The Decca offshoot’s back catalogue contains some weird, wonderful and highly desirable records. Groovy Times seeks out the label’s costliest collectables
An in-house imprint of establishment giant Decca, Deram was launched in 1966 with the irresistible tagline of “a hip new label for groovy people”. The label was initially set up as a platform for a new stereo recording technology called Decca Panaromic Sound (which was often shortened to Deramic). The fancy tech didn’t catch on, but Deram continued and evolved into a bafflingly diverse, frequently inspired label. As well as being home to crates of easy-listening cheese and chart-bound fodder, Deram’s curiously assembled roster also catered to an idiosyncratic bunch of artists caught up in the late 60s/early 70s underground scene in the UK. Its fearless release schedule also played host to a number of classic British jazz albums, including the wonderful Deep Dark Blue Centre by The Graham Collier Septet.
While never quite achieving the hip status it desired on launch, Deram’s back catalogue, together with that of sub-imprint Deram Nova, is blessed with a healthy number of hugely collectible nuggets that fetch hefty prices in today’s secondhand market.
Mark O’Shaughnessy, the owner of Resolution Records in Bath, has been in the buying/selling vinyl racket for over 30 years and is not averse to the label’s considerable charms. He explains, “For me, Deram remains among THE most collectible and fiended over labels in collecting circles. Whenever we get a good Deram album into the shop, it sells within days. The quintessential Englishness of Deram still carries a wide appeal.”
Groovy Times has valued its sliding-scale selection of Deram collectibles presuming Near Mint condition and using a mix of Discogs’ Median and recent Highest prices.
RARE
‘Igginbottom’s Wrench
‘Igginbottom
DML 1051
£300/400
Formed in Bradford in 1968, ‘Igginbottom were a progressive rock band with jazz fusion leanings. The proud Yorkshire men’s sole album was released on Deram in 1969 and is worth tracking down for its furiously colloquial title alone. It’s also one of the first recordings to feature the improbable guitar skills of Alan Holdsworth, the man Robben Ford described as the “John Coltrane” of the guitar. The album was reissued in the UK in 2009 via Cherry Red but on CD only. An original copy, sticker and all, was sold in the first part of the BBC Collection auction for £320.
Is A Friend?
The Parlour Band
SDL 10
£450
The melodic rock sound of the lesser-known Parlour Band earned the Channel Islanders a one-album deal with Deram. Released in 1972 to zero fanfare, Is A Friend? fell off a cliff in terms of sales, largely due to the label’s measly promo budget. Soon after, The Parlour Band morphed into A Band Called O (later shortened to The O Band) and released four more albums before disbanding in 1977. Is A Friend? was one of the many obscurities pressed by the semi-legendary South Korean reissue label Si-Wan Records.
Someones Band
Someones Band
SML 1068
£450
Another ‘one and done’ act on Deram were blues’ rockers Someones Band. With a miniscule first press guaranteeing rarity, the album was recorded in one session by an independent production company and then licensed to Deram in September 1970. Original member Terry Powney has since confirmed that the lack of a possessive apostrophe in the band’s name and eponymous album title was a grammatical mistake. Much to the relief of pedants worldwide, the album was reissued for RSD 2021 with the missing punctuation mark reinstated. In October 2023 Decca released a black and white splatter vinyl version as part of an ongoing reissue campaign.
Zakarrias
Zakarrias
SML 1091
£700
Zakarrias was the recording alias of obscure Austrian songwriter Robert Hauser, whose sole release on Deram is far more well known for being a vinyl rarity than it ever was as a new release back in October 1971. The album is a proto-prog affair featuring pick-up musicians Geoff Leigh (soon to be of Henry Cow) and Peter Robinson (Quatermass). Its ultra-rare status stems from the basic fact that sod-all copies were ever pressed and the few that were didn’t sell. The album has never been officially reissued but a number of coloured vinyl offerings were made available in 2021 courtesy of Liechenstein’s Tapestry label.
RARER
David Bowie
David Bowie
DML 1007
£1,000-£1,200
David Bowie’s Deram debut was released on the same day as Sgt. Pepper (June 1, 1967) and while The Beatles’ offering was deemed ‘a decisive moment in western civilisation,’ Bowie’s first album got lost down the back of the sofa. Its poor sales were proof that the world wasn’t in the market for an Anthony Newley soundalike with psych-mod stylings. Bowie’s subsequent superstardom has driven up the demand for first issues of both the stereo and mono pressings. Resolution’s Mark O’Shaughnessy says, “It’s almost impossible to find and remains a grail for Bowiephiles everywhere. I’ve only ever seen it once in my 30 years in the game, a battered copy that went for £750. Be aware of bootlegs!” A limited edition, mono, picture disc version was issued in early 2021.
A mono copy sold for an impressive £2,200 in the Omega / Danny Baker Collection auction. While a premium was certainly paid for the prestige of owning a copy straight off of the shelves chat DJ’s, the value of Bowie’s debut is unquestionably on an upward trajectory.
Pre-flight
Room
SML 1073
£1,000
Room were a short-lived, symphonic prog rock quintet from the leafy streets of market town Blandford Forum. The story goes that after doing well at a national battle of the band competition the enterprising Dorsetonians were offered a one-album deal by Decca. Pre-flight, that one album, was released in 1970 to a moderate amount of acclaim, but a lack of any real sales rapidly consigned it to the bargain bin. A 180g, blue vinyl edition appeared on Italian reissue label Arkama in 2006.
Time Of The Last Persecution
Bill Fay
SML 1079
£1,000
Bill Fay was dropped by Decca in 1971 after his two remarkable albums for the label both stiffed. His self-titled debut was released on Deram Nova (SDN 12) in 1970 and NM copies are lurking on Discogs for offers over £750. However, it’s the rawer, rockier 1971 follow-up that demands the bigger bucks. After a break spanning four decades an album of new songs called Life Is People was released on the Dead Oceans label. A remastered Time Of The Last Persecution was reissued on Deram as part of the Record Store Day release schedule in 2021.
Megaton
Megaton
SML-R 1086
£1,500
Megaton wasn’t a working band in the traditional sense but rather the Led Zep-alike side-project of songwriting partnership Les Humphries and Jimmy Bilsbury. With the help of future Uriah Heep man John Lawton on vocals, the Germany-based duo zoned in on the heavy rock bandwagon and hitched a lift on it. If you’re not into paying an arm and a leg for a UK first press then the cost of the German equivalent is more limb-friendly. The cover collage features a pre-fame Liz Mitchell of Boney M. An original copy sold in the BBC Collection auction (January 2024) for £550.
RAREST
Swaddling Songs
Mellow Candle
SDL 7
£1,800
Mellow Candle’s mystical beauty Swaddling Songs is one of the most collectable albums ever to released on a major UK label. Its rarity is linked to the fact that it tanked, both commercially and critically, on its release in April 1972. A savage reviewer from the NME went as far as suspecting Deram released the LP as a ‘tax loss’, something of an ironic comment considering the enormous value of a first press copy today. And this is Mark O’Shaughnessy’s take on it: “Swaddling Songs is THE big Deram grail. It’s a genuinely rare album and genuine copies rarely circulate.” 550 copies of a white vinyl version were reissued for Record Store Day in 2020. This ‘vanishingly rare’ album was given a limited edition black vinyl reissue by Decca in October 2023.
Now owned by the Universal Music Group, Decca is still an ongoing concern as a record label and its online shop (www.shop.decca.shop) is a worth-checking source of regular Deram reissue action