Richard Carpenter's "TIME" Sells BIG!

[Chris May]

I have been following this one pretty close this past week, as Richard Carpenter's "TIME" album [sealed] on CD sold for $405.00 on eBay yesterday:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=307&item=4724894236&rd=1

Guess this one is turning into quite the collector's album as well! -Chris

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

Thanks for posting this Chris, I would have never known this, wow that is alot of money. I have the CD which I remember buying when it first was released. I have the LP too.

...who is quite suprised this sold for so much...

 

[Mike Blakesley]

It's a nice album, but that's just craaaaaaazy.

 

[andywithaz]

I have a sealed LP I paid about $25 for on eBay about 9 months ago. Wonder if its worth anything?

 

[CarpentersToYou]

I imagine it is, Andrew! LOL

 

[Mike Blakesley]

It's worth whatever you would part with it for...if you can find someone to pay that much!

 

[Chris May]

Amazingly enough, this is very close to what the "OFFERING" LP cover sold for [sealed] on eBay last week; A whopping $480!

I managed to obtain a sealed copy of the "TIME" LP a couple of years ago for somewhere around $60 or $70 (I think), and a sealed copy of the CD for around $50. -Chris

 

[Vinylalbumcovers]

I got my sealed "Time" LP about 6 years or so ago for about 10 bucks. According to Whitburn's guide, it isn't worth more than that - even in SS or still sealed condition.

Ed

 

[Chris May]

I got my sealed "Time" LP about 6 years or so ago for about 10 bucks. According to Whitburn's guide, it isn't worth more than that - even in SS or still sealed condition.

If I'm not mistaken, didn't "TIME" only sell somewhere in the ballpark of 20,000 copies initially? I know it wasn't that big of a seller. I think there were some great songs on there, great production and guest artists not to mention Richard's vocal overdubbing. The only think that I didn't care for was the "dated-ness" of it, particularly with the DX-7 keyboard(s). -Chris

 

[Vinylalbumcovers]

Yeah, it was just slightly less than that, Chris. The record bombed horribly, to be sure. What determines the "going rate" for a record is how many of them were made. Since Richard's record was issued on a major label, many of them were pressed and it's pretty easy to find.

I'm sure the only thing that drug this one up is the fact that it's a Japanese import. Even at that, it's still ridiculously high.

Ed

 

[Harry]

I bought the CD the moment I saw it in the stores, not even realizing that it had come out. That was back in the pre-internet days when you either had to subscribe to magazines or bug the heck out of record stores to find out about the more esoteric releases.

After our radio station tried to give it a bit of a boost by playing "Something In Your Eyes," I found a couple of throw-away copies of the LP that now reside in my collection.

Harry
...getting back into the swing of things, online...

 

[goodjeans]

I like this album very much. I heard "Something In Your Eyes" quite a bit on the radio. I bought it upon it's release and upgraded to CD several years ago. The last track entitled (hmmm) "I'm Still Not Over You" or something to that effect is very powerful and well done in my opinion. I don't think I am alone in wishing that Karen had sung "Something In..." with no offense at all to Dusty Springfield. [/b]

 

[Daniel Perales]

I like this album very much. I heard "Something In Your Eyes" quite a bit on the radio. I bought it upon it's release and upgraded to CD several years ago. The last track entitled (hmmm) "I'm Still Not Over You" or something to that effect is very powerful and well done in my opinion. I don't think I am alone in wishing that Karen had sung "Something In..." with no offense at all to Dusty Springfield. [/b]

I love this album, too. When I first heard "Something In Your Eyes" way back in the 80's, on a "light-music" FM station here in NYC, I didn't know that it was from Richard at first, but I said like "WOW, that sure sounds like a Carpenter's tune. I waited until the D.J. finally anounced the name of the song and by who. I remember him saying like "A new one by Richard Carpenter with Dusty Springfield". I immediately rushed out and started to hit every record store that I know, trying to find this album, but no one had it.

It taken me more than a month to find it, and sadly, I never seen it in stock in any other stores. And also by then, that radio station has stopped playing it. That's why I feel to this day that the album failed because A&M Records has never even bothered to promote it, so there were only a handful of people who knew of it's release.


Danny

 

[Daniel Perales]

I have been following this one pretty close this past week, as Richard Carpenter's "TIME" album [sealed] on CD sold for $405.00 on eBay yesterday:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=307&item=4724894236&rd=1

Guess this one is turning into quite the collector's album as well! -Chris

MAN. I wonder if I have to pay that much to get that Veronique CD that Richard produced (the only CD that I don't own and couldn't find it anywhere at all).

Danny

 

[newvillefan]

An old thread but I'm celebrating the arrival of my mint copy of Richard Carpenter's 'Time' today. Cost me $12 on ebay. I was amazed how beautiful the artwork was when I pulled it out of the packaging. Looks brand new and the vinyl is also mint condition. Next item to go up on my wall framed

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

An old thread but I'm celebrating the arrival of my mint copy of Richard Carpenter's 'Time' today. Cost me $12 on ebay. I was amazed how beautiful the artwork was when I pulled it out of the packaging. Looks brand new and the vinyl is also mint condition. Next item to go up on my wall framed

Stephen I noticed you have been collecting vinyl lately, got a new turntable to play these vinyl's or this for artwork deco only. My inquiring mind wants to know.

I agree though that the large vinyl cover front and back for "Time" is pretty cool. I have a promo copy (which I think was common then) and it still has the round red promo sticker on the front. It's cool how they used his name on the front to look like a chrome bumper.

 

[newvillefan]

Stephen I noticed you have been collecting vinyl lately, got a new turntable to play these vinyl's or this for artwork deco only. My inquiring mind wants to know.

Most astute Chris

You've actually raised a question I wanted to bring to this forum until you beat me to it. I don't have a turntable to play these vinyls, they were for framing only, but the more I buy, the more I am seriously considering investing in one. If I was to buy one, are there any particular makes or models you guys would recommend me to look out for? I'd be looking for something mid-line, nothing into the thousands of dollars but which - combined with the right set of headphones - would be worth considering. I read just today vinyl is on the up and up again for new releases and collecting LPs is how I got into music collecting as a teenager. Any ideas you audiophiles out there?

 

[A&M Retro]

I remember buying the CD and LP on the day 'Time' was released, which, of course, I opened and played. I also found a sealed cassette recently, which I didn't open, so I'm happy about that.

 

[Chris May]

It's funny - member A&M Retro "liked" this post today from years ago. I remember telling Richard about this when the album sold, and he was pleasantly shocked! I guess it was a boost to his ego considering how few units the record sold at the time of its initial release.

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

I was in your same position when I started collecting LP's again, I had all my old Lp's from a teenager but didn't have a player anymore. As a teenager I had this awesome technics turntable that was part of this cabinet that had a technics stereo and cassette player, the speakers were huge about the same size as the cabinet itself but it sounded amazing. So I knew the name technics growing up.

When I started collecting all over again as an adult I was on the search again for a turntable and I found one at a local record shop, he had a couple in the back of the store and he put new cartridges in them and told me they worked fine, one of them was a Technics and it looks so familiar to what I had growing up so I bought it from him, I think it was about $175.00 or $200.00 because he said it was in great condition and he put a new needle on. I have had it ever since and it's been working great, I've had it for a long time now I want to say at least 10 yrs. It's a Technics Quartz Direct Drive SL-Q350, it came with a cover and has this cool light in the back that shines over the LP as it's playing.

Here is one on ebay same one except this one doesn't have a cover.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Tec...319?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4d2d756dbf

I don't know much about turntables so Harry and Rudy are the best ones to ask. Mine came with a Technics cartridge (the needle) and it was ok but in the past few years or so I wanted to get a better cartridge so I asked here on the forum and Rudy or someone recommended a Ortofon 320 cartridge and it fit perfectly and boy let me tell you the difference was tremendous and it made all my records sounds much better. I wasn't expecting the cartridge to make that much of a difference but it really did. It was a great investment to get that cartridge.

 

[Mike Blakesley]

A good cartridge can indeed make all the difference. Also replacing the stylus (needle) in a timely manner is very important too.

The cover art for Time was mentioned above. I would have to say I like this album cover better than any of the Carpenters album covers, with the exception of Horizon.

 

[mr J.]

I have been following this one pretty close this past week, as Richard Carpenter's "TIME" album [sealed] on CD sold for $405.00 on eBay yesterday:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=307&item=4724894236&rd=1

Guess this one is turning into quite the collector's album as well! -Chris

Time has been out-of-print for 23 years(1992)-it's basically a rare item at this point(noted that this thread is 10 years old).If somebody really wants it,and they have the money-they're going to pay the top dollar for it.

If someone was just looking for "Something In Your Eyes",you could get that on Dusty Springfield's "Ultimate Collection" for $10.

 

[davidgra]

Time is actually not out-of-print. It is available as a digital download from both iTunes and Amazon, which makes it (technically) in-print. Yes, it's a different format, but the record company is currently making it available for purchase by the public. You can argue the merits of one format over another (I'm no fan of compressed digital downloads, personally), but the music is available for purchase and that makes it in-print.

Like A&M Retro, I bought both the CD and the LP on the same day -- and it was the first time that had ever happened for me. Back in the early days of CDs, there was usually a lag of a month or two between the LP release and the CD release, due to the shortage of CD manufacturing plants and the backlogs therein. By 1987, I was trying to only buy CDs of any new releases, but sometimes I couldn't wait for the CD release and had to get the LP first. Time was such a big deal for me, though, that I bought both.

One final minor issue. Let's not call them "vinyls." I cringe when people use that term. Records, LPs, albums -- these terms are fine. "Vinyls" is just wrong...

 

[Rumbahbah]

Although it's out of print, CD copies of Time turn up on eBay quite frequently and often sell in the $15-25 bracket, so it's not particularly hard to find, although Japanese copies (as ever) tend to go for a bit more. I got it on there about seven years ago for $10.

 

[newvillefan]

It's cool how they used his name on the front to look like a chrome bumper.

I never realised that until now Chris! Good spot

I have a promo copy (which I think was common then) and it still has the round red promo sticker on the front.

One of these stickers Chris?

It's interesting how they used the photo again for the 'Something In Your Eyes' single in Japan.