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You can thank John Wayne for one of Rock N Roll’s greatest hits. A young Buddy Holly sat in a darkened movie theater in 1956 watching the western classic, “The Searchers.” In the film when Wayne, in his distinctive style says, “That’ll be the day,” Holly was inspired and thus was born his first big hit. The original single on Decca can sell for $300.00.The “That’ll Be the Day” album, released on Decca Records in 1957, is worth up to $250.00 if the record label is multi-colored and up to $800.00 today if the record label is black. Little things can make a BIG difference in the value of records.

One of the most popular hard rock bands of the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s is Australia’s AC/DC. With classics such as “Highway to Hell” and “You Shook Me All Night Long,” their concerts were continually sold out. Their albums went platinum even though they never had a top-20 single on the charts. In 1978 Atlantic Records released their album “Powerage.” A red vinyl copy, as shown here, is worth up to $100.00 today.

In the mid-1960’s, the Buckinghams, who chose their name to sound more British, tore up the charts with hits like “Don’t You Care,” “Susan,” “Hey Baby (They’re Playing Our Song)” and their #1 smash, “Kind of a Drag,” which is valued at no more than $20.00, but their first single, released by Spectra-Sound Records in 1965, was a cover of the Drifters’ hit, “Sweets for My Sweet.” It’s worth up to $125.00 today.

Here’s a record you should know about. Garage bands were a staple of 1960’s Rock N Roll. Garage music generally refers to bands whose sound was not too polished or professional as if recorded in a garage and not a highly equipped recording studio. Some well-known examples would be “Louie Louie” by the Kingsmen and “96 Tears” by ? and the Mysterians. Most Garage bands were one-hit-wonders, some no hits at all but very collectible like the By Fives. An original copy of their 1966 single, “That’s How Strong My Love Is,” released by Tomi Records, is worth up to $3,500.00 today. Click on “Records You Should Know About” in the yellow strip above for more free samples.

Bob Dylan continues to be very collectible. “Mixed up Confusion” was a song written by Dylan originally for the “Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan” album. However, since the entire album was acoustic, “Mixed up Confusion” wouldn’t have fit since the song was recorded with an electric band. And so it was issued as his first single. Released by Columbia Records in 1963, it’s worth up to $800.00 today.

“Aaron Slick From Punkin Crick” was a movie musical released in 1952. It starred Alan Young who ten years later would play Wilbur on TV’s “Mr. Ed.” Dinah Shore played the female lead in the story of a country bumpkin outsmarting a city slicker. The soundtrack album, released by RCA, is worth up to $150.00 today. “Aaron Slick From Punkin Crick” is just one of the 10,000 soundtracks on our Soundtracks guide. It lists the values for all movies, TV, and Broadway shows and is available in the left hand column.

Obscurity and rarity can often add up to big money when it comes to Doo Wop records. The Five Chances was a Doo Wop group from the south side of Chicago. It was thought that theirs would be a successful career, but it just didn’t happen. Their 1954 single, “I May Be Small,” on Chance Records can fetch $4,000.00. In 1955 Blue Lake Records released “All I Want” by the Five Chances. That, too, is worth up to $4,000.00 today.

The Angels was one of the girl groups of the 60’s that had some lesser-hits like “Til” and “Cry Baby Cry,” The “Cry Baby Cry” single on Caprice Records can now sell for $40.00. But it’s their 1963 number 1 smash, “My Boyfriend’s Back,” that solidifies their place in Rock N Roll history. A mono copy of the “My Boyfriend’s Back” album, released on Smash Records, is worth up to $75.00 while a stereo copy can get you up to $100.00 today.

The first charted single for the Rolling Stones in the U.S. came in 1964 with a cover version of Buddy Holly’s “Not Fade Away.” It wasn’t a big hit for the Stones, reaching only number 48 on the Billboard Hot 100. However, it’s a hit with record collectors especially when a copy is found with its picture sleeve as shown here. It’s worth up to $500.00 today.

In 1959 a young Neil Sedaka first broke into the top-10 with a song about his girlfriend, Carol Kline. She would later change her name to Carole King and go on to have one of the greatest musical careers of all time. Neil’s song about her, “Oh Carol,” released by RCA, is worth no more than $20.00. But her song about him, “Oh Neil,” released on Alpine Records in 1960, is worth up to $500.00 today.