Cirkus - One, rare 1973 UK melodic prog in great shape
£
128
$
169
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Description
The Item For Sale Is:
Artist: Cirkus
Title: One
Release info: RCB (RCB1) 1973 Original UK Issue
Condition (Sleeve 1st) : EX/EX
Track List:
You Are
Seasons
April 73
Song For Tavish
A Prayer
Brotherly Love
Those Were The Days
Jenny
Title Track
Cirkus were an Ashington based band with a large local following which persuaded a local businessman to put up the money for this album of which 1000 copies were pressed. Sadly it didn’t win them fame and fortune but instead produced a classic collectors item. Musically this is easily the most accomplished UK private pressing with a sound somewhat akin to a more song based Yes with a great progressive rock sound, good keys and guitar and for once a professional sounding vocalist.
Of the 1000 copies pressed it’s now very difficult to find a nice copy. With them being a popular local band I see maybe 10 copies per year of this (if I’m lucky) but I only buy one or two because the condition, of the sleeve especially, is always poor. This one though is the best copy I’ve seen for about five years with both record and sleeve in a strong excellent condition.
Condition:
Sleeve: Anyone who’s seen this knows how flimsy the gatefold sleeve is, there’s nothing which can be done about it, it’s just made of very thin unlaminated card and has a sleeve design which shows wear easily. This one though is as strong as any I’ve seen over the past few years.
The front is very clean with virtually no flaws at all, there’s no writing, no sticker tears, no creases, the only flaw to mention is a tiny tear about 1cm long coming in from the open edge near the bottom seam, this has been taped from inside the sleeve to avoid any further damage. I’ve taken a photo of this with my finger alongside it to illustrate how small it is and at arms length in a PVC sleeve you’d never know it was there.
The rear sleeve is also very clean without any tears, writing or creases anywhere, it does have some very light ringwear which is almost unavoidable on this sleeve and nowhere near as bad as most of the copies I’ve seen, I‘m storing the record seperately at the moment so this won‘t get any worse.
Inside the gatefold is pretty much perfect.
The top seam is pretty much unworn although it’s not glued on straight which gives it the appearance of being worn, this is a common manufacturing problem with this sleeve, a lot of them were glued slightly off straight. The bottom seam has a couple of spots of very light wear but nothing to worry about. The spine is square and straight with all of the writing clearly readable but does have tiny spots of wear at the top and bottom.
Both labels are perfect, very clean with no writing, tears or stickers and no visible spindle wear.
Record: Very very strong. It’s made of very thin primitive looking vinyl which raises alarm bells about sound quality but there are no worries here with the sound being warm and deep and better than that from records on much better looking vinyl. It’s very clean and still has that nice dark shine that only rarely played records have. When held under a harsh lamp there are only a few light hairline marks visible, these are caused by the record being put in and out of it’s sleeve and are totally inaudible.
It plays superbly too with a nice clear sound right across the full dynamic range with only the occasional very light crackle between tracks which could spoil you’re enjoyment. I’ve just played this at high volume and really can’t think of any defects you need to know about, I can’t recall any surface noise or distortion at all, it really does just sound great and I can’t imagine you’re going to find a better copy easily.
Terms of trade are available on the about me page and it is your responsibility to read them as they are non-negotiable and by bidding you are agreeing that you will abide by those terms.
If you do decide to bid for this item I wish you luck and if not, well, thanks for looking and remember to look at my other items for sale you may find something more to your taste there.
