Rare pressings of records by The Cure, Genesis, Mike Oldfield, the Spice Girls, Eric Clapton, Cream, The Who, and Paul Weller will be part of the White Label Auction, which returns on June 7 in aid of The BRIT Trust. A total of 170 lots of highly collectible test pressings will go under the hammer.
The event was first staged in October 2019 as part of National Album Day, and again in 2021. It will be hosted live for UK and international collectors by the music memorabilia and vinyl specialists Omega Auctions. The auction will take place in person and be broadcast online from their base in Newton-Le-Willows in Greater Manchester.
Net profits from the auction will support the work of the BRIT Trust, which raises and distributes money for charities harnessing the power of music and the creative arts, including the BRIT School and Nordoff-Robbins music therapy. The 2019 and 2021 auctions have raised nearly £60,000 for the BRIT Trust.
The rarities for the upcoming event were gathered by such major and independent labels as Universal Music UK/UMC (including A&M, Chess, Island Records, Motown, Polydor and Virgin), Sony Music Entertainment UK, Warner Records, Cherry Red, Cooking Vinyl, and Domino Records. Some of the white labels are signed and/or annotated by the artists, such as Robert Smith’s penmanship on The Cure’s Acoustic Hits, Disintegration, Pornography, Seventeen Seconds, and The Head On The Door; Dio’s Holy Diver, Magazine’s The Correct Use of Soap (by Howard Devoto), and OMD’s Souvenir and OMD by Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys.
There are also releases by Tears For Fears, Thin Lizzy, the Cranberries, the Moody Blues, The Police, Rory Gallagher, Roxy Music, Simple Minds, and Sparks, while all three Spice Girls albums are included. Fans of John Martyn, Ocean Colour Scene, T. Rex, and not only Paul Weller solo but The Jam and the Style Council, will be tempted by their collectible entries. Other modern bands and artists represented include Anne Marie, Biffy Clyro, Charli XCX, Coldplay, Joel Corry, Muse, and Royal Blood. Punk and new wave discs include those by the Buzzcocks, Magazine, the Ruts, the Skids, and the Specials, and there’s the rock and metal of Iron Maiden, Def Leppard and others. Other genres in the auction include reggae, Northern Soul and soundtrack releases.
The auction concept was devised by Johnny Chandler, A&R Director at UMC, Universal Music UK, who says: “Interest in the auction has grown markedly over the past two successful editions, and this year we have even more rare test pressings to tempt bidders, including for the first time 7” singles, which we hope will help us set a new record for the amount we raise in aid of The BRIT Trust. Huge thanks must go to all the artists and artist management teams, the record labels and colleagues who’ve dug deep again this year and donated so generously with highly collectible recordings drawn from all eras and genres of music.”
‘A perfect time’
Dan Hampson, Auction Manager Omega Auctions, adds: “We’re very pleased to once again be working alongside The BRIT Trust, Universal Music, Warners, Sony, Cherry Red, Cooking Vinyl and all the other record labels and the BPI on what has proven to be a very popular auction amongst our buyers. We’ve seen a sustained rise in prices paid for both vinyl and music memorabilia in the last few years which shows no sign of slowing down so this sale comes along at a perfect time for us.
“The fact that the items come directly from the label, the scarcity of the white labels and also that many of the records are signed has meant that we’ve seen some fantastic prices achieved in 2019 and in 2021 and we certainly expect to see the total raised for charity to be a record this year.”
Read the full details of the White Label Auction 2022.
