prices Bing Andrew Sisters Mele Kalikimaka 78 Decca 27228

[78recordpicker]

3 went on ebay in the last month for over 100 USD each. Shill bidder? I thought this was a fairly common Decca. Thoughts?

[pellicano1]

3 went on ebay in the last month for over 100 USD each. Shill bidder? I thought this was a fairly common Decca. Thoughts?

You dont see this one listed too often plus its that time of year.

[melvind]

I have a hard time believing that anything The Andrews Sisters recorded is rare. They sold by the millions and you see then in nearly every antique store in the country. And, most all of their music is available on good quality CDs these days. It can be hard to find Decca records of that era that are in good shape though. They were not the best made records and are often very blasty and noisy. I personally wouldn't pay more than a couple of dollars for an Andrews Sisters record. But, I don't consider them rare or desirable.

Just my 2 cents...

[gramophone-georg]

I have a hard time believing that anything The Andrews Sisters recorded is rare. They sold by the millions and you see then in nearly every antique store in the country. And, most all of their music is available on good quality CDs these days. It can be hard to find Decca records of that era that are in good shape though. They were not the best made records and are often very blasty and noisy. I personally wouldn't pay more than a couple of dollars for an Andrews Sisters record. But, I don't consider them rare or desirable.

Just my 2 cents...

Well, there are their debut records as providing the vocal chorus for Leon Belasco and his Orchestra on two very scarce Brunswick discs that are quite good, then there's the Decca outlier "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" for which I once got $350.00 for a NM copy eons ago on eBay.

There are lots of rarities for "common" artists that are fun. Take Sinatra. You'd think that anything Sinatra with Tommy Dorsey isn't rare, especially since everyone chases "From The Bottom Of My Heart" with Harry James on Brunswick as the Holy Grail of Sinatra.

But... there are three far scarcer ones, two with TD, and one with Harry James. The first is "Too Romantic" on Victor 26500, Frank's debut disc with Dorsey. You'll find five of the Brunswick James records to one of these. In fact, it's SO scarce that RCA didn't even have it in their vault when they issued their massive "Dorsey- Sinatra Sessions" set. It ain't there!

The second one is the original issue of "I'll Be Seeing You" backed with "Polka Dots And Moonbeams" on the gold Victor 26000 series label. "I'll be..." was issued again in 1942 on the 20- series Victor label and only THEN became a hit.

And then... there's "All Or Nothing At All" with Harry James, claimed by many to be Frank's "breakthrough"... but all the copies you'll find are labeled as "featuring FRANK SINATRA with HARRY JAMES and his ORCHESTRA". This is a 1950s reissue, but most collectors don't know that. The original 1939 pressing is on a "Jazz Masterwork" label with Harry James and his Orchestra (listing Jame's personnel) as the artist, with "vocal chorus by Frank Sinatra" lost in the fine print.

Good luck finding THAT.

Then there's Benny Goodman's "Pop Corn Man" on Victor which is a grand at minimum, along with the first release of "Goodnight My Love", backed NOT with "T'ain't No Use" but with "Take Another Guess", labeled as "with vocal chorus". The uncredited vocalist? Ella Fitzgerald. Decca sued because Ella was under contract, and Victor had to recall and destroy that first coupling substituting Betty Van (IIRC) on "Guess" and BG himself on "Tain't No Use" for the B side.

Yeah, I'm rambling like an Edison Long Play, but my point is common doesn't always mean cheap any more that rare means big bucks.

Try to buy BG's 12" Victor version of "Sing Sing Sing" for under $75.00...