Beatles 78 rpm record

[kuruvilajacob]

Ever since I started my collection of records, many of my friends have been asking me , whether I have Beatles 78 rpm records in my collection. I have never seen one in real life. I used to look for them whenever I come across 78 rpms for sale but never been lucky.So when someone told me they wanted to sell some old 78 rpm records, I never thought I would find one. I found a Hard days night 78 rpm in the lot. I was so thrilled.I understand that only limited number of these were made in India and so are quite rare. I wonder if any FM member has seen or owns Beatles 78 rpms.

 

[Vinod.R]

Welcome back Kuruvilajacob sir,

Onam greetings and no, I have not seen a 78 rpm record of beetles even though I have another of beatles in 33.

 

[kuruvilajacob]

Onam greetings to you and to all. I am now the Bursar of a very large school and don't get too much time for my hobby. But getting a Beatles 78 rpm to me was more valuable than many other vintage gear, I thought I must post

 

[Naturelover]

A visit to Google threw up some interesting results.
One available on eBay India. $2,999
Some available on eBay.
Some can be seen at Shah Music Centre, Delhi

 

[kuruvilajacob]

Yes. They appear to be rare. The guy who showed me the record told me there are more 78 rpm records. I am hoping that there may be more Beatles in the next lot. I believe production of Shellac records was discontinued in the UK in the early 60's and shifted to few countries including India.. Beatles being very popular those days were made only in these few countries outside UK. Being breakable, many of these may not be available in good condition. That may be the reason for it being in the rare catagory. Uf

 

[Naturelover]

These might help. Though, you would probably have seen them.

The Beatles Indian 78 RPM/Parlophone label
Reference Library - Beatles 78 RPM Records - Internet Beatles Album
https://www.flickr.com/photos/khiltscher/sets/72157624267902880/

 

[G401fan]

I have one of the Beatles 78s: I should have known better/I'm happy just to dance with you (DPE 168) that I was lucky to find in a pile of old records at a raddiwallah. Got it for a song.

Some years back, my record dealer called me to say that he'd bought a bunch of 78s from someone's home, and that it contained 6 Beatles 78s. By the time I rushed to his place, he'd already sold them off to another dealer for Rs.10K each. Found out later that that chappie got a foreigner customer for Rs.25K each. These days, they typically sell in Bombay for 40K+, but are very hard to come by. Sightings are like UFOs - few and unconfirmed.

Most countries stopped production of 78s by 1959-60. India continued till about 1966, tho' there are rumours of Beatles titles till '68. Besides India, Venezuela and Philippines also released Beatles 78s, but the titles (and numbers) in those countries were much fewer, and almost impossible to find today. Which is why the traction in Beatles 78s is largely restricted to the Indian titles. Typical prices on eBay these days is $500+, irrespective of condition.

One possibility remains: there ought to have been other pop/rock acts of the early 60s that were also issued in India on 78. You do see plenty of Cliff Richard titles - I have a few - but what about the Rolling Stones, The Who, Hollies, etc, that were released contemporaneously on 45s? Any sightings? I once spotted a Beach Boys Indian 78 on eBay. Many of these might prove to be almost as valuable as the Beatles 78s, especially for the period '64 to '66.

 

[kuruvilajacob]

I have a friend in Kottayam who has two bought new years from one of the few shops which were selling records in the 70's. Many people should be owning these records but unaware of their value today

 

[smedhavi]

Just curious, they are surely rare collectible items, but do you also find 78RPMs sounding better than 33RPM? 45RPMs surely do, but I found the 78RPMs to be a bit screechy sounding. Looking forward to knowing your assessment.

 

[kuruvilajacob]

Just curious, they are surely rare collectible items, but do you also find 78RPMs sounding better than 33RPM? 45RPMs surely do, but I found the 78RPMs to be a bit screechy sounding. Looking forward to knowing your assessment.

If a good quality 78 rpm record is played on a ceramic cartridge with a matching system made in the 60's and early 70's, they can sound very clean and engaging. There are also old heavy arms with special preamp built in. Companies like Goldring used to make them. These can make 78 rpm sound amazing. Difficult to get these kind now. Even a Shure cartridge for 78 rpm with wider needle and played through proper mono equalised system can sound good

 

[shafic]

I have few 78 rpm records. I feel they give more transparent sound.

Recently I have found the following person's youtube link when I was searching Billy voughn's songs.
He has a huge collection of rare 78 rpm records and many vintage systems.


Here is the link.


Orchestra music (COME SEPTEMBER): http://youtu.be/MProoZ-HQjU

https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=MProoZ-HQjU

Regds,
Shafic

 

[kuruvilajacob]

There is an old gentleman by name Koya in Calicut who is an old valve radio mechanic and a collector of anything Mohd Rafi. He is a living legend on repairing old 78 rpm record players and has deep knowledge of how to reproduce sound from 78 rpm records. I have a Garrard SP 35 record player which needs repair of built in pre stage in the arm. He says, once repaired, it will sound amazing.

 

[vmscbe1974]

I have one beatles record in 78 rpm in mint condition gifted to me by my Cousins father.
Regards
Srinivasan.M

 

[hildebrand]

Wow. Beatles 78s are really rare. A friend bought one in a Kolkata street which turned out to be fake! Record was different but label was Beatles! So beware! Some people will pay 1 lakh for the real thing.

 

[tek]

Congrats on the find!! You can also check out Steven Hoffman forums there's a lot of Beatles fans there and they have discussed the 78s before. I too keep looking for them whenever I stumble across a pile of 78s but no luck so far. But I still keep looking.

Few years ago a chor bazaar dealer tried to sell me a Beatles 78 for 1 lakh! Needless to say I laughed and walked off!

 

[kuruvilajacob]

I have a few offers by dealers for my Beatles 78 rpm. I know how rare it is . So I have decided to keep it as part of my rare record collections.

 

[Dude111]

Ever since I started my collection of records, many of my friends have been asking me , whether I have Beatles 78 rpm records in my collection. I have never seen one in real life. I used to look for them whenever I come across 78 rpms for sale but never been lucky.So when someone told me they wanted to sell some old 78 rpm records, I never thought I would find one. I found a Hard days night 78 rpm in the lot.

Very kewl!!!!!!!

I would LOVE finding a beatles 78!! (I love all my 78s like crazy)


CONGRATS!!