I’ve been watching with interest as music memorabilia fetches higher prices. A recent example is a pretty cool auction lot package from Apple Corps., Capitol and EMI that sold for $12,100 on eBay. The lot included a specially designed Beatles flag as part of a promotion of the new Help! DVD set. The 12 by 18 foot flag flew over the Capitol Records building in L.A. in the days leading up to the DVD release last November, and was raised by Ringo Starr in a special rooftop ceremony where he signed a certificate of authenticity.

Video of Ringo raising the flag for Help!

The entire auction lot package featured the special flag, a trip to London, a VIP tour of Abbey Road Studios, and limited editions of the deluxe DVD box set of Help!, a set of 8 lobby card reproductions from the film, and a promo CD from the soundtrack. The eBay auction was managed by Kompolt with charity proceeds going to the Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy Foundation. Wow, what a great prize package and for a worthy cause indeed.

Ringo is always such a gracious host, especially onstage. He & Dave Stewart recently played at House of Blues in support of their new album Liverpool8, which is available in 3 different formats, CD, digital download, and USB wristband, from Capitol Records and EMI.

There’s a cool photo archive of Ringo stuff at pollstar.com, which is a great resource for tour information. EMI America also has a YouTube music video channel at youtube.com/user/emiamericarecords.