February 22, 2012 8:56

Alan McGee to auction off never-before-heard tracks by The Libertines

Letters from Courtney Love and Tony Blair also going under the hammer

Photo: Tom Oxley/NME

Alan McGee is selling off never-before-heard tracks by The Libertines at an auction in Manchester this Saturday (February 25).

The demo tapes will go under the hammer at the Omega Auction house in Stockport this weekend, along with letters given to him by former Prime Minister Tony Blair and Hole singer Courtney Love.

According to the Manchester Evening News, he will also auction off around 100 other items, including records, photos and fanzines signed by bands who used to work with his record labels Creation and Poptones.

Talking about his decision to sell the pieces of memorabilia, he said: "I'm just clearing out all this rock and roll rubbish from my house. I've no real interest in the past and have sort of moved on from the music scene – I'm more interested in books and films now."

He added:

If anyone asks if I'm selling all this stuff because I'm skint, it's not true: I live in a very big house in the country.

Meanwhile, auctioneer Paul Fairweather said they were expecting widespread interest in the items. "We've already had a lot of interest from fans of Creation Records bands like My Bloody Valentine and Primal Scream," he said. "We're expecting people to be bidding both in person at the auction and online from around the world."

In October last year, McGee explained his decision to sell his collection of music memorabilia by saying he "can't be arsed with music anymore". The mogul has previously flogged items including a painting by Stone Roses guitarist John Squire.

The world's greatest music magazine is now available as a digital edition! For exclusive content you won't find on NME.COM, download here on your iPad/iPhone and here on your Kindle Fire or Nook.

Share on Facebook