HATFIELD AND THE NORTH: 1974 DEBUT LP UK 1st PRESSING

	£		40
	$		53

  HATFIELD AND THE NORTH: 1974 DEBUT LP UK 1st PRESSING BEAUTIFUL BARELY PLAYED COPY, FULLY LAMINATED GATEFOLD
HATFIELD AND THE NORTH
Hatfield and the North

ORIGINAL UK VIRGIN (V 2008) FIRST PRESSING (February 1974) OF HATFIELD AND THE NORTH'S EPONYMOUS DEBUT LP IN SUPERB, LIGHTLY PLAYED CONDITION AND DELIVERING JUST ABOUT THE FINEST AUDIO YOU ARE LIKELY TO FIND FOR THIS OFT TROUBLESOME PRESSING - AS THE QUIETER SECTIONS (and there are many) OFTEN PLAY WITH EXCESSIVE SURFACE NOISE - FANTASTIC LP AND VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED INDEED

PRESSED ON QUALITY HEAVYWEIGHT VINYL (very thick and chunky for Virgin) WITH THE FIRST ISSUE COLOURED TWO VIRGINS LABELS
MATRIX: V 2008 A-1U / V 2008 B-1U
MOTHERS/STAMPERS: 1/O and 1/P
THE RECORD IS HOUSED IN THE ORIGINAL FULLY LAMINATED, DEEPLY GLOSSY GATEFOLD SLEEVE

Hatfield and the North were the supergroup of England's Canterbury progressive rock scene, with bassist and vocalist Richard Sinclair from Caravan, guitarist Phil Miller from Matching Mole, keyboardist Dave Stewart from Egg, and drummer Pip Pyle from Gong and Delivery.
This brilliant and inventive debut album is a cross between sophisticated, precisely executed jazz-rock and dry-humoured, often surreal pop.
The album consists of short pieces blended into a Zappa-like collage, providing a thematic work as good as anything even the most eccentric jazz-rock by bands like Soft Machine ever produced and indeed Robert Wyatt can be found on vocals here

Track Listing:
Side 1: The Stubbs Effect / Big Jobs (Poo Poo Extract) / Going Up To People And Tinkling / Calyx (Vocals - Robert Wyatt) / Son Of 'There's No Place Like Homerton' / Aigrette / Rifferama
Side 2: Fol De Rol / Shaving Is Boring / Licks For The Ladies / Bossa Nochance / Big Jobs No. 2 (By Poo And The Wee Wees) / Lobster In Cleavage Probe / Gigantic Land Crabs In Earth Takeover Bid / The Other Stubbs Effect

LABELS: The labels are clean, bright and unmarked with light spindles (please see close-up photos)
VINYL Visual: The vinyl surfaces still retain their original deep, glossy sheen and are practically unmarked - there are some hairlines but these have little audio consequence - the playback is sensational
VINYL Audio: Outstanding audio - crystal clear, beautiful rich and warm sound which knocks the socks off the pristine, clinical sound of the CD version and on playback at a loud volume (which is how I always listen to my records prior to listing and it's always a real pleasure to return to this one) there are no scratches, no sticks/jumps, no clicks or pops and only the lightest of background crackle - most evident on the very quiet/almost silent sections - but nothing I found at all intrusive (and I really don't think you'll find a copy which sounds much better than this - I certainly haven't heard one). The sound quality is simply sensational and the whole LP plays to an impressively high standard with no groove-wear, no distortion (its seen light play only), sounds stunning and is very, very critically graded a strong EXCELLENT for audio - very nice copy indeed and very highly recommended
SLEEVE: The gatefold sleeve is also in beautiful condition - clean, fresh and unmarked with a deep, deep glass-like gloss. For the photographs I have not opened the sleeve fully as I don't want to crack the laminate on the centre spine as I don't think this sleeve has ever been opened flat before - it still creaks. The front and back surfaces have a little rubbing and record impression from storage but otherwise, the sleeve is like-new with crisp, sharp, unworn edges and spine with all text clear and bold (although the text is written in white and is therefore pretty hard to make out) - EXCELLENT++

PLEASE HAVE A LOOK AT MY PICTURES - I USUALLY TAKE QUITE A FEW SO YOU CAN GET A CLEAR INDICATION OF EVERY DETAIL OF THE ITEM
I HAVE UPLOADED AS MANY AS I CAN BUT I WOULD BE MORE THAN HAPPY TO SUPPLY ANY ADDITIONAL PHOTOS ON REQUEST
SUPERB UK FIRST PRESSING IN EXCEPTIONAL CONDITION - VERY DIFFICULT TO FIND A COPY WHICH PLAYS THIS WELL AND VERY, VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED INDEED - SOUNDS SENSATIONAL
AS WITH ALL MY RECORDS THIS HAS A LOW START PRICE AND NO RESERVE
PLEASE CHECK OUT MY OTHER AUCTIONS FOR MORE RARE AND COLLECTABLE VINYL
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THANKS FOR LOOKING, CHEERS

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POST & PACKING
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