The Smiley Smile Message Board

Hi Newbie here,

I've just seen someone selling a Mono Pet Sounds LP & a Duophonic Pet Sounds LP, both original 1966 copies for only (sic) $4,000 the pair.  They are making a really big deal about the quality of the shrink wrap, which apparently is superb.  With just 6 hours to go I'm obviously dashing round to my bank manager for a loan and if he says no I'll try one of the payday loan companies, failing that I'll sell my car.

Sarcasm over - what I really want to know is when did US copies of albums get shrink wrapped?  In the UK albums were sold as were for years after 1966.  If anything shrink wrap seemed to be used at first on remainders and bargain basement only. 

The Capitol Beach Boys US album covers I have are printed cardboard with matt paper fronts pasted on, so did shrink wrap get used early on to protect the packaging?

Oh and by the way - Merry Christmas!!!

It's Christmas? WHERE THE HELL DID THE LAST WEEK GO?!  :o

Newbie again,

Christmas comes early the closer you get to Greenwich - starts in November these days!

Cheers and a Happy New Year!

$4000 for duophonic pet sounds? :lol

"Christmas comes this time each year"! ;)

Shrink wrap was the norm on all US major label releases since the early 60's, though some bargain labels didn't bother.  Also, shock horror, there were shrink-wrap machines whereby one could re-seal a previously opened LP.  No way of knowing without inspecting if the shrink wrap on these is genuinely old (or bears clues like stickers from stores that would have been around at the time like Two Guys or Korvettes).  Presumably the opened LPs would reveal the Capitol rainbow label all 1966-pressed LP's would have had.

Of course just because the demand price is what it is doesn't guarantee the seller will get it. We've seen that lots of times.  How one would check the provenance of this would be the kicker, if I was thinking of shelling out $4000 I would be pretty damn picayune about it.

Like Dr. Tim says, in the U.S. shrink wrap was (is) the norm. I always thought it was weird to take the cover to the register to get the filed LP's in the UK! Seemed so, I dunno, unhygienic! Who knows where their hands have been, they work in a record store for crying out loud.

The downside to old, old shrinkwrap would be the extreme possibility of the shrinkwrap shrinking even more, causing warpage. This is fairly typical of some I've found from the 70's and 80's, depending on how they've been kept. They get "bowl" shaped.

I came across several cases of LP's recently, some of which still had shrink wrap on them from the 60's and 70's. I found the shrink wrap almost as interesting as the LP's, as they had the original store stickers and prices on them. Department stores that used to be huge here such as the Emporium or Woolworth's, now long defunct. And those prices! $1.99 (ouch!) to $5.99.

As for $4k, well did they get it? That seems absolutely insane - but who can tell. I've seen extremely mint copies going for a few hundred, but I'm unaware of any particularly rare copies floating around - perhaps a forum member could set me straight on that. Now, out of the wrap and signed by the boys would be another matter entirely! For $4k I'd think it'd go in a heartbeat!

Thanks for the comments and replies.

Fascinating to hear that shrink was in common use in 60s USA - over here we only started using it for wrapping our sandwiches after they stopped selling stuff in brown paper bags.

As to UK sellers going to the shelves for the vinyl LP - well I guess that we had too many light fingered types around at the time (and still do).

Regarding those 2 albums - I cherish my tatty, well worn and over played original 1966 mono copy far more because of the memories attached to it.  A 'brand new' copy would be great but not as valuable to me.

Happy holidays!

$4,000 for any Beach Boys album is ridiculous...

Unless of course it's for a 1967 finished SMiLE which was pressed and packaged for sale immediately before BW said "that's it, I'm burning the tapes and canceling the project."

Zero bids.  Agree that 4K is a ridiculous price, especially with the brown mark on the cover of one of the albums.  Seller says they were purchased from Perry Cox, who would be a very reliable source.

(http://images2.makefive.com/images/entertainment/television/top-5-scrubs-characters/perry-cox-7.jpg)

This Perry Cox?

That must be the guy!  But where's his glass of Scotch?