To celebrate Record Store Day Black Friday, we count down the most valuable records in existence
Cohan Chew

07:00 27th November 2015

With the vinyl industry experiencing a surge in sales this year, more and more music lovers are turning to the choice vintage material to experience their music. Hence the success of Record Store Day - and why the world will be going crazy for Black Friday.

Vinyl prices are highly susceptible to influences ranging from rare pressings to celebrity owners - just like commodities and assets, record prices can fluctuate uncontrollably. The average record released on vinyl is usually priced significantly higher than its CD or MP3 counterpart in any case, but prices for the thin black plastic can soar beyond five figures. Artists who have earned iconic status in the music industry have subsequently received inelastic demand for their rare gems. 

According to Pitchfork, the first three months of 2015 saw a 53% increase in vinyl sales from the first three months of 2014. Since 2006, vinyl sales have increased from 1 million to 6 million - the demand for vinyl is constantly on the rise.

With that in mind, here are the most expensive records on the planet.

  • 11. Frank Wilson - 'Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)': £ 25,000: Wilson wrote and produced for Motown artists including Marvin Gaye, The Supremes and The Temptations. He released one single as a vocalist in 1965, but only two or three copies survived. One copy was sold at an auction for more than £ 25,000 in 2009 [Source: BBC]

  • 10. Aphex Twin %u2013 Caustic Window: $46,30 - A test pressing of Aphex Twin%u2019s 1994 Caustic Window double compilation album was sold in 2014 on eBay for $46,300 after receiving 110 bids. [Source: eBay]

  • 9. The Beatles 'Love Me Do' : $50,000 - $100,000 - The original acetate of the Beatles%u2019 first single is thought to be worth anywhere between $50,000 and $100,000. The only unedited version of the 1962 single can be distinguished by an audible count-in. [Source: Record Collector 404]

  • 8. The Beatles - Silver Decca Audition: £ 35,000 - The Fab four's infamous 1962 audition tape that led to Decca's company boss telling them that the group was 'on their way out' and that they had 'no future in show business'. A Japanese collector bought the alleged original tape for £35,000 in 2012. However, it is believed that the master tape only had 10 songs, whereas the edition that was sold had 15. It is thought that the master tape is sitting in the possession of the Beatles Apple Corps [Source: Telegraph]

  • 7. The Jimi Hendrix Experience - 1968 Woburn Music Festival performance: £ 48,050 - The rare 1/4 inch reel-to-reel master soundboard tape recording of the Jimi Hendrix Experience and other acts performing at the Woburn music festival 1968 was sold in a Christie's auction in London, 2008. [Source: Christies]

  • 6. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards - earliest recordings: £ 50,250 - The earliest recordings of the Rolling Stones duo was sold at Christie's auction house in London in 1995. The 1961 recordings were thought to have been purchased by Mick Jagger himself. At the time, the band was known as 'Little Boy Blue & The Blue Boys'. [This Day In Music: An Every Day Record of Musical Feats and Facts, Source: Neil Cossar]

  • 5. The Quarrymen %u2013 live recordings: £ 78,500 - A tape recording of John Lennon singing and playing the guitar with the Quarry Men in 1957 was bought by EMI Records for £ 78,500 in September 1994. [Source: BBC]

  • 4. The Beatles - Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band: $290,500 - A signed copy of the Fab-four's most psychedelic record, Sgt Pepper's, almost doubled its last record sale of $150,000. All four of the Beatles' signature appears on the record's sleeve, but was only estimated to be worth $30,000 at the time of the auction. Instead, the record was sold for just under $300,000 in Texas in 2013. [Source: Vinyl Factory]

  • 3. Elvis Presley - 'My Happiness' : $300,000 - Ex-White Stripes rocker, Jack White, bought the King's 1956 acetate for his first ever recording, My Happiness, for $300,000 in January 2015. White later re-released it through his own record label, Third Man Records, on Record Store Day 2015. [Source: Record Collector 437]

  • 2. The Quarry Men - That%'ll Be The Day/In Spite Of All The Danger' £ 200,000 - On 12 July 1958, The Quarry Men made a recording that unbeknownst to them at the time would send a shockwave through the vinyl market. The Quarry Men were comprised of Beatles-to-be John Lennon and George Harrison as well as John Huff Lowe and Colin Hanlon. Paul McCartney bought the recording for 11 or 17 shillings and 6d. John Duff Lowe also sold the acetate of the recording to McCartney in 1981 for an undisclosed sum and it is now thought to be worth £ 200,000. [Source: Guardian]

  • 1. Wu Tang Clan 'Once Upon A Time In Shaolin': offers up to $5 million - There is only one existing copy of the 2013 31-track Wu Tang Clan album, which was sold in May 2015 by online auction house Paddle8. Whilst the exact sum remains undisclosed and the buyer remains under the pseudonym of 'American collector', it is to be believed that the record was sold in the range of millions. The album is presented in a silver-and-nickel box created by British-Morrocan artist Yahya. [Source: BGR]


Photo: Press