Bob Marley WAILERS Catch a Fire ZIPPO UK original MINT LP Pink Rim ISLAND reggae

	£		299
	$		396

THE WAILERS - CATCH A FIRE, issued on ISLAND RECORDS in 1973. This is THE VERY FIRST PRESSING of the UK ORIGINAL EDITION ILPS 9241 on PINK RIM label. The cover is in EX+ and the record is in enjoyable MINT condition.

RARITY: Quite obviously ISLAND executives didn`t view virtually unknown (in the UK) jamaican band as potential money-makers, just on the strength of group members being top musicians well-known in their native country, and pressed the LP in modest quantities, waiting to see if it would sell well, and if so - press more copies then. As a result, very few copies of the initial press were made, and in my opinion any THE WAILERS UK original pressing in decent condition is worthy of attention. While CATCH A FIRE arguably is not the rarest original UK pressing in ISLAND catalogue, I consider this particular copy quite rare, due to it`s mint condition. These days it`s very difficult to find a perfect copy of this album, playing from start to finish with near CD-like silence.

THE MATRICES: Side ONE - ILPS 9241 A-3U, Side TWO - ILPS 9241 B-4U, the very first matrix numbers used for this pressing, both machine stamped, previously allocated matrix number BML 2001 cancelled and crossed out on both sides, "STERLING" machine stamped on both sides.

THE INSERT: The original blue paper polylined insert with MADE IN GREAT BRITAIN, PATENT Nos. 1,125,555 & 1,072,844 statements and BASING STREET address is in MINT condition. About a month before the album was due to be out, ISLAND moved their premises to 22 St.Peter`s Square and added this address to the blue insert, instead of the previously used ISLAND RECORDS LTD BASING STREET LONDON W11. As a result, both variants of the inner sleeve can be found with this album, but for the initial run copies, like this one here, BASING STREET address inserts were more commonly used, as there were a lot of them already printed and stocked.

THE COVER: I would grade the original, unlaminated ROBOR LIMITED "ZIPPO LIGHTER" cover as EX+. The hinge is intact and working, there are no rips/tears, no grubbyness, no ringwear, no feathering of the opening edge, no signs of restoring/retouching, and (goes without saying) no writings or sticker residue of any kind. There are no problems with it whatsoever, the only reason why I grade it as EX+ rather than MINT is because it does generally show it`s 38 year old age and doesn`t look like it was just brought from the shop.

THE LABELS: Stunningly beautiful PINK RIM ISLAND labels are in MINT condition. Both sides have been checked meticulously under 100 watt lamp. Both sides have just a few very superficial spindle traces, visible only under bright light, and at ANGLED POSITION ONLY. All the colours on the label are as bright and vibrant as they were 38 years ago when the album was pressed, there`s no yellowing or colour fading. There are absolutely NO stickers/sticker residue or writings of any kind on both sides.

THE VINYL/VISUAL INSPECTION:  graded as MINT- (Side 2) to EX+ (Side 1). Once again, checked thoroughly under 100 watt lamp at an angle. Normally, if you look at most 1960-1970 records under bright angled light, the first thing you notice is a "spider`s web" of paper scuffs and paper trace lines, which originated when the record was taken out of the insert and put back in over the years, due to friction between the playing surface of the LP and rather coarse paper, used for printing the inner sleeves. This record however, survived with just an average number of very thin and superficial paper traces, which is a small miracle, considering the fact that most people found this album`s packaging extremely fiddly (try it for yourself - and you`ll see what I mean) and since they realised that the record itself fits perfectly into the slot on it`s own without the insert, that`s exactly what they did - thrown away the inserts and put the lp in the sleeve without any additional protection. The obvious result of this was a large number of deep and penetrating scuffs on the record`s surface from the rough cardboard of the sleeve`s opening edge. There are no fingermarks, dirt or anything like that on this copy. This is a vintage ISLAND record - massively pressed on thick vinyl and manufactured to the highest standards, it still has this magnificent original lustre and at an angled light shines like new.

THE VINYL/PLAYGRADED: The lp was playgraded (TWICE) on my high-end system including MICHEL GYRODEC with SUMIKO BLUE POINT SPECIAL CARTRIDGE, with the following results: I`m pleased to say that both sides are playgraded as MINT. Perhaps I have at this point to elaborate on the system of grading that is currently used by the sellers on the internet. I think you`ve noticed that sometimes it can be rather vague, and basically it is an imperfect and somewhat flawed way of describing the condition of the LP. Partially it is due to subjective nature of the listening process in itself and consequently grading, i.e. - one guy`s "near mint" is another guy`s "barely excellent minus". Also, grading is heavily influenced by the quality and set-up of the record player (especially it`s cartridge) and at times, erm... by the desire of the seller to get as much as possible for his/her record. I think for the most expensively priced lps, like the one offered for sale here, more detailed grading system should be applied. For this particular listing, in view of how high a starting bid is, I would ask you to adopt a 10 point scale, where 10.0 is a compact disc like "black silence". So, if we can agree on this 10 point system - I have no reservations to playgrade the lp advertised in this listing as - SIDE ONE: 9.5, SIDE TWO: 10.0. I would also like to point out, that to avoid buyer`s disappointment I PLAY GRADE ALL RECORDS VERY (and I mean VERY) LOUD, so that all audible imperfections would reveal themselves. I`d like to assure you that I`m very critical and perhaps even too unforgiving a grader, and I`m confident that you will agree with my grading, allowing 0.5 point either way to the 9.5 and 10.0 points I awarded to this lp on the 10 point scale. It is my firm view that, when playgrading a record one should disregard the fact whether the record is rare or not and it should only be judged on its own merits, regardless of how many copies of it were pressed. To put it another way - "the proof of the pudding is in the eating", you know what I mean? Anyway, without further ado - I`m happy to playgrade the lp as an overall STRONG CONFIDENT MINT.