Jazzhound.net - The Home of
Mark Berresford Rare Records
The Premier Location for Rare and Unusual 78s
I BUY QUALITY 78 rpm RECORD
& CYLINDER COLLECTIONS!!
However, please read this page very carefully before contacting me as it will help save you both time and effort…
Wanting to sell a quality 78 rpm record collection - not an accumulation? Look no further! We pay top prices and travel almost anywhere for the RIGHT STUFF. If you’ve got any of the labels illustrated here, call me now! The bad news is that 95% or more of old 78s are the WRONG STUFF and have little or no monetary value, with most ending up as drinks coasters or as landfill.
If you have piles of Classical Orchestral, Gilbert & Sullivan, Operatic singers you’ve heard of (Caruso, Gigli, McCormack etc), Religious, Brass Bands, ‘Light Music’, 1950s non-Rock & Roll, ‘popular’ singers such as Bing Crosby, Max Bygraves, Doris Day, Gracie Fields, Pat Boone, Guy Mitchell, George Formby, Swing and Dance Bands such as Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Victor Silvester etc, these are of little interest, so save your typing fingers - only one in 1000 is worth more than a few pence! Take them to the nearest charity shop or rubbish tip!
Regrettably, due to the huge numbers of emails and phone calls we receive concerning records of the types we do not want - see above - we can no longer respond individually, unless it is for the sorts of records listed below, so please bear this in mind and read below carefully before contacting me...
PLEASE NOTE… WE DO NOT BUY LPs or 45s!
IMPORTANT: Due to the market presently being awash with 78s, I am ONLY interested in buying the following - nothing else…
1920s - early 1930s Jazz, Blues and Hot Dance Band 78s on Original Issues (NOT REISSUES). That means in 90% of cases American issues on labels such as OKeh, Gennett, Victor, Edison, Paramount, Champion, Pathe or Vocalion for instance. We are not interested in jazz collections that mainly comprise British Parlophone, HMV, Brunswick, Commodore, Tempo, Vogue, Esquire, King Jazz, Jazz Collector, any other labels with ‘Jazz’ in the title, ’Trad’ Jazz, or British Decca 78s of the late-1930s to the late 1950s. These are the sort of labels that make up the vast majority of jazz collections started by British jazz enthusiasts at that time, as American original issues were nigh-impossible to obtain due to stringent exchange control regulations. Unfortunately, due to the sheer numbers now available as old collectors die off, the market for these records has all but disappeared and, as such, have limited monetary value (although the music is undeniably marvellous!). If such collections contain a quantity of American original issues we may be interested in purchasing those items only.
British and European Jazz and Hot Dance Band 78s, particularly those made in Germany, Britain and France in the 1920s and early 1930s. Records by Bert Firman, The Rhythmic Eight, Devonshire Restaurant Dance Band, Arthur Rosebery, Charles Remue, Fred Spinnelly, Sam Wooding, Lud Gluskin, and Django Reinhardt particularly wanted.
Ragtime 1895-1925 - on discs and cylinders. This includes such items as Banjo solos by Vess Ossman, Fred Van Eps, Olly Oakley, etc (especially on early 1-sided 7" discs) and ragtime singers such as Pete Hampton, Gene Greene, Cantrell & Williams, Hedges Brothers & Jacobson, Three Rascals etc.
Post-War Blues and R&B 78s - particularly USA original issues.
1897-1920 Music Hall 78s and Cylinders (but not loads of Billy Williams, Harry Lauder and Florrie Forde), Vaudeville and Original Cast Theatre Records. Single-sided 7” and 10” Berliners, Nicoles and Gramophone & Typewriter Co. 78s of this material are particularly wanted.
Ethnic African, Caribbean and Jewish 78s, particularly 1920s/30s Caribbean records, Klezmer bands, Jewish comedy, sub-Saharan African, Township Jive and other ethnic dance music.
Early Records - 5", 7" and 10" Berliner Records, and all other pre-1902 labels such as Zon-O-Phone, Nicole, pre-dog Gramophone & Typewriter Co., Monarch and pre-dog Victor records.
Rare and Unusual Record Labels - Advertising and Promotional Records, Test Pressings, Odd Sizes, Spoken Word by Historic Personalities, Picture Discs etc.
Phonograph Cylinders - in particular Music Hall, Musical Comedy, Ragtime, Jazz and Opera.
Photographs, Posters and Ephemera relating to Jazz, Blues and Theatre/Music Hall artists and general gramophone ephemera.
Contact or call us with a brief description of the collection, giving details of some of the items and we can advise further - but bear in mind our comments above before spending hours typing lists!!