GONG The Flying Teapot SUPERB UK 1974 EX LP with FANTASTIC CLEAN SOUND & COVER.

	£		51
	$		68

ONEADAYRECORDS – Simply Delivering Quality Music to the World in Quality, Safe Packing.

Postage: UK £4.75 (£1 per extra record). Europe (including Russia) £12.50 (£2 per extra record). Rest of World (including ALL parts of the USA) £16.50 (£3 per extra record). All boxes signed for in quality, safe packaging – I NEVER use mailing envelopes that offer virtually no protection at all, and records WILL arrive damaged in them at some time as most record buyers will already know. Here, you get what you pay for – SAFE PACKING in BOXES using 7mm DOUBLE-WALL STIFFENERS including full side protection and bubble wrap, the records removed from the covers of course. All this very safe packing means I lose money on every box I post, but safe delivery is, and will always be paramount. You WILL see the difference when my packet arrives. Also, I will pay for insurance on any record that sells for over £100 at NO extra cost – that is UK and abroad. Also I aim to post the very same day after payment is received if possible. PLEASE NOTE: I will NOT send any item, no matter what its value without a Royal Mail or courier tracking number. ALL my items must be signed and trackable to comply with Ebay delivery rules. Please do NOT ask me to make any exceptions to this rule as no country offers 100% reliable service without it.

Posting to Russia: Yes, I do post to Russia. But delivery can take longer from the UK. So please be patient. I will submit a tracking number to the winning bidder, and when the packet arrives there it can be followed online using the Russian post website.

ALSO: I now apply the Ebay ‘2-day’ rule for non-payment to keep things moving – cash-flow is important for any small business.

ANY ITEM or ITEMS TO BE PAID WITHIN A MAXIMUM OF 6 DAYS or they will be cancelled – NO EXCEPTIONS.

FINALLY: Late payers, non-payers and ‘0’ bidders will now be blocked or cancelled at my discretion, as will any bidder who cancels a bid. Please only bid on my items if you want them.

Artist or Band: GONG

Album Title: Radio Gnome Invisible Pt. 1 “The Flying Teapot”

Producer(s): Giorgio Gomelsky

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Radio Gnome Invisible; Flying Teapot.

Side 2: The Pot Head Pixies; The Octave Doctors and the Crystal Machine; Zero the Hero and the Witch’s Spell; Witch’s Song / I Am Your Pussy.

Label/Format: Virgin on the second pressing coloured twin virgins format with dragon. These have mass, smooth surfaces.

Label Conditions: Both very clean, fresh and attractive with only a tiny few very light, fine and faint spindle marks and no wear around the hole area. This an exceptionally clean pressing with superb sound. At last, a copy that can be enjoyed to the near maximum.

Catalogue Number: V 2002

Mode / Speed: Stereo / 33.3 rpm.

Up and Down Movement: Hardly a trace. Few vintage records will ever be perfectly flat, any issues with significant movement or tracking will be mentioned in detail if applicable.

Lateral Movement (Side-to-Side): Hardly a trace.

Weight of this Record: 111 grams.

Country of Manufacture: England

Rarity: Moderately scarce, in this all-round lovely condition more so. I have rarely heard a copy sound better than this.

Original Year of Release: 1973 (this second pressing from 1974)

Matrix Nos: V-2002-A / V-2002-B (scripted)

Musicians: Daevid Allen – vocals, guitar; Gilli Smyth – space whisper; Tim Blake – synthesiser, vocals; Didier Malherbe – saxes, flute; Steve Hillage – guitar; Christian Tritsch – guitar; Francis Moze – bass guitar, piano; Laurie Allan – drums; Rachid Houari – congas.

Brief Info: The third album by the French spacy-jazzy prog-rock band Gong. It was the first of the Radio Gnome Invisible trilogy of albums. One of their very best albums that included the guitar talents of Steve Hillage. This a superb example that plays beautifully, and with some very quiet passages, that becomes even more essential. The very wear-prone cover also really lovely, being cover-protected has preserved this to nearly the highest standard. A copy that fans and collectors will cherish.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT(++): an unlaminated gatefold format with matt surfaces that have a very gentle trace of texturing. Printed and made in England, includes the white inner sleeve.

Cover Front: A superb, deeply coloured front, the only blemish a tiny crease on the top right corner tip. Bo rubbing, light fading and barely any other creases to be seen with no sticker issues, quite possibly the best front I have seen on this cover for decades.

Cover Back: Almost the same, a mere hint of a tiny tip crease on the bottom left and little else. The lack of ring wear on a cover that rarely avoids it is a considerable plus.

Cover Inner Gatefold: Clean with fresh, clean and dark artwork, very impressive indeed.

Top Edges: Both straight, flat and flush with barely any wear at all.

Bottom Edges: Any rubbing only patchy and very light on these storage edges, a little more at the very ends.

Right Edge(s), and Type: The front has a real tucked and folded edge that has hardly rubbed at all. The back entrance edges are mostly neat and sharp with any traces of thickening small and light.

Spine and Text: Solid, straight with barely any compression, also folded square, so the edges meet up very closely together and parallel. The text all present and hardly worn, also nicely centred on the dark and barely worn surface.

Corners: Any tip rubs or creases only light, better than excellent shape retained.

Cover Summary: A very strong all-round example of this challegning and wear-prone 1970’s cover, one that will prove very difficult to find much better. This beautiful item should please many, if not most collectors.

The Inner Sleeve: NEAR EXCELLENT: the main issue is moderate darkening of the white paper. A basic unlined inner with two crisp undamaged window circles, hardly creased with all edges naturally intact. It has the PATENT NO. 1.125.555 number.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT: arguably better. A very fine visual copy that is very clean with equally fine shine and quite solidly pressed. A copy with modest plays on all the evidence with any surface marks very light, mostly fine and faint as seen critically under bright light. No penetrating stylus scratches, viewed in average room light, little even registers. Visually a super record that should please many, and for sound possibly most 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 snippets or joining grooves to check for sound quality and quietness – I play from the beginning to end via clinically revealing equipment, all listed further down.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This prog-rock classic album plays even above it’s high visual grading with hardly anything to fault. Offering 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 indeed and this is a very clean pressing with no tracking issues* or inherent pressing noises. An album often ruined by variable pressing quality, but this one was a joy to play-grade with probably the least contact sound I have heard to date. This has variable volume music with some very quiet passages, but even these areas plays impressively. Few available copies will outperform this still very early pressing I feel sure. Both channels are clean and sharp, I am certain this record has been played very lightly and has been very well stored and carefully handled. Nothing of any note spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this quality copy. It will prove very difficult to find significantly better and can be strongly recommended.

* As played-graded on a high-end Linn LP12 Sondek turntable with Ittok Mk II arm and Ortofon Quintet Black moving coil cartridge tracking at 2 grams. Records are a ‘contact’ format, and few will avoid the odd minor sound blemish.

I am one of the most established sellers on Ebay, trading since 2001 and offering the finest 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 all elements of the items I offer for sale. You may notice I only submit records quite sparingly on Ebay as I Play-Grade every record I offer in their entirety – also on higher-end equipment – not just bits to guess a grade – visuals alone do not always tell a true story. I will try to 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 it’s good. I get just as much pleasure offering a relatively common record in near mint condition as the real rare items. All the pictures I use for your guidance are the item being offered with no digital enhancements. Room light factors can make things vary sometimes, that is hard to control, especially in winter. I hope the item below is to your liking – any questions can be emailed and I will do my best to answer you. I am enthusiastic, and have a fair degree of knowledge about many genres and I promise quality items. Please assume all records I offer have NO jumps, sticks, major warps or writing on covers or labels unless clearly stated to the contrary. Thanks for your interest and Good luck – MIKE.

Deck: Linn LP12/Hercules/Cirkus with Ittok Mk II arm and Ortofon Quintet Black moving coil cartridge (tracks at 2 grams). Amps: Naim Supernait 2 with Project USB phono stage and Tellerium Black interconnects. Speakers: B&W 805 Nautilus (bi-wired with Tellurium Black terminated cable) with REL subwoofer. All records I offer on Ebay are cleaned on a professional Nessie vacuum machine before play-grading for the cleanest and best possible sound and will include a brand new lined inner and protective cover too. Pictures taken with a Nikon D7500 DSLR Camera.

PACKING – THIS IS WHAT YOU GET.

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.

PLEASE NOTE: I now exercise my right to open a dispute after the Ebay rule of TWO days if no payment is received. I will then cancel the dispute to end the bid, again after the mandatory FOUR days and then offer the item to the runner-up or relist. The non-payer will also be blocked from my Ebay site as will any suspicious bids or bid bid retractions. Small businesses need prompt payment to trade and these strict rules WILL be applied.

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 (FIRST-CLASS Recorded Delivery with Standard Royal Mail Insurance) [Signed For] = £4.75

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

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

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£50 maximum]) = £12.50 (enhanced Royal Mail insurance is an optional extra £3). Add £2 per extra LP.

Posting & Packing: ALL OVERSEAS (non-European) e.g. USA (ANY PART OF); South America; New Zealand; 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 [£50 maximum]) = £16.50 (£17.50 for double sets). Add £3 per extra LP. (enhanced Royal Mail insurance is an optional extra £3)

Payment Conditions:

I prefer PayPal or cheque from UK winning bidders. I only accept PayPal from overseas bidders or direct payment into my bank account.

Potential Bidders: I will cancel any bids I feel are time-wasters. A maximum 2 days for communication and 7 days for payment to arrive – if not I will relist the item or offer to the runner-up.

My Guarantee: If any winning bidder is not satisfied with their purchase I will offer a complete refund if the item is returned in the same condition is was sent e.g. as per the listing pictures.

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 necessarily 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, 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.