If you missed out at the box office, all is not lost!

We have Lady Gaga tickets listed on the Lady Gaga page (where else!) so if you’re unlucky at the box office, there are still ways and means of getting your hands on tickets for the Monster Ball tour.

In fairness, your eyes might water at the prices being asked and we can understand that. Our advice on how to get the cheapest Lady Gaga concert tickets for the Monster Ball tour?  Simples, always try and buy your tickets from the official box office because you’ll be paying the face value plus a booking fee as opposed to a supply and demand based price.

With an artist as stratospherically in-demand as Lady Gaga, not to mention her repuation for putting on spectacular concert shows, once the tickets get on to the second hand market they’re going to go for a lot more than the face value.

Having said that, the tour is proving to be a massive success and whilst we don’t know how long Lady Gaga’s candle will burn so brightly, there’s no denying that she is a true pop phenomenon who will be collected and adored for years to come.

Whilst your on the Lady Gaga page, check out the rare vinyl and CD releases plus lots of great memorabillia and t-shirts up for grabs as well at much more competitive prices (usually cheaper than the high street!)

Going back to the 1950’s, Elvis was the first white musician to take on black rhythm and blues and make it his own. Due to his amazing stage presence and unique style of performing, he was able to cross over black music to a white mass audience. His timing, it must be said, was also perfectly fortuitous. The post-war baby boom had created a brand new generation of teenagers who felt frustrated at having to live the life of their parents in their teens. World War had been won and while the cold war continued to dominate politics, they perhaps felt that they were entitled to a little more excitement in their lives and thanks to Elvis and the tidal wave of rock and roll artists who followed in his wake, they got it and the rules of engagement for teenagers were changed forever. No more were they expected to be “mini grown ups”. Teenagers found themselves encouraged by their peers to rebel against authority and to express their own dreams, desires and styles in a way that they had never been able to do before. Obviously parents at the time were horrified at the development of youth culture, teddy boys, greasers, and unruly disrespectful attitudes and a contempt for the older generation who had won the war for them and who had suffered extreme hardship and loss in order to win their freedom.

Elvis is particularly exciting to collect because of the vast range of rarities on offer. Elvis stated out on the (then) relatively small Sun label and his first recording was a verson of Arthur Crudup’s “That’s all right”. Elvis went on to record several more 45s that were released on Sun before he signed for RCA and most issues came out in vast numbers from then on.

The original Sun 45rpm  records are without doubt the holy grail for Elvis collectors. Needless to say, they have been reissued and bootlegged many times over the years and as always when collecting rare records, it is vital to ensure that if you are spending a lot of money on an original, that you make sure you get an original. Early sun records have three “push marks” under the vinyl and these tend to be the main guarantee of authenticity coupled with a close examination of the run out grooves to confirm any pressing marks and numbers. You can see all current original Sun Elvis 45s for sale by checking either our Elvis lpage or our Sun records page. They sell for a lot of money in decent condition (VG+ or better), between $4000- $9000 a piece give or take. The 45s are much more sought after than the 78rpm discs that were also pressed because the 45rpm is synonymous with the creation of the teenager. 45s were fairly new in the 1950s, they had much better sound than 78rpms, they were easier to carry about and they were also a lot more hardwearing and less prone to crack than heavy shellac 78 10″ discs. 45rpms were also pressed in relatively small numbers early on, especially at independants like Sun Records.

There are few “regularly released” 45s that command this sort of money, I only know one area of collecting where you might find people shelling out this sort of money for rare records and that’s northern soul when you might have 20 top DJ’s chasing after a record where there are only one or two known copies in existence.

Due to Elvis signing for RCA relatively early, and being such an enormously succesful artist worldwide, Elvis records from then on tend to be available in reletively high numbers in the main, though any promos or unusual pressings are always going to be hotly in demand. If you ever come across an Elvis demo or acetate then you might get very lucky price wise because the good thing about selling Elvis records is that there is always a large market. Even though Elvis may no longer be dominating the charts, his infuence will never disappear from popular music. For Elvis fans, there is a fantastic wealth of Elvis material to collect. Picture sleeved 45s released all over the world, special promotional records and picture discs, and of course, there is always the dream of picking up a Sun 45.

The Sun records in full are as follows (information from Wikipedia):

Listed are the 25 titles, in order of their recording date. A take means a second (or higher) version; the best take would be used to create a master tape to be published.

1.  My Happiness (private – not released)
Recorded: July 18, 1953 (private)

2. That’s When Your Heartaches Begin (private – not released)
Recorded: July 18, 1953 (private)

3. I’ll Never Stand In Your Way (Demo only)

Recorded: January 4, 1954

4. It Wouldn’t Be The Same Without You (Demo)
Recorded: January 4, 1954

5. I Love You Because
Recorded: July 5–6, 1954 (session 1)
6. That’s All Right
Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup. Original: Arthur Crudup|Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup (1947, RCA Victor). Crudup’s original title is: “That’s All Right (Mama)”; on the Sun label, and many later releases, ‘(Mama)’ is omitted: “That’s All Right”.
Recorded: July 5–6, 1954 (session 1)

Elvis’s recording of “That’s All Right (Mama)” can be considered to be the beginning of rock and roll, but there are more first rock and roll records.

7.  Harbor Lights
Recorded: July 5–6, 1954 (session 1)

8.  Blue Moon of Kentucky
Recorded: July, 5-6, 1954 (session 1)

9.  Blue Moon
Recorded: August 19, 1954 (session 2)

10. Tomorrow Night
Recorded: September 1954 (session 3)

11. I’ll Never Let You Go (Little Darlin’)
Recorded: September 10, 1954 (session 3)

12. Satisfied
Recorded: September 1954 (session 3) (tape lost)

13. I Don’t Care If The Sun Don’t Shine
Recorded: September 10, 1954 (session 3) The Dean Martin version was probably Elvis’ inspiration.

14.  Just Because
The song was also recorded by Frank Yankovic. “When Johnny came out of the Seabees, he brought with him a tune the Shelton Brothers had written entitled “Just Because”. Frankie really liked it and felt it had a lot of potential, but it needed a second part. So Frankie called in Pecon and Trolli and together created the second part.

On December 31, 1947, Frankie and the boys had a recording session with Columbia. Frankie suggested “Just Because”, but Columbia didn’t want anything to do with it because the Sheldon brothers recorded it years before without success. Frankie argued with them, kicking chairs, and throwing sheet music around the room, but Columbia would not budge. Finally Frankie said, “Okay, I’ll make you a deal, I’ll buy the first 10,000 records myself. I know I can sell them.” So, Frankie and his Yanks recorded “Just Because” without a rehearsal featuring Pecon and Frank harmonizing on the vocals.

Undoubtedly, that was the beginning of a craze we know of today that has benefited generations of audiences and musicians alike.

In 1948, Columbia Records released “Just Because” and the song broke off breaking the barrier between Polka music and popular music and skyrocketed the Yankovic to National fame. It wasn’t long before “Just Because” sold a million copies.”

Recorded: September 10, 1954 (session 3)

15. Good Rockin’ Tonight
Recorded: September 11, 1954 (session 3)

16.Milkcow Blues Boogie
Recorded: December 8, 1954 (session 4)

17. You’re a Heartbreaker
Recorded: December 8, 1954 (session 4)

18. Baby Let’s Play House
Recorded: February 11, 1955 (session 5)

19. I Got a Woman
Recorded: February 5, 1955 (session 5) (tape lost)

20. Trying To Get To You
McCoy – Singleton. Original: The Eagles (1954, Mercury)
Recorded: February 11, 1955 (session 5, not published) and July 11, 1955 (session 7, published). In 2002, RCA included information in the liner notes of Sunrise as to Presley recording this song whilst simultaneously playing the piano, and not aided by his rhythm guitar, as previously believed. Because his piano playing was not up to the expected standards, producer Sam Phillips erased the sound of the piano on the master take so, in addition to Elvis’ tantalizing vocals, all one hears is the lead guitar, the bass and the drums.

21. I’m Left, You’re Right, She’s Gone
Recorded: March 10, 1955 (session 6)

22. I Forgot To Remember To Forget
Recorded: July 11, 1955 (session 7)

23. Mystery Train
Recorded: July 11, 1955 (session 7)

24. When It Rains It Really Pours
Recorded: August or October 1955 (session

25. The Million Dollar Quartet (session recordings)
On December 4, 1956, a year after Elvis had left Sun for RCA, he revisited Sun Studio. The afternoon became a jam session with Carl Perkins (then already famous for his “Blue Suede Shoes”), Jerry Lee Lewis (relatively unknown at the time), and Johnny Cash (not heard on the tapes, although he does appear on the cover photo). The taping was largely unintended by the quartet; they were just singing the songs they had in mind. About 40 titles are recorded, most of them incomplete. Elvis is caught telling about a singer he saw in Las Vegas, doing his version of “Don’t Be Cruel”, and they’re enjoying “Brown Eyed Handsome Man” from Chuck Berry.
Recorded: December 4, 1956.

Not a lot of recordings really when you consider the impact they had on the world whilst also creating rock and roll! In terms of the actual Elvis Sun 45s that are out there waiting for you to find them, here are the details of those:

There were only five Elvis sun 45s released and here are their details:

1.Sun 209
a.That’s All Right

b.Blue Moon Of Kentucky

2.Sun 210

a.Good Rockin Tonight

b.I Don’t Care If The Sun Don’t Shine

3.Sun 215

a.Milkcow Blues Boogie

b.You’re A Heartbreaker

4.Sun 217

a.Baby,Let’s Play House

b.I’m Left,You’re Right, She’s Gone

5.Sun 223

a.Mystery Train

b.I Forgot To Remember To Forget

Don’t forget, you can see original Elvis sun 45s for sale on the Elvis page, and check out rare Sun label vinyl records for sale on the Sun page. We’re making collecting rare Elvis Preslely records a little bit easier we hope.

This is really my dansette though I bought it in the early 1980s not the 1960s!

So this got me thinking, why is it that people collect rare records, or just records for that matter. And I suppose the first reason is the one above – though that “deja vu” experience doesn’t happen at the time to collect them – it comes many years later. Many of these memories are buried so deep that I doubt if I could go into a record shop and actively find records that might trigger memories of my youth. It’s either sheer luck or genius that I didn’t throw my records away in the first place though, so I’ve got them like little memory sticks. I think the reason why we collect records in the first place is simply because we identify with an artist or a style of music in our teens when we are starting to try to define ourselves and make ourselves stand out from the crowd. How many of you used to sit in your bedroom playing your favorite record by your favorite artist and actually dream about him/her driving by your house, breaking down and knocking on your door. Ok, just me then. By buying all of your heroes output you sort of made yourself closer to them, and showed your committment. By then going on and tracking down their foreign picture sleeve releases, promos, coloured vinyl and maybe even acetates if you were very lucky you showed yourself to be a hardcore fan. One who was truly dedicated and committed to whatever you identified in your musical idol.

For certain types of collectable records, for example promo or demo copies, there is a real sense of history about them in knowing that these copies would have been sent out to radio DJs in an attempt to get airplay. It seems strange now to think that bands like The Beatles had to go through this process in order to get their music on the airwaves when millions of people were clamouring for it!

I know it’s a boring middle-aged thing to say, but I do feel sorry for todays digital generation who have a hard drive full of bytes instead of a record collection. Personally I hate CDs but even a CD collection would be better than a hard drive. At least you still got some decent information, photos, track listings and even lyrics. I think another reason why people collect records is because they love to collect things full stop. They need something to collect and if they didn’t collect rare records, maybe they’d collect stamps or coins. There’s something primal in us that makes us comfortable when we are surrounded by plenty of something we value. It raises our self-esteem and makes us feel that we have in some way succeeded. A bit like a squirrel sitting back and admiring a large pile of acorns in the tree trunk. Only a bit, unless you have edible records.

I still collect records now, and I still get excited when I find something I never had before – or something I had and sold off long ago. What I really like, and I think I like it because I rarely do it, is buying a record that I actually don’t know and sitting down and playing it over and over until I do know it like I did when I was 12 or so. I used to buy an album and put it on while I had an afternoon doze even, because I knew that I just had to get used to it in order to like it. By this token I’m convinced that you can get into any sort of music if you just decide that you will and you put the time in to repeat listens so you get to know it well.

Despite the fact that MP3s are a bit soulless, the good news is that the record companies are stilll pumping out lots of interesting and collectable records. Not just records now of course, but CDs and even digital media like limited edition memory sticks have all added to the rare record collecting stockpile making collecting music even more varied and interesting. I’m not sure if we still get as many foreign picture sleeve variations as we did in, say, the 1980’s when a single might have 25 different picture sleeves worldwide, but you still get promos, acetate CDs, white labels for club use and proper promotional items and packs. Then there are also some record clubs still putting out insteresting indie music as well. You can see this by checking some of the pages here at Record Auction.co.uk. We have some very intersting items popping up from massive current chart artists like Rihanna, Arctic Monkeys, Kanye West to name but three and these are artists who haven’t been around for that long (well compared to the Beatles or the Rolling Stones!).

Whatever your reason for record collecting, it is clear that the thirst to collect the material of your heroes will never die. And we’ll drink the that!

Find records promos and collectable memorabillia for your collection – just choose your favorite artist from the list on the right!

This original article is Copyright. However, it may be reproduced as long as it contains a link back and a clear attribution to http://www.recordauction.co.uk .

We have collected the live data from many rare record, band and memorabillia current listings, both buy it now and auctions, and bring them together in one easy to scroll down page grouped by artist or by genre. The site is FREE to use, there’s no catches. If you see a listing you like, just click it to take a closer look.

Choose a recording artist or category on the right

Our aim is to help you as a rare record collector, to smash and grab the best rare vinyl records and collectables available in minimal time. Not only that, but we also highlight the records by your favorite recording artist that appear to be slipping “under the radar” – i.e. are finishing soon for a very low price. Sometimes good (and occasionally rare) vinyl just gets missed, because people (or at least I know I do this) tend to focus their searches on the rarer records available, assuming that anything interesting will always get the bids to push its price up. Well, sometimes an interesting 45 or album can float on through without being bidded up, or perhaps it might be spotted by a clever record collector who will hope to grab it at the last minute.

We are record collectors ourselves and we thought that it would be brilliant if we could quickly access the sort of listings we normally laboriously type into the ebay search engine. So that’s basically what we’ve done. At the moment we have wide range of bands and artists covered from Abba to Led Zeppelin with plenty in between but we’re looking to add more so drop us a post if your favorite artist isn’t included.

We hope you find it useful, and if you do, please bookmark us and tell your friends.

Advertising is also available on the site – contact advertise@recordauction.co.uk if you are interested in advertising with us. We’re getting a lot of hits, so we can send traffic your way!

Feedback welcomed!

The idea is quite simple. As a record collector myself, I don’t always have time to plough through auction listings (especially when I’m at work!) BUT I hate the idea of missing out on bargains just because I don’t have time, or I’m not allowed to check on what’s happening. Similarly, many people are blocked from accessing ebay directly when they are at work.

What the site does is give you one click access to a selection of carefully chosen auction listings for your favorite artist or music genre. Each is intended to give you a specific result so all in all, you have a great chance of spotting the big rarities, as well as spotting the newly listed under priced bargains, as well as those that appear to have slipped under the radar and are nearly finished but at a very low price.

The site is entirely free to use, but if you find it helpful, please bookmark us and tell your friends. If you would like to see a specific artist or genre covered or have any other requests, please leave us a comment. Otherwise, happy record collecting, and I hope you find the rare records you deserve!