Wu-Tang Clan and Five Other Rare Records You Won't Own

So it looks like there's no hope of us getting our hands on a copy of the Wu Tang Clan's new album‘Once Upon A Time In Shaolin’, since only one is being released. The rap group are trying to bring back the idea that music is a form of art, by making something incredibly rare and very unatainable. Whilst an interesting idea, it got us wondering what other extremley rare records are out there? Well we found these five, but understandably they weren't in our personal collection. 

Are you lucky enough to have a copy of Foo Fighter's 'The One'?

Foo Fighters 'The One' (2002)

The most sought after piece of Foo Fighter’s memorabilia is a copy of their 2002 single ‘The One’ from its UK release. The catch is, there are only six copies. The band made the single in 6 different formats, 3”cd, cd, mini disc, cassette, 12" vinyl and 7" vinyl, but there’s only one copy of each. These were given away as prizes in a competition, so if you’re lucky enough to have one of ‘The One’ you could make some serious money.

Elvis Presley 'Stay Away Joe
' (1967)

Though not an official release, there's only one copy of this one-sided LP from the King. The one of a kind record was pressed soley to be played on November 5th 1967 on the radio in Cottonwood, Arizona. Along with the song it also contains a interview with Presley who was promoting his latest movie. A note on the inner sleeve says that the album is to be returned to Col. Parker's office after airing, which worked since  the record was discovered in his estate in 1999.

Paul McCartney managed to get his 1958 demo back

The Quarrymen Acetate disc (1958)

Before Lennon and McCartney were Beatles, they were Quarrymen and in 1958 they made a demo of themselves performing Buddy Holly's "That'll Be the Day" and "In Spite of All the Danger”. Despite the boys paying 3 shillings and 6 pence each to use the studio, they only walked away with one copy of the demo which they passed around each other. It was thought to be lost until 1981 when pianist John Duff Lowe found it and sold it to Paul McCartney. McCartney then had the songs on the disk digitally remastered and pressed copies for friends.

The Sex Pistols 'God Save the Queen
' A&M Records Version (1977)

In 1977 the Sex Pistols recorded ‘God Save The Queen’ for A&M records which they had just signed to. Twenty-five thousand copies of the single were pressed which doesn't make it very limited. Until executives got fed up with the band’s behaviour, dropped them from the label and destroyed most of the copies. Only a few pressings survived and these were apparently given to top A&M executives when their office closed.

Not for art, but for charity, Radiohead released one copy of 'Videotape'

Radiohead 'Videotape' (2008)

Ok so this one isn’t a record or a CD but its still very limited. In 2008 Radiohead released just one copy of a VHS video featuring the song 'Videotape' with accompanying visuals and a remix by James Rutledge. Later the sole copy was put up for auction on Ebay, signed by the band in order to raise money for the UK Missing People charity.

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