NMTB - green with envy

[Sid and Coke]

I'd love to be able to justify the cost of buying something like this
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=4840652261&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT

The trouble is I would simply just have to play it, i simply cannot own a record, however much I've paid for it and not play it. With something like this item though , that cellephane wrapper is all that is seperating it and the hundreds of other minters that i know are lurking around out there, but will go for much, much less just because of a peice of plastic a few microns thick.....

The devil and the deep blue sea....

 

[Paul R]

The matrix numbers should be 'V 2086' rather than 'VS2086' so colour me cynical.

Paul

 

[duncan]

I take it you've seen this GSTQ. Gulp.

 

[Paul R]

Of course he cannot know the matrix number since the record is 'new' and 'sealed'...

Paul

 

[dss]

Holy Shit Batman!

£12,600 + for a single - I must get my boxes of punk singles out of the cupboard!

DS

 

[Sir]

I'd love to be able to justify the cost of buying something like this
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=4840652261&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT

The trouble is I would simply just have to play it, i simply cannot own a record, however much I've paid for it and not play it. With something like this item though , that cellephane wrapper is all that is seperating it and the hundreds of other minters that i know are lurking around out there, but will go for much, much less just because of a peice of plastic a few microns thick.....

Hi Sid,
At the time of writing the sealed 11 track, plus single, plus poster 'NMTB' has reached £515, I don't know if you'd noticed that the seller of the A&M 'God Save The Queen' had recently sold an unsealed one and it reached £1097!

The sealed one has the first issue of the cover with the 11 track listing, the unsealed one has the second issue cover with the short lived 'blank back' which seems to be very desirable among collectors. The 'blank back' had the last of the 11 track LPs put into it (sometimes with all the other stuff) and also was used for the first of the 12 tracks before the 'correct' cover was finally produced.

I used to have a copy of the whole thing when I was young, so a few years ago I decided to buy it again. I found a German eBayer selling 'NMTB' by 'Sex Psitols' (note spelling) with a one line German description that translated - "11 track LP with poster". I put in a snipe maximum bid for €210 and was delighted when I only had to pay €40 including postage!

When the LP arrived it didn't have the single but the poster was immaculate, the matrixes on the LP were correct (A1 and B3), and it had the orange SPOTS001 (Sex Pistols On Tour Secretly!) sticker. Within a week I had won a copy of the one-sided VDJ24 'Submission' 7" for £15 and I now have the full set at a very cheap price!

However, I tend to use my Pink/Green American copy when I want to listen to it!

EDIT - Sid, do you know that the whole package has been reissued with some 'differences'?
Reissue NMTB

 

[Setting Son]

So what is the most that PFMers have paid for a record?

 

[Tony L]

The sealed one has the first issue of the cover with the 11 track listing, the unsealed one has the second issue cover with the short lived 'blank back' which seems to be very desirable among collectors. The 'blank back' had the last of the 11 track LPs put into it (sometimes with all the other stuff) and also was used for the first of the 12 tracks before the 'correct' cover was finally produced.

Mine’s the blank pink back 12 track and I’ve also got a promo stickered one-sided Submission, though the two shouldn’t really go together! How much are the blank-backs making now? I always thought it should be worth more than the £25 or so that RCRRPG values it at as I believe there were only 1500-2000 of them pressed.

Tony.

 

[Sir]

Hi Tony,
The Submission singles were released singly (!) as promos as well as being used to pad out the 11 track LP, the one I have has no indication of it being a 'promo', it is just a one sided single in a white paper bag.

One of the reasons that there are so many Virgin issues of the LP is because the French started importing it into the UK whilst the band and Virgin were deliberating on details. Virgin hurriedly put out the super-duper package with the SPOTS001 - UK Pressing sticker, and then spent the next few months correcting the tracklisting and artwork. Even into the 80's copies were being released with abandoned artwork on the back (e.g. the 'Belsen' backs which Jamie Reid used as an early mock-up for a proposed 'God Save The Sex Pistols' cover).

As to values, before 'Brighton2005' started selling his extensive collection I would have guessed the following values:
11 track NMTB with all the bits - £250 ish.
12 track blank back - £50 ish.
A&M GSTQ - £3000 ish.

But those values have just been blown out of the water, so your guess is as good as mine. Copies of 'Holidays ... ' with the withdrawn cover can be easily found for under £20, but 'Brighton2005' has just received £36 for one!

Record Collector used to be the only source for setting the price for a rare record, but in these eBay days 'the market' sets the price. Sometimes, you can get a bargain (if the seller can't spell!). Sometimes, over-eager muppets lose all sense and reason and the prices fly!

 

[Sid and Coke]

Hi Sid,

EDIT - Sid, do you know that the whole package has been reissued with some 'differences'?
Reissue NMTB

Hello Sir,

Sounds like you did good in getting hold of your original NMTB package- well done you !

NMTB is one of my all time favorite albums. Unfortunately all of the ones that i would dearly love to own are firmly in Short holiday or 'Mini break' territory in moneteray tems, maybe when my 3 chicks have flown the nest I'll treat myself , if nothing else I can be patient ( circa 20 years from first reading about and wanting an LP12 to actually buying one ! ).

I have owned quite a few copies of NMTB over the years most of them where foreign issues USA ( like yours) , German, Portuguese, Dutch. I currently have 3 copies of the album .

i) A crappy late 80's OVED 136 re-issue- looks and sounds crap, keep meaning to drop it off down the charity shop.
ii) A fairly early 1977 standard issue A5 B8 matrix, blue label , mint vinyl copy. I'd heard that the early issues sound best and so bought one to see.
iii) a late 21st (25th ??) Anniversary numbered edition on Bright Pink vinyl. It is a genuine Virgin UK item ( possibly made by EMI ??)

The Pink Vinyl one is my fave, it is a minter (vinyl) and sounds fantastic to my ears, the bonus being that it looks good too. It was one of my most exensive records to date @ £36 , (after a £10 refund for a slightly creased cover, don't ask - don't get )

There seem to be a rash of pirate, bootleg and other similar items for sale these days , many of them have a facsimilie of the orignal poster and single etc , but they are not the real deal.

Weird jealous creatures us humans, I bet even the earliest cave dwellers used to bash each other over the head to steal anothers shiny pebble....

Sex Pistols - Never Mind The Bollocks there are many out there like it, but this one is all mine

PS
I've been monitoring many of Brighton2005's e-bay sales he had some great items, a trully dedicated collector. Better to have owned, loved and sold than never have owned at all says I . The lucky bugger.

 

[Tony L]

The Submission singles were released singly (!) as promos as well as being used to pad out the 11 track LP, the one I have has no indication of it being a 'promo', it is just a one sided single in a white paper bag.

Mine has a white rectangular ‘For promotional use only’ sticker on the blank / white label side and is in a stock white paper bag.

One of the reasons that there are so many Virgin issues of the LP is because the French started importing it into the UK whilst the band and Virgin were deliberating on details.

I was under the impression that the blank-backs were done so as not to offend the sensibilities of certain high St chains like W H Smiths by making them display the track list. Dunno if there is any truth in this, but I remember someone mentioning it.

i) A fairly early 1977 standard issue A5 B8 matrix, blue label , mint vinyl copy.

Same matrixes to my blank-back - mine sounds great but only grades at about VG+ as it has a couple of those concentric rings that I think come from dropping a record on a shitty autochanger with a ribbed hard plastic platter (e.g. BSR). Cover is mint, as is the Submission - I'd like to find a mint LP to cut and shut at some point.

Tony.

 

[Sir]

I was under the impression that the blank-backs were done so as not to offend the sensibilities of certain high St chains like W H Smiths by making them display the track list. Dunno if there is any truth in this, but I remember someone mentioning it.
Tony.

Hmmm,
If I remember correctly the likes of WH Smiths and Boots refused to stock the album! I'd have imagined that if any part of the cover was changed to suit them it would have been the front, as that has ruder words than any on the back!
I'd always believed that the blank-backs were released as a stop gap between the 11-track cover (which was incorrect for the 12-track LPs) and a 'correct' cover. Talking of which, Sid what's on the back of your '77 release?

And if you haven't seen it do get hold of a DVD of 'Classic Albums - NMTBHTSP', an absolute classic. Apart from a bit of poncy Malcy it is superb, especially one of the bonuses - 'Play in a day the Steve Jones way'!

 

[Sid and Coke]

Just looked at Brightons current e-bay sales.
Pretty Vacant i rember buying my first one, it had a proper shiney card cover, not like the matt paper ones.
That Guitar intro must be one of the most unmistakable and brilliant starts to a record ever, it sounds so simple too. I've often thought that they should have made a 12" Version though and extended the intro. Start off off with that solitary guitar but let it run a few bars longer, then pull the Bass in, and only once the Bassist has throbbed our ears out let the drums EXPLODE !

22:57, looks like its gonna have to be on headphones ....

 

[Sid and Coke]

Talking of which, Sid what's on the back of your '77 release?

And if you haven't seen it do get hold of a DVD of 'Classic Albums - NMTBHTSP', an absolute classic. Apart from a bit of poncy Malcy it is superb, especially one of the bonuses - 'Play in a day the Steve Jones way'!

I'll be honest with you I'd not actually looked ! until now. Mine has got 11 tracks on the back, Submission isn't listed, but it is on the actual record. The actual condition (and colour ) of a record Vinyl is always my primary concern. Sure i like to have a reasonable cover to look at whilst listening, but I can live with creases, writing, small rips and tears if the Vinyl is a minter, a damaged cover is merely a bargaining tool to drive the price down for me. I've never got a huge amount of disposable income to spend on records each month, so those that i do buy have got to perform....

P.S.
I think that this is a pretty good Pistols website:
http://www.sex-pistols.net/main.html

 

[Sir]

Yup, that is an excellent site, and they have updated their NMTB history since I last looked at it!

It seems like that there were originally 1000 11-track 'blank backs' (with different printing of the front cover and A1/B1 or A3/B3 matrices), then the poster/single releases including some more accidental blank backs (slightly different to the first ones), then some more chaos ...

The depth of detail and their research is hard to argue with, it is obvious that a legion of collectors have contributed to get to 'the truth'.

I had agreed with the theory (and pictures) of the perfectly named 'Anoraky In The UK' site, but that is clearly a little simplistic as it merely lists three different 1977 versions of the album!

A good site is 'Summer Of Hate', this has yet another theory and a bit about the shop display court case where John Mortimer Q.C. proved that the word Bollocks is not indecent.

Another good, but messy site:
Noddy Needs.

As a teenager I used to have a nice set of promotional posters (from GSTQ to C'mon Everybody) which I sold or swapped, when I see these on eBay I shudder. Whatever profit I could make on my rare LP would be totally eclipsed by the prices those things fetch nowadays! The Sex Pistols stuff I didn't sell:
Heyday (interview cassette on Factory Records)
Biggest Blow 12" (with interview)
Anarchy 7" (on EMI with the black bag and Chris Thomas credits)
No Future LP (the very early bootleg with the folded card cover)
All the Virgin singles with covers, and a bad copy of the A&M single!


Finally:
The S.P.O.T.S Tour:
19.8.77 Lafayette Club, Wolverhampton - "S.P.O.T.S" (Sex Pistols On Tour Secretly)
24.8.77 Outlook Club, Doncaster - "Tax Exiles"
25.8.77 Penthouse, Scarborough - "Special Guest"
26.8.77 Rock Garden, Middlesborough - "Acne Rabble"
31.8.77 Woods Centre, Plymouth - "The Hamsters"
1.9.77 Winter Gardens, Penzance - "A Mystery Band of International Repute"