Rare vinyl from UK DJ Scaramanga Silk becomes Discogs' most expensive record ever sold

05 February 2021, 12:06 | Written by Cerys Kenneally

(News)

Discogs have revealed that a rare 12" single from British breakbeat DJ Scaramanga Silk has become the most expensive record ever sold on the music collectors' site.

The near-unknown DJ and producer has been releasing music since 2008, and in December 2020, Scaramanga Silk sold one of his rare 12" singles from 2008 for a record-breaking price of $41,095 (£30,079).

Scaramanga Silk's "Choose Your Weapon" 12" single was sold to an anonymous bidder. Only 20 vinyl copies of the single were made, and included an accompanying poem, art print and CD.

BBC reports that the DJs single has now overtaken a rare copy of Prince's Black Album that sold for $27,500 (£20,128) in 2018.

The DJ told Discogs of the track, ""Choose Your Weapon" was a response to the issues around knife and gun crime at that time. Much of the media coverage appeared to be focused on blame rather than looking at solutions. Since then, some great individuals and organisations have been doing excellent work to address the problems. More still needs to be done but it is pleasing to see progress."

Scaramanga Silk said of the sale, "It is very difficult to understand why the release went for that kind of money as I do not believe that any record is worthy of such a valuation. You imagine that the highly limited edition nature of it would have been a major factor. The individual who made the purchase must have had some kind of special connection to the work too. There was a buzz around the record in 2008."

He added, "It means a lot that "Choose Your Weapon" is so special to somebody. However, it is disappointing to see a promotional item reach such prices in the resale market when the artist sees no remuneration at all. Second-hand trading of records in this way seems to overly favor sellers rather than musicians or record buyers. Fortunately, as technology has evolved, more and more ways of accessing music now exist, giving greater choice."

Discogs added of the sale, "By several accounts, the release drew attention from collectors shortly after it dropped [in 2008] when it sold on eBay for $654. How that price tag sky-rocketed to over $40,000 remains a mystery."

Only a handful of records by the likes of Elvis Presley, The Rolling Stones and Jimi Hendrix have sold for more than Scaramanga Silk's "Choose Your Weapon" single.