Ted Owen & Co. LTD

Welcome to TO&CO Ted Owen & Co offers 40 years of experience in exclusive and eclectic collectables from the iconic era's and bygone times We are a dedicated, hand-picked, experienced team devoted to the history and authenticity of entertainment and music-related auctions. Knowledge, passion, ethics, integrity & over 40 years experience combine to deliver the UK's most forward-thinking auction house. Ted Owen has been involved in the music industry since the early 1960s. He worked at the famous underground London club UFO, and in the 1970s opened the rule-bending new wave "Moonlight Club" where he discovered bands such as The Cure, The Pretenders, and Adam and the Ants; and was the first producer to record The Specials in the first of his many live recorded albums. Ted started working in the auction field in 1988, initially at Phillips in London before being headhunted by Bonhams, where he developed their entertainment and music departments. He successfully led ground-breaking auctions there until 1999. During his time at Bonham's, Ted became one of the world experts in psychedelic rock art. While 'on a trip' to San Francisco he wrote the definitive book 'High Art: A History of the Psychedelic Poster' with partner Denise Dickson. In 1999 Ted Owen was approached by old friend Mick Fleetwood of Fleetwood Mac, and together they-formed Fleetwood Owen. During this partnership, Fleetwood Owen made global news by setting a world-record price for the sale of the famous John Lennon upright tan Steinway piano on which Lennon wrote "Imagine." Due to Mick Fleetwood's musical commitments, the company, now under Ted, changed focus. In 2003, Ted founded CooperOwen with long time friend and music impresario Cliff Cooper. Highlights included: A shattered world record for the sale of Beatles lyrics for "All You Need Is Love," fetching £690,000 ($1.25m). The Madame Tussauds collection featuring props from the Sgt Pepper album cover. The waxwork Beatles heads used on the cover of the album were sold for £95,000 ($150,000). John Lennon's school sketchbook, sold for £126,500. Paul McCartney’s first-ever guitar. Selling for £330,000 at Abbey Road Studios In 2006, disillusioned by the inept road the corporates were going down, Ted Owen resigned from CooperOwen and formed his new company called "Fame Bureau". CooperOwen Plc was scheduled to float on the AIM Stock Exchange. Before float, CooperOwen was valued at £6 million. The float was postponed due to Ted Owen's resignation. In 2008, CooperOwen Plc was liquidated. During the period between 2007 and 2013, Ted broke further world records. He sold the Jimi Hendrix ‘Astoria’ Stratocaster in 2010 for £320,000. Later that year, Ted sold the Jim Morrison Paris notebook for £90,000. In 2013, the black and white Strat that Hendrix played at the Monterey Pop Festival sold for £200,000. Ted Owen has organized auctions for David Bowie and Brian Eno’s War Child Charity, Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page's ABC Trust Charity and The Teenage Cancer Trust Abbey Road Rock art charity events. He is a regular contributor to print media, radio, television programs and research, and he is currently working on a music industry documentary with his sister company Music Vault Films.