I've started my own vinyl collection again in my 50's. I enjoy searching for them and there's something nostalgic about holding, and actually listening to a full LP the way it sounds, and the way it was intended to be heard and experienced by the artists, to take you to another place, or places. As opposed to only hearing occasional random popular tracks on playlists, streamed on your phone and such. A lot of my favorite artist's best tracks were never popular "hits".

One of the hottest 80s albums now is Tracy Chapman’s 1st album with Fast Car on it. It’s never been reissued & sounds AMAZING! - Russ

What's crazy is that those albums were pressed millions upon millions of times. I mean they all didn't end up in a landfill.

I think one of the main reasons these records have gone up in value is because a lot of the music you showed still continues to stay popular with younger generations. I have a lot of friends (early 20s-early 30s) that love George Michael, Kate Bush, the John Hughes soundtrack films, Duran Duran, Prince, The Smiths, and New Order. I was introduced to these artists as a kid thanks to the various 70s, 80s, and 90s radio stations in my state. My friends always seem to be interested to hear it on vinyl when they visit my place. These records are so beloved and well-made pop albums that hits home with a lot of younger people like me. Thankfully, I have a lot of the original copies of albums you showed and I've never paid nearly as much as the prices you mentioned.

Great topic. Inxs is another example

Excellent topic! Tom Petty LPs used to be cheap and plentiful in all of the used record stores that I shopped at; shortly after his death, the prices started to go up and the records became scarce. I think that is definitely a factor - the artist passes away. Another possible factor is the ongoing '80s nostalgia prevalent among younger generations, sparked by TV shows like the 1 you mentioned. I would also add that "License To Ill" has been an expensive LP ever since the '90s, and I think that's because cassettes were the dominant format in the '80s; LPs didn't sell as much and are much less common now (definitely true with '80s metal).

Great topic Robert! I've noticed the same for quite some time. All those lp's I bought in Bradlees and Caldors back in the 80's for $7.99 are in vogue, and people will pay. We're all a bit guilty of it! What was once old is new again, as the saying goes. Good stuff!

Ive been selling records at a flea narjet for almost 11 years. I started with 1 random box of these types of records. The average price was around $5. Slowly thru the years ive expanded to around 20 boxes and tried to keep prices reasonable. The reason I find why these records are so pricey is simple. Most of the buyers weren't yet born when they were released and the demand is overwhelming. The average age of our customers is mid twenties but range from early teens to senior citizens. The fact someone would pay $50-$100 for Kate Bush or Travy Chapman is puzzling to an old soul who still remembers the $1 bins from 25 years ago.

I've actually seen that BIlly Joel hits collection for $90 in a store in Cambridge, and there was no shrink or anything...I was like WTF? Some of the prices on random titles are mysteries to me, great video as always, Robert!

I noticed 18 to 24 months ago that they were going up to reticules prices. And people were paying for them. Not me. I'll wait. I have most of the one's I want on CD anyway. It's nuts out there for vinyl. Good video man ! Rock on bro.

I picked up a frankie goes to hollywood welcome to the pleasuredome double album in excellent condition for $8.00 a couple days ago. Inserts are in excellent shape, It still has a order form to get your frankie says relax don't do it tshirt. It looks like the previous owner maybe listened to this no more than a couple of times. For those who don't know check out the song welcome to the pleasuredome, you'll love it.

prices are out of control

Robert..every time I have an idea you beat me to it! I laid the groundwork for this video on my community post this morning posting ‘Paul Young’s ‘Deja Vu’ I saw a copy today for £8.00!! You’ve probably got more chance of finding these reasonably in the U.K. America seemed to go fully CD from about 87 onwards, where in the U.K. we were still about 40% vinyl until about 91. I’m tripping over 12” singles over here for one pound that I notice go for $20.00 plus over your side of the pond. If anyone’s going to beat me to a video I’m glad it’s you!

Thank you, again. You have my favorite channel on KZfaq and you never disappoint.

thanks for the rolling pants demo!

I'm fortunate to have a marble vinyl stamped promo of Hounds Of Love that has triple digit worth. That Traveling Wilburys record was completely out of print ( All formats ) for most of the 90's & was highly collectible in the early EBay days. I often see disc 2 of that New Order compilation on its own in used cd 💿 bins ( The mostly instrumental B-Sides )

I don't even buy vinyl anymore and I love your channel. Another great video.

Another great subject matter, thanks Robert. Well done.

My only guess would be "80's kitsch value"....Things that belong to the 80's for most people and nowhere else....Very entertaining video....Peace and Love,, Terry Tutor

Good morning Robert, good stuff as always. I have a decent chunk of the records you featured here. I purchased an OG of the Kate Bush from the old PDQ Records in Tucson (R.I.P. Jack) back in the late 80's... The price sticker is still on it- $3. I've always wanted a vinyl copy of Substance but could never find one before prices got out of control- so I settled for a super clean NM copy on CD's a few years ago for $15.

I just was looking at my Billy Joel's Greatest Hits album the other day. I was laughing to myself how I still can't bring my self to listen to it. It's not that I think the material is bad, it's just been so overplayed over the years on the radio. I'm tapped out on Billy. It's nice to know that my near mint condition purchase from 1985 is worth something.

I started buying albums in the 70s and also did the Columbia House thing in 1980 LOL.. One thing I always did even as a kid I would not remove the shrink wrap.. I'd just slice it open to protect the album sleeve... to this day all my albums in storage still have the shrink wrap on them.. although not actually sealed.

The CD version of all those records have gone up in value too.

Great topic! Oingo Boingo records used to sell for $1 to $5 bucks. Now they’re selling for $40+

The thing about this hobby of ours is you can find anything at a good price if you have the patience for it. Most people new to this don't have that patience and this is what drives up the price, my advice is just wait it out you will find it eventually and at a reasonable cost.

One of the most expensive records I've ever seen in my local branch of Oxfam is Kylie Minogue's debut, which they'd stickered up at £60. It still seems pretty random though. I just showed a Big Audio Dynamite record in my latest video that I picked up for a fiver. 80's Steve Winwood and Rod Stewart are still two to a penny in the UK. That said, a few records you showed I have never seen second-hand, eg Wilburys. Bill Joel definitely less common than he used to be, as is Phil Collins. An eighties band that is very hard to find here is The Style Council, probably because Paul Weller has never lost the cool factor. The Cars on the other hand, I picked up nearly their complete discography for around a tenner a while back.

My point of view is so stuck at one point in time that my brain cannot compute that albums (on vinyl) from the 1980s could ever cost as much as they do now. What's even more insane is how expensive the cassette variants have become over the years. But hey, I guess I should count myself as lucky. I used to be a Duran Duran collector and own ... quite a number of copies of Rio. At least I can say that my retirement is secured.

I have a signed original copy of Kate Bush's Hounds of love that I got here on Londons HMV Oxford Street back in 85.would never think about selling it though

I love your honest, jovial comments on these videos. 🙂

Don Henley came out when vinyl was being phased out at the big chain stores like Musicland and record bar along with Target and Venture.so by the time it came out around here you could only buy cassette or cd

A few main reasons I can think of: a record contains a tie-in song to a modern popular film or tv show, or an old song gets sampled or covered by a contemporary popular artist. Both of those draw in lots of newer fans to an artist or album that wouldn’t have otherwise been on their radar, and prices spike. Another reason is maybe a price spike once the artist in question dies. I’ve been wondering about this more and more with the deaths of so many big artists in recent years, even 80s stars: MJ, Prince, Whitney, George Michael, etc. In the coming decade or so, I figure there’s going to be a surge in deaths of a lot of major 60s and 70s artists, most of who are well into their 70s or 80s now. I wonder what that will do to prices and collectibility down the road.

Depeche Mode's later 80's albums are shooting up in value too. Original copies of black celebration and music for the masses are $40-50 albums

I have the Tracy Chapman album on a high quality vinyl promo release. It does sound excellent. Great video!

Yeah I picked up a couple of Rush LPs recently that were VG+ in the $30 CAD range. Bear in mind though after inflation that's pretty much what they cost new so I'm not sweating vintage prices yet.

I learned about the Keith Whitley albums a few years back, as I set my grandmother up with a turntable and was bringing her country records. She asked for Keith Whitley and somehow I found one of his at a charity shop for a buck a few weeks later. When I looked it up I was floored! Probably a country face I passed over many times before then. Now I've found a couple others of his for my grandma (still at buck prices!) and they all seem to carry the same hefty value.

Great information Robert !!

The most valuable records in my collection are my 90s era Morrissey ones

There has been this total 80s renaissance for the last few years with shows such as stranger things and the musical community and I think it's a lot of fun and that was the decade of my childhood I take it as nostalgic fun and it's great that a younger generation is getting into this music it makes me happy that the vinyl community is introducing awesome music to a whole new audience of all ages

Great video. I'm waiting for my Devo collection to be worth millions...but i still wouldn't sell it. Purple Rain is still a cheap grab.

Going to a record/cd show in Ann Arbor, Mich. in two weeks, should be interesting to see what the prices are like there, I don't expect a lot of bargains but I will be concentrating on CDs.

What a fantastic video have a wonderful weekend Robert also Monday is my friends birthday also my birthday ❤❤❤❤❤❤😊😊😊😊😊😊

I remember getting that billy Joel album 20 years ago at a record store for 5 bucks, looked immaculate like it had never even been played, nowadays you can’t even get record one without the jacket for that price 😂😂. I never understood how this happened with these common records. I see people around me paying 25 dollars for used Boston first album’s. When i got back into vinyl around 03/04 they couldn’t give that record away around here it was so common. I saw those as much as I saw Andy Williams, Al Martino, and Ray Conniff 😂😂

Some of these are expensive and there are a few reasons. As someone who collects vinyl from New Wave artists I am finding so many of the albums I am seeking are just hard to find. Back around late 90s I would go into a thrift store and bought albums by U2, Depeche Mode, Duran Duran, B52's etc. Now I rarely see them and when I do it's expensive. As for Rio, there are several versions and the first pressing (the one from Harvest) is hard to find and is expensive, but always has been because of that. Ironically I did buy a copy of Rio at a record store for a few bucks and turned out to be the Harvest version.

5-6 years ago I found a nice but cheap turntable at Goodwill, which sparked off a vinyl buying spree. I'd hit Half Price Books and raid their 70s and 80s vinyl - going for a few bucks a pop. So glad I did that then as these same records Robert is talking about here are now usually priced at about $10 and higher.

I feel fortunate that I started vinyl in 2018 and binged a lot of this very cheaply. I don’t buy much now, it’s greed

Kate Bush's The Kick Inside has got to be a more iconic album cover than Hounds Of Love.

Great topic Robert! I still see them very occasionally at yard sales for a buck or so but unlike a few years ago I leap over their table and kiss them on the lips when that happens.

I was just commenting on The In Groove's recent video in which he mentioned Wham - Make It Big was back in print. I was saying how that album was a dollar-bin staple in NM condition in the shrink with the hype sticker for years. I wish I held onto mine, but I didn't really care for it at the time. (Maybe I didn't take it seriously because of Zoolander!) I got a clean 1st US pressing of Rio (no Kershenbaum remixes) back in like 2010 for no more than $5. I logged it in Discogs a few weeks ago and was shocked at the prices. So glad I knew Duran Duran were a great band while most were still dismissing them as "80s pop fluff." Funny, that Billy Joel Greatest Hits was the first of these albums I saw getting baffling prices. This was about 10 years ago. I have two theories on this trend. First, you have a lot of people now entering retirement and rebuying their old albums. This was an age group that was buying a lot of music in the 80s AND still working and raising kids when the "vinyl resurgence" began 15 years ago. This is actually the exact age bracket my parents are in. The "too young for Woodstock" end of the Baby Boom. Second, a lot of these titles (especially from the later half of the decade) sold well, BUT a lot of copies sold were on cassette and CD. The records are comparatively rare. Add to it that a band like The Smiths is probably more widely known now than in the 80s (at least in the US). And you are spot-on about Kate Bush. It's the same thing as "Midnight, The Stars And You" being used in The Shining. Go check out what that 78 goes for. All the other ones that sound like it are considered literal garbage.

The early 1980s was my era , being born in early 1970 , ive bought records almost all my life , i have hundreds of 80s lps , which were purchased cheap, as in the mid 80s records were half the price of the still relatively new cds , so records it was , but these 80s records are coming of age , i still play records 2 or 3 times a week and they sound so good on my technics sl 1200g which is a stellar performer so much better than what i was using in the 80s as a teenager back then in England we still pressed records here , and they really sound good as do German pressings, happy times 😊.

80s glam metal albums are the same thing. I remember maybe 10 years ago you could find stuff like Cinderella or Poison for a few dollars. I've never been able to find that New Order Substance album in the wild in over 30 years of collecting records

Thankfully some of those albums are still relatively cheap here in the UK. Hope it stays that way fingers crossed 🤞

I started collecting in November of last year, and the 80s are my all time favorite decade of music, I may only be 19, but that decade has amazing music. I’ve been scooping up every 80s record I can find, and was surprised by how inexpensive they’ve been

recently a flea market seller told me people dont buy the 60s and 70s stuff like they used to.the 80s and 90s is in high demand

I used to get Columbia House exclusive records and then sell them on consignment to fund other purchases. I wish I'd kept at least one copy of Van Halen's Balance for myself (even though it's not a great album). I must have sold half a dozen of them.

You didn’t mention Thriller? I sold it in shrink in my antique booth for $30 to $35 in about 2 days. My guess on that country record was spot on. I have 2 copies of Purple Rain with shrink and poster and I’d never sell one for $35. I’m surprised it’s not worth close to $100. Most of the records you showed I knew were worth money. When you’re in the hobby many of those things are learned, but that Don Henley? lol

Nice Shirt Robert. Lived in Sunnyvale, near the headquaters of Atari. Would go there once in awhile to play the arcade games they had for kids to try. Heady days.

I never stopped buying used vinyl and new cassettes during the CD-dominant 90s. I bought some of the ones you showed because, as you said, why not for a buck. But I thought too many of these sucked and spent my cash re-buying favorites on CD.

Smith's albums where not common in the USA in the 80's. The Smith's did not really start to gain some popularity in the USA until the Louder Than Bombs compilation album came out in 1987.

I had to pay a guy three dollars to take the Loverboy records off my hands at a recent record show where I was selling at

The secret of Japanese pressings of 70s/80s Western pop/rock albums is out of the bag too... Albums that were $10-15 in VG+ or NM- condition 2 years ago are $40-60 now...

I recently bought a copy of *Liza Minnelli’s* 1989 LP _Results,_ which saw me wade through a bunch of highly priced copies. Also on my wantlist is _Storm Front_ by *Billy Joel* which also commands a relatively high price for a decent copy.

Very few re-mastered and re-released version of 70's/80's LP's sound the same as the originals. This is because of the re-mastering process where the master tape is used to make a digital copy, which is then re-mastered (and the sound 'brightened' or remixed according to the whims of the person overseeing the project), the digital re-master is then run through a DAC and used to manufacture a new master. There are re-mastered editions that seek to accurately duplicate the original vinyl, but they are in the minority.

I have a friend who sells on E-Bay. We laugh because every time he has an Outfield album or Wham's "Make it big" they sell for a crazy price!

Robert, quick question. Any Beautiful South on those shelves ???

out of all of those I would like to have duran duran rio- why dont they repress or reissue that? I am not a fan of the band but there is no denying it has some great sounds, mixes and decent songs and playing- love your channel- the whip cream and other delights was so funny! Probably turned alot of people off but I dont give a #$%# I have friends from all corners of the world nice channel thanks!

Dwight Yoakam albums are shooting up to. Maybe Keith Whitley albums are really shooting up now, but I found them to be on the expensive side for several years now.

We called wrap and rolling of the jeans "pegging" where I was from. Had a while new meaning now 😂😂😂.

Best I can figure, the Billy Joel’s Greatest Hits is worth a lot because that’s the only way to get “You’re Only Human (Second Wind)” and “The Night Is Still Young”, the two new songs included on that comp, on vinyl aside from the singles for each sound they put out back in the 80s. And Keith Whitley… his stuff is worth so much on vinyl because none of his albums have ever been reissued on vinyl, aside from a Vinyl Me Please version of Don’t Close Your Eyes that came out last year. Aside from that…all 80s pressings. I paid $3.99 for my copy of Don’t Close Your Eyes, and found a couple of his albums at Goodwill…back before the vinyl boom hit and prices shot through the roof, of course. And there actually is an unabridged version of Don’t Close Your Eyes with all the songs, it was a Canadian release. So, yeah.

I have a few of those myself I bought when they first came out. Interesting, my Billy Ocean LP has a different cover that’s a drawing with a white background.

Cool vid, I'm not a vinyl collector, per se, but I still have all the vinyl I bought when I was younger, and I'm happy to see a couple of mine among those highlighted. But let's address the elephant in the room: is your jaw really that square, or is it an illusion caused by the chin fuzz? 😎👍

Rio is a great album. Bought all my 80's dirt cheap. Cars, Police, Roxy Music, Eurythmics, Spoons....it goes on and on. Got em all $5 range.

saw that don henley album in my local record shop for $18 a year or 2 ago and the cd was there for like $10 or 12. i grabbed the cd, but if the record comes down i might get it later on sometime🤷‍♂

Come to the UK, all these are still only £10!

Wish i never sold my dad's vinyl records in the 2000's cause he was no longer playing. Because now im looking to buy some of them back. The Rolling Stones and Zeppelin's anyways. lol im jealous that youve kept a lot of stuff and have picked up a lot of cheapies when you could have. Hopefully theres some good vibyl yard sales and record shows in my area

What release is that Billy Ocean album?...cause my lp and cd doesn't have that artwork on it.

There's been some kinda crazy prices I've seen on stuff like that. Funny you should mention Loverboy. Just saw their first 2 for $20. But just weird to find it next to Album by Public Image Limited for $50. Supply and demand, and condition. Just seems strange seeing all the cheap stuff going for insane prices.

Lol, I've got the original Rio, Substance 1987, and Hounds of Love albums sitting on a shelf right beside me in my studio... What about originals of those two first Tears For Fears albums, Scritti Politti - Cupid & Psyche, or the Arcadia album? Early Art Of Noise, Kraftwerk, Propaganda, Thompson Twins, Depeche Mode? Are they worth something now? Got so many more great original 80's pop albums on vinyl ..not going to sell them tho, they're precious childhood memories to me. :)

Yep that’s how I wore my jeans too.

that’s why i stopped buying vinyl. its gotten outta hand. all hail the CD!

Thanx to discogs for insane prices. Maybe it was once a good idea, but now its to much.

Being in France at the moment, I was looking for those UK bands like The Smiths, New Order, but price wise it's very similar. Lots of those albums have been repressed, so if the value gets too high I just go for a brand new repress, I do have an old pressing of Kate Bush and Wham that I paid a buck for and that are in decent/nice condition. I have a Sade album but it's a different one. And I might have the Def Leppard too, the cover seemed familiar.. can't say about the condition but I think I got that one for 15 or 25 cents... Now trying to find a House of Love or a James album..... that's a tough one (I haven't check but I'm sure prices are up there)

I bought that Cher album just for the cover even though I had the other one for years, also I never realized that Buffet greatest hits album had that cover, I've always just had the yellow cd. Like you said, don't know why they didn't use the one with the parrot and Jimmy just chillin. That says it all, lol.

As a crate diver it always amazed me that people would walk away after finding no zeppelin or Beatles in them, I’d be in there pulling out synth pop & chart stuff. Most if not all you showed I’ve got vinyl copies of inc license .. … now it doesn’t take long for others to catch on, but there’s plenty out there still to be had at cheap prices prince PR I’ve got as well as 1999 & D&P £1 buys. Got the substance 1987 reissue as I brought the cd back then as it’s was B sides inc double disc, but 2 copies of joy division’s substance and some peel sessions have landed in my lap. Finding is fun, playing is better, just wish I could find more cure albums. Depeche Mode is a high flyer now in the Uk on original vinyl

This is very true, look at Sade and Fixx records...for chrissakes

Any idea on 'The Untouchables' - 'Wild Child' album is worth?

Where can I look up the value of my albums? Where do you get your info from??🤷‍♂️🙏

I've been trying to find the soundtrack for "Better Off Dead". hard to get. Also, try to find Milli Vanilli.

Give for take something special about the pressing just sounding great from back in the day, hundreds of these albums have been played to death since there 1980s and too many not reissued on vinyl still, so they are going to jump up for clean copies and Tears For Fears is touring again, so there's that. Ironic since SONGS FROM THE BIG CHAIR has been issued on CD several times, plus super Audio CD and even Blu-ray Audio with four mixes of the album starting with the original mixes as bonus tracks! In that case, just shows how its classic status is underrated. Hope you do more of these rising value videos too. Thanks as always!

Very interesting. Similarly, I watch a lot of videos about physical media movies, tv, etc (4k and blu ray) and something interesting that's shot up in value (good luck getting a hold of one, though) is blu ray copies of the whale movie, Free Willy. Has to be blu ray, though. Currently $203 on Amazon!

I have most of the ones you showed. You forgot Tracy Chapmans debut album unless I missed it.

Why for me, the fun of vinyl is diminishing

2 I have that have really gone up are Culture Club / Colour by numbers & Kissing to be clever . Hard to come by

have most of these. what about ktell records?

Yeah, I'm regularly blown out of the water not just by the prices of records now, but by some of the titles I see on the wall for high prices. It's like we're in Bizarro World. End of the Innocence? ROXETTE?!?

Judging by these, I'm LOADED! 😅

As someone who does record shows this is very true. My reasoning is because of the increase in female buyers and collectors who are more into the pop sound.

Robert the reason some go up and some don’t is because the generation of new record buyers attribute more value to things they heard of themself, and when an artist like Steve winwood was never featured in anything that showed a later a generation he doesn’t have perceived value like say Kate bush whos gone up because of stranger things, that new order stuff has been talked about in cult following music circles forever so it’s got value for being known and something that it’s cool to know about. Things like that. I was born in 90 and my 80s music experience first came from grand theft auto vice city. Made me fall in love for the rest of my life, and those artists that were in that game have all maintained a hot streak because of things like that. Well maybe not Billy ocean. Seriously how did he not get his due? You know how? He wasn’t featured in anything in later years like a cool movie that a new generation remembered. It’s all recognizability.

It's everything brother... It's all expensive. :/ might run into some okay deals on used stuff, here & there, but new stuff is getting pretty outrageous. We'll just have to vote with our dollars I suppose! 👍

Even before the arrival of CD vinyl sales were on the decline!

I'm a collector, & sell these albums in my eBay store. Although they may have been relatively common when theu first came out, I suspect pressing runs may have been smaller, as in the 1980s, teh CD was taking over & & LPs may not have been pressed in the large numbers they previously were.