Featuring alternative, punk and rock classics, we sold some incredibly rare records in November.
From The Cure to Jimi Hendrix Experience, dive into our countdown below...
10 - Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures - Early Issue
One of the most iconic alternative album artworks, this was an early issue of Joy Division's "Unknown Pleasures." The earliest issues of this consistently have a textured outer sleeve, and this copy had solid black vinyl and an inner with rounded corners. Some of the 'Tranco' early issues have vinyl that appears black but is actually translucent red when held up to light.
9 - The Cure - Killing An Arab - Rounded Thumbcut 7"
Lots of alternative in November! We've seen a handful of copies of this early The Cure 7" single. Released in December 1978, it was their very first single and this version was released on Small Wonder Records, later reissued on Polydor and Fiction Records. There are two key versions of this initial version, one with a rounded thumbcut on the back of the sleeve, and another with an angled thumbcut.
8 - Public Image Limited - Metal Box
Pressed in an edition of 50,000 copies, this PiL album called "Metal Box" was released in 1979, with a film can style metal box for a sleeve. Until 2006, this was the only version of the album that had been released with this packaging, hence its rarity. Even more recent reissues fetch some higher prices!
7 - The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - First Press
While we've now seen lots of copies of this Beatles first pressing, it always brings us joy to pull the record from the sleeve and see the psychedelic inner, the yellow Parlophone label and green cut-outs insert. Even better when we check the condition and confirm the record is in a condition good enough to sell. This one went beyond that, as it was in EX/EX condition; sleeve and record! This is always made all the more impressive when the record was pressed nearly 60 years prior.
6 - The Undertones - Teenage Kicks - First Press 7"
A little different to the classic rock albums that usually fill rare record lists, this single is particularly rare because it comes with this simple white picture sleeve. Other - even rarer - versions came with pink, blue, yellow or green sleeves. Released in 1978, these versions of the single must've been pressed in fairly small quantities.
5 - The Durutti Column - The Return Of The Durutti Column - Sandpaper Sleeve
Probably the Atlas Records' office favourite on this list, this album was released in a sandpaper sleeve. Ours had the shrink-wrap still over it, which was handy in helping to keep nearby records protected! We encased this sleeve in cardboard stiffeners wherever it went, which you should be able to see in our photo above... Other versions of this early issue came with black or white spray painted title or catalogue number on the front of the sleeve. The white version is the rarest, and hasn't been available on Discogs since 2020.
4 - Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin II - 200G Quiex Press
Not just any vinyl pressing, this is a 200g Quiex SV-P 'audiophile' pressing, known for being of particularly high quality. SV-P stands for Super Vinyl Profile. These pressings were introduced by USA Reissue label Classic Records in 2002, with this issue being pressed in 2005.
3 - Black Sabbath - Paranoid - First Press
We thought this album rang a bell... We featured a second pressing on our rarest list from October, and now we've got a first pressing to show you from November! This first pressing is particularly rare because it features management credits inside the gatefold, which lead to it being withdrawn soon after release. Here's our post about the rarest records we sold in October.
2 - The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Electric Ladyland - First Press
There are a few different variants of this original, later withdrawn, UK "Electric Ladyland" sleeve. Differences come from the lamination (inside/outside), the positioning of images and text inside the gatefold, and the colour of the text inside the gatefold. On our copy, the text inside was white, and the picture of Hendrix appeared on the right hand side. Learn more about this artwork.
1 - Pink Floyd - The Dark Side Of The Moon - First Press
And onto the rarest record sold in November... This first pressing of "The Dark Side of the Moon" by Pink Floyd has a solid blue triangle on the label. The design was changed soon after release, most likely due to the silver text being difficult to read on the blue background. Later copies have just a blue triangle outline. The very best copies of this first pressing will come with a black poly-lined inner sleeve, a hype sticker on the front, as well as two posters and two stickers.
