Nearly 600 lots, including thousands of vinyl LPs, will go under the hammer at Omega Auctions on 4 and 5 June 2024 after pre-bidding.
Lots with the highest estimated bids include the UK first pressing of Led Zeppelin’s debut album, ‘I’: printed with turquoise lettering on the cover, the issue was withdrawn and the cover reprinted with orange text.
“I didn’t have a copy of LZ at the time and had no clue about the colours on the cover. It was ten pounds and the man reiterated the price to me before putting it in a bag. It was ten times dearer than anything else in his racks,” an attached note from Baker reads.
Baker’s notes also reveal the history behind a Led Zeppelin box set signed by the band at the Q Awards in 1992, during the band’s first public appearance together for years.
“Nobody thought they’d show up but they did in the ceremony interval. I’d had a few beers by then and so ran to nearby Tower Records and bought two copies of the box set and legged it back,” he wrote.
“I knew it wasn’t cool to ask for autographs at such a gathering but couldn’t care less.
“Standing among the throng I was waiting for my chance when Robert Plant saw me and asked me to sit down. This is true. He is a huge football fan and was an avid listener to the football phone-in [show] I had just quit called ‘606’.
“He wanted to talk to me about Wolves. I sat between him and John Paul Jones and babbled away about poor referees. He even introduced me to the other band members but I suspect they were baffled.”
Thousands more records will likewise be sold, alongside printed rarities such as an original call sheet for The Beatles’ 1964 film, A Hard Day’s Night, and an extremely rare 15x20’’ poster from T. Rex’s first headline show in 1968, printed at the now defunct Ranelagh Press in Hampstead.
Dan Muscatelli-Hampson, auction manager at Omega Auctions, told Printweek: “We’ve seen unprecedented interest, with lots of pre-bidding coming earlier than we would normally.
“Some lots are already in excess of their projected estimate, and there are thousands of people looking at the catalogue every day.
“It’s rare to see so many of these really collectible records that have been kept very well indeed – when you see them in that kind of condition, it makes a real difference.”
