Some prices are over inflated but also concider with some that with passing years they do get harder to find. Many have gone into collections and stayed there, tastes change and what was of little interest 20/30 years ago now can set dance floors alight.
Record pricing has always been emotive, we all have are own likes and dislikes or a veiw of how rare something is, this then colours our veiw of value.
Example, Smith Brothers-Playbacks a drag/There can be a better way. For years I veiwed this as a great Mecca 2 sider that you used to see around a bit in the 70's, now it's veiwed as a very rare record. I would play it out occassionally, normally 'Playbacks a drag', as that was the side I remember being played most, but often to total dis-interest. Now the other side is more popular as it has that nice crossover feel. Maybe my veiw of rareity is influienced by the fact that I knew a fair few dj's that had a copy back then and over the years didn't realise that very few more appeared after the first flush of them back then.
Another example being is Del Rays Incorporated-Destination Unknown. Popular in the 70's, so much so that it was re-pressed, then that type of sound fell out of favour. Languished as a £20-30 record for years, now that funky Miami sound is back in vogue and so it has seen re-activation and a major rise in value (about time to, always loved this). Now this record I always veiwed as rare, as there were never that many around, or so I thought.
Anyway back to E.J. and the Echoes, I'm happy with everyones evaluation. As I said, I get confused with this groups values and which one is which, as they all sound as good as each other to me, and the label numbering adds to the confusion.
Dave