H. P. LOVECRAFT II RARER ORIG UK 1968 Philps EX++ LP

	£		45
	$		60

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Artist or Band: H. P. LOVECRAFT

Album Title: H. P. Lovecraft II.

Producer(s): George Badonsky.

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Spin, Spin, Spin; It’s About Time; Blue Jack of Diamonds; Electrollentando.

Side 2: At the Mountains of Madness; Mobius Trip; High Flying Bird; Nothing’s Boy; Keeper of the Keys.

Label/Format: Philips – original matt black format (Please see my label scan).

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

Cat Number: SBL 7872.

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: 137 grams. About average for its era.

Country of Manufacture: England.

Rarity & Note: A scarce record: this did not sell well in the UK or even in their native US. Special mention has to be made about the pressing of this record. Few will ever be seen or offered that do not have a watermark. Some can be badly affected with large dulled patterns that resemble severe bag-rash on both sides. When present, most-all will sound as a sussy hiss, this I know as I have heard them on this and other albums with known pressing issues in the form of watermark dulls. This copy has escaped any severe watermarks. A fine one on the start of side one only just encroaches on to the music area and then is pretty much ignored which is fantastic news. Side two is even better with barely any trace of the pressing mark at all and overall, this album plays superbly with barely anything unwanted. My best looking and sounding copy ever of this one – and they do not come along too often, this is a rare opportunity for sure.

Original Year of Release: 1968

Matrix Nos: 852126 1Y // 1 420 1 1 5 & 852126 2Y // 1 420 1 1 5

Musicians: George Edwards – vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass; Dave Michaels – vocals, keyboards; Tony Cavallari – lead guitar, vocals; Jeff Boyan – bass, vocals; Michael Tegza – drums, percussion, vocals.

Brief Info: Brilliant second album by this very psychedelic folk-rock US band. Legend has it, it was recorded while the band were under the influence of acid. Whatever, this is an amazing trippy psych experience and I think it’s even more out-there than the debut album. A poor seller and UK Philips originals are elusive and few will have lesser impact with the watermark pressing fault than this. Most present on this one barely encroach on to the music area and side two barely as it at all. With a lovely colourful cover and near perfect playing record, this sets the bare immensely high and for fans of the classic period US psych sound, H. P. Lovecraft were one of the best exponents that made it over the pond.

This Cover’s Potential for Wear: Very High: flimsy and fragile, most seen are damaged or badly creased. Very soft and this bends so easily, hence laminate problems are often highly significant and this one has not escaped entirely as described below. The inside is highly prone to set-off too where deep rich colour rests upon pale or white colour on the opposite side.

Cover Grade and Format: For pure good looks and taking the immense fragility of this cover into consideration, I think this is undergraded at EX(-). For those looking at this, you may too consider this a harsh grading, but with close examination, the original owner has very cleverly and neatly touched-in a small laminate and surface pull on the front. This may now be (just) apparent now I have mentioned it. It lies just to the right of the lower part of the large yellow area near the bottom right (near the right edge just below halfway). It has been so well done, I missed this myself when buying this album to offer on Ebay. Quite honestly, I would have still bought anyway as the difficult record is so nice and that for is always the primary factor, but of course covers are massively important too, but you cannot play a cover of course. Anyway, this is a very flimsy and fragile gatefold format with front and back laminate. Printed and made in England.

Lamination: Front & Back: The laminate is secure and very shiny and clear. I have mentioned above the small laminate peel and surface enhancement of the cover. This is cleverly done and NOT by myself, so-much-so, I did miss this on purchase. The back has mild rim dulling from the heavy record that few could ever escape but shows little. The back also has total laminate adhesion but the front has a moderately sizeable spine edge blister most of the way down. Incredibly, this has little visibility with normal viewing and appears to have avoided any serious cracking, so this remains solid and is unlikely to lift or peel in future with care. This of course is not wear and many were indeed like this from new, these ‘bendy’ type covers are massively prone to this. There are some mainly light creases and some corner tip-ins too, most on the top left corner. The artwork still looks fantastic under the unfogged laminate but clearly the tip-ins will be an issue for the more discerning collector. If you have any doubts on this, do not bid, this will not be for the connoisseur collector this time.

Cover Inner Gatefold: The inside looks unsually nice with more stunning bright artwork. There is some almost unavoidable mild set-off on the left side from the intense coloured ink opposite but this minimal and light compared to similar ones I have seen before. Mild rubbing on the bottom edge of the right side only and this is probably as good as they are likely to get.

Top Edges: Little wear and relatively straight for most. The corners are tipped-in in red.

Bottom Edges: Little wear and that’s no mean achievement. Minor end burring being critical and again the corners have been tipped-in.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean, quite sharp with little wear and no feathering or trimming. Again a few light burr traces are seen end-on. Record enters on this fragile back edge, the front is closed.

Spine and Text: Apart from one chip and the ends enhanced, there is little else to fault. Solid, straight, uncompressed and square, both right edges meet up very closely together and parallel. All text is perfect and unworn under the solid and clear laminate. Practically all of which is solid and unpeeled

Corners: It appears the corners have rubbed but the clearly caring owner has improved them by tipping them in in red. This is mostly apparent on the spine. Fine shape is mostly retained on these frail and vulnerable corners.

Cover Summary: Clearly there are issues so not for the more discerning cover collector. But overall this is still an exceptional one overall and importantly, it looks lovely and is not an easy one to find at all. The main issues are the corner enhancements and the smallish surface tear that has been very well disguised. I rarely miss too much when buying records but this I did. I feel this will please many collectors but if you have any concerns or doubts, do not bid. The record however, more than compensates.

The Inner Sleeve: This includes a Polydor-style polylined inner in superb condition.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: My grading of EX++ does NOT take into account of the watermark that is almost considered normal for this album. In fact, this is only a low-level example of this pressing flaw, and it has minimal to no effect on the wonderful sound quality this album offers. A super visual copy that is very clean, shiny, intense black and very solidly pressed. A copy with minimal plays on all the evidence and the watermark is relatively fine and quite light on side one and barely evident on side two. Very little encroaches on to the music area and emits barely any audible sound. Any proper marks are ultra fine and faint as surface traces. Visually a super record that should please 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 snippets 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 minuscule sound present on any record.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This lovely record plays up to 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. Any surface sounds are minimal indeed and no pops or clicks were noted and this is an exceptional clean pressing regarding sound. The watermark is rarely avoided on this one and few including will be so little affected by it’s potential sound as explained above. Few copies will outperform this early pressing significantly I feel sure. Nothing spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this wonderful record. This record will prove very difficult to find significantly better and can be strongly recommended. If the watermark and relatively small cover issues are a problem or concern, I say for the final time, do not bid.

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/Hercules/Cirkus with Ittok Mk II arm and Ortofon Rondo Red moving coil cartridge (tracks at 2 grams). Amps: Naim Nait 5i with Project USB phono stage and Chord interconnects. Speakers: B&W 704 Floorstanding 3-way Monitors (bi-wired with QED Silver terminated cable). 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.

PACKING - THIS IS WHAT YOU GET - PLEASE SEE MY TYPICAL PACKING BOX PICTURE.

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, often the very next day after payment is received or within two to three days maximum (unless on holiday). I only use FIRST-CLASS Mail. The record’s cover will be placed within a BRAND NEW 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. 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. All records are posted in professional thick boxes (NOT Mailers or Cruciforms, these do not offer maximum protection). 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 THREE or EVEN FOUR ULTRA THICK stiffeners for maximum extra protection – these are FOUR TIMES thicker than commercial stiffeners and are custom-made for oneadayrecords. Really rare and expensive albums will even be Double Boxed if deemed necessary and possible. The thick record and stiffener ‘sandwich’ is then thickly embedded into bubble-wrap to bulk out the record inside the box to centre the item inside to reduce the risk of damage still further. Printed address labels are used for clarity as well as a sender label. Customers requests or special needs for P&P will be respected if at all possible but ‘Signed-For’ posting is NOT an option anymore. Please see my picture of a typical finished box packet that will now be used on ALL transactions as from now. I do not profit on posting and the cost of this lavish packing is NOT even charged for, I offer probably the best-value and safest shipping possible for ultimate confidence. These boxes and ultra thick double-wall stiffners and bubble wrap make a near impregnable fortress for safe shipping and this is used inland and overseas for ALL my records, not just the rare and expensive. I will invoice any winning bidder as soon as possible after the auction ends. My ‘loss’ or ‘damage rate’ is less than one in two thousand based on over 6,000+ items sold in over 8 years of Ebay trading and I consider that pretty exceptional. The only damage rate acceptable for this seller is ZERO and I think my packets will offer just that. It would take a vicious postman or postal service to damage these for sure. Even one of these stiffners cannot be bent by hand, so what chance 3 or 4 inside a box? Oneadayrecords is a MAILER-FREE ZONE. I discount of course for multiple purchases with a maximum of FOUR records per box (one double can sometimes be included subject to total weight). I will not respond to questions on shipping costs as all the details are included here and on ALL of my adverts. Details below:

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 (FIRST-CLASS Recorded Delivery with Standard Royal Mail Insurance) [Signed For] = £4.

1 LP (Special Delivery with Standard £500 Maximum Insurance) [Signed For, Next Day] = £7.50. (this includes insurance of £500). Add £2 per extra LP.

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

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£40 maximum]) = £9. (insurance optional extra £3). Add £2.50 per extra LP.

Posting & Packing: ALL OVERSEAS (non-European) e.g. USA (ANY PART OF); 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]) = £13. Add £4 per extra LP. (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. I will not refund if any defect detail is clearly stated on the advert and missed by the buyer, so read the item description carefully. If any overseas collector does not understand anything in my listing, please email and ask me to help. Thank You.

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’.