EGG 1st on Deram Nova. RARE & ELUSIVE 69 UK Orig EX+ LP

	£		77
	$		101

ONEADAYRECORDS – Delivering Quality Music to the World.

Artist or Band: EGG

Album Title: Egg.

Producer(s): Egg.

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Bulb; While Growing My Hair; I Will Be Absorbed; Fugue in D Minor; They Laughed When I Sat Down At The Piano…; The Song Of McGillicudie The Pusillanimous (or Don’t Worry James, Your Socks are Hanging in the Coal Cellar with Thomas); Boilk.

Side 2: Symphony No. 2: Movement 1, Movement 2, Blane, Movement 3, Movement 4.

Label/Format: Deram Nova – orange and silver format (Please see my label picture).

Label Conditions: Both very clean, fresh and highly attractive with only very light and faint spindle marks and no wear around the hole area.

Cat Number: SDN 14.

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: 150 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: Very scarce: Deram Nova is a hugely collectable cult label, a spin-off from the Deram label for band’s that were deemed more experimental and with minimal commercial potential. Few titles on this label are easy to find and this is a massively in-demand progressive classic. Finding clean copies is a huge challenge: The cover never wears well and when one surfaces it’s invariably in very poor condition, the back especially. This is an album that was issued in both mono and stereo formats, the mono is even harder to find. The record has several quiet passages and only the least-played and best looked-after copies are worthy of listening too and this one fits the bill perfectly. This looks little played at all and sounds superb for its virtual entirety. It also has a neat cover with only light rubbing on the ruthlessly uncompromising back. Without doubt, my best Egg yet and it will prove very difficult to find much better than this and the actual record even more so. This is a rare fine without doubt.

Original Year of Release: 1969

Matrix Nos: ZAL-9409.P-2W / ZAL-9410.P-2W

Mother & Stamper Codes: 1 K / 1 M (letter unclear)

Musicians: Dave Stewart - organ, piano, tone generator; Mont Campbell - bass, vocals; Clive Brooks - drums.

Brief Info: Superb debut album from ‘Canterbury’ prog-rockers Egg, issued on the short-lived and rare Deram Nova label in 1969. It was critically well received but failed to sell. They went on to issue a second album on the same label and that too suffered the same fate. Now highly sort-after by prog-rock collectors, but seldom found especially in high-grading conditions. This trio were clearly highly talented, their music had jazzy elements as well as psychedelia, complex music and time-structures and sounding quite similar to early Caravan and even Soft Machine minus the reeds and equally challenging. The album is largely instrumental and compellingly brilliant also with fantastic sound and production. Like most on Nova, this was over-looked and the band split shortly after the second album, Stewart joined Hatfield and the North. A third album ‘The Civil Service’ was issued with material gleaned before the end, it was issued on Virgin’s Caroline sub-label. The Nova pair are equally rare and this example will take a lot of beating (no pun intended). This exhilarating prog mini classic will seldom be heard better or cleaner than this.

This Cover’s Potential for Wear: Very High.

Cover Grade and Format: Overall a solid EX, the front being a little above, the back a little below and in terms of this cover, this is a very nice example. A single format with the front laminated in Clarifoil, this wraps around the spine and on to the back for best part of an inch. The back has the mono/stereo peep-hole indicator. Here the blue inner sleeve fills the circle to indicate this is a stereo copy – a red inner denotes mono. Printed and made in England by Moore & Matthes Ltd.

Lamination & Front: The front is intensely black and ultra revealing of wear and blemishes so state this is excellent or even a little better is unusually good news for the collector. The laminate retains a fine, even rich shine and fine clarity. The heavy Deram Nova record – an impressive 150 grams in weight – has left its rim impression which with angled viewing has lightly dulled around the shape. Normal viewing reveals little more than the rim impression. More good news is the all is fully adhered and with few creases. Either of which would have totally ruined this fine front. There are a couple or three small and fine creaes away from the edges but being thus have much less visual impact. A few fine hairline creases on the spine are almost considered normal on most covers, here only a small few and small. Friction rubbing and dulling is present but again only quite light in context of this ruthlessly revealing front which emphasises everything. My camera flash has slightly washed out the small creases, but I have clearly mentioned a few are present. There are very fine surface marks on the laminate surface but little more than that, on a less-revealing cover they are barely even show or be even noteworthy. Overall, a very fine front and this is a huge ask.

Cover Back: The back is massively prone to all forms of wear and only examples kept in cottonwool will not have some. This has a lttle rubbing near the top and bottom edges and a light trace of ringwear. But a matt black back with a 150g record inside for 40 years – well how many won’t have?, let’s be sensible and honest. The laminate wrap on the spine has a neat ending and a few surface creases, but fully adhered again. The peep-hole is neat also, mild whitening around the rim but no damage. Few creases to the main back panel but a little handling evidence as again, this matt surface is so highly revealing and people do actually handle covers. So a more than respectable back to complement a fine front. One or prog’s most challenging covers and this is nice, my camera may actually over-emphasise any wear on the back a little.

Top Edge: Barely any wear at all and very straight, if thin.

Bottom Edge: Pretty much the same as above.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean, sharp with no wear or feathering and untrimmed. Record enters on this edge.

Spine and Text: A super spine too: solid, straight with minimal compression but again quite thin in manufacture. All text is perfect and unworn under the solid and uncracked laminate.

Corners: Small tip rubs and odd small tip crease but overall these are neat with fine shape.

Cover Summary: A very strong all round example of this totally uncompromising late 60’s cover, one that will prove difficult to find much better. Many, if not most will appear far worse, of that I have no doubt. This still attractive item should please many collectors but clearly not the perfectionists who will have to wait for the near impossible.

The Inner: The blue stereo-coded, polylined inner is also around EX. A couple of mild creases and no edge splits, some seam gum darkening. The window in great shape and clear, if a little wrinkled lining, but intact. As stated above, this fills the rear cover peep-hole to indicate this is a stereo copy.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EX+, A super visual copy that is very clean, shiny, intense black and heavily pressed. A copy with minimal plays on all the evidence with just a few light surface marks or hairlines that have NO sound. Visually a super record that should please many, if not most collectors again.

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 brilliant, somewhat ‘lost’ prog gem plays even above its high visual grading with practically nothing 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. Superbly produced by the band, this has real high fidelity sound values and will please the rock audiophile listener. Any surface sounds are minimal indeed and this on a highly challenging recording with complex sound and arrangements – some very quiet passages too and most all is clean and quiet. No pops or clicks were noted and this is an exceptional clean pressing, but Nova, part of Deram was pressed by Decca, this will be no real surprise. 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 and has been generally treated with due respect and not played many times. A faint trace of surface sound was just noted on a highly complex brief segment on side two but this is near nit-picking and less revealing equipment will render it almost inaudible. It will take an incredible example to better this significantly and nothing spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this wonderful record and clearly this is worthy of high recommendation. If Caravan’s classic second album, on Decca is to your liking, this will be too, possibly even more so – do not risk getting Egg on your face by losing this one – this is a brilliant album.

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’.