IF - SCARCE ORIG UK 1970 ISLAND PINK EX LP - SUPER-SOUND. VERY FINE FOIL COVER.

	£		68
	$		90

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 – in fact I think these things should be banned as records WILL arrived damaged in them at some time. More details on my packing nearer the end of the listing.

Posting to Russia: Yes, I do post to Russia. But delivery can take up to 4 to 6 weeks 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 ‘4-day’ rule for non-payment to keep things moving – cash-flow is important to any small business. I will always keep my P&P prices as low as possible, and even after yet another Royal Mail price hike from April this year, I have NOT raised my prices and will never compromise on solid, safe packing that is invariably heavier than most you will get. My P&P offers probably the best value-for-money for vinyl records available, and I even will pay for full 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. You WILL see the difference when my packet arrives.

FINALLY: Late payers will now be blocked at my discretion. As will any bidder who cancels a bid. I do not like this practice as it is most often used to phish out the price to beat. Ebay does not approve and neither do I – so only bid on my items if you want them.

Artist or Band: IF

Album Title: If

Producer(s): Lew Futterman.

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: I’m Reaching Out on All Sides; What Did I Say About the Box, Jack?; What Can a Friend Say?

Side 2: Woman, Can You See (What this big thing is all about)?; Raise the Level of Your Conscious Mind; Dockland; The Promised Land.

Label/Format: Island – Original pink i format with matt, smooth surfaces.

Label Conditions: Both very clean, fresh and attractive with with any spindle traces tiny, very few and faint. These labels have the most intense deep pink colour and look fabulous. A fantastic record that plays as impressively as it looks.

Cat Number: ILPS 9129.

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: 142 grams. A very solid pressing.

Country of Manufacture: England.

Rarity: Scarce: an elusive Island album, this band’s album did not sell well within a fairly specialised genre and this is their most elusive debut album. Issued in September 1970, it was one of the very last new releases on the pink format before the pink rim version took over towards the end of the year. It has what I consider to be the most difficult cover within the Island catalogue too. A silver foil coated surface – very similar to Cream’s ‘Wheels of Fire’ original, but this being even more fragile. In most cases, it wears very badly. It peels, flakes and tarnishes so easily, often with vast patches of stripped areas, rarely seen much above very good and so often in very poor and hugely tatty conditions. This has hardly any flaking at all with just a little chipping the edges, even the spine text is intact, and that is rarely seen. So even though not perfect – how many ever will be, let’s be honest – this could indeep prove a significant upgrade for many. Especially with a superb record inside that plays nigh-on perfectly.

Original Year of Release: 1970

Matrix Nos: ILPS 9129 A * 1 1 1 6 / ILPS 9129 B 1 1 2

Musicians: John Mealing - organ, piano, vocals, arrangements; Terry Smith - lead guitar; Jim Richardson - bass guitar; Dennis Elliot - drums; Dick Morrissey - tenor sax, soprano sax, flute; J. W. Hodkinson - vocals, percussion; Dave Quincy - tenor sax, alto sax, flute.

Brief Info: A somewhat overlooked jazz-rock band that had considerably more success in Europe than their native UK. They made just two albums on Island before switching to UA, this being their first. It did not sell well and is somewhat elusive. Falling between bands like Soft Machine and Nucleus but easier on the ear and generally more melodic. If played progressive jazz-rock and even within this fairly specialised field, they only had limited success. Now with more interest in such bands and more collectors trying to put together an Island run, this title is becoming ever more difficult to track down. Near impossible in top conditions, the cover must rank as one of the most fragile and poor lasting ever made. It has an ultra-thin silver foil type surface that peels and falls off almost my looking at and it simply does withstand any careless handling or less than meticulous storage. Most are seen in simply terrible conditions and put into perspective, this one is still very strong. The record looks and plays superbly with nigh-on pristine sound with a quality production too. An original copy that will prove very difficult to find much better.

Cover Cosmetic Improvements: None Apparent or even possible being honest.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT: and putting into perspective, arguably. Compared to most-all I have seen, this is exceptional, and it actually can be held, viewed and enjoyed. A single format with an ultra thin foil-type coating over the top of card. Made in England by the E. J. Day Group and includes it’s original date-coded inner sleeve (seen in close-up).

Cover Front: Apart from a few mainly small surface foil chips on the edges, mostly on the bottom, this little else to fault. Any ageing or rubbing to this super-fragile surface are few and very light indeed, just the merest hint of rim impression, again near impossible to avoid unless the record has been stored outside since new – that is so unlikely as to be dismissive. Barely any creasing either, that essential as this can caused a chain-reaction of foil issues with cracking and peeling – this has simply been avoided.

Cover Back: Even more prone to wear with a large area of silver, paler foil. Again, this is largely intact with just a little crinkle at the bottom that appears to be a minor manufacture blemish – that can be no real surprise, quite how this micro-thin foil was applied at all is beyond me. This side has barely any chippping, even to the sides, but does have a little gentle ringwear from this thick record. Still impressive and with any minor creasing super-fine with no cracking.

Top Edge: Quite straight, and against the odds, this retains all the foil up to the very tips that have tiny rubs.

Bottom Edge: A few patchy chips, mostly quite small. Being the storage edge, few will even retain any foil let alone at 90 per cent.

Right Edge(s), and Type: This entrance edge is beyond fragile, but still solid, crisp with minimal thickening. Untorn and with the foil intact on both ends.

Spine and Text: Solid, quite straight with a little mildish compression. Three or foud smallish chips but thus far, I have not seen this area better. ALL text is unworn and that near miraculous given the facts. There is a rub on the top fold which has not affect the spine face or those fragile details ‘IF’ or ‘ILPS 9129’. I have shown this in close-up.

Corners: Mainly small tip rubs with very fine shape retained, a couple a little better still.

Cover Summary: A cover that had little chance from the day of manufacture, but this has survived 44 years with most of it’s foil and detail still intact. A few small edge chips is almost the very least that can realistically be expected and few will better this. As already stated, not perfect, but it could still prove a major upgrade for some and should please many collectors. Glad this viewing and grading over actually and can get it back into the safety of it’s protective sleeve.

The Inner Sleeve: EXCELLENT: the Polydor inner has two crisp window circles and clear polylining with any creasing only light. A little darkened with age but all edges unsplit with no repairs.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT to EXCELLENT(+): a super visual copy that is very clean, shiny, intense black and very solidly pressed. Any surface marks are very fine and faint, mostly fine hairline types as seen critically under bright angled light and has no penetrating scratches at all. This looks very little played and visually a super record that should please many 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 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 scarce original Island record has superb sound. Even exceeding it’s high visual grading with hardly anything to fault, this will not prove easy to find much better. 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 sound hardly even registered and overall this is an exceptional clean pressing for a fairly challenging album. Few available copies will match or outperform this 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 clearly modestly handled, also well stored or this cover would have been wrecked. Nothing spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this impressive jazz-rock record. Both cover and record will prove very difficult to find better and this set merits strong recommendation.

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 Terrarium Black terminated cable). All records I offer on Ebay are cleaned on a professional VPI-17 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 D5000 SLR Digital 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.

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 new VPI-17 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 boxes (NOT Mailers, these do not offer any real protection). The record(s) are 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 at least TWO, 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. When larger boxes are used, 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. 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. The boxes and ultra thick double-wall stiffeners 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 10,000+ items sold in over 12 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 stiffeners cannot be bent by hand, so what chance 2 inside a box? Oneadayrecords is a MAILER-FREE ZONE. I discount of course for multiple purchases with a maximum of FIVE records per box (one double can sometimes be included subject to total weight). All postage costs are below and at the top of the listing.

NOTE: First Time Bidders: Please ask me first.

PLEASE NOTE: I now exercise my right to open a dispute after the Ebay rule of FOUR days if no payment is received. I will then cancel the dispute to end the, 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 and they take the Ebay consequences (a strike or removal from the system). 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] = £8. (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 [£50 maximum]) = £12.50 (enhanced Royal Mail insurance is an optional extra £3). Add £3 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 can 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 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 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, 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’.