The 2004 Classic Rock Auction

The 2004 Classic Rock Auction featuring items from legendary producer Eddie Kramer was officially closed on August 1. "We were overwhelmed with the huge response we received right from the opening minutes," explained Backstage Auctions co-owner Kelli Van Gool. "Out of more than 2200 items condensed into 277 lots listed, we had over 1200 bids and sold 70 percent of the items."

Most lots drew a lot of attention and fierce bidding. A BOSTON/Tom Scholz recording demo sold for nearly $1,700.00, a pair of 1970s David Bowie acetates sold for $1,980.00 and a ROLLING STONES live recording from Canada went for almost $5,000. Not surprising was the aggressive bidding for a 1977 KISS Japan tour jacket, which received over 24 bids alone and finally sold for $4,950.00 to a private collector. The performers with the most bids were, in this order: LED ZEPPELIN, JIMI HENDRIX and KISS. Details of a lot with several LED ZEPPELIN tapes are being kept confidential at the request of the buyer.

"It was a long and exciting day," stated Backstage Auctions' Jacques. "We eventually had to force the auction to end or the bidding might still be going on." Although the auction was scheduled to close at 3:00 p.m. EST, it remained open in 15-minute intervals to allow for final bids to come in. However, by 10:30 p.m. EST, two KISS collectors were still competing for several items. Jacques van Gool, a longtime KISS collector and historian himself, happened to know the two customers who were bidding on these items, and finally called them both and asked them to compromise and divide everything up between them. "I was exhausted just watching the two of them go at it," Jacques admitted. "These guys are serious collectors, they'd have stayed up all night fighting over one last item if it was something they really wanted."

Results of the 2004 Classic Rock Auction can be found on the web site www.backstageauctions.com. Backstage Auctions will announce their next big auction in the upcoming weeks. "We are exited about the next auction," Kelli said, "and are confident that classic rock fans will be equally excited."