JAKARTA - The archive of Coldplay's early days officially entered the auction table through the Wax Poetics auction house this week. The historic collection includes studio tapes, mixing results, to original demo recordings that have never been published before.
Most of the collection to be auctioned comes from the personal archive of Chris Allison, a British producer, audio mixer, and audio technician.
All the audio material centers on the "Blue Room" recording session that Coldplay did at Orinoco Studios, London, shortly after Chris Martin et al signed their first professional contract with the Parlophone record label.
In the collection, there is the original version of "High Speed" which was produced directly by Allison. This song is the only track in Coldplay's debut album that was not produced by Ken Nelson. Before being re-recorded for the album, "High Speed" was first introduced to the public through the mini album (EP) titled "The Blue Room" in October 1999.
Items up for auction also include the original Digital Audio Tape (DAT) master format, an unreleased alternate version, to a cassette tape recording containing nine songs that are the earliest audio documentation of Coldplay. In fact, two songs on the cassette are known to have never been released in any format to this day.
One of the rarest items in this auction is a secret acoustic demo recorded live by the vocalist, Chris Martin. The demo was originally made as a proposal for a bid to become the theme song for the 1999 James Bond film, The World Is Not Enough. However, the project to work on the theme song eventually fell into the hands of the American-Scottish rock band, Garbage, who released a hit song with the same title.
Based on the official statement of Wax Poetics, this version of Chris Martin's James Bond song has never been documented or heard by the public before.
"This is a window into the writing, recording, production, and promotion process of some of the most uniquely appreciated musicians - a piece of musical history that should be in the hands of fans, not just piling up dust in a storage shed," said Chris Allison, quoted by Billboard, Wednesday, July 1.
This tape is a silent witness to Coldplay when they were at the beginning of their career. The album "Parachutes" released in July 2000 then successfully broke into the 51st position on the Billboard 200 album chart, received a double platinum certification in the United States, and won a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album.
After the success of the debut album, Coldplay transformed into one of the world's music giants who dominated the global stadium stage and set a record for the highest-grossing tour in history.
In addition to the Coldplay archive, this auction titled Alt/Indie, Rock & Pop also presents important memorabilia from other legendary bands such as The Beta Band, The Wedding Present, to Red Hot Chili Peppers.
The auction bidding process will continue to be open until July 19. The organizers ensure that part of the proceeds from this auction will be donated directly to Restore the Music, a charitable foundation that funds the provision of musical instruments and art facilities for schools that lack budgets.
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