Thomas Edison with his phonograph, in this photograph taken by Matthew Brady in 1877

By Pat Prince

In 2002 Gary Freiberg founded Vinyl Record Day, a nationally established day to celebrate as the organization’s Mission Statement says: “The Preservation of the Cultural Influence, the Recordings and the Cover Art of the Vinyl Record” and to have August 12th as a day of Family, Friends and Music. The choice of the date, August 12, is significant. Reportedly, it is the day Thomas Alva Edison invented the phonograph in 1877.

So far, Vinyl Record Day has not gained the recognition that, say, Record Store Day has. But it is gaining momentum. Getting national publicity without a budget or a paid staff can be tough. To solve this difficulty Freiberg has written a proposal for a series of First Class postal stamps that commemorate the historical importance of the recordings on vinyl records. The Vinyl Record Stamp proposal has been accepted by the U.S. Postal System, the proposal’s current status is ‘Under Consideration,’ which, according to Freiberg, is a “notable big step toward issuance according to representatives of the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee.” Unlike Record Store Day, a for profit group whose focus is to sell music on any format, the goal of the 501 (c) 3 non profit Vinyl Record Day (VRD) is to increase awareness of the importance to preserve our audio history recorded on vinyl and to encourage a day in the middle of summer when friends and family gather together with their favorite music to remember that regardless of world news or personal difficulties life always has its goodness.

Below is a recent interview with Gary Freiberg, founder of Vinyl Record Day:

In 2002 Gary Freiberg founded Vinyl Record Day.

How did this idea of Vinyl Record Day become a reality?
Gary Freiberg: It was spurred by a couple of things. I conceived the idea in November of 2001 inspired in part by the events of September 11th. The idea for Vinyl Record Day (VRD) came from both the intense constant news that we were getting then, combined with my growing involvement in vinyl. It seemed we needed a break from war, terrorism and however random thought occurs mine was establishing VRD with one of the goals of Vinyl Record Day to remember regardless of world events we always have our personal memories of good times, of good people. And music is the primary vehicle to those memories. Everyone has their own soundtrack, as Dick Clark called it, when you hear a song and instantly fondly remember a good time or people you relate to that song. I wrote a proposal to the Board of Supervisors where I live and they officially declared Vinyl Record Day in San Luis Obispo County. Not to be corny but think of the good for the national psyche to have a day that we remember to keep in touch with life’s basic goodness regardless of the world news or personal challenges. Preservation is a natural primary goal of VRD but I see the two goals: preservation of our audio history and a day of music, friends and family as equally important goals.

The preservation of our audio history is a real issue, though it doesn’t have the emotional appeal of other charitable organizations such as the tragedy in Haiti. According to the RIAA only 5% of all recordings have gone from analog vinyl over to a digital format. Only 5%! I would bet that most record collections include recordings that are only available on vinyl; there are no two record collections that are identical. Record collections are personally unique and every collection has recordings that will never go to digital. So, for our audio history, to preserve our past for future generations, I think it is very important to raise awareness of the need for the public to preserve and care for their record collections, the recordings and cover art are our audio heritage.

Vinyl Record Day and the promotion of the Vinyl Record Stamp is to encourage the general public to regard “old records” with the same regard as “old books”. An example, the other day I played for my 13 year old son a recording that has the voices of P.T. Barnum, Florence Nightingale, Teddy Roosevelt … some of the recordings date back to the 1890s. This record will never be converted to a digital format and like millions of others is an important historical audio document. Without public awareness of the need to preserve our audio history countless recordings eventually could be lost. Parents who spent a lifetime buying records die, family cleans things up and suddenly the record collection becomes Dads old records. They go to Goodwill or get thrown out; the goal is to raise awareness that as we wouldn’t destroy Dad’s old books, we don’t destroy old vinyl records.

I’m a one-man band so progress comes slowly, but each year something happens to keep moving Vinyl Record Day ahead. Last year Vinyl Record Day was celebrated in Australia, a Sydney radio station played vinyl all day to celebrate Vinyl Record Day. In 2006 I created the “Mural of Album Cover Art” since every charitable organization needs a poster child. The proposal for the Vinyl Record Stamp is an effort to get national exposure to raise awareness of the VRD goals, to encourage our audio preservation and actually have the public celebrate Vinyl Record Day as I discussed earlier in this interview. I submitted the stamp proposal in 2008 to the Citizen Stamp Advisory Committee; they are the staff who advise the postmaster on what the theme will be for stamps. Within a matter of days, literally, they accepted the proposal, it was assigned the best status, it’s either “Rejection” or ‘Under Consideration.’ We’re “Under Consideration”.

What is the petition for then?
Freiberg: The stamp advisory committee approved the proposal because the Vinyl Record Stamp met the stamp approval criteria: Is it timeless? Is it of a broad cultural appeal? Is it American-based? The history, the legacy of the vinyl record and cover art definitely qualify. The reason for the petition — and it’s a very friendly, respectfully worded petition — is to urge a year of issuance be assigned. Vinyl junkies and the general public need to be involved if the petition is to be successful, this is a true grassroots effort. The purpose for the petition is to demonstrate to the Citizens Stamp Advisory Committee that there is broad public support for the Vinyl Record Stamp series. My dream is that in August of this year, to celebrate Vinyl Record Day, I can present a minimum of 10,000 signatures. I’ve been at this since 2002; I don’t care how long the road is as long as the journey ends with a year of issuance, that’s what the petition is meant to do, get a year we can look forward to the Vinyl Record Stamp! The ultimate goal is for the stamp series to influence increased awareness in the general public of the importance of preserving our audio history.

The current chairperson of the Citizens Stamp Advisory Committee is from the film industry. Recent stamp series have commemorated 50’s TV shows and screen stars. The Vinyl Record Stamp is consistent with these media themes, I believe our audio history needs to be commemorated and recognized for its cultural influence as has the visual media. What would movies be without soundtracks?

So chances look good that they will approve a stamp?
Freiberg: I’m very optimist that the advisory committee will eventually declare a year of issuance for the Vinyl Record Stamp series, but I think rather than sitting back, keeping our fingers crossed for that year to come soon, being active could help the approval process. We have to be respectful, not in their face, yet I think the industry and the public can do something that makes the Vinyl Record Stamp proposal stand out from the other proposals under consideration.

If it came time to produce a stamp, what would you choose as an image to represent vinyl?
Freiberg: I did give examples in the proposal. The stamps could have designs of 45 spindles. There’s so much that could be done because of the distinct eras that vinyl recordings cover. Fashion and life styles from the 40’s, 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s are reflected in the Album Cover Art from those eras. In example I can see a stamp of families the way that families were depicted in the ’50s, with teenagers around juke boxes, Mom in a cocktail dress and Dad in a shirt a tie. There’s no lack of potential subject matter.

What do you hope to see accomplished by all of this?
Freiberg: Hopefully the Vinyl Record Stamp series would accomplish a couple of things. Ideally the exposure would influence changing perception in the general public toward “old records”, that these are audio historical documents that need to be preserved and respected for their importance equal to historical literature. I hope too the stamp series would cause people who have their collections stored away to talk about vinyl records, to be reminded of the pleasure they used to get from playing them and as a result assure taking care of them for future generations.

And probably more than “I found some old records. How much are they worth?’ Hopefully, this appeals to people that are more interested in vinyl than its dollar value.
Freiberg: That is an excellent point. Preservation is the essence of what this is all about. The dollar value is a side benefit because if something is of a high dollar value it means from a historical point the recording is rare. There are countless vinyl recordings that are not economically feasible for a record company to release on CD or make available to download because there’s not sufficient demand to make the release profitable. There’s not a government agency in charge of storing our audio history, the Library of Congress is the closest there is to institutional preservation. It’s us, the public, who are the custodians of our audio history and each individual record collection needs to be cared for as it probably contains recordings only available on vinyl.

Vinyl is gradually gaining popularity back.
Freiberg: Yes, it’s an interesting cultural phenomena that change seems to be a constant from one generation to another. A younger generation tends to distance themselves from previous generations in fashion, hair styles, most anyway they can. A lot of parents who went from vinyl to compact disc now have kids that grew up only with compact disc. To the late teens, early 20’s vinyl is a new discovery, the vinyl record to this generation is something novel and new, it’s hip. For the people in that age group to be discovering vinyl is a good thing for preservation as it extends appreciation of the format in the future. This renewed appreciation is very encouraging for the vinyl industry; we survived the low point of the “dark ages” of transition when CD’s replaced vinyl as the primary listening medium. From a preservation concern “new blood” is an important ingredient to long term preservation of vinyl recordings.

Why did the recording industry turn its back on vinyl?
Freiberg: Since the first cylinder Edison records record companies have changed the format as a new way of marketing their product. After the Edison round record came the 78 flat record then the 33, 45s, 8-track, cassettes and mini cassettes, compact discs and now downloads. Re-packaging and re-formatting is a staple of the record companies, these enable the companies to resell music they have sold before. When CD’s came out it was a huge boom for the companies, the public rushed to replace favorite vinyl albums on the new format. History shows once a format is replaced record companies have no use for the older format because that’s not where the money is. And yes, I get pleasure seeing vinyl sales go up as CD sales slip.

The “compact” disc was really promoted as, not only a way to save living and storage space, but having more music space on it.
Freiberg: That was the same motivation when the 78 changed to the 33, the 33 played for 15 minutes, the 78 played about 5 minutes before the record needed changing.

When the CD was introduced a big attraction was putting in a disc and listening to the whole album without changing, then we went to multiple disc players and the time restraints of vinyl was quickly eliminated.

There’s an interesting story I heard from Alex Steinweiss, the father of Album Cover Art, about how the 45 came to be. After years of research Columbia came out with the 33 format circa 1949, beating the giant RCA to the technical improvement of more music per side. Columbia met with General Robert Sarnoff, the Chairman of RCA, and offered to share with RCA the technology of the 33. That’s like Steve Jobs of Apple calling Bill Gates of Microsoft to give him the blueprints to the latest product Apple is coming out with. Instead of getting Sarnoff’s appreciation, he was angry that his engineers didn’t come up with the technology first and stomped out of the meeting, went back to his engineers to demand they come up with something new to counter this new 33 speed. If you take the original speed of 78 and then you subtract the new speed of 33, you get 45.

You are also involved with Rock Art Picture Show …
Freiberg: I consider myself fortunate that my professional and benevolent interests are the same. I hope I don’t sound defensive but I have never earned a penny from Vinyl Record Day, I feel fortunate that my passion is also my work. My business is Rock Art Picture Show, in 1998 I co-invented a record album frame after wanting to display some cover art and not liking the clip frames. Encouraging the display of the art form is an extension of my preservation goals, again, I am appreciative my professional and benevolent interests are the same.

In order to keep Vinyl Record Day a 501 (c) 3 non-profit tax deductible organization, the only non profit dedicated to the vinyl record, and not for VRD to be a personal foundation there must be a distinct wall separating Vinyl Record Day and Rock Art Picture Show. I’m not trying to make myself out to be the guy in the white hat but there’s no ulterior motive to my commitment to Vinyl Record Day and the preservation of our audio history. My time and efforts are all volunteer.

Concerning the Vinyl Record Stamp petition nowhere is there a request for money. What the petition and the quest for a Vinyl Record Stamp series needs is genuine electronic signatures to confirm that these are individual signatures. There is no commercial use of the signatures and there won’t be in the future. There is a petition for individual or a PDF download for multiple signatures.

How do you feel about other associations that support vinyl like Record Store Day?
Freiberg: Record Store Day is a commercial venture whose goal is not to support vinyl or the preservation of our audio history– it’s to support record stores and sell music whatever the format might be. That’s not a bad thing, but their priorities are very different from Vinyl Record Day which is a non profit organization. From the very beginning the goal of VRD has been to preserve the past and promote the future acknowledging the vinyl industry is an industry that needs to grow as any other to survive. I don’t mean to sound begrudging even though I think it will, it’s not intended to be. Record Store Day came after Vinyl Record Day, and they’ve been very successful in getting industry support because a group of chain record store owners got together, pooled their resources and hired a non store owner public relations person to organize other store owners. Record store owners are an independent group, there is an inner circle that is closed to outsiders, non store owners; they turned a deaf ear on Vinyl Record Day when I approached many of them in 2003 to 2005 with a third goal of Vinyl Record Day, that being recognizing VRD as a new opportunity for record stores to do a lot of what they ended up doing for Record Store Day of having specials, in store promotions, creating a new reason for people to come into their stores. I could not get their attention because I’m not a store owner, I’m an accessory owner. It may sound like whining but I finally gave up trying to talk with record store owners and have worked to increase awareness of Vinyl Record Day audio history preservation without record store support. Though it may sound like it I’m not complaining, that’s just been the history.

Anything else you’d like to add?
Freiberg: Vinyl Record Day has the purpose of audio history preservation and to benefit the national community by celebrating the personal connection we have with music. The Vinyl Record Stamp petition is a grass roots effort to draw attention to these issues through issuance of the vinyl stamp series.

I appreciate Goldmine talking with me and ask readers to please vest themselves in our audio preservation, to electronically sign the petition at www.VinylRecordDay.org or download the group petition and get signatures of 5 friends and be a part of this stamp drive, to be able to say when they stick that Vinyl Record stamp on their envelope “I had something to do with this.” And don’t forget to celebrate Vinyl Record Day on the first Saturday following August 12th which is August 14th. Thank you.

Report Card:
Value: You get performance and build that can stand with cables costs two or three times as much.

Final Grade: *****

GOOD CABLES can significantly improve sound quality for stereo systems. Courtesy of Better Cables

When I first got into high-end audio, I was mesmerized by the images and descriptions of turntables, CD players and speakers that often cost more than a new car. I was also skeptical of some equipment I saw, such as speaker cables, power cords and interconnects costing thousands of dollars.

I grew up when wire was wire, and the thought of spending more than a few bucks to connect speakers to a receiver or amp was lunacy. That money was better spent on records!

Compared to other audio components, cables and interconnects are still in their infancy. It wasn’t until the late 1970s when it was first suggested that how a stereo was wired could affect its performance. In another 10 years, the market was flooded with new cables, and consumers were left to wade through a murky maze of wires, most offering claims to sonic nirvana.

Outside the audiophile world, bare speaker wire continued to be the low-cost and most popular way to connect speakers to amps or receivers. And for the majority of consumers, the interconnects that came bundled with a stereo component seemed just fine. But what about all those other after-market cables and interconnects?

Music at the Speed of Light

The lone job of a stereo cable is to transmit signal information without adding coloration or other sonic character to the signal. Cable designers all have their theories about the best way to accomplish this through different conducting and insulating materials, wire configurations and terminations.

It’s easy to take speaker cables and interconnects for granted, but the job they do is complex. Music signals move through wire at the speed of light — approximately 186,000 miles per second. That signal contains electric and magnetic fields, both of which react with the wire (conductor) as they pass. The signal must also contend with resistance from the conductor’s atoms, which hinder the flow, and some electrical power is wasted as heat.

The longer a cable, the greater the resistance, so choices must be made to keep lengths short or to make the diameter of a cable bigger to compensate for resistance. The best conducting materials are high-purity silver and oxygen-free copper, and they are used in virtually every high-end cable.

Just because a cable or interconnect is expensive doesn’t mean it will sound good in your system. Some cables have a notable sonic signature, such as “bright” or “lean.” To pair a bright-sounding cable with a bright-sounding amp or very efficient speakers would make music that’s tinny and fatiguing to hear. Conversely, a darker-sounding cable paired with a tube amplifier could limit the upper frequencies and muddy the mid-range. The best sounding cable is one you don’t hear at all, one that doesn’t leave a sonic footprint. It’s great to let more sound through, but not great to change its character. Good cables can reveal a system’s weaknesses and strengths.

Better Cables

Better Cables is a Virginia-based cable manufacturer selling direct to consumers from its Web site, www.bettercables.com.

For review, Better Cables’ Brad Marcus sent me a pair of Silver Serpent Anniversary Audio Interconnects (1 meter pair/$89.95) and a set of Premium Anniversary Edition Speaker Cables (3-meter pair/$169.95).

The first thing I noticed was the overall build quality of the Silver Serpents and Premium Anniversary Edition cables. Because Better Cables sells direct, you get a lot of technology for the money. They’re wrapped in a rugged yet flexible mesh-covering finished in red-and-black weave patterns. It may not matter, but they look good. Terminals are solid and tight-fitting. If you’ve experienced loose contact from interconnects or fraying from bare-wire connections, you’ll appreciate the rock-solid grip of Better Cables. Better connections make for better playback.

Specs

The Premium is touted as a reference-grade speaker cable and is assembled with dual 12-gauge, twisted-pair, high-purity stranded copper conductors.

The speaker cables can be fitted with gold-plated spade lugs or banana plugs (such as in my review pair).

The Silver Serpent is a hybrid design, employing stranded silver and copper conductors and 99.999 percent pure silver-coat covering. Silver is the ultimate audio conductor but can be a bit thin-sounding by itself. Copper is an excellent conductor, too, with a warmer sonic character. The Silver Serpent was engineered to bring the best of the two conductors into one cable, ensuring broad and dynamic playback.

Listening and Final Thoughts

Reviewers are always at the mercy of the clock, so it was great to have several months with the Better Cables to hear them in several settings and connected to multiple components.

Whether playing back vinyl, CDs, DVDs or tuned into FM radio, the results were always the same. The cables present music with detail, transparency and are as neutral as any wires I’ve heard. It’s a lovely combination of smoothness without hazy warmth or any such sonic veiling. I was particularly impressed with the cables’ handling of mid-range and upper bass, delivered with clarity and punch.

Perhaps most impressive is the price. At just $260 for both sets of Anniversary Cables, you get performance and build that can stand with cables costing two or three times as much. Each of the Anniversary Cables is an excellent value and comes fully recommended. Free shipping in the U.S. and a 30-day money-back guarantee make them risk-free to audition. What are you waiting for?

by  Stephen M.H. Braitman

People have been sticking little signs and messages on their shirts for a long time. The origins of pins and pin-backs are lost in the beginnings of the early Industrial Revolution, but by the 19th century, politicians and supporters were actively campaigning all over their bodies.

Pin collectors are vast in number, as are the pins themselves, which probably number in the millions produced over the past 150 years or more. There is probably no style or genre that is not actively collected, with sports, Disney, transportation, and commercial brands and products are the biggest categories. The Hard Rock Café has actively promoted enamel-pin collecting by issuing dozens of different pins from each of their locations for almost every holiday and theme event. They’ve even got their own Pin Collectors Club, with Pin Master Specialists!

You’ll know you’re in an alternate universe when you sit between two Hard Rock collectors discussing pin variations such as gold lettering or raised silver letters on white or free-standing letters or backed letters or … the devil, and the fun, is in the details.

Let’s be clear what we’re talking about. There actually are two main types of  these things we’re talking about. Ron Toth Jr. of the Time Passages Nostalgia Company says that most collectors consider the classic celluloid-covered pin with a round or straight locking pin on the back a pin-back button. The “tie tack” pin can be metal or plastic or enamel, but generally has a straight pin on the back that is covered up with a separate nub or stopper. Ken McClure the Groovy Dude simply says “pins” refer to lapel pins, and “pin back” refers to buttons.

A third type, made of tin or some other thin metal, is a one-piece construction, with a painted or printed design and a fold-over part. It’s called a tin-tab button. McClure says you rarely see these much anymore. Avis Rent-A-Car distributed thousands of these imprinted with the phrase “We Try Harder.” United Artists Records produced one of these in the early 1970s to promote The Move.

So let’s get down to music pins and pin-backs. “Pins go well beyond just artists and bands,” says Toth. “There are pins for every musical instrument, many nightclubs, bars, music venues, radio stations, television shows, and more.” There is just so much out there it would be impossible to try to collect everything. Like trying to be a stamp collector of all world-wide stamp issues. Most try to focus on a band or a style or an era. Because this is a veritable Wild West, there are no guides to know what you are looking for. Almost all finds are discoveries. (Except The Beatles. Always except The Beatles, who’ve been indexed and catalogued to near infinity.)

There were three rich eras of intense music-pin activity. (We’ll leave out composer pins from the 1800s that Toth has discovered.) In the 1950s, bobby soxers and teen dreams sported as many television stars as they did rock ’n’ rollers on their pin-backs. Elvis, of course, as well as Howdy Doody, Davy Crockett and Dick Clark were worn on lapels, shirts and blouses.

In the 1960s, pins played a part in the counterculture. Buttons were the public face of the hip underground, sporting drug and hippy icons and slogans like “Take A Trip,” “Jesus Wore Long Hair,” “Fly Trans Love Airways,” “Don’t Sit On The Grass” and the eternally optimistic “Peace.” Bands from San Francisco got into the act, and an original “Jefferson Airplane Loves You” pin-back can fetch a much prettier penny these days than the pure love it took to obtain one in 1967.

The punk bomb of the late ’70s burst with all kinds of new shapes and sizes, not just with gimmick record packaging but with pins of all sorts. Everyone wore buttons, expressing their individual choices among the explosion of new bands and sounds. Epic Records sent out teeny-tiny Elvis Costello pin-backs, while Devo expensively produced big vibrating 3-D badges of nerdness. The plastic-spike-and-stick pin of The Clash was a classic. Sire was less creative with The Ramones, making up several buttons for them with common images drawn from their album covers. Shapes were guitars (Dire Straits), the United States (Talking Heads) and even a bikini-clad blonde (Missing Persons).

In parallel with the pins produced by record companies and bands to promote their records and tours, a large commercial industry grew to satisfy the needs of fans collecting everything related to their favorite group. There are Web sites and eBay postings now, today, where you can buy 10, 50, 100 different buttons at once of Michael Jackson or Duran Duran or Madonna. Generally, the more popular the artist, the more plentiful the merchandise.

That means the more obscure or cult artist may actually bring higher prices from collectors. The Misfits, one of the more collectible goth-punk bands around, have probably produced the most expensive pin-back of the modern era. Their JFK assassination pin from 1978, for “Bullet” from Plan 9 Records, always seems to bring $100 to $200 or more when it comes up for auction. Ken McClure reports $300 paid for a pin-back of the Atlanta International Pop Festival from 1970, which featured the Allman Brothers and Jimi Hendrix. Two identical Hard Rock Café pins in the shape of a guitar with the designer’s name on the back went for $500 at auction, according to Ron Toth, Jr.

It takes some detective work to separate the common from the rare in collecting music pins. Knowing which Beatles buttons were actual Capitol or Apple promotional items instead of licensed (or unlicensed) products is important, because the promos are much rarer. The same applies to more recent acts. “Blondie Is A Group” was a slogan on a button by Private Stock in 1976, but when the band became popular, the original was reprinted commercially. Warner Brothers gave out the 3-D Devo buttons in 1978, but later the band started selling them through their fan club and Web site.

Of course, it all comes down to collecting what turns you on. With pins and buttons, there’s more than enough to keep you hunting for years. Prices are generally low because button collecting itself is so low-profile. That probably won’t last, so now is a good time to start that collection.

Here are some of the higher prices paid for notable music pins in the few couple years:
• Queen crown pin-back (’80s): $40
• The Rolling Stones “Voodoo Lounge” 1994 enamel pin: $50
• Dire Straits guitar pin (1978): $50
• The Beatles B Brooch pin-back (1964): $80
• Dick Clark fan club button (’50s): $73
• Ultravox “Rage In Eden” tie pin tour badge (1981) $120

Additional Resources:
Gasoline Alley Antiques
MyPins.com
PinSeller.com

Stephen M.H. Braitman is a music appraiser (www.MusicAppraisals.com),
writer, collector, and fan.

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by Stephen M.H. Braitman

Back in the day, some things were special. The thing was, you had to be special to get these special things. If you got a special thing, you knew you were special. This special thing created a bond between you and the giver, never spoken of — a special insider feeling.

So, with this special feeling, what did you do? Chances are, if you were a disc jockey or music reviewer or record store manager, you gave special consideration to the band whose name was on that special thing.

Yes, the world of music promotional items, or swag, has a long and special history. When the music industry started swinging as a commercial force, marketers and publicists took their cue from titans like Coca-Cola and Ford Motor Company. The object, of course, was to spread the brand, make the name known, and sell product.

Ohio printer Jasper Meeks kick-started the whole gewgaw industry when he printed the name of a local shoe store on book bags that he supplied for free to local schools. Now, the annual sales of promo items — most given away for free — is an $18+ billion industry.

A large percentage of that comes from the record industry. Record companies and the people who promote for them stubbornly believe that just the right imprinted keychain, flashing hockey puck or custom lunchbox will have the magic to get their band some decent press or airplay.

A promotional item is some-thing that is freely give to promote something. Strictly speaking, promotional items are irregular, odd, singular, often humorous, sometimes outrageously over-the-top, ranging from cheap to expensive (often depends on how special you are). They are not made for sale to the public, like Beatles bobble-head dolls or “limited edition” picture discs.

For many years, almost every music writer received a Christmas postcard from Elvis Presley. Only 50 people received a U2 “How To Dismantle An Atom Bomb” LCD clock. Probably fewer than 10 Mothers Of Invention “Freak Out” jigsaw puzzles were ever made. The one that sold for $5,000 at Rockaway Records in Los Angeles was probably the last in existence.

Bob Emmer, now COO of Shout! Factory, remembers when, as a college rep for A&M Records, he was given a Procol Harum hand towel and bar of soap as a promotion for their Grand Hotel album. “Now, that may not sound like much to you,” he remembers, “but I thought, my god, I’ve arrived.” Through his major career moves through Rhino and Atlantic, Emmer has seen his share of swag, or, as he puts it, “s**t we all get.” He also created some memorable artifacts of promotional excess.

In 1978, the iconic Hollywood sign in the hills above Hollywood Blvd. was going to be dismantled. “I came up with a publicity stunt,” he says, during the time he was managing Alice Cooper. “Why don‘t we buy the letters to the old sign, and with the money they can construct a new sign?” Emmer managed to convince the powers that be to sell the letters at $35,000 each. He had Cooper buy a letter “O” in honor of Groucho Marx. What did they do with it? “We stamped out miniature Os from the sheet metal, put them in Plexiglas and made a paperweight out them, with the inscription: “1923-1978 Alice Cooper.”

Not coming to eBay anytime soon!

What does come to eBay these days is usually of relatively recent vintage. The U2 clock fetched $850. A sturdy “Stop The Clocks” dartboard with Oasis-inscribed darts reached $733. Oasis promo memorabilia, in fact, seems to be a whole subgenre by itself. For the launch of their 1995 album Morning Glory, they distributed a few special sugar jars filled with what looks like sugar beads, with a little man figure inside. Problem is, these rare items now turn up quite often, and there is a pervasive feeling that a fraud is being perpetrated.

Yes, counterfeiting has hit the music promo-item market, so beware of anything that promises too much without effective provenance or documentation. Of course, it’s generally just major artists who are subject to this caution. Chances are that no one is going to take the trouble to duplicate a Roy Wood Grow-Your-Own-Beard card or a Sparks “Big Beat” sparkler or a Dead Milkmen “Bucky Fellini” Moo Cow. But if it’s from a fan-favorite Brit Beat band, beware.

As with anything, the collectibility of the artist drives the collectibility of the swag. There are very cool items manufactured for bands and artists that nobody cares about anymore. This doesn’t make them less cool, just less valuable. Maybe that means there are plenty of bargains still to be had in this relatively under-researched area of collecting. There is no definitive guide to music promotional items.

Someone very aware of the market is Wayne Johnson of Rockaway. He’s specialized in finding these rare oddities and finding buyers for them, too. Located in Los Angeles, music-industry central, he sees a lot of swag come through the door. The Rockaway Web site (www.rockaway.com) features many museum-quality items.

Johnson recognizes that something like the Mothers jigsaw puzzle is in a different category. By the mid-’70s, the music industry was so big that spending on promo items became not the exception but the rule. “I’m constantly seeing things from 20, 30 years ago,” he says. But from the ’60s and earlier? Those kinds of items were truly special.

Auction notes

Julien’s Auctions held a glittery summer sale and auction at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas in June. Expectations were high, given the show’s many unique and personal items owned (and worn) by Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe. The opening party was held Thurs., July 25, and the unexpected death of Michael Jackson gave a very different tone to the proceedings than was expected.

At the preview, a leather belt owned by Jackson was in a glass case along with other memorabilia, almost as an extra. The opening bid was expected to be $300 to $400. That leather belt sold for $5,937.50. A fully signed Jackson Five album sold for $34,560. Obviously, emotions ran high during the two-day event. Oh, the King? An Elvis necklace brought $117,000. You can see all the results at www.juliensauctions.com/auctions/2009/summer-sale/results.html.

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