Blue Face CDs. Does anyone collect them?

[pastoralguy]

I've always been fascinated by discs from the earliest days of cd which were characterised by their blue labels on the disc. These discs were obviously intended to be quality products which were in heavy, solid boxes.

No doubt I would have drooled over them on their release in the mid 80's whilst wishing I could afford a new fangled player. Often, a work such as 'Heldenleben' or 'The Firebird' would be on an individual track so if you wanted to hear the last two minutes you simply had to hold 'fast forward' down until the relevant section was reached!

I've amassed a small collection of about a dozen which I keep separated from the others. They can go for large amounts on eBay.

Anyone else as... enthusiastic as me?

[Dave2002]

Can you give a few examples of the recordings? I was in on CDs very early on, but I don't recall many with the characteristics you mention.

[cloughie]

I've always been fascinated by discs from the earliest days of cd which were characterised by their blue labels on the disc. These discs were obviously intended to be quality products which were in heavy, solid boxes.

No doubt I would have drooled over them on their release in the mid 80's whilst wishing I could afford a new fangled player. Often, a work such as 'Heldenleben' or 'The Firebird' would be on an individual track so if you wanted to hear the last two minutes you simply had to hold 'fast forward' down until the relevant section was reached!

I've amassed a small collection of about a dozen which I keep separated from the others. They can go for large amounts on eBay.

Anyone else as... enthusiastic as me?

Is this the kind of thing you mean.

http://www.thefirstpressingcdcollection.com/2011/11/philips-1.html

[pastoralguy]

Is this the kind of thing you mean.

http://www.thefirstpressingcdcollect...philips-1.html

Fantastic! Many thanks indeed for that.

[Dave2002]

The only one I might have had was the Kondrashin Sheherezade - though I don't recall the label being blue. I think it was lost due to a move anyway.

Is there something really special about those, or is it just a collector thing?

[pastoralguy]

The only one I might have had was the Kondrashin Sheherezade - though I don't recall the label being blue. I think it was lost due to a move anyway.

Is there something really special about those, or is it just a collector thing?

I suspect it's really just a collector's thing due to to comparative rareity value. I really must do a side by side comparison.

[Bryn]

I suspect it's really just a collector's thing due to to comparative rareity value. I really must do a side by side comparison.

Indeed, just part of the early Genesis of the CD. Oh, hang on, that was more a matter of Charisma.

[Dave2002]

I suspect it's really just a collector's thing due to to comparative rarity value. I really must do a side by side comparison.

So rather like the LP of Leonid Kogan's Tchaikovsky concerto, which I obtained in a CD version for around £5.

[pastoralguy]

So rather like the LP of Leonid Kogan's Tchaikovsky concerto, which I obtained in a CD version for around £5.

Well, now we're into the real black arts, Dave. Some of those rare Lps can and DO go for huge sums on the Internet. I believe there's a huge market for certain DECCA Lps and HMV Lps with silver labels in the Far East. I was once friendly with a chap in Edinburgh who ran a second hand Lp/cd shop in the University area. He had a customer in Hong-Kong who collected Lps based on their matrix numbers! So, for example, his collection would consist of

HMV 0001. Mrs. Mills party classics.

HMV 0002. The Seekers.

HMV 0003. Pinky and Perky

HMV 0004. Frank Sinatra

HMV 0005. Beethoven Violin Concerto

HMV 0006. Music a gogo

Etc, etc.

Whatever floats your boat I suppose.

My shop owing friend also had a customer who used to buy a few hundred pounds of Lps a month which he insisted were sent INDIVIDUALLY by insured air mail. This one customer kept the business afloat for years! (Mind you, the guys in the post office used to groan when his wife would take her weekly trip for posting).

[Dave2002]

Somewhere I have some test pressings - not even commercial ones. I’ve vandalised them by writing on the labels as I figured out what each LP really was, but I heard that some of these do exchange hands sometimes for large sums. Maybe, if I ever became famous, like some Banksy art works, they would sell for even more!

[LeMartinPecheur]

So rather like the LP of Leonid Kogan's Tchaikovsky concerto, which I obtained in a CD version for around £5.

I picked up a Brilliant-label 10-CD box of Kogan's 'Historic Russian Archives' live recordings for c.£8 from a charity shop. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Historic-Ru...=music&sr=1-14

After listening to a few samples I haven't so far worked out why it seems to command s/h prices over £70, in UK and internationally There is a Beethoven violin concerto but I'm still to summon the courage to sample it after the dreadful balance in the Tchaik.

[Dave2002]

I picked up a Brilliant-label 10-CD box of Kogan's 'Historic Russian Archives' live recordings for c.£8 from a charity shop. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Historic-Ru...=music&sr=1-14

After listening to a few samples I haven't so far worked out why it seems to command s/h prices over £70, in UK and internationally There is a Beethoven violin concerto but I'm still to summon the courage to sample it after the dreadful balance in the Tchaik.

The one which commands very high prices may not be one of the historic archive versions - though I still find it odd that it is so expensive in LP form.