Internet bidders drop a cool $445,000 in Dec. 5-6 auction of Dick Clark\'s music memorabilia

Internet bidders drop a cool $445,000 in Dec. 5-6 auction of Dick Clark's music memorabilia

(EMAILWIRE.COM, December 07, 2006 ) NEW YORK – The unquestioned provenance and historical cachet associated with Dick Clark’s personal collection of music memorabilia ignited a firestorm of bidding in a Dec. 5 and 6 auction that was nearly 50 percent sold through LiveAuctioneers.com in association with eBay Live Auctions. Online bidders proved to be ferocious competitors in Guernsey’s 945-lot, no-reserve sale, prevailing on such iconic lots as Madonna’s black-tasseled, gold-sequined bustier from the Open Your Heart Video, $11,400; Michael Jackson’s Austrian-crystal-studded glove, $7,800; and Bo Diddley’s autographed square-shape guitar with travel-stickered case, $9,600.In all, Internet bidders added $445,290 to the sale’s coffers, with the big money spent on early John Lennon and Beatles-related material, including an autographed 9 inch by 7 inch cartoon paper cutout of Lennon’s head. Together with cutouts representing the three other Beatles, it had served as a “welcome” decoration on a TWA 707 plane that transported the Fab Four during a widely documented tour. The cutout signed by Lennon garnered a winning Internet bid of $30,000; while the Paul McCartney cutout from the same series achieved $11,400 online. Autographed by both John Lennon and Yoko Ono, a framed promotional copy of the couple’s Double Fantasy LP was another coveted entry in the sale, earning $9,000 via LiveAuctioneers. The King reigned online, as well. Elvis Presley’s personal script for the film Love Me Tender was purchased through LiveAuctioneers and eBay Live for $5,400. A wide-lapeled blue suit designed for Presley of stretch gabardine to allow the star to perform karate kicks and jumps onstage was bid to $10,200.Postsale statistics indicate 1,612 people signed up to bid in the auction through LiveAuctioneers.com. The electronic catalog for the first session, alone, attracted 62,629 unique visitors and 84,663 page hits.A generous percentage of profits from the sale of the Dick Clark collection will be donated to the T.J. Martell Foundation, a music-industry-related organization that funds cancer and AIDS research. “We were thrilled to be able to play a role in raising such a significant amount of money for this worthy cause,” said LiveAuctioneers’ CEO Julian R. Ellison. “To be associated with such a great philanthropic effort and a living legend like Dick Clark will always be a highlight of LiveAuctioneers’ history.”Complete results for the Dick Clark auction or any other sale with real-time Internet bidding through LiveAuctioneers may be viewed by logging on to www.liveauctioneers.com and using the archive search. Founded in November 2002, LiveAuctioneers.com provides real-time Internet bidding services to 527 auction houses worldwide. The company is based in New York City and has agent offices in several states and the United KingdomMedia contact:pr@liveauctioneers.com# # #

Catherine Watson

britamermedia@aol.com