Collection of Vinyl Records for Sale
A great collection of vinyl, spanning many genres, is for sale. Please see the list here. Contact Schalk on 066 263-5223 for more information.
Boston, Self-titled
Up for sale is a beautiful copy of this Boston classic album. Details are as follows:
- Artist: Boston
- Title: Boston
- Pressing: CBS Mastersound, HE44188; Deadwax number Side 1: HAL 44188-3E, Side 2: HBL 44188-5E
- Condition: This LP is in superb condition. The sleeve and disk are both in NM condition. Comes with MoFi inner sleeve inside sturdy black square paper sleeve, and new plastic outer sleeve.
- Original Mastersound inserts
- Price: R800.00
- Shipping price is excluded but we will send within South Africa for R99.00 extra. Personal collection preferred due to the value and fragility of the item.
- Reason for selling: While the music is great, I have outgrown stadium rock, as it was called in the day. I purchased this LP a few months ago as part of a batch of audiophile-quality records.
Contact us for details on this and other records in my collection marked as For Sale. See sale items below.
Beethoven, Fidelio Highlights, Maazel
Ludwig van Beethoven, Fidelio – Highlights (Decca, UK). Beethoven's only opera, Fidelio, is a work of redemption and courage. This Decca highlights disc features a stellar cast: James McCracken, Birgit Nilsson, Tom Krause, Kurt Böhme, and Hermann Prey, under the baton of Lorin Maazel with the Vienna Philharmonic and the Chorus of the Vienna State Opera. Decca's production values were always exemplary, and this pressing is no exception. For those new to Fidelio, a highlights disc is the ideal introduction to this rich and dramatic opera.
Beethoven, 9 Symphonien, Karajan
Ludwig van Beethoven, 9 Symphonien (Deutsche Grammophon, Germany, 8LP). This is the iconic Herbert von Karajan and Berliner Philharmoniker cycle of all nine Beethoven symphonies on Deutsche Grammophon. Karajan's Beethoven symphony recordings are among the most celebrated in the catalogue. The Berlin Philharmonic under Karajan was simply one of the great orchestras of the world, and this complete box set is a genuine treasure.
If there is one thing about this set I do not like it is that the nine symphonies are not spanned across nine records, one for each symphony. For example, Symphony 5 starts immediately where Symphony 4 ends, and only the first movement is played before you have to change the record. It is not ideal, but I will have to live with it.
Cat Stevens, Teaser and the Firecat
Cat Stevens, Teaser and the Firecat (Island, South Africa). Somehow this album should partner Tea for the Tillerman, but I am really having trouble settling down with it. It is just not on the same level. I have a local pressing, given to me by a friend, to test it out. I am not sure if I will spend money on a new copy. It has a few good songs, but not the depth of Tea for the Tillerman.
Update: I sat down and listened to the album again. I know Changes IV as sung by Santana on their Zebop! album, then there is Morning has broken, Moonshadow, and Peace Train and I realise I may have underestimated Teaser and the Firecat.
What's next for this album? Looking for a new reissue or a pre-owned title in VG+ and better condition.
Kruispaaise, Coenie de Villiers
Coenie de Villiers, Kruispaaie (Mountain Records, South Africa). Bought this one new. Afrikaans music has tremendous depth, if you discount the rugby, brandewyn, and "en jy soen my nie meer nie" rubbish. De Villiers is one of the outstanding artists in South Africa and I often wonder what a really well-produced album such as Hart van Glas would be like on vinyl.
Die Reisiger, Coenie De Villiers
Coenie de Villiers, Die Reisiger (Mountain Records, South Africa). How I wish his later stuff such as Hart van Glas and Emoji was available on vinyl. De Villiers' earlier work had a few songs that were politically inspired, but I ignore these. I enjoy the music for the fact that these titles will never be re-issued.
Coenie de Villiers, Skoppensboer
Coenie de Villiers, Skoppensboer (Mountain Records, South Africa). I bought this one as it had never been opened. You do not often find a sealed record that is 35 years old. Do I like everything on the record? Not by a long margin but overall his music speaks to me. I had the pleasure of seeing him in Montecasino, with the show Karoo Nagte, and it was exceptional.
Brothers in Arms
Dire Straits, Brothers in Arms (Vertigo, South Africa). I was doing my national service in 1985 when this album was released. I bought a tape copy on a visit to town, and my buddies in the bungalow were just simply blown away. The tape did not last long before it was completely worn out from being played by so many, so often. After I bought the LP12 in 2023, this was my first LP, given to me by a friend so that I could at least hear what the turntable sounded like. It is a local pressing but it sounds good. I will probably get a better copy at some point but I have no need for the 45 rpm edition on two LPs. I really do not like the idea of 45 rpm albums spanning two records. It just breaks the continuity of the original. Many, if not most, albums were specifically recorded to end Side 1 on a high before diving into Side 2. The new way of spanning a standard album across four sides just breaks the cohesion and flow of the album as intended. Then again, this is just my opinion.
What's next for this album? Looking for a new reissue or a pre-owned title in VG+ and better condition. The hunt is on for a genuine OG – the 1985 (US Warner Brothers or UK Vertigo) first pressing mastered by Robert Ludwig at Masterdisk.
George Benson In Your Eyes'
George Benson In Your Eyes (Warner Brothers, Germany) is an excellent German Warner Brothers pressing. I have known these pressings to often be very clear, and sometimes a bit bright, but with low surface noise. Continuing in the typical Benson style, this is laid-back jazz, with some great guitar work although nothing on the scale of Breezin'. A most enjoyable album, there are some great tracks, including Inside Love (So Personal), Lady Love Me (One More Time), and the title track, In Your Eyes.
Handel, Julius Caesar, Treigle, Sills, Rudel
George Frideric Handel, Julius Caesar (RCA, USA). Conductor Julius Rudel leads the New York City Opera with a cast of Norman Treigle as Caesar, Beverly Sills as Cleopatra, and Maureen Forrester. This was a landmark production for the New York City Opera, and one of the recordings that brought Handel's baroque operas to a wider American audience in the early 1970s. Julius Caesar (Giulio Cesare in Egitto, 1724) is widely considered one of the finest operas of the baroque period, with an extraordinarily rich sequence of arias.
Norman Treigle's dark bass-baritone is perfectly suited to Caesar, and Beverly Sills as Cleopatra is simply magnificent – her singing of V'adoro, pupille alone is worth the price of admission. Maureen Forrester brings her characteristic warmth and depth to her role. Rudel's conducting keeps the drama alive throughout what is a lengthy work. An RCA pressing of this calibre is a genuinely important addition to any opera collection.
Hi-Fi Stereo Festival '70
Hi-Fi Stereo Festival ’70 (Deutsche Grammophon, Germany). A showcase compilation featuring some of the finest conductors in the DG stable: Herbert von Karajan, Karl Böhm, Eugen Jochum, Karl Richter, and Otto Gerdes. The programme draws from some of the great operatic repertoire – Gluck's Orpheus, Mozart's Don Giovanni, Beethoven's Fidelio, Wagner's Tannhäuser, Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, and Tristan und Isolde. Compilations like this were common in the late sixties and early seventies, serving both as a showcase for the label's roster and as a gateway into the classical catalogue for new listeners. The combination of conductors assembled here represents a golden era of recorded classical music on the DG label.
Manhattan Transfer, Live
Manhattan Transfer, Live (MFSL, Atlantic, Japan). What a great find, and one that I took without thinking twice. Had the title many years ago. Some rhythm and blues, swing, jazz, and a brass band for a great live performance recorded in 1978 three different locations, this is really easy listening. There is plenty to get excited about. Java Jive, Chanson d'Amour and Cuentame are well-known melodies.
With these old MFSL records we know that it was all analogue. I have nothing against digital processing though. Music is music and we should enjoy it for what it is, not the format it is presented in. The thing is just that with every passing year these pressings become older, the master tapes deteriorate, and so the first pressings will probably be the best versions of these recordings. If you can lay our hands on these older pressings, grab them. I have been lucky to find two excellent sounding MFSL LPs in a short space of time.
Mozart, Don Giovanni, Bonynge
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Don Giovanni (Decca, UK, 4LP). One of the greatest operas ever written, Don Giovanni features a cast of giants: Joan Sutherland, Gabriel Bacquier, Pilar Lorengar, Marilyn Horne, Donald Gramm, and Werner Krenn, with the English Chamber Orchestra conducted by Richard Bonynge. Sutherland's involvement alone makes this a recording of distinction. Don Giovanni is a complex character, a libertine whose downfall is inevitable yet dramatically compelling. The overture alone sets the tone for what is to follow. A Decca production of this calibre is a real find.
My copy is absolutely pristine. According to a date written inside the box, it was purchased on 10 September 1975. I don't think it would have been played too much, or the owner had a stellar turntable that ensured very little wear on the playing surfaces. Evidently this was the case as the other albums I received from this estate are in a similar condition.
Roger Whittaker, Live with Saffron
Roger Whittaker, Live with Saffron (EMI, South Africa, 2LP), was a record my parents played often. To this day for me it is one of the outstanding live recordings with lots of interaction with the crowd. A double LP, I would love to get a new copy if any were available. This is lively and enjoyable recording with lots of audience interaction. It is not meant to be listened to in silence and it is not an "audiophile" type album. Just listen to an artist with an exceptional voice, the ability to whistle, and to let the audience make fools of themselves trying the same.
What's next for this album? Looking for a new reissue or a pre-owned title in VG+ and better condition.
Santana, Zebop!
Santana, Zebop! (CBS Mastersound, USA). This album takes me back to the early 80s when I had the same CBS Mastersound release. This is a fantastic album, but maybe not quite what many Santana supporters were used to when it was released. It includes great renditions of Cat Stevens' "Changes" and JJ Cale's "Sensitive Kind". It is probably for these two cuts that I bought the album, but the rest of it is not half bad. Listening to the album again after many years not hearing it, I can add this to my list of excellent titles of the seventies and eighties. They just do not make music like this anymore. The recording itself is great and the pressing excellent. In fact, I have never had a bad Mastersound title. CBS's efforts may not have been as successful as that of MFSL, Nautilus, and others, but it offered good releases at realistic prices. This is a great asset to my collection and I grabbed a pre-owned copy as soon as I found it.
Supertramp, Even in the Quietest Moments
Supertramp, Even in the Quietest Moments (A&M, Japan). This is an interesting release. Pressed in Japan but sleeved in Canada, this is part of A&M's Audiophile Series and is a half-speed master. This is one good-sounding record, and despite its age, its performance is excellent. Discogs explains the process used as follows:
A&M Audiophile Series. The Canadian series was introduced in 1978. These were half-speed masters pressed on JVC Super Vinyl in Japan (also used by MFSL for their Original Master Recording series in the 70s and 80s), which were imported and then packaged in Canada. The Audiophile process produces a superb master from which this record is manufactured on the purest possible anti-static vinyl. The cutting of the master from the original stereo tapes is performed at half the normal speed, the velocity of the cutting stylus being dramatically reduced results in a more faithful cutting of heavily modulated passages and the general extension of the frequency range.
A&M Records' Audiophile Series provides extremely high fidelity sound reproduction, remarkably clear and distinct, virtually free of surface and background noise. [ Reference ]
Just another example of excellent recordings from the 70s, done by one of the best bands of the time. Again, they don't make them like this anymore.
A Grand Opera Gala
A Grand Opera Gala of Great Operatic Ensembles, Various Artists (EMI, UK). I got this from a friend. The album is essentially a "greatest hits" of favourite opera arias and duets. If you are just starting your classical journey, this is a good place to begin. Taken from works such as The Barber of Seville, La Boheme, Carmen, Don Giovanni, and more, you are on a tour of classics. The names Maria Callas and Elizabeth Schwarzkoff may be unknown to a younger generation. I grew up on this.
My copy is old but in perfect condition. This is the real deal, an original analogue recording, released in 1967.
Verdi, Aida, Leontyne Price
Giuseppe Verdi, Aida (RCA Red Seal, USA, 3LP). This is one of the most celebrated Aida recordings in the catalogue. Leontyne Price as Aida is simply definitive. With Plácido Domingo, Sherrill Milnes, Grace Bumbry, Ruggero Raimondi, and Hans Sotin, conducted by Erich Leinsdorf with the London Symphony Orchestra and the John Alldis Choir, this is opera on a grand scale. Aida is a story of love and loyalty set against the backdrop of ancient Egypt. The triumphal march and the final tomb scene are unforgettable. The RCA Red Seal three-disc set is presented well and the recording is first class.
Verdi, Il Trovatore, Carreras
Giuseppe Verdi, Il Trovatore (Philips, Netherlands, Digital Recording, 3LP). One of Verdi's most beloved and dramatic operas, filled with memorable melodies and intense passion. This Philips digital recording features José Carreras, Katia Ricciarelli, Yuri Masurok, Stefania Toczyska, and Robert Lloyd, with the Orchestra and Chorus of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, under Colin Davis. A fine version of a classic opera, well recorded and pressed.
Verdi, Macbeth, Abbado
Giuseppe Verdi, Macbeth (Deutsche Grammophon, Germany, 3LP). Verdi's operatic adaptation of Shakespeare's Macbeth is one of his most dramatically intense works. This Deutsche Grammophon recording brings together Shirley Verrett, Piero Cappuccilli, Plácido Domingo, and Nicolai Ghiaurov, with the Coro e Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala under Claudio Abbado. Abbado was one of the great Verdi conductors and his rapport with La Scala was unparalleled. DG's recording is vivid and the pressing of the highest quality.