Rare, Rarest and Most Expensive VU items

[logic]

I do have a postcard witch can be played on my turntable.
but i have never seen it again.
Made an entry for it on discogs. http://www.discogs.com/Velvet-Undergrou ... se/4172957
I know for shure there are more postcards, because i do have more in my collection. (with different VU songs)
But howmany are there?

[leamanc]

I am so very excited that I just won this eBay auction, as I've been dreaming of adding it to my collection forever: http://www.ebay.com/itm/121068047683?ss ... 1497.l2649

It's the original UK pressing of the 3rd album. Only 500 to 600 copies were pressed at the time, it represents the first appearance of the Valentin mix (and the ONLY Valentin mix until the 1985 USA reissues), and the back cover is split horizontally instead of vertically, as on every other release.

So rare, and I've been wanting one forever. I would have given a lot more than the $230 it cost me with shipping.

I'll post some pix once I actually receive it, as the eBay pix will expire within 90 days, if not sooner.

[iaredatsun]

I am so very excited that I just won this eBay auction, as I've been dreaming of adding it to my collection forever: http://www.ebay.com/itm/121068047683?ss ... 1497.l2649

It's the original UK pressing of the 3rd album. Only 500 to 600 copies were pressed at the time, it represents the first appearance of the Valentin mix (and the ONLY Valentin mix until the 1985 USA reissues), and the back cover is split horizontally instead of vertically, as on every other release.

So rare, and I've been wanting one forever. I would have given a lot more than the $230 it cost me with shipping.

I'll post some pix once I actually receive it, as the eBay pix will expire within 90 days, if not sooner.

Nice buy and the listing says NM.

(My friend in N London bought this version when it first came out. I was excited to see it but later discovered that he had worn out all copies of his original VU LPs and replaced the vinyl inside the original sleeves.)

[bradski]

^
"psych prog masterpiece"

[MJG196]

^
"psych prog masterpiece"

What's so funny? I can't believe the seller would put something so stupid. It actually ANGERS me he didn't label it a "Baroque Heavy Metal magnum opus!"

[Supafly]

I am so very excited that I just won this eBay auction, as I've been dreaming of adding it to my collection forever: http://www.ebay.com/itm/121068047683?ss ... 1497.l2649

It's the original UK pressing of the 3rd album. Only 500 to 600 copies were pressed at the time, it represents the first appearance of the Valentin mix (and the ONLY Valentin mix until the 1985 USA reissues), and the back cover is split horizontally instead of vertically, as on every other release.

So rare, and I've been wanting one forever. I would have given a lot more than the $230 it cost me with shipping.

I'll post some pix once I actually receive it, as the eBay pix will expire within 90 days, if not sooner.

Very cool I want one!

Not to take away but i was under the impression that there were some Valentin mixes release in the US after the Closet mix. I thought this deadwax would be the Valentin mix because it says final at the end. At least that is what someone told me

http://www.discogs.com/Velvet-Undergrou ... se/2953978

[leamanc]

Not to take away but i was under the impression that there were some Valentin mixes release in the US after the Closet mix. I thought this deadwax would be the Valentin mix because it says final at the end. At least that is what someone told me

http://www.discogs.com/Velvet-Undergrou ... se/2953978

I also used to think that the Valentin Mix was issued in the USA, in later 1969 pressings after the Closet Mix versions went out. But my own exhaustive research has shown that the only Valentin Mix to be see the light of day before the 1985 reissues was this very small run in the UK in '69. (The 3rd album is my personal favorite, so I've learned all I can about it.)

Here's a few reasons why I'm convinced of this now:

First and foremost, I have that pressing you linked to at Discogs. It's the Closet Mix.

Second, the discographies at Olivier's website show that the Closet Mix was the dominant release, other than the 1969 UK pressing (Olivier lists it as a "mistake" of MGM in the USA sending the wrong masters over to the UK).

Third, I have bought quite a few VU records from Alan at Desertshore Records in LA. Alan is a long-time Velvets die-hard, and he backs all this up. He said the first time he heard the Valentin Mix was in 1981, which was when he first acquired a UK '69 copy. He was quite shocked at what he heard, as it was not well-known that two mixes existed at that time. He assured me that the first USA release of the Valentin Mix was the 1985 reissue, after we had a long conversation on the topic.

I'm 39 now, and first got into the Velvets in the early 1990s. Given the widespread availability of the Valentin Mix at that time and since then, with the Closet Mix only available on the PSAS box set, I basically grew up thinking that the Valentin Mix was the "official" version and that the Closet Mix was this weird "alternate version". But now it seems to me that if you were a fan from the early days, you'd know the Closet Mix as the "original" or "official" version.

[leamanc]

So, I finally got the original UK press of the 3rd album in today. Seems like it takes the longest to ship from Spain to the USA out of all the European countries...I bought the thing back on February 24.

I tried taking some pictures but will have to wait until daylight tomorrow. I get terrible flash glare on that glossy, black cover. And trying to hold still long enough to expose it long enough without flash isn't working out.

The cover grades at about VG, VG+, but it's safe to say the vinyl is NM. Very, very nice.

In listening to it, it's clear that the 1985 and 1996 reissues of the Valentin Mix were both remixes and remasters (at least the 1985 version was a remix; the 1996 CD is probably just a remaster). Bass is very heavy compared to the other Valentin pressings and it's not as "clean" sounding, either. I know there was some controversy in 1985 that VU used contemporary (for the time, mid-1980s) mixing techniques, and I'd say they did the same when they remixed the 3rd album. The differences are subtle, but this mix definitely sounds more from the late 1960s than the 1985 and 1996 Valentin mixes. I was always amazed at how "modern" the Valentin mix sounded in comparison to the Closet Mix, but now I guess that's because the version I was used to was mixed and mastered with more modern techniques.

It's great to have it in the collection for its rarity, and because I love the 3rd album quite a bit, but I have to say my favorite Valentin Mix in my collection is the 1985 vinyl pressing. As always, the differences are subtle, but I think that version has a nice sound in comparison to my other Valentins (which would be the original USA CD release, the 1996 CD,the 2000 'replica' vinyl pressing, and the Japanese SHMCD...and oh yeah, that HDTracks FLAC download I got a few weeks ago).

Pictures to come over the weekend!

[iaredatsun]

In listening to it, it's clear that the 1985 and 1996 reissues of the Valentin Mix were both remixes and remasters (at least the 1985 version was a remix; the 1996 CD is probably just a remaster). Bass is very heavy compared to the other Valentin pressings and it's not as "clean" sounding, either. I know there was some controversy in 1985 that VU used contemporary (for the time, mid-1980s) mixing techniques, and I'd say they did the same when they remixed the 3rd album. The differences are subtle, but this mix definitely sounds more from the late 1960s than the 1985 and 1996 Valentin mixes. I was always amazed at how "modern" the Valentin mix sounded in comparison to the Closet Mix, but now I guess that's because the version I was used to was mixed and mastered with more modern techniques.

Leamanc, you think they remixed the 3rd LP in 1985? That's the first time I've heard anyone suggest that. I'll have to go back and listen again but it sounds unlikely that they'd go to the expense and trouble of a remix for that boxset, if that's the source of your copy. Could be they just sourced it from somewhere else. Aren't some of those '85 masters German, or did I imagine that?

It's worth keeping in mind how much the sound of a recording can be changed during mastering to disk. A case in point is the MFSL mastering of Beck's Sea Change compared to the original 2002 Geffen version mastered by Bob Ludwig ? like listening to chalk and cheese.

[alfredovu]

A hell of a price for this Mint 3rd Album USA original Issue! ...$676.00

http://www.ebay.com/itm/300881485932?ss ... 1423.l2649