NEW FLASHES FROM THE PAST

Pop queen Joni James marched into the executive offices of MGM Records two decades ago and laid down a payment in six figures to buy back the masters of her enormous catalogue of 25 top 40 singles and more than 20 LPs.

James, now living in Miami, furiously guarded such hits as “How Important Can It Be?” from Golden Oldie marketeers. She even declined a $1.3-million offer from a mass TV sales corporation to market a three-record set in 1979.

It was the plan of James’ composer/conductor/husband Anthony Acquaviva, who died recently, to assemble a carefully remastered special edition.

But now Acquaviva’s dream has been tarnished by a glut of crude, scratchy-sounding records that are flooding the nostalgia marketplace, particularly two from European labels, apparently rerecorded from old LPs.

Hollywood’s ageless record buff and seller, “Music Man” Murray, based on Melrose Avenue, has long predicted that an authorized Joni James reissue would thunder through the marketplace in a massive wave of sales.

“Most of the old Joni James records have disappeared,” Murray explained. “Now I can only offer buyers tapes of my last copies.”

Murray’s price: $18.50 a tape.