"I Don't Wanna Be a Preppy" by The Joe Hebert Band. Have You Got One? You're Rich!

Description: 7" inch, 45 record with a little hole. The label is yellow and clearly shows in black old print, "Complex Records" on the top with the band title, The Joe Hebert Band directly underneath. The copyright date is 1981.

This record has recently been reissued, so being able to tell if you've got the genuine article is crucial. The reissue has "Last Laugh Records" stamped on the label underneath the title of the song.

My nieces just sold a copy on eBay last week for $530.00. I've seen them being sold for as high as $945.00

The reissue (you can find them anywhere online) will cost you $7-$8.00. (There is no collector value to them-at least not yet)

So when eBay came along, how many people wished that their priceless collections of GI Joes, Barbie Dolls, comic books and baseball cards had never met their end due to a garage, attic or basement cleaning? Can I see a show of hands?

You can't see me, but I'm waving wildly at my monitor right now. All my childhood toys, (including my real working metal (yup, you could cut yourself on it), Tonka Dumptruck met their ends with the trash guy in the late 70's. I believe I cried. All that money, just thrown away.

Hey, it was like smoking cigarettes in the 1950's. No one knew what they were doing. Now, I'll be working well into my 80's (providing I live that long) to support myself in the nursing home, because my parents wanted a clean basement. Damn! Why didn't I ever get a break?

Seems I may have gotten one. Just 30 years too late.

I received a call a few years ago from a local record collector (remember records? Anyone?) who was interested in obtaining a copy of a local punk record I had recorded and released in 1981. I remembered the recording. It was called "I Don't Wanna Be a Preppy" and the name of my band was "The Joe Hebert Band", paying homage to one of my favorite artists, Jim Carroll. I wrote the song in my bedroom, using my Epiphone violin shaped electric guitar and my Kustom amplifier that weighed a zillion pounds, in about 20 minutes. That's pretty good for a punk song. It usually takes less time, but I was young. What did I know?

The collector had contacted me by email and desperately wanted a copy of this thing. I knew I had a few left (I had pressed 200 originally) but I thought the guy may have been a little crazy to want ro but one.. It wasn't a hit at the time it was recorded. It received minimal airplay at a couple of college stations in the area and then pretty much fizzled out. I handed out copies to friends, enemies, radio stations, record companies and anyone who would listen to my 2 minute punk tirade about alligator shirts and topsiders. It was a great experience, but overall a failure.Blame youth.

Why would a collector want one of these?

I finally contacted the record collector in 2006. He was very anxious to get a copy of "I Don't Wanna Be a Preppy". I couldn't imagine why. The thing had flopped its first time out and (I didn't think) was that good of a recording to begin with. (It had been recorded in 4 track-and live-except for the singing, which I did afterward) The collector bought a couple of copies for $50 per.

I asked the collector why he wanted to buy them. He explained that he liked to collect locally made records and trade (or sell them) to collectors all over the US. It was his hobby.

Everytime I found another record, I called the record collector. He's stop over, we'd make some small talk, he'd be on his way and I'd be $100 or so richer. Good deal, right?

Since the record was pressed in 1981, I had moved a few times, All in RI, but different places and stuff would end up missing each move. Especially my records. Whether they had been accidentally tossed, or just MIA, a lot of the "I Don't Want To Be a Preppy" records went missing.

In early 2010, I had about exhausted my copies of the record and I was contacted by the collector once again to find out if I was interested in perhaps repressing and re-releasing the original record. A friend of his was taking on the project, and I was to be paid a pretty decent fee.

The re-issue of "I Don't Wanna Be a Preppy" became a reality this past summer. If you're into that kind of stuff you can purchase one from Last Laugh Records.

Now the record is everywhere and the prices of the original become even more rare as I get older and copies are few. My wife even mentioned that the value may go higher after my death. (Not exactly a comfort for me, as she was feeding me a delicious slice of strawberry shortcake at the time.)

Check your basements, under the sofa cushions and your mom's attic. Whatever is left of "I Don't Wanna Be a Preppy", I imagine would be in the Eastern, United States. I'm from RI. I do know, however, there were a few copies sent out west to California and a few collectors have unearthed their own.

I sent 4 copies to Czechoslovakia with an old girlfriend in 1981 or 1982.

Find one and you could be rich. Start LOOKING! And good luck!