”

Airfix’s design seemingly inspired other artists to create similar pieces, including Winger’s “Madalaine.”

 ’80s NEW WAVE MEETS ’20s STYLE

Art Deco sleeves, such as “Rio” and “Drive,” were commonplace not only as vinyl covers, but also as framed artwork in the ’80s.

Artist Patrick Nagel (“Rio”) was internationally recognized for his elegant and stylish focus on the female form.

He would typically begin with a photograph and remove the intricate elements until a flat image remained.

Duran Duran’s John Taylor: “We had seen Nagel’s illustrations in Playboy magazine and approached him off the back of that. He did two designs for us, and we chose the one (on the ‘Rio’ cover). Then the other one appeared out of the blue on the Japanese single release of ‘My Own Way.’ No one had told the Japanese label that we had not actually bought that one.”

Simon LeBon: “‘Rio’ was always special to me. I do recall that I mostly spent the next two years, after the record was released, trying to locate and procure a girlfriend who looked like the one in Nagel’s picture on the cover.”

Pop artist Peter Phillips (“Drive”), sometimes referred to as the British counterpart to America’s Andy Warhol, juxtaposed familiar societal images into his collages and paintings. The “Drive” cover (featuring a ’71 Plymouth Duster 340) was from Phillips’ 1972 piece Art-O-Matic Loop di Loop.

EVERYTHING BUT THE KITCHEN SINK

The Stray Cats brought rockabilly back to radio with hits including “Rock this Town” and “Stray Cat Strut,” while The Ramones led the punk rock movement into the ’80s with “Baby, I Love You” and “The KKK Took My Baby Away,” among other tracks. Both bands also pulled underground cartoonists into the limelight.

Stray Cats’ drummer Slim Jim Phantom discusses the selection of Ed “Big Daddy” Roth (creator of hot-rod icon Rat Fink) for their artwork: “We were very interested in tracking down classic people and things we admired. Ed Roth was certainly one of them. We just had a big hit in the States, so the label was accommodating.”

“We met Roth in a hotel in San Francisco. He had great ideas right away and did some stuff right there. Roth had been asked by quite a few bands to do artwork for them but turned everybody down. Apparently, he was religious and didn’t want to work with anyone whose music he considered unholy.  He liked us and the music.”

“We used his artwork for a bunch of stuff — tour posters, other single sleeves, etc. [It was] one of those rare, impetuous moves that you make when you’re young that are now seen as strokes of genius. We just loved his work in the old hot-rod mags.”

Similarly, The Ramones helped bring illustrator William Stout’s comic style to the mainstream with “Rock ’N’ Roll High School.” Originally a contributor for Bomp! and Heavy Metal magazines, Stout eventually moved beyond illustrations and into other areas of design, including Disney theme parks, ZZ Top’s Recycler tour, and even Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch.

Goldmine is starting work on a brand-new, 8th edition of the “Standard Catalog of American Records,” and we’d love to have your input!

From 78s, EPs and LPs to 45s, picture sleeves and picture discs, this pricing and identification guide boasts listings for more than 100,000 records. Got a favorite artist whose records were overlooked in the previous edition? Looking for greater detail about a specific genre or topic that you’d like to have us cover in the next edition? Want to share photos of labels, picture sleeves or album covers in your collection? Tell us about it. Just post your comments with this article, or send an e-mail to goldminemag@fwmedia.com.

We look forward to hearing from you.

What’s on your want list? Whatever it is that rocks your world but continues to elude your grasp, we want to know. Send us your Top 5 Want List of the records you seek (and a sentence or two about why each one is on your list and how long you’ve been looking) so we can share them with fellow Goldmine readers.  Send e-mails to goldminemag@fwmedia.com, attention Top Five Want List; or, mail letters to Goldmine, Attention Top Five Want List, 700 E. State St., Iola, WI 54990.

If you’re game to hear from other readers who have the record you seek, please let us know when you submit your list; we’ll print your contact information and others can reach out to you. Otherwise, we’ll pass along any leads we get. Happy hunting!

•••••

Here you go with five long-time maddening want list items. I could easily dredge up 30 more of equal importance, but I know you have other readers to please and a magazine to run!
1. Annette, Buena Vista 344.
2. Annette, Buena Vista 436. I have been after these two for 15 years or so. For most of that time, I thought they were erroneous price guide entries only.  Then I saw them both listed in an Oldies Unlimited advertisement in your magazine.  I was too late and have never seen them again.
3. Fats Domino, Imperial 5999. This goes back about 20 years for me. The price guides say it’s out there. I don’t believe it.
4. Frankie Ford, Ace 8009. Another long-timer. This one I have yet to encounter and believe, at least for now, that it does not exist.
5. Everly Brothers, Warner Brothers 5151, gold title sleeve. WB issued three of their big ones on gold vinyl and each of these was provided with a special promotional sleeve.  They had the typical arrows-around-hole design, but were covered over entirely in gold ink so that the pattern showed through.  Imprinted on the sleeve were the titles, Cathy’s Clown/Always It’s You and the record number.  I have had this gold vinyl record for years, as well as the other two and their respective sleeves.  The missing gold sleeve would complete the set. Feel free to print my e-mail address if you wish. And congratulations on turning your good magazine into a great one.
— Tom Likai, via e-mail, tommieflipper@comcast.net

•••••

I was just viewing the Want List in the January 2011 issue of Goldmine, and I have one of the items in the first list by Gary Kahn. I have item 5:  BEATLES, “Watching Rainbows.” Both the record and cover are in VG+ condition.  He may contact me at this e-mail (scap@yahoo.com).
— John Scarpelli, via e-mail

•••••

Here is my want list:
The Smiths 45, “Now I Taste the Tears.” Not the group from the ’80s. Late ’60s pulled after 2 weeks on air.
Bang, album that contains the song “Future Shock.”
People, any albums. Group that featured Larry Norman and did the song  “I Love You.”
Larry Norman, any albums or CDs.
Looking for any recording of the song ”DON’T THROW STONES.” This is the song that the band is playing in the opening of the movie “Road House.”
— Phil Black, Mattoon, Ill.

Editor’s note: “Don’t Throw Stones,” which is included on the “Road House” original motion picture soundtrack, is performed by The Cruzados. The band only put out two albums during its brief career: 1985’s “Cruzados” on Remedy Records and 1987’s “After Dark” on Arista, according to Allmusic.com. We didn’t find “Don’t Throw Stones” on either of those albums’ listings — only the “Road House” soundtrack; you can find it easily on amazon.com.

•••••

Rare Earth, ”Live In Chicago,” RS 547L, Motown. A double live set, recorded at in Chicago in 1974. “Live in Chicago” was pressed. Copies have been circulated; they exist but obviously it is mega rare. The original master tapes are in the vaults of Motown and have been catalogued.
The album was recorded at the Arie Crown Theater, and the track listing is on the discography page on rareearthworld.co.uk. One source that has heard these recordings suggest the quality is far better than the official “poor quality” excuse.  It was more than likely withdrawn from release due to the political goings on rather than the quality.
Eric Lynch, Connecticut