Over the past year and a half I've been fortunate enough to locate and add some pretty hard to find (and/or expensive) CDs to my collection. Had I picked these up when they were first available, I'd be richer (perhaps wiser?) than I am today. The following lists represents the hardest to find CDs I've found:

1. Mimi Farina and Tom Jans ---- Take Heart (Japanese Pony Canyon/A&M)
2. Pamela Polland --- first solo album (Japanese Sony paper sleeve -- also available from Pamela's web site as a homemade needle drop)
3. Craig Fuller and Eric Kaz (Japanese Sony paper sleeve and Japanese Sony jewel case)
4. Marc Benno -- Ambush (Japanese Paper sleeve)
5. Marc Benno --- S/T (Japanese jewel case)
6. Quincy Jones -- You've Got It Bad Girl (Japanese Pony Canyon/A&M ---- and now just reissued on Impulse and availabe at BMG!!!)
7. Laura Nyro --- Mother's Spiritual (German Line)
8. Laura Nyro -- Smile
9. Funky Kings -- (Japanese/Arista)
10. Jules Shear's first two albums (Japanese EMI --- nuts! the names escape me right now)
11. Fifth Avenue Band (German WEA/Reprise) (Actually got this about 8 years ago --- my first experience with an overseas seller)
12. The entire It's A Beautiful Day catalog (Japanese Paper Sleeves from last year at reasonable prices!).
13. Mark-Almond Band -- To The Heart (One Way/MCA Special Prod's)
14. All of the A&M Lee Michaels (One Way --- great label, wish they were still at it).

I'm sure what are considered rare and valuable HTF titles are genre specific and naturally, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but what are your experiences?

The Liverbirds two albums on CD - Star Club Show and More Of The Liverbirds (both or Repertoire).

For years, I didn't see these from Amazon third party sellers or on Ebay.
Both finally showed up on Ebay 4 months ago......I won both but spent way too much.

Wish Bob Seger re-released his old albums on CD.

Used to be a thrill when I'd be poking through used CDs and turn up goodies like Y Kant Tori Read or Dennis Wilson's Pacific Ocean Blue or Ian Hunter's All the Good Ones Are Taken. Between reissues and the internet, the thrill is gone.

Does the decrease in CDs sales and the rough economy mean that OOP titles are going for less on eBay these days? I haven't eBayed in months. I still want an original Muppet Movie soundtrack.

Thanks Renny, I'll keep an eye on that auction.

Homer & Jethro cd's - some were released but went OOP quickly...wish Bear Family did something with their catalog.

I call these "holy grail" CD's when I don't have them (and want them). Jimbo is right, however--finding them online for less than an arm or a leg will never be as satisfying as stumbling across them in a used bin. And although a steep pricetag is not always an indication of scarcity, certain truly rare discs are seldom put up for sale. But here's a few I either have or want:

"Daughters Of Texas"--I found this Collectables label compilation in a cut-out bin at a Spec's (remember those?) back in 1994. It contains two early Janis Joplin recordings ("Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out" and "Walk Right In") unavailable elsewhere except for this 1970 flexidisc: http://vintagevinylrevival.com/records/janis_flexidisc/

Two Rolling Stones discs that are impossible to find are the "Hurricane" charity single and the 1991 "Jumpin' Jack Flash" (live "Flashpoint" version) single.

The Who issued a maxi-single for "Won't Get Fooled Again" back in 1988 or so. It apparently contained a live version of "Dancing In The Streets" that cannot be found elsewhere. This is a good example of a CD that I have no idea what it costs, as I have never seen a copy offered for sale.

Bruce Springsteen has issued a couple of CD's available only to people pledging large sums of cash to PBS.

The Smashing Pumpkins gave away a CD ("Live At Cabaret Metro 10-5-88") to fans attending their final show back in 2000. Copies that show up on Ebay typically sell for big bucks, but tougher to find is a 1995 French promo containing five live tracks from a radio broadcast.

I'm still trying to track down a copy of Britney's 3-track "If You Seek Amy" promo with the instrumental version and radio edit. Copies of her recalled "Radar" promo from last summer are easier to find, but have quite a steep price tag.

For nearly twenty years now, I've been searching for a MOFI gold cd of "River Deep, Mountain High".

There used to be a store in Harvard Square called Boston Compact Disc (BCD) that sold imports and domestic releases. I used to love driving into Cambridge a couple of times a month to check out what was new from all over the world. This would have been 87 or 88, before ICE, or at least before I discovered ICE, so I would constantly find surprises since I didn't really know what was due for release. Now, because of the Internet, you know well in advance when CDs are coming out and sometimes, like with Wilco's new album, you can even download CDs well before they are released. Like you Jimbo, I sometimes miss the thrill of surprise finds.

I go to enough Pawn shops & the like (to buy!), that I still occasionally get a cool find, but I agree that it's not like it used to be...............

Interesting thread. Sometimes it’s hard to even know what’s valuable if you’re not looking for it. For instance, I had no idea that all of One Way’s Little River Band reissues from the Shorrock and Farnham years were out of print and selling for $50-$100 until a few weeks ago. I have them all, along with Shorrock’s “Villain of the Peace” and the “Blazing Salads” collaboration, which are also fetching high prices. Same story with One Way’s Sheena Easton reissues (“Madness, Money & Music” seems to be the rarest) and many Kim Carnes items, Paul Carrack’s “Night Bird” and Pablo Cruise’s “Reflector.”

I was stunned to learn a few weeks ago that the Pointer Sisters’ “Energy” CD, which I picked up in Germany a few years ago, is practically impossible to find and selling for $300-$600 when one shows up (although that one’s sure to take a hit in value once the upcoming Wounded Bird reissue hits the streets). On the pricey guilty pleasures front, I have Pia Zadora’s “When the Lights Go Out,” and the Jermaine Jackson CD that has the Pia Z duet “When the Rain Begins to Fall.” Both those apparently are in the $100-$150 range these days.

As for “Holy Grail” CDs, I don’t have that many anymore. “No Night So Long” and “How Many Times Can We Say Goodbye” by Dionne Warwick are two that are at or near the top of the list, along with a few Diana Ross and Supremes CDs that I stupidly did not pick up when they were first released (“Sing Country, Western and Pop,” “We Remember Sam Cooke,” “Reflections,” the “Diana!” TV soundtrack, “Live at Caesar’s Palace” and maybe one or two others). Actually, CW&P and Reflections look to have fallen below $50 now, so that’s not too bad. Might have to pick those up now.

Another Grail disc for me is a various artists duets CD that came out in India in 2000 to aid the Bangladesh Flood Appeal called “Festival Of Lights” on the Reminiscent / Raag Records label. I’d be thrilled to have just one track from that one: a duet by Najma Akhtar and Martin Fry of ABC on a song called "East West." I’ve never seen that one for sale anywhere and searching for it is difficult because there are several VA Cristmas CDs by that title. (Damn you, Martin Fry, for mentioning its existence on your Web site.)

I don't have any holy grail cd's either; I have everything I've ever wanted musically in some form other then unreleased stuff I don't know about & a few recent releases I can't afford. The recent Fish/Marillion box is at the top of my list. I guess my holy grail has been & continues to be great sounding pressings of music I love. With the current trend for bright compression, maybe my holy grail is remastered cd's with NO compression!

Actually, one I just thought of is the 1st Mosaic Johnny Hodges box which only was released on vinyl. At one time it was offered to me for $50, like an idiot I didn't bite.......

"The Who issued a maxi-single for "Won't Get Fooled Again" back in 1988 or so. It apparently contained a live version of "Dancing In The Streets" that cannot be found elsewhere. This is a good example of a CD that I have no idea what it costs, as I have never seen a copy offered for sale."

That is the one thing I can't find either. All I really want is an mp3 of the live track at this point-- I've been looking for it since 1988, and never seen one, and I have tons of rare Who stuff, so all I really want is to hear the track. It's the only officially released Who track I've never heard.


Jeff

Valuing cd singles is weird these days. Many that used to sell for big $'s go for $5-$7 today; but there's always a few exceptions.

I have no "holy grail" CDs anymore. The internet took care of that.

I agree the thrill is gone at least out here on the Island. Looks like it soon will be over even in Manhattan too. Digging thru used CDs these days is a frustrating experience. 99% junk. Anything good has been picked clean and put up for auction.

Now's the time to stop worrying about the hunt and just sit back and enjoy the music either at home or on my brand new IPOD Touch (whatta machine).

My holy grail CD is the Who's Greatest Hits. I hope Pete Townshend gets off his ass to release them someday!

So true. The dearth of Who compilations is staggering!

That's all..........................?

I'm sure there's some LP and cassette compilations I missed, but there's a good cross section on CD right there.

I found the Ozzy comp "The Ten Commandments" from 1990 used for 6.99 in the late 90's. I had always been looking for it, because I never saw it after 1990. I later found out it was because it was only print for one month which is why it spent just 2 weeks on the Billboard charts.
I sold it on ebay for $92.00 around 1997 or so. Don't know what it goes for now.

I'd love to have a crack at the entire catalogs from One Way and Razor & Tie (not that I'd want everything, but would sure like to have had first right of refusal). Two dynamite reissue labels. I think Razor & Tie morphed into Kidz Bop and I don't know what became of One Way. R&T did great stuff with Michael Stanley, The Cowsills, Kim Carnes' Mistaken Identity, Andy Pratt. I wish I had had my eyes open a little more when both labels were around and their discs were more readily available.

I'll take advantage of Iconoclassic's work and hope they stay around. I like companies with lots of heart.

Actually, the only CD currently on my HTF want list is Jack Tempchin's Arista album (with Peaceful Easy Feeling). I'm confident that all the other "holy grails" (and I still do have a few) haven't been released yet on CD (Andy' Bown's "Gone To My Head," The Cretones "Thin Red Line," for example).