Beatles Promo CD Sampler Storms eBay!

Journalists still file their Beatles stories despite the two disc overview of the remasters mysteriously retaining its original shrinkwrap...

By Fred Mills

Apple's iPod may have killed the CD star, but that breed of human known as the record collector will never be extinct. Ample proof surfaced anew starting a couple of weeks ago: that's when the other Apple, in conjunction with EMI, sent out a two-CD, gatefold sleeve promotional teaser for the Beatles stereo remasters, which officially arrived in stores today, 9-9-09 (duh).

Smartly titled The Beatles 09.09.09 Sampler, it contains 32 songs culled from the entire Beatles back catalog and was circulated primarily (though not exclusively) to journalists working on stories about the remasters. There's nothing on there not included on the Beatles albums proper - but that doesn't mean it's not highly collectible. For starters, anything Beatles related has intrinsic value among fans and collectors (allow me to tell you about my promotional poster for the Beatles 1 album I have hanging on my wall, the one displaying all the rare foreign Fab Four 45 and EP picture sleeves, and how much one collector offered me for it; I declined).

Plus, since those 32 songs do not appear in this particular configuration anywhere else (it's not a clone of Past Masters), as a promotional-only item it automatically becomes an object of desire. The entire package, including discs, is pictured below:

eBay apparently agrees, for within days of 09.09.09 Sampler arriving in mailboxes, listings for the set started popping up at the auction site (and no doubt others, such as GEMM). Checking eBay this morning, there were 15 listings with the keywords "beatles 09.09.09 sampler," and no doubt there are more up there using variations of that title.

The current price range, by bid for active auctions, is a broad one, as low as $22.47 and as high as $88.00; there's also one copy displaying a "But It Now" price for $149.00. And while that may seem ridiculously high to those of you still saying to yourselves, "Yeah, but there's no new music on the damn thing!", well... it appears the marketplace has spoken.

If you check "Completed Listings" for the sampler, that becomes immediately obvious: while a couple of copies went for around 50 and 60 bucks w/Buy It Now, it's been regularly changing hands for $99-$165 in auctions. (One seller apparently had five copies and each went for $125. Nice work if you can get it.) An auction that ended this morning generated 16 bids before closing at $147.59; for another one, from last night, a furious 22-bid round ensued, with the winning bidder ponying up for $123.45. One currently active listing set to end in about 5 hours has 6 bids with a top bid of $88 and it's sure to skyrocket shortly.

Er, that rumbling sound you hear in the distance? It's the sound of journalists, having read this news item, now stampeding to their computers, Beatles promo in hand, and logging on to eBay.

What we're wanting to know, however, is this: if every hack out there is flogging the CD at auction sites, how the hell are they writing their stories? From memory, one supposes...

Incidentally, here's the sampler's track listing if anyone is interested. Happy flogging ‘n' shopping!

Disc One 

1. I Saw Her Standing There (from Please Please Me)

2. I Wanna Be Your Man (from With The Beatles)

3. Thís Boy (from Past Masters Disc One)

4. Things We Said Today (from A Hard Day's Night)

5. Eight Days A Week (from Beatles For Sale)

6. You've Got To Hide Your Love Away (from Help!)

7. If I Needed Someone (from Rubber Soul)

8. Rain (from Past Masters Disc Two)

9. Here, There And Everywhere (from Revolver)

10. Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite! (from Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band) 11. The Fool On The Hill (from Magical Mystery Tour)

12. Glass Onion (from The Beatles Disc One)

13. Mother Nature's Son (from The Beatles Disc Two)

14. Hey Bulldog (from Yellow Submarine)

15. Something (from Abbey Road)

16. Two Of Us (from Let It Be)

Disc two

1. Please Please Me (from Please Please Me)

2. All My Loving (from With The Beatles)

3. If I Feel (A Hard Day's Night)

4. Honey Don't (from Beatles For Sale)

5. I'm Down (from Past Masters Disc One)

6. I Need You (from Help!)

7. Day Tripper (from Past Masters Disc Two)

8. Drive My Car (from Rubber Soul)

9. And Your Bird Can Sing (from Revolver)

10. She's Leaving Home (Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band)

11. I Am The Walrus (from Magical Mystery Tour)

12. Back In The U.S.S.R (from The Beatles Disc One)

13. Long, Long, Long (from The Beatles Disc Two)

14. All Together Now (from Yellow Submarine)

15. Come Together (from Abbey Road)

16. I've Got A Feeling (from Let It Be)