PRINCIPAL EDWARDS MAGIC THEATRE Asmoto Running Band RARE ORIG UK 1971 EX+ LP.

	£		55
	$		73

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Postage: UK £4.95. Europe (including Russia) £12.95 (£1 per extra record). Rest of World £19.95 (£2 per extra record). All my records are sent in boxes and the price of them has increased over time and these are my first price increases for nearly 10 years. Royal Mail prices have also gone up again. I will never compromise on quality, safe packaging – I NEVER use mailing envelopes that offer virtually no protection at all, and records WILL arrive damaged in them at some time as most record buyers will already know. Here, you get what you pay for – SAFE PACKING in BOXES using 7mm DOUBLE-WALL STIFFENERS including full side protection and bubble wrap, the records removed from the covers of course. All this very safe packing means I lose money on every box I post, but safe delivery is, and will always be paramount. You WILL see the difference when my packet arrives. Also, I will pay for 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 if possible. PLEASE NOTE: I will NOT send any item, no matter what its value without a Royal Mail or courier tracking number. ALL my items must be signed and trackable to comply with Ebay delivery rules. Please do NOT ask me to make any exceptions to this rule as no country offers 100% reliable service without it.

Posting to Russia: Yes, I do post to Russia. But delivery can take longer 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 ‘2-day’ rule for non-payment to keep things moving – cash-flow is important for any small business.

ANY ITEM or ITEMS TO BE PAID WITHIN A MAXIMUM OF 6 DAYS or they will be cancelled – NO EXCEPTIONS.

FINALLY: Late payers, non-payers and ‘0’ bidders will now be blocked or cancelled at my discretion, as will any bidder who cancels a bid. Please only bid on my items if you want them.

Artist or Band: PRINCIPAL EDWARDS MAGIC THEATRE

Album Title: The Asmoto Running Band

Producer(s): Nick Mason

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: THE ASMOTO SIDE a) McAlpine’s Dream b) McAlpine Versus the Asmoto 3) The Asmoto Running Band; d) Asmoto Celebration e) Further Asmoto Celebration.

Side 2: THE GAMBINI SIDE 1) Total Glycerol Esther 2) Freef (R) All 3) Autumn Lady Dancing Song 4) The Kettering Song 5) Weirdsong of Breaking Through at Last.

Label/Format: Dandelion – original format with matt, smooth surfaces.

Label Conditions: Both very clean, still fresh and attractive with just one or two faint spindle traces. This record appears hardly played and sounds great.

Catalogue Number: DAN 8002

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 Record: 161 grams. Way above average for a record pressed in the early 1970s

Country of Manufacture: England

Rarity: Scarce, a commercial non-starter that’s seldom seen on this very collectable label. This is even harder to find in really clean condition, the cover especially so.

Original Year of Release: 1971

Matrix Nos: DAN 8002 A1 / DAN 8002 B1

Musicians:

Belinda Bourquin – voices, keyboards, piano, group member, vocals, violin, fiddle, recorders, strings; Roots Cartwright – Spanish guitar, bass guitar, recorder, guitar, group member, electric guitar, acoustic guitar; Jeremy Ensor – bass, bass guitar, group member; David Jones – percussion; Vivienne McAuliffe – voices, vocals, group member recorder; Martin Stellman – vocals, group member; Roger Swallow – bells, group member, tabla, finger cymbals, acoustic guitar, snare drums, xylophone, African drums, drums, talking drum, timpani, tambourine, hands, conga, wood block; David A. Jones – gong, conga, hands, tambourine, bass drums, group member, conductor, finger cymbals, maracas, cymbals, African drums, bongos, wood block.

Brief Artist & Album Info: Dandelion Records was founded by John Peel through frustration. Several bands and artists he really enjoyed could not get recording contracts, and in the days before demo tapes it was unlikely many ever would. As a non-profit venture, Dandelion issued its first record in 1969 (Bridget St John’s Ask Me No Questions) and 25 albums were issued up to 1972 before it folded – it was reputed Peel lost some interest after a couple of albums had fringe chart success. Several Dandelion titles have since become rare and highly collectable including this album, the second of two they made on this famous early ‘indie’ label. It was the eleventh album in the Dandelion catalogue, their debut was the third. This album has sides 3 and 4 printed on the labels, It is considered as part two of the pair but it was never issued as a double. Principal Edwards Magic Theatre had 14 players including dancers, they were apparently astonishing live and this album captures their strange blend of psychedelic acid folk perfectly and is superbly produced by Pink Floyd’s Nick Mason, who from the beginning had a high interest in their music. Vocals are mainly female with Vivienne McAuliffe’s voice highly impressive. This, I personally regard as the best of the three albums they made and all are hard to track down on vinyl. This vintage Dandelion pressing which appears hardly played, is a beauty and plays accordingly with very clean sound. The cover is delicate and does not age well, it is prone to sticker removal damage and of the small few I have seen, hardly any have avoided such issues. To date, this is the finest one I have seen. For fans of top quality female vocals in the progressive acid-folk genre on a scarce, collectable label, this album is highly recommended.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT: arguably better. An unlaminated gatefold format with matt, smooth surfaces. Printed and made in England by Garrod & Lofthouse Ltd with ‘Patents Pending’ text, includes the plain white inner sleeve.

Cover Front: Clean, fresh and attractive with hardly any rubbing (bar the bottom left corner tip) and minimal creasing with no sticker issues or fading. Any marks of blemishes few and light and registering little. This challenging front will prove difficult to find much better.

Cover Back: Similar again, the lack of ring wear always a major plus on this one. Jus the odd small rub or chip trace on the edges here-and-there

Cover Inner Gatefold: Superb, with barely anything to fault.

Top Edges: Both straight, flat and flush with fairly patchy moderate rubbing.

Bottom Edges: Similar again with less rubbing than the top.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean and still mostly sharp with any thickening very little and light. Both edges are naturally open with no adhesive marks on either, so that is totally correct.

Spine and Text: Solid, straight with minimal compression, folded square, so the edges meet up perfectly flush and parallel. The text mostly all present with any rub traces tiny and light. A very fine natural central hairline crease present purely by opening which will always be a little more obvious on a black surface.

Corners: Light to moderate (bottom right) tip rubbing with very fine to near excellent shape retained with no knocks.

Cover Summary: A splendid all-round example of this quite unforgiving early 1970’s cover, one that will prove hard to find much better. With the main areas strong, this should please many collectors.

The Inner Sleeve: MINT(–): a plain white unlined inner that has hardly aged. The paper hardly darkened or creased with two pristine window circles and all edges unsplit with no repairs. This has the patent number: 1,125,555.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT(+): arguably better. A very fine visual copy that is very clean with equally fine shine and unusually heavily pressed for this era. A copy with minimal plays on all the evidence with any surface marks or traces very light, wispy and faint as seen critically under bright light. No penetrating stylus scratches, viewed in average room light, hardly anything even registers. 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 equipment, all listed further down.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This superb quite obscure Dandelion album plays even above it’s high visual grading with hardly anything to fault. Offering 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 this is a very clean pressing with no tracking issues* or inherent pressing noises. Few available copies will outperform this early first pressing I feel sure. Both channels are clean and sharp, I am certain this record has been played very lightly and has been generally well stored and carefully handled within a non-smoking environment. Nothing of any note spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this lovely record that does include some quiet passages. It will prove very difficult to find significantly better and can be strongly recommended.

* As played-graded on a high-end Linn LP12 Sondek turntable with Ittok Mk II arm and Ortofon Quintet Black moving coil cartridge tracking at 2 grams. Records are a ‘contact’ format, and few will avoid the odd minor sound blemish.

I am one of the most established sellers on Ebay, trading since 2001 and offering the finest 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 all elements of the items I offer for sale. You may notice I only submit records quite sparingly on Ebay as I Play-Grade every record I offer in their entirety – also on higher-end equipment – not just bits to guess a grade – visuals alone do not always tell a true story. I will try to 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 it’s good. I get just as much pleasure offering a relatively common record in near mint condition as the real rare items. All the pictures I use for your guidance are the item being offered with no digital enhancements. Room light factors can make things vary sometimes, that is hard to control, especially in winter. I hope the item below is to your liking – any questions can be emailed and I will do my best to answer you. I am enthusiastic, and have a fair degree of knowledge about many genres and I promise quality items. Please assume all records I offer have NO jumps, sticks, major 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 Quintet Black moving coil cartridge (tracks at 2 grams). Amps: Naim Supernait 2 with Project USB phono stage and Tellerium Black interconnects. Speakers: B&W 805 Nautilus (bi-wired with Tellurium Black terminated cable) with REL subwoofer. All records I offer on Ebay are cleaned on a professional Nessie 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 D7500 DSLR 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.

PLEASE NOTE: I now exercise my right to open a dispute after the Ebay rule of TWO days if no payment is received. I will then cancel the dispute to end the bid, 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 as will any suspicious bids or bid bid retractions. Small businesses need prompt payment to trade and these strict rules WILL be applied.

Payment Conditions:

I prefer PayPal from­ winning bidders. I only 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 2 days for communication and 7 days for payment to arrive – if not I will relist the item or offer to the runner-up.

My Guarantee: If any winning bidder is not satisfied with their purchase I will offer a complete refund if the item is returned in the same condition is was sent e.g. as per the listing pictures.

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, 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.