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Rare John Williams items.


Naïve Old Fart

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What is the rarest item of J.W. mechandise (or any other composer, come to that) that you own? Do you care that it is rare, or do you keep it because you like it? Do you collect rare items? Do you want to display them (via the laser display board, of course!), on the site?

Me? Well, I've got a Japanese vinyl pressing of "SpaceCamp", the DCC double vinyl of "Raiders...", a U.K. 7inch "Theme From CE3K", backed with "Nocturnal Pursiut", all in a picture sleve of the main "road" poster, and the original Japanese 7inch of "The Midway March", backed with "Men Of The Yorktown March", in a plastic sleve with two-sided sleve notes, printed in Japanese.

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The rarest thing I have of John Williams is the Trilogy Anthology box set, but it's really not that hard to get a hold of.

The rarest music-related things I have are Richard Harvey's Fantasia and Fantasia 2 production music CDs. Took me a few years of scouring eBay to finally nab those suckers. Interestingly enough, they're both back on eBay right now, although I didn't pay quite as much as this guy is asking for them.

http://ebayitem.com/380211957342

http://ebayitem.com/380211957361

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Of COURSE!!!!! I looked up Richard Harvey on the net, and it turns out that his name was familiar; he scored "Terrahawks"! Thanks for that, Chuck. BTW, what do the c.d.s sound like, and have you got "The Martian Chronicles" (I assume that's the one with Rock Hudson), because I've been looking for that for simply ages?!

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The Spacecamp CD, I guess. Or did they rerelease that one too?! I don't think anyone here has CE3K released by the Alhambra label. Then there's the Earthquake and Eiger Sanction soundtracks but they are probably being remastered and expanded as we speak, right?

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The Spacecamp CD, I guess. Or did they rerelease that one too?! I don't think anyone here has CE3K released by the Alhambra label. Then there's the Earthquake and Eiger Sanction soundtracks but they are probably being remastered and expanded as we speak, right?

I once saw the Japanese "SpaceCamp" c.d. in Movie Boulevard going for (I s**t you not!) £199...I bought the vinyl for £20, and walked away happy.

Yeah, the Alhambra "CE3K" is pretty rare, as is the Alhambra "1941".

"Earthquake", and "The Eiger Sanction" "being remastered as we speak"? Dream on, my friend...

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The Spacecamp Japanaese c.d.

Thomas and the King c.d.

Heidi c.d.

Pops Brittania

And guess the FSM towering Inferno can be considered a rarity

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Hmmm. I guess the rarest JW items I own are:

The Japanese Temple Of Doom OST

Angela's Ashes academy promo (w/o dialogue)

OOP Home Alone 2 and The Fury Varese sets

I also have the original SW and TESB double-LPs but those aren't really that rare (and they aren't in superb condition)

Also not sure how rare the Target AOTC OST w/ bonus track is

And soon the Hook Korean LP

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Jane Eyre on vinyl, and the Japanese TOD.

Also several under-fingernail DNA scrapings from which I eventually intend to clone a more flexible maestro who will agree to convince George to release the full prequel scores.

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Well the original Bay Cities 1941 CD, Varese's CE3K and I probably have a bunch of JW LP's somewhere in my garage.

I guess you could count OOP CDs as rare, like The Eiger Sanction, Jaws 2, Dracula, Stanly and Iris, Earthquake and the limited releases as well.

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"Rare" it quite subjective when talking about CD's......does "1 of 3000" make it rare? I have the Fury 2-CD set and a couple of other bits, as well as the ToD German pressing with the English language booklet.

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Of COURSE!!!!! I looked up Richard Harvey on the net, and it turns out that his name was familiar; he scored "Terrahawks"! Thanks for that, Chuck. BTW, what do the c.d.s sound like, and have you got "The Martian Chronicles" (I assume that's the one with Rock Hudson), because I've been looking for that for simply ages?!

Yeah, Richard Harvey is a fantastic but unfortunately little-known composer. Some other stuff he's done includes Animal Farm, Arabian Knights, Luther, Death of a President, and a single track from The Da Vinci Code. He also plays rare woodwind instruments for a ton of soundtracks including The Lion King, The Chronicles of Narnia, and Harry Potter.

The two Fantasia CDs are excellent! They are my favorites of his music. I'll send you a PM if you (or anyone else) is interested.

Unfortunately, I don't know anything about The Martian Chronicles, sorry.

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I think you have to count the Limited Editions as rare.... I mean, I think there has to be more than 3000 copies of the japanese TOD and SpaceCamp CDs out there right?

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My rarest Williams release is probably Black Sunday, which of course isn't THAT rare, especially right now. Most of the Williams soundtracks I own are pretty common. I do have his autograph and a few photos of him taken from about thirty feet away at night through a window, though...

Wow, that sounds insanely creepy. Chill, it was at the Hollywood Bowl, and a bunch of us were hoping to meet him afterward, but all we ended up doing was catching a few glimpses of him inside.

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Japanese release of Superman, with two extra tracks

I own 1941 and CE3K Alhambra and Varese releases.

Japanese TOD

Keisuke Wakao Plays the music of John Williams (just recently, thanks Miguel :thumbup:)

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I think you have to count the Limited Editions as rare.... I mean, I think there has to be more than 3000 copies of the japanese TOD and SpaceCamp CDs out there right?

In which case I can also list a first edition Superman blue box (ha - who here can't!), Monsignor, Heartbeeps, and I'm sure there's one or two others from Williams.....

.....oh, and Blazing Saddles of course!!

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I have the Star Wars Anthology set, the RCA 97' Special Editions with the laser etched CD's. I also have the Limited Edition Home Alone 2 2-CD set.

I would say that the target version for AOTC is pretty rare since it can be a bit of a pain to find. I have that too.

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From JW...

The Paper Chase / The Poseidon Adventure (FSM)

The Fury: The Deluxe Edition (Varese)

Dracula (Varese)

I think these have become rare, but I'm not entirely sure what they go for these days:

JFK

Midway

Lost In Space: Volume One

Close Encounters Of The Third Kind: Collector's Edition

From HZ...

New Music In Films

Follow Your Dreams

Muppet Treasure Island

The Power Of One

I probably have some more from other composers but I can't think of any right now.

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I didn't know the Anthology set was that rare.

I think you can get it from ebay every once in a while...but finding a decent good condition copy can be a bit of a pain. I was lucky when I bought mine again from ebay that mine was used but in good condition. Meaning the CD's were not scratched at all and all the booklets and stuff were perfect.

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My list of rare items isn't very impressive when compared to the collection of the rest of you guys on here...

- Temple of Doom original CD (Japanese import)

- Original Star Wars LP

THere's that scan of an article from when John Williams was in the Air Force Band. I considered that pretty rare until I shared it with everyone

here to read. No use keeping that article to myself! lol

I guess the most rare thing I have of John Williams would be....his old job as the Air Force Band Arranger/Composer? (haha, yes, I'm a dork...).

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I believe the Spacecamp CD was limited to 1000 units.

In fact it was. But it is my belief that unauthorized pressed copies surfaced in recent years -- meaning some of this over expensive copies that pop up at eBay and other places aren't necessarily the original RCA Japan pressing.

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In fact it was. But it is my belief that unauthorized pressed copies surfaced in recent years -- meaning some of this over expensive copies that pop up at eBay and other places aren't necessarily the original RCA Japan pressing.

Mine stems from a time when pirates were still a bunch of crooks on a ship.

With that out of the way, let the bidding begin! Let's start at 1500 Euro! Do I hear someone say 1600 Euro?!

Alex

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That must be a very difficult thing to live with. We all make mistakes, Steef ... wait ... That's 1700 Euro for the gentleman over there. Do I hear 1800 Euro?!

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I have all the old Polydor/RSO CDs of the Star Wars trilogy and the first two Indiana Jones movies. Are they "rare"? Is the U.S. version of Temple of Doom "rarer" than the Japanese pressing?

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All the JW FSM CDs

Japanese Spacecamp CD

Heidi CD

Violin Concerto/Flute Concerto CD (is that rare, I don't know)

Thomas and the King CD (should that be rare? You bet!)

Original CDs of Temple of Doom, Witches of Eastwick, Accidental Tourist, Jane Eyre, though I guess they aren't worth anything now they've all been rereleased.

Signed Anthology Boxset (oooh!)

Superman March 45rmp vinyl picture disc (is that rare?)

ET 33rpm picture disc (again, probably not rare at all, but hey...)

Vinyl of Not With My Wife You Dont, Checkmate, Diamond Head, Tom Sawyer, Yes Giorgio

All the Varese & Intrada JW Cds

That's all I can remember. Some of them may not be rare at all.

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I just picked up an LP of Diamond Head for $4 the other day, after passing it up in the store a few weeks ago. I checked eBay, and they were going for more than that. Interesting to note that Williams isn't ever credited on the front cover.

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I have every commercially-released soundtrack/score of Williams', including the following "rare" items, most mentioned previously:

  • The Accidental Tourist (original Warner Bros. CD)
  • Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (German releases on Polydor and edel)
  • Jane Eyre (original Silva Screen CD)
  • Raiders of the Lost Ark (Polydor and DCC)
  • The Reivers (original Varese Sarabande club CD)
  • Spacecamp (Japanese CD, purchased from S.T.A.R. back in the day)
  • The Witches of Eastwick (original Warner Bros. CD)

I also have the following:

  • Both the European Filmworks and Japanese Film Works compilation CDs (Japanese release includes "The Men of the Yorktown March" from Midway)
  • A promotional 2-CD set from MCA Records titled Reel Music, which includes an alternate version of the track "Born on the Fourth of July"
  • Promotional CD of the "Raider's March" released at the time of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade:
    IJ&LC_promo_72.jpg
  • Original print materials from the Williams' Kennedy Center Honors indcution

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Well I think he made a joke,

but what however I heard from two independent sources, over the years that there is a DVD with raw and unedited interviews of the HPIII cast and Crew - including John Williams + production footage (with about 6 minutes of filmed recording sessions)

It is supposed to be an WB intern Datadisc, pressed for executives to consider, what should be put on the DVD and in what form, or something like that

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I'd bet something like that could exist. That AOTC featurette thing that was excluded from the DVD appeared out of nowhere on Youtube. Maybe the Ultimate Edition of POA will have it.

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THat featurette was an exclusive AOTC DVD Online Bonus.

you know that kind of bonus, where you have to have your DVD inserted in the PC and it leads you to a "hidden" webpage

also I know someone who worked for a cinema in germany, that there was a promotional VHS Tape with all the DVD featurettes of AOTC on it + The Music doc. - which they left of the bonus DVD intentionally!

for what reasons ever.. discspace? or maybe the AOTC soundtrack desaster...

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