# What's the rarest CD/Album/Cassette in your collection? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 26, 2010, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-rarest-cd-album-cassette-in-your-collection/526462 "2010-01-26T03:08:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-rarest-cd-album-cassette-in-your-collection/526462/41 "2010-01-26T20:51:25Z")
I have pristine copies of both of Cheryl Ladd’s albums. They are rare only in the sense that not many people are willing to admit they own them. ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-rarest-cd-album-cassette-in-your-collection/526462/42 "2010-01-26T22:02:53Z")
> [@Oni no Maggie](#): > > David Bowie performing Peter and the Wolf, on green vinyl. I think I used to own that album. A bunch of different artists doing various tunes from Peter and the Wolf? Bought it for the Peter Gabriel song. I used to try to collect electronic music back in the 70’s and had a few albums of that stuff. Computer beeps and boops up through a few Tomita albums (which are quite good IMO.) Some of it was worth a listen. A bootleg King Crimson album? That would be rare. Almost forgot - Tonto’s Expanding Head Band. All gone now in the great vinyl purge. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-rarest-cd-album-cassette-in-your-collection/526462/43 "2010-01-26T22:31:13Z")
> [@shiftless](#): > > I think I used to own that album. A bunch of different artists doing various tunes from Peter and the Wolf? Bought it for the Peter Gabriel song. I think you’re thinking of [this one](http://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=2387). Peter Gabriel isn’t on it, but Phil Collins is. But the green vinyl album **Oni no Maggie** has is [this one](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Bowie_Narrates_Prokofiev%27s_Peter_and_the_Wolf). ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-rarest-cd-album-cassette-in-your-collection/526462/44 "2010-01-26T22:45:57Z")
I have a “10 Songs by Adam Again” CD from Europe from the time before that CD was released in the US. Although since it was eventually released here, it’s not as rare as it was when I bought it. So probably a demo cassette for Sixpence None the Richer, before they were on any label and had a few moderate hits (like “Kiss Me”). ---
**Author:** ![GESancMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gesancman/32/2923_2.png) [@GESancMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GESancMan)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-rarest-cd-album-cassette-in-your-collection/526462/45 "2010-01-26T22:58:07Z")
There was a progressive rock band from The Netherlands called **Finch** , who released three albums in the mid-70s. These albums were hard to find even there at that time (or so I’ve been told). In 1989 I happened upon a used copy of their second album and snatched it up - for $26. This was kind of a big deal at the time, because very little obscure prog stuff like that had seen a CD release. Of course, I now own all three albums on CD, so I don’t know if that record is worth anything today. Regardless, it is framed and hanging on my wall. I also own the original picture-LP of Iron Maiden’s _Piece of Mind_, which contains their cover of Jethro Tull’s “Cross-Eyed Mary” at the end of side one. Again, it was a big deal at the time, because the song hadn’t been released anywhere else, IIRC. Today, it’s been released on various CD re-releases of the album. This one is also hanging on my wall. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-rarest-cd-album-cassette-in-your-collection/526462/46 "2010-01-27T02:39:21Z")
I have tons of rarities that are rare because no one ever did nor ever will give a crap about them. I have a few goodies though…I suppose my copy of [_Live ?!_@ Like a Suicide\*](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live_Like_A_Suicide) would be the most valuable. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-rarest-cd-album-cassette-in-your-collection/526462/47 "2010-01-27T02:52:59Z")
I have two LPs of _A Child’s Christmas in Wales_ being read by Dylan Thomas himself, but I don’t know if they are rare. Lots of old jazz 45s in top condition. Sure wish I had a copy of the Beatles album with the “butchers” cover. That one’s worth some cash. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-rarest-cd-album-cassette-in-your-collection/526462/48 "2010-01-27T03:00:02Z")
Someone told me to hang on to my copy of \*Frank Zappa’s \*\*\*200 Motels \*\*album but I have no idea if it’s actually worth anything. It’s in rough shape but not from being listened to. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-rarest-cd-album-cassette-in-your-collection/526462/49 "2010-01-27T05:16:27Z")
> [@GESancMan](#): > > I also own the original picture-LP of Iron Maiden’s _Piece of Mind_, which contains their cover of Jethro Tull’s “Cross-Eyed Mary” at the end of side one. Again, it was a big deal at the time, because the song hadn’t been released anywhere else, IIRC. Today, it’s been released on various CD re-releases of the album. This one is also hanging on my wall. Actually, it was a big deal at the time because it was the first and only cover song ever recorded by Iron Maiden (Of course, they folloed with others). I have the original on the B-side of the “The Trooper” single. I also have the “Flight of Icarus” single which followed with a cover of Montrose’s “I Got the Fire” I’ve been looking through my collection and found a few other “rarities” Motley Crue’s first single “Stick to Your Guns” b-side"Toast of the Town" Def Leppard’s first EP with “Getcha Rocks Off” and “Ride into the Sun” I also have a few Demo EP’s of Canadian bands including Kim Mitchell, Barenaked Ladies, Platinum Blonde, Northern Pikes, FurnaceFace, and The Tragically Hip. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-rarest-cd-album-cassette-in-your-collection/526462/50 "2010-01-27T05:24:55Z")
I haven’t looked through my CDs, but these come to mind: _Music For Cabriolets And Otros Tipos De Vehiculos_, by Karl Zéro _Early Recordings_, by Opal _Dr. Plauge and Other Lullabies_, by Myshkin Impossible _Mermaid Lounge_, a 1996 compilation of bands that played in Mermaid Lounge in New Orleans ---
**Author:** ![infinitii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e8c25b/32.png) [@infinitii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/infinitii)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-rarest-cd-album-cassette-in-your-collection/526462/51 "2010-01-27T05:30:11Z")
This thread remind me of the unreleased album called “The Hollywood Jungle” by Hot Gossip. I would post the description here, but I don’t know about fair use or whatever. So just go about halfway down on this link to read about it: [http://www.thewire.co.uk/articles/166/print](http://www.thewire.co.uk/articles/166/print) As you can read, it sounds very interesting – does anyone have any idea how one would go about obtaining a copy of this? ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-rarest-cd-album-cassette-in-your-collection/526462/52 "2010-01-27T05:49:17Z")
Wanna define your terms just a bit? I have a copy of **AHunter3** playing his own composition “The Forbidden Forest of Keida” in 1979, and I’m pretty goddam comfortable saying you don’t have it in your collection. OK, among commercial releases: I have [Jethro Tull’s _A_](http://www.collecting-tull.com/Albums/A.html) floating around here somewhere. I doubt that I have any really spectacularly rare bootlegs, although I have some Floyd you probably don’t have. I’ve got some feminist womyn’s eclectic semifolk… a lot of that is avidly collected by those who like it, but (assuming I could sneak in in the first place) if I showed up at the Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival with home-burned copies of Carole Etzler’s _Womanriver Flowing On_ (and her permisson to distribute and trade, of course), I bet I could come home with a phenomenal collection of Holly Near and Casse Culver and Meg Christian tracks 🙂 She was Atlanta-based and not widely distributed. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-rarest-cd-album-cassette-in-your-collection/526462/53 "2010-01-27T16:33:02Z")
OK, now you’re in for it… … I have a large LP collection, a major theme of which is “weird stuff nobody’s ever heard of”. I’m sure a lot of it is rare but mainly because almost nobody was interested in it, then or now. So I’ll just mention some more recognizable items … 1. A test pressing (Presswell Records) of Sides 1 & 2 of _Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs._ 2. A one-sided limited edition of Toscanini rehearsals with the NBC Symphony Orchestra, in a sort of construction-paper sleeve. It is accompanied by a Christmas card signed by Toscanini’s son Walter, although I can’t tell if it’s an original signature or a mass-produced reproduction. 3. A copy of _1980 All Clear_ (Bowie promo-only LP). 4. A copy of _Highway 61 Revisited_ with the alternate version of “From a Buick 6”. Perhaps more valuable than the record, though, is the accompanying mini-poster (a pencil sketch of Bob), which, unlike the record, is in perfect condition. 5. A bunch of old 10-inch LPs, mostly jazz, including _Charlie Parker with Strings Vol. 2_ and Vols. 2-5, 10, 11, and 13 of Norman Granz’ _Jazz at the Philharmonic_, with the incredibly cool David Stone Martin covers. 6. A bunch of 1950s “party records” by people like B.S. Pully, Bobby Dell, Dave Starr, and Belle Barth. Again, the covers alone are amazing… these people look like… I don’t know, circus geeks or something… definitely denizens of the demimonde. 7. Various bootlegs, including “Flute Cake” (Tull), “The Jersey Devil” (Springsteen), and “Frankie, Dino & Sammy Summit at the 500” (a “souvenir” from the “Sinatrama”, also known as the Latimer Cafe). All right, I’ll go now. ---
**Author:** ![Baggins111](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9fc29f/32.png) [@Baggins111](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baggins111)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-rarest-cd-album-cassette-in-your-collection/526462/54 "2010-01-28T00:50:39Z")
I have a [Pink Floyd Interview Picture Disc](http://www.picdisc.info/pinkfloyd/interview/DSC08584.JPG). Not all that rare, but pretty cool to me. I also have a Pink Floyd Rotterdam '67 Italian bootleg. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-rarest-cd-album-cassette-in-your-collection/526462/55 "2010-01-28T00:55:55Z")
The soundtrack to [Last Summer,](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_Summer) produced by John Simon and featuring all the members of The Band except for Robbie Robertson: > [@](#): > > The film had a soundtrack LP (Warner Bros.-Seven Arts WS 1791) of the score composed by John Simon and Collin Walcott. Heard on the soundtrack: John Simon (piano), Collin Walcott (sitar, tamboura), Aunt Mary’s Transcendental Slip and Lurch Band (rock band), Cyrus Faryar (voice), Buddy Bruno (voice), Ray Draper (tuba, voice), Electric Meatball (rock band), Henry Diltz (banjo, voice), Bad Kharma Dan and the Bicycle Brothers (motorcycle gang). “Aunt Mary’s Transcendental Slip and Lurch Band,” “Electric Meatball” and “Bad Kharma Dan and the Bicycle Brothers” are totally fake bands; they’re just various combinations of The Band’s personnel with assorted other studio musicians. The Band are uncredited because of their contract with another label. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-rarest-cd-album-cassette-in-your-collection/526462/56 "2010-01-28T01:13:08Z")
> [@Sparky812](#): > > Actually, it was a big deal at the time because it was the first and only cover song ever recorded by Iron Maiden (Of course, they folloed with others). I have the original on the B-side of the “The Trooper” single. I also have the “Flight of Icarus” single which followed with a cover of Montrose’s “I Got the Fire” Not true - they released the single “Women in Uniform” in 1980, which was a cover of a song by a band named Skyhooks. I also had the Piece of Mind picture disc, which featured Eddie sitting astride the Earth and ripping a brain from its core, IIRC. I had a bunch of small-release punk singles, but don’t think they qualify. The only real “rare” vinyl/cassettes I owned were the original “Radio Free Europe” single by **R.E.M.** , the “In A Free Land” and “Statues” 45s by **Husker Du** , and the cassette of “The Shit Hits The Fans” by **The Replacements**. If bootlegs are included, I’ve got about a few hundred more to add. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-rarest-cd-album-cassette-in-your-collection/526462/57 "2010-01-28T01:52:52Z")
An [acetate](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acetate_disc) of the [New York Dolls’ first album.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Dolls_(album)) May have once been one of a kind, but knowing what a perfectionist Todd Rundgren is I doubt it. Quite possibly is now, though. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-rarest-cd-album-cassette-in-your-collection/526462/58 "2010-01-28T02:04:34Z")
Probably not “rare”, but I have a real nice copy of \*Concet for Bangla-Desh \*in the original box and will all the “stuff”. Also the aforementioned Tull standards with the newspapers and the stand-up gimmicks. I got a butt-load of 78’s that came with a Victrola I bought, but again, probably not all that rare or valuable. I got a butt-load of signed CD’s and “Promo only” CD’s, but I’m sure they ain’t worth squat either. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-rarest-cd-album-cassette-in-your-collection/526462/59 "2010-01-28T02:09:41Z")
Lots of hard-to-find items in my music collection (partly because no one in their right mind would be looking for them). One semi-rarity is an original Screamin’ Jay Hawkins LP, “What That Is!”, complete with a classic cover photo of Jay emerging from his coffin and an album dedication to Richard Nixon. Featured are two of Jay’s all-time hits, “Feast Of The Mau Mau” and “Constipation Blues”. While it is not their best album, Head Hands And Feet’s debut double LP is pretty difficult to find, though it pops up on Ebay every now and then. I’ll have to grab a lantern and see what else might be lurking down in the vaults… ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-rarest-cd-album-cassette-in-your-collection/526462/60 "2010-01-28T02:36:38Z")
Oh, I forgot one! I have a copy of [_Inside Sauter-Finegan_](http://www.jimflora.com/images/album-covers/vinyl/large/sauter-finegan.jpg) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-rarest-cd-album-cassette-in-your-collection/526462.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-rarest-cd-album-cassette-in-your-collection/526462.md?page=4)