BEFORE DELVING INTO ALBUMS from the ’60s that wound up in record store cut-out bins after 1968, I want to address the meaning of the term “cut-out.” It has nothing to do with the punched holes, clipped corners, and other defacements found on old album jackets. The term simply applies to a record that has been deleted—or “cut out”—from a record company’s catalog of in-print titles. Once an album is deleted, it is a cut-out, even if it’s in perfect condition.
As so many people turn to Wikipedia for information, I will quote their definition:
Cut-outs are typically wholesaled to retailers as non-returnable items, meaning that the store cannot send them back to the distributor for a refund; the reason for the cut or hole in the packaging is simply to clearly mark the item as non-returnable. The marking also serves to prevent the retailer from attempting to sell the discounted item at the original full price.
I have no disagreements with this statement as it stands, although it far from the whole story. What I have written below is mostly an elaboration on these facts. To understand certain terms that I use (such as the Great Deletion), please read the first episode in this column, “The Avid Record Collector (From the Cut-Out Bin).”
Several friends contributed their observations or opinions to this piece:
Frank Daniels (https://www.friktech.com)
Dave Reynolds (http://www.elvisrarerecords.com)
Jerry Richards
Lew Shiner (https://www.lewisshiner.com)
Neal Skok
But all of the observations, conclusions, and statements in this article are mine based on my experiences in the ’60s and ’70s. Fortunately, most of the memories of my contributors are similar to my memories.
Slow-selling albums
During the first twenty years of the 33⅓ RPM Long-Playing Record Album Era (1949-1968), few record or department stores wanted to clog up their valuable shelf space with inventory that wasn’t moving. These albums were returned to the manufacturers for a refund or credit against future purchases.
In a 1965 panel discussion among retailers about “when should slow-selling albums be closed out,” more than 40% said that they pulled an album from their shelves no later than six months after it stopped selling. Many pop albums were in and out of the marketplace in less than two years.
During this time, record companies did not routinely damage an album to designate it as a cut-out. It was written off their books and that was that. The vast majority of the records that were part of the Great Deletion were not marked as cut-outs in any manner—there were a few punched holes but no clipped corners or saw-marks, but that’s about it.
Grommets, holes, etc.
In the ’60s, several record companies began designating albums as cut-outs by defacing the albums in some manner. Related imprints for each company—such as sister labels (such as Columbia and Epic) and subsidiaries (such as Columbia and Harmony)—may have also been affected by the cut-out practices below.
• Cameo and Parkway actually stamped a large “NR” for “Non-Returnable” or “No Return” on the back cover of their album jackets. They also usually stamped the label on at least one side of the record. Related imprints include Fairmount Records, Wonder, and Wyncote.
• Capitol punched a small hole in the upper right corner of the jacket. (In the ’80s, Capitol punched a much larger hole in the upper left corner; supposedly, these were shipped to radio stations.) Related imprints include Harvest, Sidewalk, and Tower.
• Columbia stuck a large gold sticker that reads “Promotional Album / Columbia Special Products / A Service of Columbia Record” on the front of the jacket. I am uncertain as to what Columbia did with these albums—I assume that some were shipped to radio stations—but loads of them showed up during the Great Deletion. Related imprints include Epic and Harmony.
• MGM pressed an inkless “x” on the back cover. Most of the copies I have seen have the “x” in the lower-left corner. Related imprints include Lion, Metro, MetroJazz, and Verve.
• Reprise, as well as parent company Warner Bros. inserted a small metal piece in the upper left corner of the jacket which many collectors refer to as a rivet. As the piece is circular with a hole in the center (like a donut), it is more like a grommet than a rivet.
•
Promos and red tapes
If a specially manufactured promotional record found its way into a cut-out bin, it was by accident. The only records I ever saw among the cut-outs that could be considered promos were the Columbia albums with the gold sticker mentioned above.
Records previously owned by radio stations from the 1950s and ’60s are found with a small piece of red tape on the jacket’s spine. A small rectangular piece is cut out of the jacket and the tape, a mark similar to the so-called “saw marks” that appeared on albums years later. Except where the radio station cuts are small, the saw-marks are often large gashes.
Most red-taped albums are special promotional pressings but stock copies were also marked this way. I don’t know if this was some kind of universal practice that stations picked up and did themselves, or someone who distributed albums to radio stations did it before shipping the records to the stations.
Since we are addressing specially-manufactured promotional records (such as white label promos), they were never intended to be sold as new records in retail outlets. Ever. So promo records in jackets with punched holes, clipped corners, saw-marks, etc., are technically not cut-outs—they are just promos with defaced jackets.
Selling cut-outs as collectibles
So, cut-outs are singles and LP albums (if there were cut-out EPs, I have never seen one) that have been deleted from a record company’s active catalog. Since 1969, most cut-outs were sold at a deeply discounted price to retail outlets, many with defaced jackets. Retailers sold them to the public for 99¢ to $2.99 without the possibility of their being returned to the manufacturer.
When advertising an album with a cut-out mark for sale, the album should be noted as being a cut-out and the type of defacement should be mentioned: a punched hole, a clipped corner, etc. The size of the defacement should also be mentioned.
For example, a factory-sealed album with a clipped corner should read “Still sealed cut-out with 1 inch of corner clipped.” The more inclusive and accurate the grade and description are, the more pleased the buyer is likely to be.
Finally, the first cut-outs I saw were 45s with a small hole drilled through the record in the label area. (Collectors refer to these as BB-holes as the hole is about the size of the pellets fired by a BB-gun.) I believe I started seeing these records in the mid-’60s, usually packaged in plastic bags of three for less than a dollar.
I first saw these at a local drug store, one of the places I haunted looking for copies of the latest Marvel comic books in nearly mint condition. But that’s another story for another column!
Neal Umphred was the final author of the O’Sullivan-Woodside line of price guides for record collectors (1985-1986) and the original author of the Goldmine line of price guides for record collectors (1989-1996). He currently maintains two record and music-oriented blogs: Rather Rare Records and Elvis – A Touch Of Gold. If you visit either site, please leave a comment and tell me that you are a Sixties Music Secrets reader.
So are “cut-outs” not as valuable as vinyl that is not a cut-out. Asking as I’m trying to buy some old albums from 60’s and 70’s and often I get told by seller an album is “a cut-out.” I had no understanding of the term till I came across this site/post.
SARAH
Glad this article was of use to you. Cut-outs are records or albums that have been intentionally damaged by the record company and should not be worth as much as a flawless record or album.
Hope this helps …
NEAL
Back in the day, I acquired a few treasures in the cut-out bin of my local G.C. Murphy’s. (I also picked up a few clunkers). Anyway, I loved that I could purchase a handful of cut-out records for the same amount of money as one popular record or tape.
Hey Brian, great to have you joining in the conversation!
I believe we all have a “Cut out” story! Thank you for sharing!
Please don’t be a stranger, there’s a new Trivia quiz just a few days off
Cheers!
Rick Shoemaker
Mono Searchers too were all over. Being a youth, these inexpensive old LPs were a Godsend to me. I remember seeing mono magical Mystery Tour Lps for $1.99 only a YEAR after it came out! Cutout 45s were even better for me. I bought SOOO many 10 cent or even less great 45s that today some command big bucks. Some of my memories of whole big tables of 45s to look thru at those prices still haunt me. I bought tons but so many I should have bought! One time at Penneys here in Lincoln, a huge amount of 45s at 5 cents each and the next week 2/5 cents!!!
CLARK
Were those NEW singles for 10¢? I don’t recall that although there was a store in Wilkes-Barre that sold used jukebox 45s for a nickel each or six-for-a-quarter. This was in the late ’60s.
Keep on keepin’ on!
NEAL
PS: Back then, while I loved the Searchers’ singles, I thought their albums were a little weak. Today, if I was stuck on a desert island and could have either one Searchers LP or the top 100 best selling albums of the 21st century, you know what I would choose …
BRIAN
Thanks for the comment!
The lowest price I saw for deleted albums was 3-for-$1 at one of the five-and-dimes (Woolworth? S.S. Kresge? Newbury?) back in the mid-’60s. Most of what showed up there was what I (as a teenager) considered “junk,” but I did find some gems.
Wonder if there will ever be cut-out downloads …
Keep on keepin’ on!
NEAL
Hi Neal!
My massive vinyl collection was jump started by haunting the cutout bins at K Mart in the 70s in Moon Twp PA. I sure miss those days! Boy, for 99 cents I got The Who ‘My Generation’, ‘Happy Jack’, ‘Sell out’, ‘Magic Bus’… Nilsson’s ‘Aerial Pandemonium Shadow Show’… Gandalf S/T LP (now a $300+ LP) and more. The one that I passed over is the Lollipop Shoppe LP (still kicking myself… I later met and became good friends with Fred Cole when he was in Dead Moon).
Thanks for your insight!!!
And thanx to you for joining in the conversation!
Please don’t be a stranger
All my best!
Rick Shoemaker
ROBERT
Thanks for the comment!
I bought mono copies of the first four Who albums and a couple of Nilssons when they showed up at Arlen’s in 1968-1969. I had no interest in unknown artists at the time, so I wouldn’t have paid much attention to Gandalf of the Lollipop Shoppe if I saw them.
Back then, I tended to laugh at (and therefore ignore/overlook) groups with names like Chocolate Watch Band and the silly things Mike Curb named his artists, so I also passed on many Sidewalk and Tower albums—even when they were 50¢ each! (Not Pink Floyd, of course.)
Keep on keepin’ on …
NEAL
Bought my cutout gems by Chic and Chaka Kahn in the late 70’s at Woolworths on 25th St, Palmer Township (Easton) PA. Still have them. So many if the Chic tunes on that album have been sampled and remade over the years, one (Love Like This Before) even went Gold by Faith – Sample of Chic Cheer tune.
Hey Joe,
Great to see you here at SMS!
We hope you join us regularly and share your insight!
Cheers,
Rick / SMS
JOE
Thanks for the comment.
I grew up in Wyoming Valley in northeastern Pennsylvania. In 1968 or ’69, Arlens opened a new store there and as part of their Grand Opening, they had tens of thousands of deleted LPs for 99¢—stereo and mono.
I remember seeing multiple copies of such mono gems as the Stones’ THEIR STANAIC MAJESTIES REQUEST and Chocolate Watch Band’s NO WAY OUT.
When the Grand Opening died down (it must have lasted at least two months), the LPs dropped to 50¢.
Them was the days, my friend …
NEAL
Interesting. Who knew?
DENISE
Thanks for the comment!
There were probably a few people who had a clue and bought multiple copies of albums they thought might have value in the future. I certainly wasn’t one of them …
NEAL
Love the detail, Neal. I always bought cut-outs from those early 39 cent unsold 45s like Volare by Bobby Rydell thru the mono cutout period of 67 into the 70’s and the past decades, they are all over still, often resold for 20th time.
C+B
Thanks for the comment!
I remember bags of 45s that were sold in places like drug stores: three singles for less than a dollar. I do not remember the price, which was printed on the bag. (39¢? 59¢? 99¢?)
I do remember most of the ones that I saw were Mercury Records products, some had those cheap black & white picture sleeves that they used, all had a small bb-hole drilled through the label area—including the picture sleeves!
Those were the days …
N
PS: In Wilkes-Barre, we also had a little shop that sold a bit of everything. They sold used jukebox 45s for a nickel apiece, six-for-a-quarter. But they weren’t cut-outs, just used records.
C+B
Apologies for the redundancy — I forgot that I had mentioned the cut-out 45s in the article. Old age is taking its toll …
N
Hey Neal,
Your comment reminded me of another element of 1960’s 45’s or singles… “Sound alikes” I actually owned a copy of “I wanna Hold Your Hand” and “She Loes You” credited to fictitious bands like The Beat Men or Beetels…You get the idea! I got some in the “Bag of hits” and others I bought singularly! I think they were .45 cents a piece! They were remarkably well done! Dead on note for note sound Alikes! But, as close as they were, I still couldn’t handle that they were fake, even with the 50% discount! I’ll bet you have a few?
Thanx Neal
Rick
RICK
There were lots of those 45s back then. Most of them were sheer crap, although I’m sure that old farts like you and me could listen to them now with a sense of fond nostalgia.
A few of those soundalike records were pretty good although I’m not aware of anyone online who is an expert on them and could point us to the better ones.
NEAL