ALICE COOPER Love it to Death RARER Dual Matrix UK LP

	£		24
	$		32

ONEADAYRECORDS – Simply Delivering Quality Music to the World.

Postage: UK £4.75. Europe (including Russia) £12.50. Rest of World £16.50. ALL signed for in quality, safe packaging – I NEVER use mailing envelopes.

Posting to Russia: Yes, I do post to Russia. But delivery can take up to 4 to 6 weeks from the UK. So please be patient. I will submit a tracking number to the winning bidder, and when the packet arrives there it can be followed online using the Russian post website.

ALSO: I now apply the Ebay ‘4-day’ rule for non-payment. I try to keep my P&P prices as low as possible even yet another Royal Mail price hike, I will never compromise on solid, safe packing that is invariably a little heavier.

Artist or Band: ALICE COOPER

Album Title: Love it to Death.

Producer(s): Jack Richardson and Bob Ezrin.

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Caught in a Dream; I’m Eighteen; Long Way to Go; Black Juju.

Side 2: Is It My Body; Hallowed Be My Name; Second Coming; Ballad of Dwight Fry; Sun Arise.

Label/Format: Warner Bros – a first, second press format, initially (and briefly) issued on Straight (please see my label scan).

Label Conditions: Both very clean, fresh and highly attractive with spindle marks around moderate (or less). These being very fine and light as seen under angled light.

Cat Number: K 46177.

Mode / Speed: Stereo / 33.3 rpm.

Warps: Assume all records I offer have no warping of any significance and all tracking is easy and effortless and should play on all turntables and even ‘budget’ decks.

Weight of this Record: 135 grams. A good weight for this one.

Country of Manufacture: England.

Rarity: This album was originally issued on Frank Zappa’s Straight label and is very difficult to find as such. Also Straight pressings were sometimes marred by indifferent pressing quality with unwanted pressing sounds. Issued prior to the ‘Killer’ and before ‘School’s Out’, that proved to be the breakthrough album that won them many more fans, few had even noticed Alice Cooper in the UK until then. This first issue on the new green Warner label still includes the dual Straight/Warner matrixes as seen further down and including a very fine cover and top quality sound with no pressing issues. Such copies are never easy.

Original Year of Release: 1971 (this copy would have been pressed around 1972).

Matrix Nos: STS 1065 A1 [K 46177 A] / STS 1065 B [K 46177 B1]. These are actually quite hard to see, but more evident with a magnifier.

Musicians: Alice Cooper - Vocals; Glen Buxton - Lead Guitar; Michael Bruce - Rhythm Guitar, Keyboards; Dennis Dunaway - Bass Guitar; Neal Smith - Drums. Guest: ‘Toronto Bob’ - organ.

Brief Info: Vincent Damon Furnier, better known to the world as Alice Cooper, a name initially given to just the band but adopted quickly for the band’s leader and vocalist. Initially known as The Earwigs and then The Spiders and changed again briefly to The Nazz, a name also used by Todd Rundgren’s band. So another was needed – Alice Cooper – a name chosen as a gimmic for their often outrageous stage shows and dress. The early band were really going nowhere, often gigs were short as audiences walked out. This hugely negative reaction was spotted by Shep Gordon, a music manager who introduced them to Frank Zappa. By this time, Zappa had formed his own label, Straight Records, and he was looking for suitable acts to promote it. Straight specialised in acts there were a little ‘different’. Bands and artists that had little commercial potential and were far too ‘out there’ for most listener’s tastes. Specialisting in the strange and bizarre with the likes of The GTO’s (Girls Together Outrageously), Tim Buckley, Rosebud, Jeff Simmons, Junier Mintz, Tim Dawe and Lord Buckley. Only a tiny few on this label ever went on to any commercial success including cult acts like Captain Beefheart and, eventually Alice Cooper themselves. Zappa chose the acts that were to appear on Straight. It was interesting listening to Cooper himself on ‘Planet Rock’s’ breakfast show awhile ago talking about the early days and his indebtness to Zappa for signing his band. ‘No-one else would touch us’ he said. It was great to hear him acknowledge his success to the chance and faith Zappa gave him. Clearly Frank saw something no-one else could and the rest is history. Both the first two Straight albums were a commercial flops, just scraping into the US charts briefly and selling a mere handful in the UK where few were even made and quickly deleted. This third and final Straight album is equally as rare as the first two, possibly even more so. Only when the band became popular did sales rise, but by then, it had been repressed on the Warner Bros label, as per this copy, Straight copies almost lost in the mist of time.

‘Love it to Death’ marked a change in direction and is a brilliant album, it eventually got the band noticed, but long after the Straight label had gone. This is a real dark set with real menace and eeriness. Less pyschy than the first two albums, this was the start of the classic Cooper sound that eventually made him popular. A genuinely dark, sinister and macabre album that must have been a huge shock to those few who actually owned it from issue day. Including the classic anthem ‘I’m Eighteen’ his first single success, this album was not for the faint hearted, even the cover’s inner artwork must have caused a flutter when first opened. What gives this title its special sound and eerie edge is ‘Toronto Bob’s’ eerie organ sounds, they were unique to this set. Two longer tracks stand out: ‘Black Juju’ that concludes side one. A very dark, graveyard type song that starts with muted percussion that gradually builds up with the spooky organ slowly accompanying. Here, playing very quietly which is never to be taken for granted. ‘The Ballad of Dwight Fry’ is pure scary with one of the most chilling beginnings I have ever heard to any song. The story of a madman in a sanitarium - his four-year-old infant daughter’s voice is heard at the start saying, “Mommy, where’s daddy? He’s been gone for so long, Do you think he’ll ever some home?’’ Then Cooper sings of his self-destruction in confinement until his head and sanity explodes with a massive bomb-blast– and then he escapes... truly scary stuff. If any reader has not taken this man and his early band too seriously in the past, think again, this album, and all of them up to Billion Dollar Babies are superb – but for me, this and Killer are the very best. No pressings issues on this dual matrix pressing, the A / B on the Kinney matrixes being ultimate firsts.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT: an unlaminated gatefold format with matt, smooth surfaces. The front made with single thickness card and the record enters via the centrefold. It was made in England by Shorewood and still includes the Straight distribution credit inside with ‘Patents Pending’ text. This cover, like all the UK versions, is the censored version. A few US uncensored versions exist but are rare. Cooper’s right arm and offending ‘digit’ was airbrushed off as this apparentely was deemed offensive at the time. I am as sure as I can be, no uncensored UK-made cover exists for this album where Cooper has his thumb sticking out of his pants.

Cover Front: This front is seldom seen without sigificant rubbing or creasing – this has little of either with any rubbing small and light.

Cover Back: From black to predominately white, meaning grubbiness and set-off is a factor. This has barely any of real note and it’s cleaness and lack of wear more than complements the generally impressive front. A little light tip creasing and light rim dulling seen under light, but little else.

Cover Inner Gatefold: Little to fault inside, these central storage covers with single thickness spines and front often split and can damage. This all intact and solid with minimal wear or discolour at all.

Top Edges: Crisp and neat with no thickening or burring. Straight and resting flush with no curl.

Bottom Edges: Largely the same again, any rubbing on the white back barely registers.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean and again crisp and neat.

Spine and Text: Solid, straight and folded square so the edges meet up parallel. Some tilt to left as most single thickness spines will rarely remain erect. A little gentle rubbing on the top fold which has just about missed the text, so this fully present with barely any wear. One or two tiny tip-in chips possible if scrutinised closely enough.

Corners: Generally neat with little wear but a little tip creasing on a couple or three. Fine to very fine shape retained.

Cover Summary: A very fine overall example of this very wear-prone and difficult cover. A little gentle wear yes, but few will avoid it. One to please many, if not most collectors.

The Inner Sleeve: EXCELLENT(++): the original plain white, unlined solid inner is included. This has barely aged at all with any creases few and very light and all edges unsplit with no repairs.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: NEAR EXCELLENT: a very fine visual copy that is very clean, shiny, intense black and solidly pressed. Some fine and light surface marks – mostly hairline types that have no sound – seen under angled light. But for a 40+-year-old record, this still looks nice and it plays superbly well.

Album Played For Grading: Yes. [I play ALL records I offer before submitting to Ebay, also the record is played in its entirety unless clearly stated otherwise. I do NOT play snippets or joining grooves to check for sound quality and quietness – I play from the beginning to end via clinically revealing B&W speakers that include the legendary tweeter from their awesome Nautilus range that reveals every blemish or miniscule sound present on any record.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This fine and very early cut record plays even above it’s visual grading with barely anything to fault. Strong, distortion-free sound, all frequencies are sharp and clear - sound quality is very high with a wide dynamic range and very detailed sound. Any surface sounds are minimal indeed and no pops or significant clicks were noted and this is an exceptional clean pressing. Never an easy one with some quiet passages, especially the introduction to ‘Black Juju’ that starts almost silent and slowly builds up. This plays very well indeed with little unwanted, the lack of pressing noises again good news, I have heard a few indifferent Straight copies where these do occur. Few copies will outperform this first green label Warner pressing significantly I feel sure. Nothing spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this wonderful record, this has been a long time favourite with Alice Cooper even preceeding my love of Zappa’s music as an early teenager. This copy could prove difficult to find significantly better and can be strongly recommended.

Now one of the most established sellers on Ebay and still offering the finest and most accurately described and graded records I can find. I pride myself on offering a variety of genres to keep my site as interesting as possible. I will rarely offer any record that falls below a true Excellent grading, unless its of a certain rarity which will justify offering a lesser grade. I try, to the best of my ability to describe as accurately and as honesty as I can all items I offer for sale with all the relevant information I can think of to help any potential bidder and collector. You may notice I only submit records sparingly on Ebay - on average ONEADAY, a couple more at weekends if time permits, hence the name - time rarely allows for more as I Play-Grade virtually every record I offer in their entirety, not just bits to guess a grade - visuals alone do not always tell a true or full story. I will mention any defects or flaws no matter how small that I notice to be fair as possible to any interested collector – I am very fussy and my buyers have the right to be too. Every record I offer, whether it be a common or rare item deserves the same respect as far as I am concerned and will be treated the same - just because an item is rare does not always mean its good. I get just as much pleasure offering a relatively common record in stunning near mint condition as the real rare items. All the pictures I use for your guidance are taken with a digital camera or scanned - they are NOT improved, cleaned-up or made better looking than they are with camera trickery or enhancing with digital programmes. What you see is what you get and scanned labels will give a more accurate representation of the genuine colour than flash photography where light is variable. I cannot guarantee total accuracy for colours however but most will be very close. If any picture I take looks more flattering than the actual item for any reason, I will clearly state the fact in the advert and vice-versa. I hope the item below is to your liking - any questions can be emailed and I will do my very best to answer you. I am enthusiastic, and have a fair degree of knowledge about many genres and I promise quality items - bid with confidence - excellence comes as standard and so does Near Mint regularly. Please assume all records I offer have NO jumps, sticks, warps or writing on covers or labels unless clearly stated to the contrary. Thanks for your interest and Good luck – MIKE.

Deck: Linn LP12/Hercules/Cirkus with Ittok Mk II arm and Ortofon Rondo Red moving coil cartridge (tracks at 2 grams). Amps: Naim Nait 5i with Project USB phono stage and Chord interconnects. Speakers: B&W 704 Floorstanding 3-way Monitors (bi-wired with Terrarium Black terminated cable). All records I offer on Ebay are cleaned on a professional VPI-17 vacuum machine before play-grading for the cleanest and best possible sound and will include a brand new lined inner and protective cover too. Pictures taken with a Nikon D5000 SLR Digital Camera.

PACKING - THIS IS WHAT YOU GET.

What You Get: To confirm to the strict Ebay rules on shipping, I must now send ALL my packets ‘Signed-For’ with NO exceptions. Both buyers and sellers want their packets to have a safer journey and this is not a bad thing.

I now offer the fastest possible posting, often the very next day after payment is received or within two to three days maximum (unless on holiday). I only use FIRST-CLASS Mail. The record’s cover will be placed within a BRAND NEW soft protective sleeve and the actual record will be professionally cleaned on my new VPI-17 Pro vacuum system to give ultimate clean grooves and playing surfaces and the best possible looks and ultimate sound quality. You will NOT get tired, dull looking, dust infested records inside worn and foggy covers with tatty inners from this seller and that’s a promise and guarantee. All records are posted in professional boxes (NOT Mailers, these do not offer any real protection). The record(s) are REMOVED from their main cover to avoid edge splits and placed within a brand new polylined inner. The record’s original inner will be included if available. The boxes are then reinforced with at least TWO, ULTRA THICK stiffeners for maximum extra protection – these are FOUR TIMES thicker than commercial stiffeners and are custom-made for oneadayrecords. Really rare and expensive albums will even be Double Boxed if deemed necessary and possible. When larger boxes are used, the thick record and stiffener ‘sandwich’ is then thickly embedded into bubble-wrap to bulk out the record inside the box to centre the item inside to reduce the risk of damage still further. Printed address labels are used for clarity as well as a sender label. Customers requests or special needs for P&P will be respected if at all possible but ‘Signed-For’ posting is NOT an option anymore. I do not profit on posting and the cost of this lavish packing is NOT even charged for, I offer probably the best-value and safest shipping possible for ultimate confidence. The boxes and ultra thick double-wall stiffeners and bubble wrap make a near impregnable fortress for safe shipping and this is used inland and overseas for ALL my records, not just the rare and expensive. I will invoice any winning bidder as soon as possible after the auction ends. My ‘loss’ or ‘damage rate’ is less than one in two thousand+ based on over 8,000+ items sold in over 10 years of Ebay trading and I consider that pretty exceptional. The only damage rate acceptable for this seller is ZERO and I think my packets will offer just that. It would take a vicious postman or postal service to damage these for sure. Even one of these stiffeners cannot be bent by hand, so what chance 2 inside a box? Oneadayrecords is a MAILER-FREE ZONE. I discount of course for multiple purchases with a maximum of FIVE records per box (one double can sometimes be included subject to total weight). All postage costs are below and at the top of the listing.

NOTE: First Time Bidders: Please ask me first.

PLEASE NOTE: I now exercise my right to open a dispute after the Ebay rule of FOUR days if no payment is received. I will then cancel the dispute to end the, again after the mandatory FOUR days and then offer the item to the runner-up or relist. The non-payer will also be blocked from my Ebay site and they take the Ebay consequences (a strike or removal from the system). Small businesses need prompt payment to trade and these strict rules WILL be applied.

SHIPPING COSTS & CONDITIONS – THESE comply with EBAY’S RULES - PLEASE READ CAREFULLY:

Posting & Packing: UK & CHANNEL ISLANDS all now sent via Recorded Delivery:

1 LP (FIRST-CLASS Recorded Delivery with Standard Royal Mail Insurance) [Signed For] = £4.75

1 LP (Special Delivery with Standard £500 Maximum Insurance) [Signed For, Next Day] = £8. (this includes insurance of £500). Add £2 per extra LP.

Posting & Packing: EUROPE & SCANDINAVIA. (Airmail Only):

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£50 maximum]) = £12.50 (enhanced Royal Mail insurance is an optional extra £3). Add £3 per extra LP.

Posting & Packing: ALL OVERSEAS (non-European) e.g. USA (ANY PART OF); South America; New Zealand; Australia; Canada; Japan and other Far East; (Airmail Only: I NEVER use Surface Mail):

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£50 maximum]) = £16.50 (£17.50 for double sets). Add £3 per extra LP. (enhanced Royal Mail insurance is an optional extra £3)

Payment Conditions:

I prefer PayPal or cheque from UK winning bidders. I can accept PayPal from overseas bidders or direct payment into my bank account.

Potential Bidders: I will cancel any bids I feel are time-wasters. A maximum 3 days for communication and 7 days for payment to arrive - if not I will relist the item or offer to the runner-up. Fast deals get great feedback from me. Any questions - please ask and thanks for looking.

My Guarantee: If any winning bidder is not satisfied with their purchase I will offer a complete refund. I will not refund if any defect detail is clearly stated on the advert and missed by the buyer, so read the item description carefully. If any overseas collector does not understand anything in my listing, please email and ask me to help. Thank You.

SOME GENERAL GUIDES TO WEAR AND CONDITIONS TO HELP YOU DECIDE

My Use of Description Terminology: Surface Marks = Superficial, usually light marks, hairlines or light scuffs that rarely sound. Scratch = a needle mark that goes below the record’s surface, some will sound, some will not, my play-grade will inform. Original = a record that has been pressed with the first label design which does NOT necessarily mean a very first pressed record. First Pressing = A record that I believe or know to be a genuine very first pressed record. I do not claim to always know for sure, and that’s why I state the stamper and matrix numbers if at all possible, for those who claim to know what they all mean, the information is there for the collector to decide. I prefer to use terms like ‘Early Copy’ rather than ‘First Pressing’ if I am not totally sure. Surface Sound = Mild, light sound, usually light crackle or similar. Distortion = Break up of the actual sound caused by groove wear or damage from a chipped stylus – the most undesirable form of unwanted sound, vintage mono records were the most prone to this happening but not exclusively so. The symptoms of distortion are high frequency clipping, moderate constant crackle or an echo type sound quality. Violin, piano and vocals are most prone to groove-wear distortion. Feathering = Fraying or softening of the entry edge of a cover. Covers with feathered entrance edges are more likely to have had the actual record inserted and removed more than a non-feathered, sharp-edged cover which are always far more attractive. Set Off, actually a printer’s term for dark ink leaving mild residue on pale or white ink when rested upon. e.g. when a gatefold cover has black ink closed against white, this can leave some black residue on the pale area – this is mostly unavoidable or course.

The Argument for Vinyl Original sound and mix (mono mixes are rarely available on CD), high quality sound on clean copies (played on a hi-end dedicated analogue system – breathtaking sound!), beautiful, large format covers, artwork, inserts and even full size posters etc; huge investment potential, and the pleasure of owning ‘the real thing’.