[78-L] Value of 78's

[Harold Aherne]

In general, here are the British 78 labels whose dance band content *does* attract
greater than average interest (more than, say, a typical Jack Hylton on HMV),
at least among those who collect British dance bands:
 
-Almost anything with Al Bowlly doing the vocal refrain, especially some of the
early 30s Columbias with the Savoy Hotel Orpheans (sometimes as "The Masqueraders").
The HMVs with Ray Noble are relatively common, of course, and may not command
great sums of money, but rarer labels that have a Bowlly refrain like Filmophone will
attract more interest. The sides he made in Berlin for Grammophon in 1927-28 are
not British dance sides per se but they will also be of strong interest to collectors.
 
-Labels like Filmophone or early Duophone were made of plastic and can be bent
without breaking, but alas the material they're composed of tends not to age well, and
it can require some encouragement to get them to play correctly. Specimens of these
labels that are in the E range will attract plenty of interest.
 
-Octacros was a label available from 1934-37 that was not intended for commercial
sale but for theatres and other public venues; the discs were specially licenced for the 
purpose. Some bands on Octacros can be found nowhere else, and the discs themselves
are uncommon. They will likely attract interest, even if the bands are little-known.
 
-The World label was available at least during 1923 and 1924 and are almost totally unique
among 78s produced for commercial sale: they are not meant to play at a consistent
speed!  In order to keep the velocity of the record consistent, a special mechanism was
attached to the gramophone to speed up the record as the soundbox moved over it. 
As you can imagine, they are not met with frequently. A couple of dance bands appeared
on it, including Wag Abbey and one of the Savoy bands. Has anyone actually tried to
play one of these?
 
-British Vocalion had a short lived and very rare series of W-prefixed issues in 1925 that 
play at 33 1/3 rpm, according to Rust and Forbes. I know little about them and hope
that others can enlighten!
 
-Decca had a series of M-prefixed magenta labels issued in 1929-30, several featuring
Ambrose's band and one featuring Billy Cotton. These are notoriously rare among 
British dance collectors and sometimes command decent sums.
 
-The ODJB's Columbia sides of 1919 are rare, I would imagine, and should attract 
considerable interest.
 
-Edison Bell Electron, available from 1927-29, was more expensive than EB Winner or
Radio, sold less than they did, and may attract collector interest, especially the Fred 
Spinelly sides.
 
-The Oriole label from the early 30s, especially the Harry Roy band's risque number
"My Girl's Pussy".
 
-Records featuring Sylvester Ahola are often popular with collectors.
 
This is only a very generic guide, of course, and you will want to consult Mike Thomas'
label guide at 
http://www.mgthomas.co.uk/Dancebands/IndexPages/labelindex.htm
 
and also Norman Field's at 
http://www.normanfield.com/labels1a.htm
 
-Harold
 
 

--- On Fri, 3/20/09, John Moore <john_moore7 at sky.com> wrote:

From: John Moore <john_moore7 at sky.com>
Subject: [78-L] Value of 78's
To: 78-l at klickitat.78online.com
Date: Friday, March 20, 2009, 5:24 PM

Hi Everybody,

Can anyone help me over this matter? I do have a small collection of 100
78's of various british dance bands. I just wondered if, vinyl lp's and
singles are worth large sums of money in most then, how about these old
78's?

I do also collect vinyl of "pop" music and do buy the "Rare
records price
guide" this does cover some 78's by artist like Elvis Presley the
Everly
Brothers and some other 1950's artists. but the book is more dedicated to
vinyl singles, lp's coloured vinyls etc. if, these vinyl records are worth
money then what about the great 78's of the dance band era? any ideas?


John Moore.
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