In the decades since, rare copies of these albums have become highly sought-after grails for collectors.
He couldnt claim significant tax losses for low-selling records on his Roulette label.
Voila: Tiger Lily Records was born!
Thes One, music producer and record collector, with a selection of tax scam records released by Album World.Eilon Paz
How did they do this?
In most cases, the artists had no idea their recordings were ever released.
A good example is theSnowballAlbum on Guinness.
When I discovered this record, I found an email address for Joey Carbone and wrote him about it.
Within minutes, I got a reply saying, This was released?
They could claim losses for the costs of studio recording and musical equipment.
In some cases, the label gave them the opportunity to market their own release on a tiny scale.
Once I ended up in that zone, I wondered what else was out there.
label is the most fantastic example of how to create a ton of something out of nothing.
They would invest money in C.C.
to claim tax losses and get paperwork showing they lost ten times as much as the actual investment.
The records were put together quickly in a hilarious fashion.
These sessions were credited to several fictitious bands.
The perpetrators of C.C.
It seems Morris Levy knew that the LPs released on T.L.
should reach some standard in terms of artistic quality.
Perhaps this is why Levy never faced the kind of legal pressure C.C.
Ill admit theyre a punch in of personal fetish object for me.
Instead, they pocketed the money and left the suckers with hundreds of thousands of LPs nobody wanted.
(This story is documented in the bookStiffedby William Knoedelseder.)
Album World resurfaced as Album Globe.
Still, even these guys eventually went too far.
Its yet another chapter in the ongoing story of music executives looking for ways to beat the system.
A few years later, the 1987 movieWall Streetpopularized the catchphrase, Greed is good.
Whether it is or not, it certainly led to the release of some memorable records.
Dust & Grooves Volume 2: Further Adventures in Record Collectingis available for purchase now.
