cab calloway "minnie the moocher" is it rare?

[kirtley2012]

Ive been searching for this record for some time now but ive not seen it come up anywhere!, is this a hard record to buy?

[WDC]

Depending on the pressing, I have seen this title to go for anything between $25-75. Given the fact, that it has been a higly popular title I am pretty confident to say it's not rare but highly demanded.

[Wolfe]

That was his theme song. I think theme songs tend to be more collectible.

[beaumonde]

I think it's rare in its original American Brunswick pressing, in nice condition. Not so rare in the later Brunswick Collector Series Cab Calloway 4-disc album. I'm not familiar with the European pressings of this (which you will have better access to).

[kirtley2012]

Thanks guys! Out of interest, anyone on here have one spare

[dd2u]

Sometimes it is frustrating just how rare a "well known" record can be. The records that people really want to listen to today may not have sold so well in the past. Even where they did, many were worn out within months of being bought.

Meanwhile many of the popular records that sold in the largest numbers, and the common classical records that survive in the best condition, are records that you may not want to listen to more than once, if at all, in 2012.

Did you see the price that Vera Lynn's "White Cliffs of Dover" fetched on eBay recently? I did not save it, but I think it was about £125. eBay is one of the most expensive places for buying not-so-common-but-well-known records if they are listed individually.

My advice, if you are trying to build an interesting collection from scratch, is to buy boxes of records that look like they were originally bought by someone who either shared some of your tastes, or at least bought records which do not turn up so often today that appeal to you in some way (even if just for curiosity). That way you may get a nice surprise, and certainly an interesting evening or two going through them, all for the price of one "well known" disc.

From your posts, I think it is unwise to spend much of your money paying a dealer to do the job for you. All they do is buy records at a low price, and sell them on at a high price. They buy a box of interesting records, and then sell them individually on eBay. It is not unusual to buy a box of records and find several discs in there which are each worth more than the cost of the box. This is how dealers survive. Until you run out of space, or get too many duplicates, or have money to burn, I see no reason for you to line dealer's pockets in this way.

If you cannot get over the idea that you simply must own certain records that only seem to turn up these days through dealers at high prices, then you will either have to get a very good job, or spend no money on everything else (forget wife and kids!), or only own a very few records. However, you would learn very little about early 20th century music or gramophones simply by collecting original discs of recordings that you liked to listen to on YouTube!

If it was me, I would listen to those tunes on YouTube, and enjoy collecting whatever I could find by the box full. Then you can post the best unknown gems on your own YouTube channel, and have other people wanting to buy your records

I guess you must do whatever brings you the most joy from your collection. But I suspect that chasing expensive discs with little money will mostly bring frustration.

[epigramophone]

That is good advice.

Car boot sales, flea markets, charity shops and your local auction rooms are all hunting grounds for the UK based record collector.

If you browse records on eBay, refine your search to "Distance:nearest first". You may get lucky and find a job lot near your home.

As dd2u points out, buying records singly on eBay is expensive, and postage charges add substantially to the cost. Sometimes a business seller will agree to wait until you have bought several, so that you only pay for one delivery.

[kirtley2012]

Yeah ive been collecting for about 4-5 years now and at one point i had over 1500 records but i got rid of alot of the crap i had, i bought a job lot of records about a year ago for about £15 (there must have been 500 records there at least including lps and 45s) all of them were rubbish except the 78s so i gave the lps and 45s away, then i found loads of great 78s at a car boot sale one day for £18 full of the greats, (jolson, paul robeson, bing crosby etc) but unfortunately no cab calloway, usually i rely on people i have gotten to know through youtube, forums etc to get records, because it is usually followed by a good deal and a friendly service, where as often dealers are just all about the money (not all of them though!, ive met some friendly ones who do good deals in the past), yes i did see that record go, im sure it was more than that!, i was especcially surprised since i had never heard of that record before! But when i saw it sell i checked m records to see if i had it (and i might!, i havent checked them all and im sure i saw some vera lynn records in my collection somewhere!), i would also like to get some andrews sisters records aswell but they are also quite expensive usually!

[Wolfe]

I wonder why Andrews Sisters records are expensive? They seem extremely common, as much so as late Al Jolson (on Decca) and Der Bingle, etc. There's piles of the stuff.

Cab Calloway records, in general, don't seem particularly rare, but you don't find them with the frequency of an Ellington or Basie or Lionel Hampton, etc.

[Phono48]

Did you see the price that Vera Lynn's "White Cliffs of Dover" fetched on eBay recently?

I did,and immediately put my near-mint copy up for auction. I can't remember the exact amount, but the starting price was way, way below what the first one fetched. I put a fairly low reserve on it, again much lower, but the few bids mine attracted came nowhere near the price the first one fetched. I wonder why????

Barry