200 RAREST RECORDS

Devotees of Egg, Gong, Khan and Steve Hillage hunger for this album, improvised in one session.

Their second LP sold poorly. This, their third, was released under contractual obligation with no promotion.

A Mint copy of this rock’n’roll gem sold for £937 this year.

Gold tri-centre of this doo-wop rarity — silver label is worth £400.

Demand for this debut LP on the pink ‘eye’ label remains strong.

 The band made 25 test pressings to secure a deal, failed, split. Engineer Brian Carroll threw away 20 copies!

This Who cover sold abysmally, but got them into this chart!

 Classic freakbeat sold for over a grand on three occasions in 2011 and £755 (Mint) in 2012.

NWOBHM rarity that has only recently surfaced.

A piece of British metal history.

A wonderful concept LP tied together by spoken-word pieces.

This 12” brown vinyl mis-press remains rare as Eddie’s teeth.

A psychedelic classic: the sleeve sums up its sound and era.

Demand for this debut LP is never going to f… f… fade away.

Was this LP really funded by an Israeli poet rather than Deram? Certainly sold like poetry…

A massive freakbeat collectable, despite being widely compiled.

Super-rare early UK Motown 45.

Barely issued! Scarce doo-wop 7”.

RC reissue has not pricked the price of this sublime rarity.

A prog psych beast, doubled in value since RRPG 2012.

This album was canned. There are still a few floating around in circulation with labels but no sleeves.

R&B poor seller equals big bread.

A Kingdom that will not come to you unless you boast very deep pockets.

LP withdrawn/poorly promoted by EMI due to scatological sleeve.

Northern soul rarity with instrumental version on A-side.

2,500 sets of lyrics were printed, which came with a 4-track EP available on CD, or this rare 7”.

Mod anthem. Daltrey proclaims: “The main thing is unless you’re a fool you know, you know, you gotta be cool.” Top eBay prices: £1,280, £1,131, £1,130, £1,023 and £947.

Solo outing from former Affinity vocalist remains an extremely scarce Vertigo swirl.

Prog album with Marvel-inspired cover: rated £350 in 2012 guide.

On a few Christmas shopping lists in December 1969, but up £525 from 2012.

Early Bowie: demos (£500) are easier to find than stock copies.

Psych classic up £200 from RRPG 2012 with not much light between demo and stock copies.

DJs and reviewers were sniffy about this promo 7” despite its postcard and newsletter insert.

A-side had stinging overloaded freakbeat guitar, while the B-side chorus sounds like Banana Splits!

MM talent search runner-up’s jazz/prog album crash landed.

Withdrawn upon release, making this horse hard to back.

RC scribe Kingsley Abbot once gave Caleb Quaye a lift and the guitarist gave him a copy. Result.

Hard Oak to find by Tony White (vocals), Chris Marchant (bass), Allen Rimes (guitar), John Steven (guitar), Stanley Vile (drums).

These copies of this Caleb Quaye-produced LP have an insert from the Apple And Pear Development Council. It failed to get up stairs!

First and second mono pressings on black/gold label with Dick James or Northern Songs credits.

Decca pressing for export. Took £1,800 on eBay this year.

Jazz rock LP: rare case of Vertigo.

A DIY EP limited to 99 copies, including a hand-pasted sleeve.

This value is for the original limited silk-screen sleeve, not the more common posthumous German-designed sleeve (£700).

“Remember when we used to go to school on Sundays?” This is a mod stomper filtered through The Who and The Kinks.

“You don’t see yourself as another Tommy Steele?” an interviewer asked young David at London’s Marquee in 1966. “No, not at all,” he replied. But the flip suggests another Georgie Fame.

“I’ve got more friends than I’ve had hot dinners,” bragged Bowie on this Motown prowl. But they didn’t buy the record.

Despite cutting 12 US singles, this was Fairburn’s lone UK release.

Tuesday’s Children became Czar and served up this prog LP, panned as “third-rate Crimson”.

Swaggering LP ranging from the punch of On The Road to the spacey, ethereal Evil Woman.

This debut sold poorly. The band had enough line-up changes to form an American football team.

Only 25 copies of this album featuring a pre-Only Ones Pete Perrett were pressed.

Psych classic by Jack Brand (bass/ vocals), Ian Oates (guitar) and Jack MacLeod (drums) woth 10 per cent more since RRPG 2012.

Fay’s Life Is People won him a new generation of fans — who will download this rare second album!

Cut from a Juke Box Jury show and withdrawn. Mommy’s not the only thing that’s gone.

Mono version ofinventive, lush and musically impressive debut LP. “Come and join us now,” crooned Gabriel. Later, Pete, OK?

Copies of this London session by Duke Ellington’s tenor sax player keep appreciating.

Our packing guy Richard is certainly not a fan as he helped assemble 750 sleeves for our reissue of this early hard rocking and folky classic. Easy to see why they only made 99 in 1971!

Lightning scrapped this release and it was thought all copies were destroyed. This finished copy in a pic sleeve turned up in 2002.

Only issued in stereo in the UK, but Track planned a mono version: this test pressing is it.

Liner states that with “a particular passion for vintage-motor cars, Alexis Korner also finds time to write about jazz and blues as well as singing and playing guitar.”

Elton John (piano/vocals), Linda Peters (vocals), Caleb Quaye (guitar), Gerry Conway (drums), Pat Donaldson (bass) performed 11 songs by Nick Drake, John Martyn, Ed Carter and others.

Fifty copies of a private performance of classics like Song For Guy and Sixty Years On. Elton used them as Xmas gifts.

David Gilmour cut his teeth with this one-sided LP containing Don’t Ask Me, Why Do Fools Fall In Love, You Don’t Know What I Know and That’s How Strong My Love Is. A 7”with the last two tracks is worth £500.

Another psych classic, rated at £600 in RRPG 2012.

Madonna’s first single fared poorly on UK release. £1,550 on eBay in 2009 and 2012.

Uncut picture disc.

Ditto…

A 12” virginally uncut version.

With John Lawton from Lucifer’s Friend on vocals, this borrows freely from Zeppelin. 

This LP, limited to 99 copies and very rare, attacked heavy rock with two lead guitars.

Oliver Chaplin cut this folk/blues/ psych mélange with brother Chris and “smaller winged creatures.” 250 pressed, but this blue sleeve was changed for green (£800) when the title was hard to read.

Freakbeat with elements of pop/ proto-rock. A stunning sleeve.

An EP that Andrew Mitchell wouldn’t appreciate, though he is rich enough to afford one.

Worth this amount only if signed by all members. Uninked: £100.

Debut 10” LP by tenor sax, and reissued as 10” LP in 2010 with Japanese liner notes.

Great British Jazz LP. First pressing of Dusk Fire (£700) is also a thing of beauty.

Cut by Jagger and Richards as part of a budding song-writing partnership in September 1964 with the intention (unfulfilled) of Mark Wynter recording it.

This first pressing has the 2.52 minute version of Tell Me (Matrix XARL 6272-A). Second pressings with a longer version and Mona or I Need You Baby title on sleeves is £350/£200.

Decca planned this grim 2-LP set of B-sides but pulled it. Matrixes XEAL 12364P-1W/XEAL 12365P-1W, XEAL 12366-1W and XEAL 12367-1W.

Only test pressings exist of this ditched 3-LP retrospective (Matrixes ZAL 12996, 12998 9 & 13000 1), abandoned in favour of the double Rolled Gold.

This punk rarity emerged just as RRPG 2014 went to press but has been added to our online version.

Ringo sends a personal message to the sales team plugging his single, Only You. It didn’t work: the single stalled at No 28.

Troy Tate sessions saw these two tracks earmarked as a single, but doubts over the quality of the recordings saw it replaced by the John Porter-producedThis Charming Man. 25 copies.

7” of the scrapped live EP from Oxford Apollo, 18 March 1985.

12” also prepared as a test press with two extra tracks shows just how close this EP came to release.

The pianist with Dave Tomlin (soprano sax), Tony Reeves (bass) and John Hiseman (drums): three covers, three Taylor originals.

The legacy of Dan Smith (guitar), David McTavish (vocals), Stuart Mckay (bass) and Jon Dalton (drums) is this psych marvel.

Lizzy started 42 years ago with 500 copies of this Irish-only 7”. Sold 283: the rest were junked.

There are only 50 copies of this brown vinyl mispressing in existence for U2 fans to dream of.

CBS Ireland milked their slim catalogue. This white vinyl presentation pack of their four singles is the most limited variant.

Arguably the greatest of the group’s albums, it was sent to journalists and radio stations as five singles. These 50 sets have Red Hill Mining Town pressed on both sides. Hideously rare.

Flight case of goodies including a CD and cassette of the album, which many hacks swiftly sold.

This second LP from Mike Vernon’s label has “VER. LP/124” on the left-hand side of the black-and-white label, while “LP.2” appears on the right.

One hundred of these special boxes were made. Containing LP, CD, cassette, video and etching curated by designer Vaughan Oliver, complete sets retain their price as most have items missing.

UK Motown poultry denture 45.

EMI took a dim view on “Fuh King” around and Stephen Friedman’s allusive song was canned. A £400 rise in price since RRPG 2012: fuh king Ada!

Mint originals of this folk/psych LP keep rising in value: copies have hit £1,200+ on eBay.

Massive increase in the price of this Vertigo rarity due to the impossibility of findingan undamaged Mint die cut cover.

First pressings of this self-financed EP have serrated edges around the rim of the label and different label contours to well-known bootlegs that replicate the original matrix mostly without the “EG” in the run-off groove of original copies.

Zep placing themselves on the event horizon of a black hole where reggae hits doo-wop. This acetate suggests that plans to release it as a 7” in the UK were scotched by the band. Irie.

The eye-catching sleeve art reflects the beguiling psych-pop of tunes such as Come Back June.

Folk LP helmed by married couple Mandy and Mike Morton, pressed and sold in tiny numbers.

The label pressed up two 7”s for export to this band’s native Iceland, plus this EP that came with a free copy of their second single If You Knew/Love Enough.

With New York City getting to No 15 and Dreamy Lady to No 30 in July and October 1975 respectively, Christmas Bop was scheduled for a festive release and then cancelled. All that remains of this aborted platter are two labels. This is the price for one!

10” LP limited to 99 copies to avoid sales tax, marking the long-playing debut of jazz pianist and composer Michael Garrick.

Stock copy of the single that introduced Bowie to the world. For the demo version read on.

Sunshine has elements of indie band The Delays and a lead singer with a tendency to go all falsetto during choruses. Red Chalk Hill is like a conflation of Bowie and Barrett songcraft.

The Barons issued five singles on Imperial between 1954 and 1956, but only the last was issued here. VG copy sold on eBay for £1,400 in 2007 and Good (£600) 2008.

Promos of The Beatles’ second single were sent out around Christmas 1963 to support a January release. Along with Love Me Do, the rarest Beatles demo.

In order to secure record deals for David Bowie and Dana Gillespie, Tony Defries pressed 500 copies of this showcase LP with no cover/labels butmatrixes that show who the main man was — BOWPROMO 1A-1 and BOWPROMO 1B-1.

There must have been nervous executives at RCA when Bowie delivered Low with one side full of instrumentals. To smooth the path these one-sided 7” demos were distributed containing edited versions of the vocal tracks.

Spoken-word blues from songwriting legend: sold nowt.

So enthused was George Harrison about signing this group that he neglected to notice that they’d already joined Elektra. Apple only got so far as these test pressings.

This Vertigo LP has gone from £500 in RRPG 2010 to £1,500 today. Near impossible to find with an intact Gimmix sleeve.

This band was thrown together for school concerts in the Bristol area, staying together to record this 500-copy album. Half the pressing was flood damaged…

The partnership Peter Howell forged with John Ferdinando began to fall away as his BBC work began to predominate. Their last album never got beyond this lone test pressing.

By 1969 The Koobas had built psychedelia into their Merseybeat musical DNA. The LP hardly sold, making it a massive rarity.

The price has jumped up since RRPG 2012. First pressing with turquoise sleeve, “Superhype Music/Jewel Music” credit and the matrix numbers 588171 A//1 and 588171B//1. If an “8” is crossed off, it’s a later pressing.

Atlantic tried to release this single on 5 November and demo copies were dispatched. Zep’s manager Peter Grant used his iron fist to ensure that the label respected his band’s wishes not to issue 45s in the UK. The release was aborted.

This band thought the release of their first LP on Elektra would establish their reputation, but label boss Jac Holzman cancelled the record’s release. Only this rare acetate on two discs survives.

Around 200 copies of this perfect baroque pop collection were sold.

McCartney dropped this single for Give Ireland Back To The Irish after being appalled by the Bloody Sunday massacre. These TPs are McCartney holy relics.

Demo copies of this first single came in a picture sleeve and bruised the Top 20. Sell-outs!

The train artwork for this promo picture sleeve was drawn by Syd Barrett, adding to its cachet.

Last Syd Floyd 45, November 1967: it flopped. Price is for lusted-after pic sleeve demos.

The RC reissue of this fab LP allowed 500 buyers the pleasure of hearing Brain Worker and Death Letter on vinyl.

This single was to be released on 26 August, but was dropped for I Wanna Be Your Man (£20).

Ross recorded this album for Mike Vernon’s fledgling label on 20 October 1965. 99 copies were pressed up to avoid sales tax.

Richard Branson cautiously ordered these plain blue sleeve samples to sheath the Pistols’ first Virgin single in case Jamie Reid’s cover was banned.

Vertigo dressed this debut LP in an elaborate sleeve. The Lodge shut when Linda Peters left to join Richard Thompson.

The Uglys cut five singles before ending up at MGM, where these tracks were pressed on a handful of demos before being ditched.

U2 signed a worldwide deal with Island in March 1980, though the contract allowed CBS Ireland to release two Island singles. I Will Follow (WIP 6656) was issued in a number of formats with these 50 brown vinyl mis-pressings being particularly scant.

U2’s debut EP — Out Of Control/Stories For Boys/Boy- Girl — was issued in Ireland in 1979, with colour vinyl variants in 1980. In 1981, it was reissued as a 12”, with this limited edition first pressing of 1,000 orange vinyl (with numbered stickers).

This cover version of Buddy Holly’s Peggy Sue was only issued as a demo copy in the UK.

Bowie’s manager Leslie Conn negotiated a one-off deal with this Decca subsidiary (and was named on the A-side as a songwriter). It flopped. Conn’s mother threw 200 copies out of her garage.

Intended as the first single from The Red Shoes, EMI went with Rubberband Girl instead, though some finished copies were pressed. EMI destroyed most of these.

The future Marc Bolan cut this session in December 1964.

The US sheet music boasted: “Recorded on Dootone records by The Penguins — on Mercury records by the Crew Cuts — on Capitol records by Les Baxter — on MGM records by Pat O’Day — on Sound records by Gloria Mann.” The UK shrugged.

Handed to Rough Trade’s Geoff Travis after the band’s first London gig at the Rock Garden, the label agreed to release it and these five TPs are the first time The Smiths were cut into vinyl.

A wonderful psych confection, this LP has sold for over £2,500. Just added to the online guide.

While the price for numbers 1-10 of this edition can go for £7,000, numbers 11-1000 have this more conservative value. No 20 (mono) has gone for £2,900 in VG, No 56 (mono) for £2,250 in VG+ and No 483 (mono) for £2,627 in Excellent, while copy No 499 (mono) went for £839.

The rarest Beatles export album, with an Odeon label and Odeon sticker on the rear of the Apple sleeve. How many of these were removed by punters at the time, not thinking that they were devaluing their inheritance?

The price for this withdrawn Blondie 7” has doubled in two years. Originally “Sex Offender”, but softened by La Harry.

Bowie expected this single — his first for Mercury — to chart, but coming eight months after his space novelty, it sold a mere 800 copies. This Irish pressing of the single is utterly, hideously rare.

Elton John (piano), Caleb Quaye (guitar), Bernie Calvert (bass), Roger Pope (drums), Lennox Jackson and Rolfo (percussion) play covers. Decca rejected it, so the band pressed up these test pressings in a handmade sleeve.

Jim Rorrison (drums/vocals), Hugh Finnegan (bass), Alan Bryce (organ) and Ian McEleny (guitar) played Scottish clubs and cut this LP. They split in 1975. A track like Blindness opens with a lovely organ fugue before oozing into backwater Floyd.

Another doo wop doo flop.

One of the first rock’n’roll records, broken over the airwaves in America by DJ Dick ‘Huggy Boy’ Hugg. Did zilch in the UK.

Forty more common LPs in single monochrome sleeve (see entry #21).

Reflected the eight stages of a love affair from The Meeting via The Joy to The Grief. Music ranged from the organ-led Mary The Painter to the Zombies psych-patrol of Better Things Are Bound To Come. 99 pressed.

A pressing plant experiment on red vinyl with three or four known copies. The same as the black vinyl pressing of Hendrix’s fourth (and first posthumous) album down to the matrix numbers — although the B-side label is from The Very Best Of Bert Kaempfert. Hmm.

Atlantic sent out demo copies of Communication Breakdown/Good Times Bad Times (584 269, £700) in April 1969, but Peter Grant stopped the release. This one-sided acetate of the B-side has EMIdisc or LDC labels. Whole Lotta Love (Edit)/Whole Lotta Love (Edit) acetate (1969), is also £2,000.

“Yeh, I’d like to say hi to all of you. If I was there I would come and see you. The message is, you know, if you like it sell it, if you don’t, try and sell it anyway cos we’re all in the same business,” Lennon tells the EMI sales force.

Up £500 from its valuation in RRPG 2012, Silver Song and Sheep Season are two examples of compelling acid folk made mystical by the vocals of Clodagh Simonds and Alison Williams.

EMI had this remixed for a 12”, but when Mozza heard it he demanded all copies be destroyed. This solitary copy survived.

Back in 2012 I asked if anyone has seen one of these promotional padded sleeve editions. A dealer came forward with a copy of the album in what looked like a padded silk frame. If authentic, it would probably be one of the rarest Stones promos.

Sent out prior to Let It Bleed to remind DJs in the UK and US of the Stones’ back catalogue, the second side on this version ends with a different mix of Love In Vain to the released cut. The album was also a hybrid, with US copies on the London label (catalogue number RSD 1) and the UK copies on RSM 1 (Decca label): 200 copies per territory.

Later pressing of debut 7”, with the sleeve accidently printed in blue/negative colours, making it hard to distinguish the naked man on the front.

Starr and designer Robin Cruickshank entered a business partnership to design and market steel and glass furniture. When Liberty’s held a one-week exhibition of Cruickshank’s furniture this one-sided interview with Starr was sold.

Simon Napier-Bell planned to cash in on Bolan’s success by releasing early recordings to which he owned the rights. Bolan went to court to block the release, but Napier-Bell had already made test pressings (£800). The Bopping Elf won. It famously features Bolan telling someone, “Fuck off or keep cool, you know,” before launching into Jasper C Debussy.

In May 1964, EMI executives held a secret meeting cancelling the Golden Discs EP, rush releasing the Long Tall Sally EP (on 19 June). This cleared the way for a single and LP launch on 10 July, capitalising on the film A Hard Day’s Night. All that remains of Golden Discs is two test pressings (7TCE 1N & 7TCE 1N) and a sample set of labels. This price is for either test pressing or the labels — not both together.

This press kit launched the first four Apple singles. The four 7”s by Jackie Lomax, Mary Hopkins, The Black Dyke Mills Band and The Beatles came in plastic sleeves with band bios and photos. This price is for rarer sets in matt plastic boxes rather than the more common card ones.

Ride A White Swan was to appear on Octopus, the new label being launched by Bolan’s music publisher David Platz (with Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp from Track). These test pressings have OCTO 1 in the run-out groove. When the label was launched in October 1970, its name was changed to Fly, so Ride A White Swan/Is It Love became BUG 1.

Bill Haley had a monster hit with his version of Bobby Charles’ tune. The Chess original was called Later Alligator but changed to See You Later Alligator when London tried to cash in on Haley’s success in March 1956.

Cochran was 16 when he recorded this song about falling in love with a shop assistant. Time has not curbed its drive. In 2010 a copy took £2,000 on eBay.

A battered copy sold for £265 in 2005, testifying to just how few copies exist. The Low Road is an average ballad, but the souped-up flip could give you palpitations.

A young Paul Weller (bass/vocals) cutting his studio teeth with Dave Waller (guitar), Steve Brookes (guitar), Rick Buckler (drums). Six copies are known to exist.

Leaf Hound emerged from the ashes of Black Cat Bones with a line-up of Stuart Brooks (bass), Mick Halls (guitar), Keith Young (drums) and Peter French (vocals). This LP hardly sold and is now one of the top 70s rarities.

A single in America in April 1972, EMI cancelled a UK issue as it was thought the title would offend. These test pressings exist.

Though Madonna can’t compete with Lady Gaga or Florence & The Machine when it comes to UK collectables, the 138 copies of this withdrawn 12” toe-sucking picture disc are sought by fans and foot fetishists.

A handful of copies in finished picture sleeves that credit Independence Day as the B-side. When officially released in February 1981, the B-side was changed to Be True. White label promos go for up to £2,000.

Virgin decided to release this as a 12” in a special 3D sleeve rather than giving a 7” the same treatment. Only 50 finished sleeves in the smaller format are thought to have been made. This price is for a Mint 7” and sleeve.

A transitional pressing between the black/gold and the yellow/ black label with “33â…“” on the label from the initial pressing.

EMI had to contract Beatles pressings out to other companies to meet demand. These “contract” pressings require real expertise to uncover. This Decca version of “The White Album” has no EMI stamper letters (D or G) in the run-out grooves and a circular impression about 15mm from the edge of the label. A copy sold for £7,100 in March in EX+/ EX+, though another copy drew a more prosaic £3,100 in 2010.

In the wake of the film 2001 and the first landing on the moon, Philips thought that they had a hit on their hands. This item seems to suggest that there were plans to launch the record in an eye-catching picture sleeve, which was uncommon for UK singles at the time. It was subsequently issued in mono and went Top 5.

Believed to feature Jimmy Page’s (aged 17) first recordings. There are only two known copies in circulation (of six cut).

This Northampton band, led by Steve Giles on guitar and vocals, found it hard to make headway performing original material. Giles took Dark into a studio in April 1970, but when they went back for five days in 1972 the line-up had changed to Giles, Ron Johnson (bass), Clive Thorneycroft (drums) and Martin Weaver (guitar). This second version of the record is limited to eight copies and comes in a black-and- white handmade gatefold sleeve, some containing a booklet.

Ron Hargrave’s sped-up version of country ditty Latch On is so fast it’s almost punk. US copies are cheap, but there are only a handful of UK pressings.

Zep boss Peter Grant flattened Atlantic UK’s attempts to sneak out 7” singles: this one-sided slate is evidence of thwarted plans.

The A-side was a Beatles track, but after completing his version on 26 November 1969, Lennon planned to issue it as a solo 7”. The other Beatles prevailed upon him and a Beatles version was coupled with Let It Be. The B-side to this acetate featured Lennon, Harrison and Ono “out of our heads on the floor at EMI” — shorthand for a wonderful psychedelic musical experiment.

In the wake of the boldness that was “The White Album”, it was no surprise that McCartney and Lennon began to explore tape loops. John found a new muse in Yoko and this album emerged out of a crazed all-night session where she could wail “who’s theeeerree?” and Lennon could ape Peter Sellers and retort, “It’s just me, Hilda!” Lennon insisted on a release and EMI relented. They were especially reticent when Lennon submitted the naked photo he wanted to use for the cover. Most of these mono copies were destroyed when Lennon demanded that the record be remixed in stereo.

This East End band cut their teeth on the pub circuit as The Rush, with two flop singles for Decca. Their working of Spanky And Our Gang’s Lazy Day tapped into the psychedelic vibe, so producer Vic Smith suggested a new name and it was released as by Tinkerbells Fairydust. Lazy Day and a follow-up did not hit, and album sessions were halted after eight songs. The band was dropped by Decca. Test pressings were made of a 13-track LP, as well as a small number of albums with labels in finished sleeves. There are four known copies of the finished LP with labels.

The name “Marc Feld” is crossed out on the label of this acetate and “Toby Tyler” has been hand-written. Tyler became Marc Bolan and it’s fascinating to hear him covering this Dylan song on acoustic guitar and harmonica. Both tracks were recorded in December 1964 at Maximum Sound, along with The Perfumed Garden Of Gulliver Smith.

Price is for the hand-numbered blue vinyl single alone (see entry numbers 15 and eight).

Price is for a copy in a pic sleeve in an EMI “carrying envelope”.

Andrew Loog Oldham’s label hit a financial iceberg and the only survivors were these 100 finished promo copies. The grooves were packed with psych-tinged pop, with guest appearances from The Small Faces, Nicky Hopkins and an orchestra. A copy sold on eBay for £7,312 in 2009 and a VG+ copy went for £3,212 in 2007.

This band gets another entry with a small private pressing of their album: 12 copies in colour sleeves and booklet inserts — super rare.

Andy Ellison sang at a concert to mark the 35th anniversary of Marc Bolan’s death: Bolan was briefly in Ellison’s band, John’s Children. They’d released two singles by the time Simon Napier-Bell eased Bolan into the group as a songwriter, with Desdemona becoming their third failed single. The waft of Midsummer Night’s Scene was intended as the follow-up, but was withdrawn: stock copies impossible to find.

In previous guides we’ve given the same price for first and second stereo pressings of Please Please Me, but in this edition we give the first a slight edge over this second pressing with the right Northern Song publishing credits.

A one-sided acetate from 1976 featuring the three-minute, 36- second version of this punk classic cut during the band’s brief stay with EMI. Has sold for £12,000.

Demo copies of the first Beatles single have soared from £3,000 to £5,000 from the last guide, cementing its position as the most sought-after single by the group. Only 250 copies were pressed in 1962 to secure airplay and reviews for Parlophone’s latest signing. Paul’s name was spelt “McArtney”. A copy sold for £12,000 in 2012.

At a time when EMI has been flogged to Universal, it must be galling to look back to 1978 when the label won a Queen’s Award For Industry, celebrating in fine style at a dinner in Selfridges in London’s West End. This special limited blue-vinyl edition 7”of Queen’s best-known recording was limited to 200 copies and given away to guests, executives and, probably, the band. As well as the vinyl there was a goblet, handkerchief, menu cards, boxes of matches — even a pen. This price is for the lot.

Parlophone had used the black/ gold label for all album releases from 1957. The release of The Beatles’ debut coincided with a decision to redesign the label with a fresher yellow/black design from March 1963. By that time, the first two pressings of Please Please Me had been manufactured on black/gold labels. EMI only made a small pressing of each batch in stereo, and this first pressing has famed Dick James Music credits.

This 2-LP set holds the distinction of topping the charts upon release and being the rarest LP in the UK. What makes it so collectable is the decision by sleeve designer Richard Hamilton — in conjunction with Paul McCartney — to brand each copy with a unique number, thus every edition of “The White Album” — mono or stereo — was limited. Beatles collectors’ lust for low numbers and, back in November 2009, a mono 0000005 sold for £19,201, sleeve in VG condition. At the other end of the scale an EX++ copy (with creases on the sleeve) of 0000023 took £3,990.

An irate rock’n’roll collector rang up to state that a Mint copy of Elvis Presley’s Blue Suede Shoes on gold/purple HMV was worth “10 times” more than any Pistols acetate. Not so. There are three known copies of this item.

Thrown off EMI for deploying what the Daily Mirror deemed “the filthiest language heard on British television”, the Pistols were snapped up by A&M. Anti-social behaviour saw the band thrown off the label like a shot. Though 20,000 copies of God Save The Queen were pressed, most were destroyed, making it vitally collectable.

These few acetates were deployed by the late Malcolm McLaren to secure the band a new deal and gigs after the EMI debacle. Priced at £6,000 in the RRPG 2012, they have increased in value by 60 per cent in the wake of one selling for £12,630.

In 1981, John Duff Lowe sold Paul McCartney The Quarry Men acetate for an undisclosed sum. McCartney took the acetate to Abbey Road for restoration, removing pops and clicks before making a private pressing of 20 to 25 copies on 10”and 30 to 50 on 45rpm 7”. The labels reproduced the original with no mention of The Quarry Men. At Christmas, George, Ringo and others received copies. This version of In Spite Of All The Danger is just shy of 4 minutes, as opposed to the abridged version on Anthology. It has never materialised on eBay.

On 12 July 1958, a young Paul McCartney visited a recording studio for the first time with The Quarry Men. The five-piece — John Lennon, (guitar/vocals) George Harrison (guitar), John ‘Duff’ Lowe (piano), Colin Hanlon (drums) and Paul paid either 11 or 17 shillings and 6d. You can imagine the excitement and pride when they got home and gathered around a 78rpm record player to listen to their efforts. The acetate was passed around and when The Quarry Men split, ended up with John Duff Lowe. £200,000 and worth every penny, we estimate.