Dire Straits Alchemy Dire Straits Live LP 1984 Japan 1st Press 20PP-78,79 OBI NM

$

41

                                                                          Dire Straits
                                                Alchemy Dire Straits Live (first live album)
                                                  Gatefold Jacket 2 Disc set with OBI
                                            1984 Japanese 1st Pressing On Virgin Vinyl
                                        2-Page Lyric Sheet in both Japanese and English

                                                                       Item Details
                                         Manufactured in: Tokyo, Japan by Nippon Phonogram
                                         Recorded:: July1983 at Hammersmith Odeon, London
                                       Single live performance with no overdubs or re-recordings
                                                               Issued: March, 1984
                                                          Label: Vertigo 20PP-78/79
                                                    Runout Deadwax Matrix Numbers: 
                                    Side 1: (all stamped:) V ?  ? 81824411 E 1 1 1 ? O P
                                    Side 2: (all stamped:) 81824412 E 1 1 1 ?
                                    Side 3: (all stamped:) 81824512 1 1 1 ?
                                    Side 4: (all stamped:) Z 81824512 1 1 1 ? ?

Was bought new by this seller many years ago and now offered from his private collection (you 
have absolutely known provenance). Played only a couple of times on an expertly setup high-end 
audiophile turntable, arm, and cartridge. Has never been exposed to heat or tobacco smoke 
and always stored vertically in a specially designed record cabinet (Rackit) to prevent warpage.
Three sides (S1, S2, S4) were cleaned on a VPI HW 16 with Audio Intelligent solutions and ultra-pure
water rinse (50X purer than distilled water) before my pre-sale sound check. I spotted a few dust 
specs on them that were a little resistant to my Decca record brush. I did not think side 3 needed
any cleaning

I wear nitrile surgical gloves 100% while photographing, cleaning, and play testing to avoid any
chance of transferring finger oils to the vinyl.

Very sensitive play testing was performed straight off my Ayre P-5xe fully balanced phono preamp
over Sennheiser HD 600 headphones thru a Schiit Audio Valhalla 2 tube headphone amp fitted with
Voskhod Soviet matched tubes (see last photo).

Track list
1: Once Upon A Time In The West, Romeo And Juliet.  .
2: Expresso Love, Private Investigations, Sultans Of Swing.
3: Two Young Lovers, Tunnel Of Love
4: Telegraph Road, Solid Rock, Going Home - Theme From 'Local Hero'

I never take "distant" photos nor the so-prevalent type with the LP sticking halfway out of the jacket. 
I take close-ups under photo lamps so you can see nearly everything I describe in the jacket grading. 
It is virtually impossible to know the true vinyl condition from any photograph. That takes very bright 
close visual inspection AND thorough coverage play testing on high resolution equipment.

Grading 
Note: record grading by text characters is subjective and does not fully describe quality 
levels. Please see photos and my detailed descriptions below.

Outer Jacket: NM (Near Mint) It was really hard to find any negatives on this jacket. There is a very 
tiny crease on the upper left corner that can only be seen if you magnify the rear jacket photo a lot. 
The little sticker on the back was put on by the exporter for inventory tracking. There is nothing else 
I could find. Inside and out the jacket is as close to mint as anything else in my collection.

Vinyl: NM- (Near Mint Minus) Surface visuals were inspected under high intensity halogen light.
The minus is for the LAST vinyl preservative stickers on the labels. I always applied LAST vinyl 
wear prevention treatment before the initial play. Both sides looked visually perfect with no traces,
jacket insert & removal rubbing wear, or hairlines. Spindle holes have no wear as seen in the
photos. There are no tonearm post rubbing "scribble marks" around the label spindle holes. 
I played all tracks and transition grooves between tracks, advancing the tone arm about 1/4" at 
a time listening for a few minutes at each drop. I found no negative attributes at all. These discs
are exceptionally quiet mint-quality pressings. There was just nothing between music and the 
listener. For example, Private Investigations has some very subtle but tasty musical details in its 
quiet passages that came through without a even a hint of vinyl noise floor. I'd say its one of the 
quietest albums in my collection. Whoever wins the auction will be very happy with the discs. 
Standout tracks for me in terms of performance and sound were: S1T1, S1T2, S2T1 (Espresso
Love - crank it all the way up!), S2T2, S4T1 & S4T3.

Packaging
Records will be placed outside the jacket to protect against seam splitting.
Original inner half circle sleeves and the lyric sheet are included separately.
Records have been placed into new genuine MFSL Original Master "rice paper" sleeves, as the 
original sleeves could contain dust. This will keep vinyl surfaces clean during shipping and 
ultimate buyer usage.
Outer jacket is contained in a new clear polyethylene protective sleeve.
Sent in good quality record mailer with cardboard stiffeners.

Shipping
Shipping will be via USPS Media Mail for a flat charge of $3.98 per single album sale.
A combined shipping discount is available on multiple sales completed within 5 business days 
($3.98 plus $0.50 for each additional LP). If you intend to buy more than one LP do not pay
immediately but wait for my all-combined invoice. A discount for the combined items will show
on that invoice. Then, once payment is received, the items will ship