ATOMIC ROOSTER Death Walks Behind You Orig UK 70 EX LP

	£		67
	$		89

ONEADAYRECORDS – Delivering Quality Music to the World.

Artist or Band: ATOMIC ROOSTER

Album Title: Death Walks Behind You.

Producer(s): Atomic Rooster.

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Death Walks Behind You; VUG; Tomorrow Night; Seven Lonely Streets.

Side 2: Sleeping for Years; I Can’t Take No More; Nobody Else; Gershatzer.

Label/Format: B&C – original matt black with green logo. Side one has the superb customised ‘Death Walks Behind You’ band portraits. (Please see my label scans).

Label Conditions: Some mild tarnishing on side one, mainly only visible under angled light. Also some mildish fingermarks, very difficult to avoid on these very dark labels and with matt finish and once applied, they are near impossible to remove completely. Most all owners held record via rim and label and most all of these will have some handling marks. Both still clean and attractive with only light and faint spindle marks and no wear around the hole area. With two supremely clean and fresh playing surfaces and immaculate sound throughout, I am sure this record has been played very little.

Cat Number: CAS 1026.

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. [These days, many modern Audiophile reissues are pressed on super-heavyweight 180 gram vinyl. Only a small percentage of ‘vintage vinyl’ was ever pressed this heavy. Records pressed in the 1960s averaged around 135 to 145 grams. Records pressed in the 1970s were usually lighter and averaged more around 115 – 125 grams. Some records pressed around 1973 were very thin and light due an oil crisis and shortage around this time. Some records were even issued on recycled vinyl from this period and sounded poor with crackle and surface noise evident from the very first play. If any record I buy is deemed ‘recycled’, I will never offer it, I have a very simple test to detect these records if I suspect this to be the case other than audible imperfection. Some records from this period were even pressed on other materials the most notable was ‘Dynaflex’, used by RCA around this time. Although inferior to vinyl, this at least mostly sounded reasonably acceptable but pressings on this material were wafer thin and flimsy. Beyond the 70s, many records often became thinner and lighter still but most played fine but were never quite the quality as from the ‘Golden Era’]. (This was based on ‘average’ weights for 50 records from these eras.

Country of Manufacture: England.

Rarity: Scarce especially in high grading conditions. The cover is hugely wear-prone and few are seen even a decent VG. Heavy rubbing, creasing and especially ringwear ruin this very dark, unprotected cover and few are seen in worthwhile viewing conditions.

Original Year of Release: 1970

Matrix Nos: CAS 1026 A-1U / CAS 1026 B-1U

Mother & Stamper Codes: 2 RR / 1 M

Musicians: Vincent Crane - Hammond organ, piano, backing vocals; John Du Cann - guitars, vocals; Paul Hammond - drums, percussion.

Brief Info: The second Atomic Rooster album, considered by many as their very best. A dark and brooding album of quality progressive rock, it sold fairly well in the UK peaking at No 12 in the charts. In the US, this was their first release with only modest sales peaking briefly at No 90. Without doubt, this was the band’s best line-up, they recorded one other album together, the also excellent ‘In Hearing Of’, but then the wheels fell-off with disagreements on musical direction and Hammon and Du Cann left to form Hard Stuff. Du Cann’s superb guitar-work is evident throughout, some reminiscent of his work with the legendary, if short-lived Andromeda. This is a sort-after prog mini-classic and although it does show up, it’s more often seen in very disappointing conditions - the cover especially is ruthlessly revealing and prone to all forms of wear. Although this one on offer has some light rubbing, it’s without doubt one of the best I have seen for some considerable time and realistically it will prove difficult to find a great deal better. The record is superb and plays beautifully throughout. This could just be the copy you have been waiting for.

This Cover’s Potential for Wear: Very High+.

Cover Grade and Format: EX, or very close to and arguably, deserving a (+) because it’s so delicate and prone to wear. An unlaminated gatefold format that was printed and made in England by the E. J. Day Group.

Cover Front: In terms of this cover, this looks very nice indeed. The actual artwork to the strange man-like creature is superb and has barely any traces of wear at all. Just some light rubbing to the brown borders outside the white boxed artwork that few, if any will remain devoid of. No sticker marks or tears, again this cover has a terrible reputation for those too, many seen with large pull marks that have been coloured in (or a fake price sticker put over the top, beware). A few light surface marks under light but barely a crease to be seen and no ringmarks. With deep, rich colour and a fine degree of freshness, this classic prog cover front will prove very difficult to find much better.

Cover Back: The back is the same with just mild to very mild surface rubs, this mainly to the outer areas. All the text and its area is almost unworn. Again barely any creases and just the slightest traces of record rim rubbing – the mildest and lightest ringwear possible. Light handling traces on the matt black surfaces are near unavoidable, but very light and faint with reference to my record label paragraph. Being totally honest, I consider both front and back quite exceptional for one of rock’s most unforgiving covers.

Cover Inner Gatefold: Superb artwork and with barely any traces of wear, both faces look fantastic. Minor, gentle ripple if being somewhat critical.

Top Edges: Both very straight and showing little signs of wear.

Bottom Edges: As above, not ruling out a little tipping-in by the original owner, but if so, it’s not obvious and all four edges look very nice indeed.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean, sharp with barely any wear and no feathering, both guaranteed untrimmed. Record enters on this back edge.

Spine and Text: Superb, almost as made with no wear, and that’s allowing for opening a few times. Solid, straight, uncompressed and square, both right edges meet up perfectly together and parallel. All text is perfect and unworn and this is truly exceptional on this perilous edge.

Corners: All very neat indeed with minimal traces of wear, lovely definition is retained.

Cover Summary: A very strong all round example of this very fragile early 70’s cover, one that will prove very difficult to find much better. This beautiful item should please many collectors.

The Inner: The original unlined plain white inner is included. Aged a little with a little toning and mild creasing. The edges all unsplit with no tears and all fully intact.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EX with just light surface marks or whispy hairlines, these have no sound and the record plays beautfully throughout. A super visual copy that is very clean, shiny, intense black and very solidly pressed. A copy with modest plays on all the evidence. Visually a lovely record that should please many collectors.

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 snippetts 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 record plays even above its high visual grading with practically 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, very infrequent and faint indeed and no significant pops or clicks were noted and this is an exceptional clean and enjoyable pressing. Few copies will outperform this early pressing significantly I feel sure. Both channels are clean and sharp, I am certain this record has been played very lightly reitterated by the clean and focused sound. Nothing spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this wonderful prog record, the minor marks are simply ignored. This copy will prove very 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 with Ittok Mk IV arm and Ortofon Samba Moving Coil cartridge (tracks at 1.8 grams). Amps: Naim Nait 5i with Project USB phono stage and Chord interconnects. Speakers: B&W 704 Floorstanding 3-way Monitors (bi-wired). All records I offer on Ebay are cleaned on a professional Moth vacuum machine before play-grading for the cleanest and best possible sound and will include a brand new lined inner and protective cover too.

First-time, zero-rated bidders, who do not ask permission to bid, will be cancelled immediately and blocked – NO exceptions. For winning bidders who I consider excessively slow to make contact or submit payment, I will use my right to block future bids. If any bidder who wins in the final seconds is present to do so, surely they can at least email me to inform of intention and payment method? If swift or promp payment is a problem, please do not bid.

POSTING & PACKING: 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, mostly the very next day after payment is received or within three days maximum (unless on holiday). All records are posted in professional boxes (NOT mailers) with the record(s) 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 TWO VERY THICK stiffners for even extra protection – these are FOUR TIMES thicker than commercial stiffners and are custom-made for oneadayrecords. Really rare and expensive albums will even be Double Boxed. The cover will be placed within a BRAND NEW heavy duty soft protective sleeve and the actual record will be professionally cleaned on my Moth Pro vacuum system to give ultimate clean grooves and playing surfaces and the best possible looks and ultimate sound quality. Printed address labels are used for clarity as well as a sender label. 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. 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 offer probably the best-value and safest shipping possible. I will invoice any winning bidder as soon as possible after the auction ends. My ‘loss’ or ‘damage rate’ is less than 0.1 per percent based on over 5,000+ items sold in over 8 years of Ebay trading and I consider that pretty exceptional. I discount of course for multiple purchases with a maximum of FOUR records per packet. I will not respond to questions on shipping costs as all the details are included in the advert.

NOTE: First Time Bidders: I will cancel ALL first-time bidders with no feedbacks or excessive negatives who do not ask me if its OK to bid first – NO EXCEPTIONS.

Please Note: I will now offer any item to the runner-up after the mandatory Ebay 3 days if no contact is made by the winning bidder unless prior notice of any delay is given beforehand. The same applies if no payment is received within the mandatory 7 days so any bidder who has just lost out can still email me to reserve the item as priority second chance – it’s always worth asking.

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 (SECOND Class Recorded Delivery with Standard Royal Mail Insurance) [Signed For] = FREE. This is the new Ebay rule. HOWEVER I STRONGLY URGE UK WINNERS TO PAY THE £3 FOR THE FIRST-CLASS SERVICE AS THE PACKETS WILL ARRIVE MUCH FASTER AND SAFER.

1 LP (FIRST-CLASS Recorded Delivery with Standard Royal Mail Insurance) [Signed For] = £3.

1 LP (Special Delivery with Standard £500 Maximum Insurance) [Signed For, Next Day] = £7.50. (this includes insurance of £500).

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

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£39 maximum]) = £8. (insurance optional extra £3).

NOTE: I NO LONGER SEND TO THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION. ANY BIDS WILL BE IGNORED.

Posting & Packing: ALL OVERSEAS (non-European) e.g. USA (any part); 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 [£39 maximum]) = £12. (insurance 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: Please do not bid if you have negative feedback unless checking first, I will cancel any bids I feel are timewasters. 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 minus the Posting and All Ebay costs as long as the item detail has been read and understood. I will not refund if any defect detail is clearly stated on the advert and missed by the buyer. If any overseas collector does not understand anything in my listing, please email and ask me to help.

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 neccessarily 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’.