Jack White made headlines a few weeks ago when he announced that he was the bidder who spent $300,000 for the acetate of Elvis Presley's original single, a 7" pressing from Sun Records featuring "My Happiness" and "That's When Your Heartaches Begin," and that his label Third Man Records would be releasing copies of the recording for Record Store Day 2015. That inspired us to check out what the highest-priced albums on eBay were at the moment, and readers ate it up, so we've decided to keep it going, looking at every LP priced at more than $1,000 on the online auction site at the moment. From least to most expensive:
Note: The listings featured below are as of publication time.
05) The Soundhouse Tapes by Iron Maiden...$999.99 from one bid
Our typical rules for "Most Expensive Vinyl" stipulate that we only look at the listings worth more than $1,000. However, due to relatively weak sales this week, we're breaking the rules and starting right on the brink, at $999.99 in the form of The Soundhouse Tapes, a rare release from heavy metal band Iron Maiden. This was the first release ever from the group, just a year before its self-titled album. The EP is worth enough on its own, as there were only 5,000 copies printed at the time of release. The three tracks included are "Iron Maiden" and "Prowler," which were both included on the band's first album, but more interesting—at least to those who plan on actually listening to the EP—is "Invasion," a song that only appears on rarity compilations in later years. The element that pushes this version to a thousand bucks is the signatures from bassist Steve Harris and guitarist Dave Murray on the cover. Aside from those signatures, even the vinyl is in mint condition, according to the seller. You know. If you pay $1,000 for an album to listen to it.
04) "Country Girl" / "Are You Kidding" by Vickie Baines...$1,000 from one bid
Vickie Baines is one of those performers where you just have to know what you're looking for. She was a "northern soul" performer who never put out a proper record, only releasing a series of singles, available on 7" records. Her first two came from the Parkway label, including "Got To Run" / "Losing You" and "Country Girl" / "Are You Kidding." The latter, specifically the "Country Girl" single, was by far her most popular piece of work...based on YouTube research, versus any actual charted evidence. It obviously has some appeal to someone, considering the $1,000 bucks that they've dropped so far without competition. It is a heck of a track, although not one we'd necessarily pay that much for. There's nothing "country" about this track at all, although the bass line is phenomenal, from the Creedence Clearwater Revival school of bass featured on its interpretation of "Heard It On The Grapevine."
03) "Lookin' For A Woman" / "Two Great Lovers" by The Brooks Bros....$1,009 from 11 Bids
We thought we had found a difficult subject with Vickie Gaines, but user funkyou! has really brought an obscurity with "Lookin' For A Woman" / "Two Great Lovers" by the Brooks Bros. It's almost impossible to find anything on this group, considering that there's a more popular, modern Drum & Bass group that uses the same title, not to mention the popular clothing retailer. The mystery only increases when you find out that this single was released by two different labels, with one by the "Brooks Brothers" (not "Bros") and the other listing as "Looking for A Woman" (not "Lookin'"). All we can figure is that song is a cover of "Looking For A Woman," a recording by New Orleans blues performer Snooks Eaglin, himself somewhat a mystery due to his playing repertoire of 2,500 songs. Who knows where it came from? One of those timeless blues standards, and this 7" is just another rendition.
02) An Ideal for Living by Joy Division...$1,291.60 from 12 bids
Similar to the Iron Maiden EP we looked at above, the Ideal for Living EP represented the first-ever release from the hugely influential Joy Division. This one's not even autographed and it's still gone to nearly $1,300 in bidding thus far. Also much like the Iron Maiden EP listed above, this release is mostly popular among collectors for its historic significance rather than for its quality. Those familiar with the masterful Unknown Pleasures, one of the greatest albums in the history of post-punk: Don't expect anything like that on An Ideal for Living. This EP reflects a band that was obviously inspired by the punk movement of a few years prior, both in its raw sound and controversy-baiting album art. The image, sketched by guitarist Bernard Sumner, features a Hitler's Youth member beating a drum. That, the title of the EP and tracks such as "Warsaw" and "Leaders of Men" all fed into theories that the band had Nazi-connections. That's obviously not true, as we know now, but it still makes for a nice conversation piece.
01) Folkal Point by Folkal Point...$1,708.39 from 12 bids
When you talk about "legendary" releases from obscure groups...this is what you're talking about. Folkal Point was a British folk group (ha...we see what they did there) that gathered a fair amount of acclaim for its self-titled album—the only record it would ever release—featuring a collection of both modern covers (from popular performers such as Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell), next to a healthy collection of traditional British folk standards. The legend: Only 500 copies were ever pressed, and reportedly half of those copies were destroyed in a flood. You can't make this stuff up. Vocalist Cherie Musialik is still touring, but her band's debut album was never rereleased on CD, nor is it available via streaming services. Much like the forthcoming Wu-Tang Clan album, if you want to hear it, you have to buy it.
