Blackpool band's ultra collectible album revealed as one of world's rarest and most expensive records
“Blackpool was in its heyday, the country's busiest and biggest seaside resort and we just wanted to be part of it.”
A rare album produced by a Blackpool band to help them get gigs has been named as one of the world's rarest and most expensive records.
A copy of Complex's self-titled debut changes hands for up to £6,000 among obsessive record collectors. The rarity value is due to only 99 copies of the orange covered record with the band fearing the Inland Revenue would be after them if they pressed more.
It has been named the top six rarest record in the world by Record Collector magazine. The band's story starts in 1968 when local lads Brian Lee, Tony Shakespeare, Lance Fogg and Tony Fisher copied the lead of tens of thousands of UK teens and formed their own band. They formed after an advert was placed in the Blackpool Gazette asking for band members.
Lance Fogg said: "Blackpool was in its heyday, the country's busiest and biggest seaside resort and we just wanted to be part of it. We played anywhere we could, literally. Youth clubs, pubs, private functions, hotels and sports clubs - all up along the Fylde coast and a few times in Preston. We did a summer season at The Gaiety Bar in central Blackpool."
After little success on the local circuit, the decision was made to self produce an album to promote themselves outside the Fylde coast. The idea came from Brian's mum and the family dining room at 107 St Annes Road East was turned into a makeshift recording studio with Brian's mum and dad picking up the tab.
There was no money for an outside producer or even for retakes at the fondly titled 107 studio. The reason why Complex, released in 1971, is so sought after is because only 99 copies were pressed to avoid Purchase Tax, a levy applied to any manufactured goods produced in quantities of more than 100.
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The record was pressed at Craighall Studios in Edinburgh and the quality was abysmal. In addition, the overs were often too small to contain the 12 inch vinyl and this has become a quick way for collectors to check they have an original copy.
Copies were sent out to promoters, with zero interest and some were sold at Blackpool gigs for less than a quid.
But Complex were not deterred by failure. In 1971 a second album, The Way We Feel, was recorded above The Plough pub in Freckleton and distributed by the 'Complex Transport Authority', which turned out to be a Del Boy-style Robin Reliant three-wheeled van.