HOT CHOCOLATE S/T SEALED RARE 1975 Big Tree 1st PRESSING You Sexy Thing

$

40

Vinyl:  MINT!  SEALED! This is the Original 1975 Big Tree 1st Pressing! BT 89512.  Includes the CLASSIC "You Sexy Thing" and some other Funk/Soul/R&B gems...SUPER RARE in the album format, You Sexy Thing was such a monster hit, the single sold many more times what the LP sold...hence its rarity...This is the only one available on eBay...allmusic gives it 4 stars!!! See Review Below!
Cover: MINT!  SEALED!  (see photos; notch cut)  The Shrink is Beautifully and almost fully Intact.  Tiny tear in shrink on back top right corner.  HYPE STICKER.   Also, the record appears straight; when I look down with one eye down all 4 edges there's no big, ominous bow to it that would suggest that it's warped.
I will gladly accept the return of Sealed records as long as they have not been opened (i.e. as long as they are still in the condition I sent them in).  Every record has a "fingerprint" of imperfections in the seal and/or the cover and I separately photograph and keep these details to prevent fraudulently returned items...yep, there are a few rotten apples out there!)  I will not accept a previously sealed record that has been opened, even if the complaint is that the record is warped.  This is why I look down the edge of all 4 sides of the record, to assess for potential bowing.  Look for that in the description of the covers of all my Sealed items. Thanks!  By the way, I've never (knock on wood!) had a buyer complain that they received a warped Sealed record.  :)
Goldmine Standards.   
U.S. Shipping:  $4 Media Mail.  50 cents additional shipping per additional album, when the shipment is combined.   If you wish to take advantage of my COMBINED SHIPPING deal, simply select your records by clicking on "ADD TO CART" on the main listing page.  Do this for all of your selections and then go to your cart to checkout.  Your combined shipping discount will be computed automatically.  Free domestic shipping if you spend $100 or more! 
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Why buy a first or early pressing and not a re-issue or a ‘re-mastered’ vinyl album?  First and early pressings are pressed from the first generation lacquers and stampers. They usually sound vastly superior to later issues/re-issues (which, in recent times, are often pressed from whatever 'best' tapes or digital sources are currently available) - many so-called 'audiophile' new 180g pressings are cut from hi-res digital sources…essentially an expensive CD pressed on vinyl.  Why  experience the worse elements of both formats?  These are just High Maintenance CDs, with mid-ranges so cloaked with a veil as to sound smeared.  They are nearly always compressed with murky transients and a general lifelessness in the overall sound.  There are exceptions where re-masters/re-presses outshine the original issues, but they are exceptions and not the norm.  First or early pressings nearly always have more immediacy, presence and dynamics. The sound staging is wider.  Subtle instrument nuances are better placed with more spacious textures. Balances are firmer in the bottom end with a far-tighter bass. Upper-mid ranges shine without harshness, and the overall depth is more immersive.  Inner details are  clearer.   On first and early pressings, the music tends to sound more ‘alive’ and vibrant.  The physics of sound energy is hard to clarify and write about from a listening perspective, but the best we can describe it is to say that you can 'hear' what the mixing and mastering engineers wanted you to hear when they first recorded the music.
AllMusic Review by Alex Henderson  [-]

When Hot Chocolate's first album, Cicero Park, came out in 1974, the majority of American soul fans didn't even know that it existed. But the band received more attention in the U.S. the following year, when this self-titled sophomore effort was released and the playful "You Sexy Thing" became a major hit. Many of the Americans who heard "You Sexy Thing" on either soul or pop/Top 40 radio bought the single but passed on the Hot Chocolate LP, and that's regrettable because the Brits' second album has a lot going for it. Hot Chocolate isn't perfect -- this LP isn't devoid of filler, but the material is solid more often than not. Except for "You Sexy Thing," the album's best tracks are its message songs. Thoughtful, reflective offerings like "A Child's Prayer," "The Street," and "Dollar Sign" explore the sociopolitical territory that Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfield, and Donny Hathaway had been exploring, except that Hot Chocolate bring a British perspective to the table. On "Amazing Skin Song," lead vocalist Errol Brown sings from the perspective of a black man who is in love with a white woman and refuses to let racism on the part of either blacks or whites keep him from being with her. Those who heard "You Sexy Thing" on the radio thought of Hot Chocolate as a lighthearted group, but most of the time, this is a very serious-minded album.