A music memorabilia collection is an incredibly rewarding experience.
And it’s one that might pay you back.
Buy carefully and follow your passions and you might find both.
This week, the music world has quickly moved its focus from the Glastonbury Festival to Cardiff, where Oasis play their first gigs after 16 years of gossip-filled, sometimes acrimonious separation.
What does that mean for music memorabilia collectors?
There’s nothing better than attention
If you own Oasis memorabilia and you want to sell it now is probably a good time.
People are talking about the Gallagher brothers (and their various bandmates) and attention is currency in the collectibles business.
Look at the biggest sellers in the business.
Is it an accident that Elizabeth Peyton’s 1996 portrait Liam & Noel was auctioned at Sotheby’s on June 24?
Elizabeth Peyton's Oasis portrait. Some art observers said the price was low, but it was about four times a previous value. Image courtesy of Sotheby's.
No. It is not. And it’s just one of the reasons the picture made £1.99 million after selling for just over $500,000 in 2011.
The rules of collectibles still apply
Attention will sell a lot of merch.
You can bet the streets around the Principality Stadium in Cardiff will be thronged with sellers flogging all sorts of band-linked gear.
Great, good-value mementos for fans. None of it will have any long-term value.
A perfectly nice bucket hat. Get it signed, or a photo of Liam wearing it and you might find some value.
Unless…
You can get the band to sign it after the gig and grab a photo of them putting pen to poster.
The usual rules apply.
To have value merchandise will need to be good quality and in good condition.
You want the closest possible connection to the people it celebrates - did they own it, or hold it, or gift it?
And connections to firsts or other notable moments also add interest.
Memorabilia associated with the show tonight, on July 4, is likely to be the most attractive from this tour.
Put a name on it: autographed Oasis memorabilia
This was a £500 photograph, and you can see the clear, high-quality matching signatures stand out well.
For a band, the full set is usually best.
And, it’s best when they all sign at the same time.
If you’ve got a persuasive way with you and you can put a word in then asking your heroes to sign in an aesthetically pleasing manner goes a long way.
If you can secure evidence of the signatures going onto the item with a picture that’s even better.
I suspect in the long run that Oasis may prove slightly exceptional here.
There have been a few line-up changes down the years.
But, there are two names that really matter:
Noel and Liam Gallagher.
I think the brothers as a stand alone pair and the original line-up that took them into their Britpop glory years - the Gallaghers with Paul Arthurs (better known as Bonehead), Paul “Guigsy” McGuigan and original drummer Tony McCarroll - will prove the most valuable.
McCarroll was fairly swiftly replaced with Alan White, who played on their enormous second album, (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?, and the line up with him is also likely to be valuable.
Zak Starkey, who drummed with the band after 2004 also offers an interesting subplot. Zak’s dad is Ringo Starr, so his name has some value as Beatles-related autograph, and will be attractive to the many Oasis fans who also love the Liverpool foursome.
A set list from a famous Top of the Pops special that many fans will have copies of adds loads of personal connection and a feel of touching history.
Paul Fraser, our chairman, with decades of experience and expertise in the autographs and music memorabilia business said: “To most fans of the Manchester band Noel and Liam are Oasis, their names - together, and ideally linked to a well-known or controversial occasion - are the ones they want.
“As lovers of starry classic rock acts, I wouldn’t be surprised if the boys dreamed of and even practised their autographs before they enjoyed their own fan mania. They sign well, but with signatures that have evolved over the years.
“An original-line-up fully signed vinyl copy of debut album Definitely Maybe is among the most valuable Oasis sets that can be generally found.”
The fact that the brothers don’t always get on and were essentially estranged for a good few years makes paired Gallagher signatures particularly precious.
We’ve sold Oasis signatures that nicely illustrate how value works for music collectors.
The first was a very nice shot of the Gallagher brothers, from 1993, so in the early years of their career. It was sold for just under £500.
Noel and Liam Gallagher, Alan White, Andy Bell and Gem Archer all signed a set-list from a 2002 appearance on Top of the Pops. That made five times more.
You can instantly see the difference between a hand-out, mass produced image and a band document, unique, used by the group and linking them to an important performance that many fans will remember.
Making the music
Epiphone are a bargain version of the Gibson brand, but it's the connect to Noel and the sound that went on legendary tracks that made this guitar worth a cool £120,000. Image courtesy of Sotheby's.
They’ve stirred up all sorts of newspaper storms.
And they’ve had a strong image that’s very British and reflects a load of historic subcultures like mod and football fan culture.
But, in the end it’s all about the music.
And Oasis are a Guitar Band, with a capital G and a capital B.
So, the ultimate Oasis collectibles are probably going to be guitars played by Noel.
On September 12 last year, an Epiphone Les Paul used by Noel and photographed on the cover of Supersonic, their debut single made a mockery of its £80,000 top estimate to realise £132,000 at Sotheby’s.
In 2020, an Epiphone in Noel’s trademark Union Flag colours auctioned for just $14,000. It hadn’t been played by the band, but was signed and had rock-solid provenance linking it to them in 2002.
It's not that long ago that Oasis-played guitars were going for just a few thousand pounds.
In front of that wall of noise Liam snarls out lyrics most often written by his brother.
In May this year, a Rock Icons sale listed a load of Noel lyric sheets.
Again, estimates were too conservative by a long chalk.
Perhaps their biggest song, so it's no surprise that these Wonderwall lyrics were top value for Noel's handiwork at a recent auction. Image courtesy of Julien's Auctions.
The obvious top item, the lyrics to Wonderwall (with handy guitar chord list for us buskers), sold for $7,800 against a high estimate of $2,000.
A full set of words from the mega-selling album (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? had a high estimate of $10,000 and sold for $22,400.
I think both will be looked at as bargains in years to come.
Nobody lives forever
Rock stardom is immortality of a kind, but there are some predictable ups and downs in demand.
The most enthusiastic fans of a band tend to be younger.
The people with the money to buy valuable, signed memorabilia tend to be older.
The market moves from Elvis to the Beatles to Led Zeppelin just as the music charts have done a decade or so earlier.
Oasis are having a moment.
The reformation has made them front page news again.
Supersonic, the song that started it all, with that valuable guitar propped up by the piano. Image courtesy of Sotheby's.
But, they’re one of the few bands of such a stature, and with such a dedicated fanbase, that they will transcend cycles in collecting fashion to become a long-term safe bet.
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