The high price of Psych re-issues is a subject that is often discussed on the Psych sites......if anyone is interested in the history of that phenomenom and the reasons the prices are so ridiculous I'd be happy to explain.
I would think its cuz
1. Yall don't press many copies 2. You wanna pay the artists better 3. They're generally quality (expen$$$ive) releases
The high price of Psych re-issues is a subject that is often discussed on the Psych sites......if anyone is interested in the history of that phenomenom and the reasons the prices are so ridiculous I'd be happy to explain.
I would think its cuz
1. Yall don't press many copies 2. You wanna pay the artists better 3. They're generally quality (expen$$$ive) releases
Am I close?
That's probably it. Ask a record store owner who has to special order 3 or 4 psych reissues (180 gram full gatefold vanity pressed at 500 copies) shipped from europe/japan... by the time they hit the shelves you'd be lucky to only pay $30. Plus they're a pain in the ass to deal with, if they don't sell you have to return them to the label, which is more trouble than it's worth for so few records, who knows if anybody will really buy it, etc.
a subject that is often discussed on the Psych sites
Hey Rockadelic!
I started this thread cuz I was interested in Mexican/Latin psych, but I'm also trying to educate myself on other US or UK psych as well. The whole genre is fairly new to me.
I just started checking out your site, but can you reccomend any other good sites to start schooling myself on some of the older stuff? Obviously, ones with short sound clips are always preferable.
The high price of Psych re-issues is a subject that is often discussed on the Psych sites......if anyone is interested in the history of that phenomenom and the reasons the prices are so ridiculous I'd be happy to explain.
I would think its cuz
1. Yall don't press many copies 2. You wanna pay the artists better 3. They're generally quality (expen$$$ive) releases
Am I close?
Kinda......you're missing the "X" factor.
Back in the 80's when I started doing this the only real outlet for Psych Vinyl were "underground" catalogs that catered to the "Rare Psych Collectro". No internet, no ebay and really no distribution in stores...and these catalog dealers could pretty much name their own price on OG psych. This is really the first place and time that obscure/private press LP's were sold for 3 and even 4 figures. To give you an idea of how far out of control it was, the LP "Circuit Rider" which today is a $75-$150 record, sold for $1,000.00 in the 80's being touted as "the only known copy".....these early dealers basically had a blank check when it came to pricing.
The first Rockadelic release, BF Trike, was pressed in a run of 300 copies(mostly because we didn't have a clue of whether or not we could sell ANY) and cost us about $5.00 a piece to make. We sold them, almost exclusively to these type of catalog dealers, at ten bucks a pop. Within 6 months this LP was showing up in catalogs for $90.00!!!! When I saw this I thought "We made five bucks a copy and the next guy is making $80.00 a copy...that's not cool"
And apparently the damn thing sold OUT at $90.00 a copy...it had become a "Collectro Item". So my partner and I decided we should have a bigger piece of the pie...and the next LP we pressed we sold for $15.00 each.....and these catalog guys sold it for $50.00....and again it sold out.
Over the next few years we kept the wholesale price at $15(with one exception) and eventually the retail prices settled down to $25-$30 a piece. But now stores started carrying these LP's, especially in Europe, and some other folks took notice at the high prices and decided to get into the game as well.
I never really thought of our releases as "high quality"...I printed the covers myself, glued them on to blank jackets by hand, and tried to make them look like a private press OG that you would find in a dollar bin and get excited about. But the new labels in Europe took this quality to a new level, thick pressings, thick elaborate and beautiful jackets.....and since they saw these type of LP's going in stores for big money, they started out with a $25-$40 wholesale price.
Today labels like Shadocks/Ten Little Indians, World In Sound, and a few others make incredible LP's that are pieces of art. Ironically, the wholesale price of current Rockadelic releases is still at $15.00 and quite honestly I have a hard time selling 500 copies of alot of titles because folks prefer to buy the higher dollar, higher perceived value releases that are coming out of Europe.
One thing good about all this is that these Euro labels, for the most part, are now paying tha artists as opposed to the bootleggers of the 70's and 80's.
Personally, I'd have a hard time paying more than $25 for any new release.
I already have the 2 Laghonia cds, and they are among my favorite pieces of music ever. So paying even 40 for a new vinyl copy of either doesn't seem that insane. However, I've seen the D.R. Hooker reissue for 100 bucks, and that I can't really justify.
Back in the 80's when I started doing this the only real outlet for Psych Vinyl were "underground" catalogs that catered to the "Rare Psych Collectro". No internet, no ebay and really no distribution in stores...
I have a whole drawer full of these old catalogs.I still peruse almost daily.I love reading some of the descriptions and hype. There are actually many of these I'd to get my hands on,like the old Paul Major/Gregg Breth lists,Void Records,Turbulance,Willie Ortel(insane Euro list),Eric(?),Walter Geersten(My girlfriend accidently threw out a stack of Geersten logs),+ I'm also missing some Japanese and South American lists that i used to have..Hmmm...collecting old "collector" catalogs? Is that going too far? Rich, I'll bet you have a ton of these.Any dupes?
Oh yeah...the "want lists" from some of these dealers were mind numbing.Ashley Johnson's want list was ridiculous.There are records on his want list that are so rare and obscure you won't find them referred to anywhere else.records that can't be Googled. Soon I will have more reference books and catalogs than actual records...ugh.
I don't know, "Hoy" is much more complete, but the first LP is fucking bad ass. One of the best Mexican LP's period. They were in a few Mexican movies back in the day, I have some clips of it on my computer.. perhaps Ill yousendit. I am a Mexican rock nut. I have been trading with a collector in Mexico City for a good year or so now, and he has hipped me to an entire world of insanity. Most of the best Mexican stuff was released on 45 EP's. Check out my mix at www.waxingdeep.org . 80% of it is Mexican tunes. 1 Puerto Rican, 3 Peruvian cuts. I have many wants still... but I choose to keep them for now... until I find :-)
Co-sign on meaty's mix--it's definiltey one of my favourites on the site. I listen to it again and again and never get tired of it. You need to check it out.
Comments
I would think its cuz
1. Yall don't press many copies
2. You wanna pay the artists better
3. They're generally quality (expen$$$ive) releases
Am I close?
That's probably it. Ask a record store owner who has to special order 3 or 4 psych reissues (180 gram full gatefold vanity pressed at 500 copies) shipped from europe/japan... by the time they hit the shelves you'd be lucky to only pay $30. Plus they're a pain in the ass to deal with, if they don't sell you have to return them to the label, which is more trouble than it's worth for so few records, who knows if anybody will really buy it, etc.
I've found reissue CDs of Glue and Etcetera available.
Any suggestions as to which might be better to start with to get a taste?
Hey Rockadelic!
I started this thread cuz I was interested in Mexican/Latin psych, but I'm also trying to educate myself on other US or UK psych as well. The whole genre is fairly new to me.
I just started checking out your site, but can you reccomend any other good sites to start schooling myself on some of the older stuff? Obviously, ones with short sound clips are always preferable.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions...
Kinda......you're missing the "X" factor.
Back in the 80's when I started doing this the only real outlet for Psych Vinyl were "underground" catalogs that catered to the "Rare Psych Collectro". No internet, no ebay and really no distribution in stores...and these catalog dealers could pretty much name their own price on OG psych. This is really the first place and time that obscure/private press LP's were sold for 3 and even 4 figures. To give you an idea of how far out of control it was, the LP "Circuit Rider" which today is a $75-$150 record, sold for $1,000.00 in the 80's being touted as "the only known copy".....these early dealers basically had a blank check when it came to pricing.
The first Rockadelic release, BF Trike, was pressed in a run of 300 copies(mostly because we didn't have a clue of whether or not we could sell ANY) and cost us about $5.00 a piece to make. We sold them, almost exclusively to these type of catalog dealers, at ten bucks a pop. Within 6 months this LP was showing up in catalogs for $90.00!!!! When I saw this I thought "We made five bucks a copy and the next guy is making $80.00 a copy...that's not cool"
And apparently the damn thing sold OUT at $90.00 a copy...it had become a "Collectro Item". So my partner and I decided we should have a bigger piece of the pie...and the next LP we pressed we sold for $15.00 each.....and these catalog guys sold it for $50.00....and again it sold out.
Over the next few years we kept the wholesale price at $15(with one exception) and eventually the retail prices settled down to $25-$30 a piece. But now stores started carrying these LP's, especially in Europe, and some other folks took notice at the high prices and decided to get into the game as well.
I never really thought of our releases as "high quality"...I printed the covers myself, glued them on to blank jackets by hand, and tried to make them look like a private press OG that you would find in a dollar bin and get excited about. But the new labels in Europe took this quality to a new level, thick pressings, thick elaborate and beautiful jackets.....and since they saw these type of LP's going in stores for big money, they started out with a $25-$40 wholesale price.
Today labels like Shadocks/Ten Little Indians, World In Sound, and a few others make incredible LP's that are pieces of art. Ironically, the wholesale price of current Rockadelic releases is still at $15.00 and quite honestly I have a hard time selling 500 copies of alot of titles because folks prefer to buy the higher dollar, higher perceived value releases that are coming out of Europe.
One thing good about all this is that these Euro labels, for the most part, are now paying tha artists as opposed to the bootleggers of the 70's and 80's.
Personally, I'd have a hard time paying more than $25 for any new release.
I do too.
btw, I won't be heading to Austin anymore... figured it wasn't going to be cost effective.
Back in the 80's when I started doing this the only real outlet for Psych Vinyl were "underground" catalogs that catered to the "Rare Psych Collectro". No internet, no ebay and really no distribution in stores...
I have a whole drawer full of these old catalogs.I still peruse almost daily.I love reading some of the descriptions and hype. There are actually many of these I'd to get my hands on,like the old Paul Major/Gregg Breth lists,Void Records,Turbulance,Willie Ortel(insane Euro list),Eric(?),Walter Geersten(My girlfriend accidently threw out a stack of Geersten logs),+ I'm also missing some Japanese and South American lists that i used to have..Hmmm...collecting old "collector" catalogs? Is that going too far? Rich, I'll bet you have a ton of these.Any dupes?
Oh yeah...the "want lists" from some of these dealers were mind numbing.Ashley Johnson's want list was ridiculous.There are records on his want list that are so rare and obscure you won't find them referred to anywhere else.records that can't be Googled. Soon I will have more reference books and catalogs than actual records...ugh.
Co-sign on meaty's mix--it's definiltey one of my favourites on the site. I listen to it again and again and never get tired of it. You need to check it out.