`BUDDY HOLLY LIVES`!!!

                      THE ULTIMATE BUDDY HOLLY COLLECTABLE!!!

                                                  The virtually impossible-to-find, ultra-rare……

                `BUDDY HOLLY & THE CRICKETS.. 20 GOLDEN GREATS` 

                            ELEVEN-ITEM DEALER/PRESS PACK!

Distributed exclusively to those attending the official MCA press-launch of the LP, probably no more than 100 of these unique packs were ever produced.

THE ALBUM:

Tracklisting:

That`ll Be The Day/Peggy Sue/Words Of Love/Everyday/Not Fade Away/

Oh Boy!/Maybe Baby/Listen To Me/Heartbeat/Think It Over/It Doesn`t Matter Anymore/It`s So Easy/Well….All Right/Rave On/Raining In My Heart/True Love Ways/Peggy Sue Got Married/Bo Diddley/Brown Eyed Handsome Man/Wishing:

`20 Golden Greats`, or to give it it`s popular title and the theme of the TV promotional campaign; `Buddy Holly Lives`, is the most successful Buddy Holly & The Crickets release of all –time. 

The album was compiled by world-Holly authority John Beecher and was timed to link in with the release of the new Holly biopic, `The Buddy Holly Story` starring Gary Busey.

With a press and TV promotional campaign to rival any living star of the day, it entered the UK LP chart on 11 March 1978 , was #1 for three consecutive weeks during a 6 month stay and earned a Platinum disc in the UK, Gold in the USA.

These unique press/dealer kits, were available on one day only at the MCA album launch in London, in January 1978. The relatively small number of those attending each got one, but they were never made available again.  (Full contents description below) 

THE PRESS/DEALER KIT:  Comprises the following ELEVEN  items:-

1)  The vinyl LP;   `Buddy Holly Lives…..20 Golden Greats`   EMI EMTV8

2) 7” picture-sleeve single; `Wishing/Love`s Made A Fool Of You`  MCA 344

Condition:  Both LP and single are absolutely mint and unplayed with perfect sleeves. (No stickers, writing, cuts, tears or creasing).

The LP inner picture sleeve is equally pristine.

3) Paperback book; `Buddy Holly His Life & Music` ( By John. J. Goldrosen)

First edition, 1975.  Published by Charisma. The first definitive Holly biog. 

Condition: Superb. No writing or marks, inside or out. No creasing or folding of pages, cover is immaculate and spine is without any folding-marks. It still opens like a brand-new book.

4) B&W 10x8 glossy photo; Buddy & The Crickets on BBC TV  show

     `Off The Record`, London, March 1958.

Condition: Perfect. No scratches, cuts, folds or creases.

5) B&W 10X8 glossy photo; Buddy head & shoulders shot, taken at the press-reception for his UK tour, London Whisky-A-Go-Go , Feb 1958.

Condition: Perfect. No scratches, cuts, folds or creases.

6) Cassette-pack; 

Two cassettes in special double-case, comprising:-

i) Copy of the `20 Golden Greats Album`. Cat #  MCA  TC-EMTV8

Condition: Perfect and unplayed. No marks, cuts or tears in card slip-case.

ii) `EMTV8 Sale Presentation`: This has, on one side, an audio `sales-pitch` aimed at record dealers, lasting approximately 10 minutes. There is a voiced introduction to the concept of the TV-advertised LP and the promotional campaign, then BBC/ITV newscaster Leonard Parkin (in ultra-posh tones!) tells the story of Buddy`s life and lasting influence, with musical inserts from the album. After this, dealers are given the prices of the LP, cassette and 8-track and the promotional items that will be available. They are also told it is available to them on “sale or return” !  It ends with;    “They`ll see it…..they`ll hear it…..they`ll buy it!” 

Condition: Plays perfectly and  has no external damage. Cassette is printed on one side:-

     `Buddy Holly & The Crickets, 20 Golden Greats Presentation Commentary`

The other side of this cassette was originally blank, but the seller recorded the audio off-screen, from the 30”  `Buddy Holly Lives` TV ad.

This side of the cassette has a hand-written sticker saying:-

 TV commercial sound-track recorded on 28 Feb 1978 8.45 pm, London ITV

Whilst not originally part of the MCA promo pack, this is now a very rare copy of the audio and music from the TV commercial.

7) Buddy Holly Graffiti Wall:

A fun display item for record shops. This is a replica of the LP cover, printed on heavy duty card, designed as a wipe-off note pad.  It comes with felt tip pen on a cord, secured by a Velcro band. It has tear-off pads on the back for wall display.

Condition: Perfect..even the pen still works after 33 years and the sticky pads on the rear have never been used.

7) MCA  Records Press Announcement :

2-page stapled press-release for the LP, printed on heavy duty paper, against the coloured background of the LP cover.

Condition: Near-mint. No writing or cuts. Just two very small creases in the bottom corners of the top sheet, but only in the white border.

8) MCA `Stop Press` promo sheet:

Copy of an article from the  `Record News` column of  The New Musical Express, dated Jan 14th 1978, under large headline: 

“STOP PRESS”…..`Why Buddy Holly Is Top Five Certainty”

This breaks the news of the forthcoming release of `20 Golden Greats` and the promotional  campaign for it, predicting.. “a huge hit”.  Printed on the same quality paper as the Press Announcement, with the same LP art-work.

Condition: Near-mint. No writing or cuts. Just some very minor, almost-invisible creasing,  in the bottom-right corner.

9) MCA Six Page Song-Cartoon Promotional Booklet:

Detailed sales information for dealers on the promo campaign budget, the TV-ad spend, radio promotion for the `Wishing`single, in-store merchandise, dealer/retail prices for LP cassette and 8 track and ordering arrangements.

The stapled booklet in printed on heavy duty glossy paper with full-page multi-colour cartoons of Teddy Boys and a Teddy Girl, in front of the Buddy Holly brick wall. Each cartoon has a Buddy Holly song-theme.

Condition: Near mint. Just two very small marks in the right hand border

10) EMTV8 dealer ordering cards:

Two pre-addressed postcards fro dealers to complete and return to the EMI factory in Hayes, Middlesex. One to order the LP, cassette or 8-track, the other to order a window display kit.

Condition: Mint. The cards are still joined at the tear-off strip.

11) `Buddy Holly Lives` button-badge:

5cm diameter badge, with the `Buddy Holly Lives` slogan against the Holly-wall.

Condition: Mint. Never removed from the pack.

All the above items have been stored inside the case from the day of release and have rarely been out since, hence their astonishing condition after over three decades.

The Carrying Case:

The kit comes in a neat `briefcase` style box, with carrying handles.

When opened, the lid displays the `Buddy Holly Graffiti Wall` (item 7 above), with all the other items in the lower part of the `briefcase`. There are specific slots for the cassette-pack and the paperback book.

The case is complete, but it is not in mint condition. The outside shows the wear of 33 years from several shelf relocations in house-moves. There are no rips or cuts, but the card was not very thick to start with and the corner seams have split. Some years ago, the seller sellotaped these to keep the items inside intact.. There is also some sellotaping inside. There are some ink marks from the felt-tip pen and some internal creasing and fading.

The carrying handles are intact and not torn, but have some creasing.

Individually these items are just never seen. To have them all together, in this condition and in the original presentation case is simply unheard of.

This pack had instant collectability when first issued in 1978.

Try finding  another now, 33 years on!

Truly `The Ultimate Buddy Holly Collectable`.