NUCLEUS 1969 ORIGINAL MAINSTREAM HEAVY PSYCH LP LISTEN

$

94

WHAT WE HAVE HERE IS…

NUCLEUS "Nucleus"

Original 1969 LP on the MAINSTREAM label, STEREO S/6120

COVER:  VG+, stain on front, 2 old (very old) price stickers

VINYL:  Plays VG++ with light crackle

I’m not gonna say Nucleus’ self-titled 1969 album is a bad album.  It’s just that for years and years, I just always assumed it was.  Maybe that’s because back when I had a paper route and a girlfriend with a 9 pm curfew, it was one of the few Mainstream label albums I could actually afford, along with the Last Nikle and the British Casuals.  It’s actually not a bad record by any means – it’s no Tangerine Zoo or Bohemian Vendetta, but it also doesn’t suck nearly as hard as December’s Children or Katmandu either.  It helps to know that Nucleus used to be known as the Lords of London, who released three or four excellent pop psych singles around 1967 and 1968.  By the time they morphed into Nucleus, they had changed their sound to a more jam-oriented heavy psychedelic proto-progressive sound.  There are only six songs on this record, so right off the bat you know you’re not getting a garage psych Jelly Bean Bandits kinda thing.  Still, it’s better than the similar-sounding Henry Tree album, and the band wrote all six songs, a bit of a rarity for an album back then.  Because of that, hook-wise nothing here’s gonna knock your socks off the way a big name songwriter could, and a meandering song at 6 minutes is still twice as much a waste of time as a meandering song at 3.  But when they get it right, as they do on the spooky fuzz-infested misspelled mindblower “Judgement Day,” they’ll make you glad you saved up your paper route money and gave ‘em a listen.  The jazzy “Lost And Found” is a great one for headphone fans, as the swirling Hammond organ is in constant battle with a wailing fuzz that pans from speaker to speaker, while a funky backbeat holds it all together.  Keith Emerson fronting Steppenwolf around the time of Monster might’ve sounded like this. 

Of course, over the time it’s taken for me to quit my paper route, go to college, graduate, enter the working world and finally get a real job as Sara Jean Underwood’s personal trainer, the psychedelic collectors world has finally caught on to Nucleus, and now it commands prices closer, if not equal to, those of the other Mainstream biggies.  Because yeah, it is certainly worth more than Henry Tree and Lacewing and December’s Children, musically speaking at least.  If you’re still eking by on a paper route, though, you might wanna check out the Last Nikle record.

HEAR IT!

UPDATE:  SORRY, I NO LONGER SHIP TO ITALY DUE TO A CORRUPT POSTAL SYSTEM (THERE, NOT HERE).

The less exciting stuff

Media mail shipping with delivery confirmation starts at $4.00 in the US, with each additional record only $1 additional shipping.  ALL DOMESTIC ORDERS REQUIRE DELIVERY CONFIRMATION, WHICH IS AN EXTRA 75 CENTS.  Air mail shipping to Canada starts at $10 US, each additional record $2 shipping.  Air mail shipping everywhere else in the world starts at $16 US, with each additional record only $3 shipping.  ALL FOREIGN ORDERS REQUIRE CERTIFICATE OF SHIPMENT, WHICH IS AN EXTRA $1.10.  I accept payments through Paypal. 

I try to grade as best as I can, and I list as many blemishes/imperfections I can find (writing, ringwear, scuff marks, etc.) – Also, please note that I DO listen to these albums – I may not listen to every track, but my grades are based on LISTENING, not just looking at it, since chances are you’ll be listening to the record you buy, not just looking at it.  Most of the albums I sell are the ones I’ve enjoyed for years – and I treat my records with kid gloves.  But sounds speak louder than words, so check out the sound clips below – they’re from the actual record you’re bidding on. 

SHIPPING AND PACKAGING

Listen, I buy a bunch of records too (when I’m not getting outbid at the last second, which is more often than not) – and I know what it’s like to get a rare, one-of-a-kind album packaged dangerously in a flimsy bubblewrap package.  I hate that too.  So rest assured, I ALWAYS package albums with stiff cardboard reinforcements, same for 45s.  And yes, the records are removed from the sleeves (for albums).  I ship out once a week, every Friday, because I have a regular day job.  But I’d be willing to give that up if you’d all be so kind as to bid my items up to stupidly high amounts. 

And finally, I include delivery confirmation on all shipments inside the US.  This is my proof of shipment, and also helps us to track your package if it doesn’t arrive when it should.  I will email you within 2 days of shipment and give you the confirmation number at that time.  Insurance is always optional, but for larger orders, it’s highly recommended.   I DO NOW REQUIRE THAT ALL FOREIGN BUYERS PAY AN ADDITIONAL $1.10 FOR PROOF OF SHIPMENT.  IT'S A NOMINAL FEE AND THE CHEAPEST WAY FOR ME TO PROVE THAT I ACTUALLY SHIPPED YOUR PACKAGE AND DIDN'T JUST POCKET YOUR MONEY AND SKIP TOWN.  For more security and international tracking, you may request GLOBAL PRIORITY MAIL - but bear in mind the cost of this service is upwards of $30.  For expensive items, however, it may be well worth it.  Unfortunately, there isn’t a cost-effective way of tracking parcels to foreign countries yet, and shipping times vary depending on your country’s postal system.   Italy in particular seems to be really bad at delivering packages quickly, or delivering packages at all, now that you mention it.  I will always email you when your package ships, but once it’s on its way, please don’t ask me when it will arrive because I don’t know.  If the world’s postal systems can ever agree on a universal tracking system that’s affordable, I’ll be the first to use it.

NOW IT’S YOUR TURN…

I will always leave positive feedback for successful transactions, and would appreciate the same in return.  All I ask of you is the following – please pay for your items within 14 days of the close of auction.  Compared to other sellers, that’s a generous amount of time, so if you don’t pay within 2 weeks, then I have to assume something’s wrong.  You’ll get an Ebay payment reminder at that point, and possibly a decapitated horse head in your bed.  If, after 30 days, you still haven’t forked up the cash, I’ll relist the item and yell at you if I ever see you in town.