When it Come to Record Collecting, 45's Rule!

Years from now, I believe the "golden" period of Rock music will be referred to as the 45-RPM age. Forty-fives are 7" diameter two-song discs introduced in 1949 and discontinued in 1990. For you teenagers who have never dropped a needle onto record, an amazing concept to my generation more accustomed to the practice than combing our hair, RPM stands for "rotations per minute." 45's were affordable vinyl discs; beatniks, greasers, hippies, freaks, preppies and Ronald Reagan pre-yuppies bought because we couldn't afford 33 1/3-RPM albums for every favorite hit record we wished to own.

The other reason was, while everyone wanted to own 1970's "Love Grows Where My Rosemary Goes" an entire album of Edison Lighthouse was like having ten teaspoons of sugar in your coffee when one would suffice. Today, 45's are becoming highly collectible. Tomorrow, it will be too late to get involved as a collector unless you look real sexy and can convince one of these music factories that your "look" will sell records on TV-thereby making you sufficiently rich to afford the best examples. For instance, as I write this column, the 1962 Beach Boys hit, "409" with super flipside "Surfin' Safari" (including a highly desirable original color photograph sleeve featuring the boys holding a surfboard) is fetching $50 on eBay, with two days left to bid. Ten years ago you could have found that at a tag sale for 50 cents. Still can if you get lucky.

What records should you look for if you want to start a 45 collection? Singles just like the Beach Boy record here described. Classic, timeless first issue songs in good condition and, hopefully still stored in their original art decorated paper or cardboard sleeve. Happily pay triple the price for a graphic sleeves specific to the records they hold. I asked my music aficionado buddy; Bruce Bunch to help me come up with a list of 100 of the top 45's of all time. For the record, here's our list. Why don't you start collecting your top 100 today? I'll trade you my Monkees, "I'm a Believer" for a clean copy of "Smile a Little Smile for Me, Rosemary" by the Flying Machine.

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Artist	Song Title	Year	Rank
Lester Flat & Earl Scruggs	Foggy Mountain Breakdown	1949	75
Nat King Cole	Mona Lisa	1950	62
Patti Page	The Tennessee Waltz	1950	52
Leroy Anderson	Blue Tango	1952	43
Hank Williams	Your Cheatin' Heart	1953	44
The Chordettes	Mr. Sandman	1954	76
The Penguins	Earth Angel	1954	18
The Platters	The Great Pretender	1955	28
Bill Haley & His Comets	Rock Around the Clock	1955	7
Fats Domino	Blueberry Hill	1956	77
John R. Cash	Folsom Prison Blues	1956	30
The Five Satins	In the Still of the Night	1956	5
Elvis Presley	Hound Dog/ Don't Be Cruel	1956	2
Danny & The Juniors	At the Hop	1957	20
Buddy Holly & Crickets	That Will Be the Day	1957	19
Elvis Presley	All Shook Up	1957	10
Ritchie Valens	Donna/ La Bamba	1958	78
Chuck Berry	Johnny B. Goode	1958	63
The Platters	Smoke Gets in Your Eyes	1958	11
The Isley Brothers	Shout	1959	79
Bobby Darin	Mack the Knife	1959	29
Marty Robbins	El Paso	1959	17
Percy Faith	Theme From A Summer Place	1960	80
Ray Charles	Georgia on My Mind	1960	53
Chubby Checker	The Twist	1960	21
The Shirelles	Will You Love Me Tomorrow	1961	55
Patsy Cline	I Fall to Pieces	1961	54
Nat King Cole	The Christmas Song	1961	37
The Tokens	The Lion Sleeps Tonight	1961	22
Marcels	Blue Moon	1961	14
Patsy Cline	Crazy	1961	13
Roy Orbison	Crying	1961	12
Four Seasons	Sherry	1962	64
Gene Chandler	Duke of Earl	1962	16
Peter, Paul & Mary	Blowin' in the Wind	1963	81
Dean Martin	Everybody Loves Somebody	1964	95
Java	Al Hirt	1964	94
Shangri-las	Leader of the Pack	1964	82
Beatles	She Loves You	1964	59
Stan Getz/Astrud Gilberto	The Girl From Ipanema	1964	38
Beach Boys	Don't Worry Baby	1964	9
The Beatles	I Want to Hold Your Hand	1964	1
Supremes	I Hear a Symphony	1965	45
Bob Dylan	Like a Rolling Stone	1965	39
Beach Boys	Califonia Girls	1965	31
The Rolling Stones	Satisfaction	1965	24
Simon & Garfunkel	Sounds of Silence	1965	23
The Beatles	Yesterday	1965	3
Mamas & Papas	California Dreamin'	1966	83
Association	Cherish	1966	60
Frank Sinatra	Strangers in the Night	1966	46
Jefferson Airplane	Somebody to Love	1967	96
Monkees	I'm a Believer	1967	84
Van Morrison	Brown Eyed Girl	1967	65
The Doors	Light My Fire	1967	56
Aretha Franklin	Respect	1967	47
Louis Armstrong	What a Wonderful World	1967	32
Marvin Gaye	Heard it Through the Grapevine	1968	66
Tammy Wynette	Stand By Your Man	1968	61
Steppenwolf	Born to be Wild	1968	36
Beatles	Hey Jude/Revolution	1968	6
Crosby, Stills & Nash	Suite Judy Blue Eyes	1969	85
Rolling Stones	Honky Tonk Woman	1969	67
Fifth Dimension	Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine In	1969	41
Led Zeppelin	Whole Lotta Love	1969	40
Nilsson	Without You	1969	33
The Grateful Dead	Uncle John's Band	1970	100
Guess Who	American Woman	1970	87
Loretta Lynn	Coal Miner's Daughter	1970	86
Jackson Five	I'll Be There	1970	68
John Denver	Rocky Mountain High	1971	70
Temptations	Just My Imagination	1971	69
Janis Joplin	Me and Bobby McGee	1971	50
Santana	Black Magic Woman	1971	49
Rod Stewart	Maggie May	1971	48
John Lennon	Imagine	1971	15
Don McLean	American Pie	1971	8
Led Zeppelin	Stairway to Heaven	1971	4
Don McLean	Vincent	1972	88
Moody Blues	Nights in White Satin	1972	57
Derek & The Dominos	Layla	1972	34
Allman Brothers Band	Ramblin' Man	1973	71
Elton John	Candle in the Wind	1973	25
Billy Joel	Piano Man	1974	58
Bruce Springsteen	Born to Run	1975	35
Fleetwood Mac	Rhiannon	1976	89
Jimmy Buffett	Margaritaville	1977	97
The Eagles	Take it Easy	1977	72
Abba	Dancing Queen	1977	27
Waylon Jennings/Willie Nelson	Mama's Don't Let Your Babies…	1978	90
Meat Loaf	Paradise by the Dashboard Light	1978	73
The Bee Gees	Night Fever	1978	42
Gloria Gayner	I Will Survive	1979	74
George Jones	He Stopped Loving Her Today	1980	51
Cyndi Lauper	Girls Just Want to Have Fun	1983	91
Michael Jackson	Billy Jean	1983	26
Madonna	Like a Virgin	1984	98
Bon Jovi	Livin' On a Prayer	1987	99
U2	I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For	1987	92
Guns 'N Roses	Welcome to the Jungle	1988	93

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Wayne Mattox

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When it Come to Record Collecting, 45's Rule!

Write toWayne Mattox

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