Just over a decade ago, a music fan from Preston made an intriguing discovery on his lunch break from work. Rooting through the records at the city centre car boot sale, Mark Sandwell came across a peculiar find. Mark picks up the story.
“I used to work in the city centre and the car boot sale was on the market every Tuesday and Thursday. At the time there was a large number of stalls covering both outdoor markets. I would go religiously both days a week on my lunch break. Sometimes before work very early on.
“One lunch break in April 2010, I found an Ozzy Osbourne gold disc. On the plaque, it said that it had been presented to Sharon Arden recognising sales of over 60,000 of Ozzy’s album Blizzard of Oz. I wasn’t sure if it was legit or not, you can buy a lot of cheap replicas online. I’m a big Ozzy fan, especially of his 80s solo stuff, so I bought it anyway. It was only a tenner.
“I can remember taking it back to the office, I think they were used to me bringing weird stuff back from the car boot sale. It was missing glass from the frame and needed cleaning up. It only took me ten years to get around to doing it! Wayne Ashworth, a friend who specialises in framing, sorted it out for me.
“I put a photo of the newly glassed disc on Instagram. Around ten minutes later a friend who works in the music business told me he’d been in touch with the daughter of Ozzy’s manager and the disc was stolen property! Apparently, the Osbourne’s offices had been burgled in the 1980s and the disc was one of the items that had been stolen. Naturally, I removed the photo straight away and wondered what the next move would be? Jail?! A lawsuit? I did wonder how it had ended up in Preston 20 years later though!
“A few months later I got a message from a representative saying they wanted their property back but were happy to offer me something in return so I just said a personalised item would do. I was just expecting a signed record or something, which I got too, but I actually got my own personalised disc framed with a plaque presenting it to me! It was the real deal made in Hollywood! And on top of that, I did a swap with the Prince of Darkness!
“It was definitely my favourite trade ever, and I once swapped an Iceburn album for an original Mayhem Deathcrush 12″.