CRYME OF THE CENTURY

I loved the 200 Rarest Albums but would like to point out a continuing anomaly in respect of the existence of a Genesis Nursery Cryme ‘Tour Label’ variation of this LP, listed at £550, No 82 in this month’s list.

I have been collecting Genesis for more than 20 years and regularly contribute to the official Genesis website forum dedicated to their collectable output. The existence of this variation of Nursery Cryme has been debated by Genesis collectors several times in the past on the forum, each time with the conclusion that such a variation did not leave the record pressing plants in this form. The tour label in question is in itself a quite separate item, actually being a sticker given away at concerts in the latter half of 1972, being modelled on the prevailing Charisma Large Hatter label design. Many fans recollect this item being given away at this time.

I believe the information for this entry in your article originally comes from Peter Vickers who has contributed information to you before on Genesis articles. He has produced a Genesis collectable book which lists the item at £550 and mentions there are only two known copies of this variation, however his book also only shows a copy of the sticker, not the LP with the sticker on.

I am unaware that a scan or photo exists anywhere which shows the full record complete with this sticker, but in any case without doubt those copies which claim to be ‘Tour Label’ have had the sticker added subsequently by a couple of individuals at the time, rather than being applied at the factory.

Moving forward, it would be nice to see price guides etc having a caption of “existence unconfirmed” or “with tour sticker applied to label post production” noted against relevant items as I don’t think it is accurate to give the impression this variation was ever officially produced.

by Alan Champion
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