RAMASES - GLASS TOP COFFIN VERTIGO 1st UK Press EX PROG Die-Cut sleeve

	£		43
	$		56

RAMASES -

"GLASS TOP COFFIN"

                                                   VERTIGO
                                                    6360 115
                                            First Press UK 1975

The follow-up to the fantastic first album.This hardly sold at all and is now extremely scarce especially in this great condition!!!

Ramases was the creation and alter-ego of Barrington Frost (not Martin Raphael as has been erroneously reported), born in Sheffield, UK Formerly an army PT instructor, whilst involved in a central heating business in Scotland, was inspired to assume the mantle of the Egyptian Pharaoh of whom he believed himself a reincarnation, and take up a musical career. Early singles (recorded with his wife, Dorothy Frost aka Selket) failed to make any impact, Space Hymns was recorded at Strawberry Studios in Stockportwith soon-to-be members of 10cc. It has the most expansive artwork Roger Dean was ever allowed to produce with a 6 page fold out on printing card of a Cathredral Steeple lifting off into the cosmos. On the other side in infra red style colour Ramases and Sel stride forward holding aloft wheat in a Demeter like pose from the Eleusinian Mysteries. When illuminated from behind the coverart comes together as a divinised humanity mystically steps out and over an outmoded religious establishment into cosmic/life affirming destiny in this tour de force of album design. The lyrics deliver the same confident message.

Glass Top Coffin was recorded in London, following Ramases and Selket relocating to Felixstowe, and they never produced another album. Ramases died in 1978 but his death was not widely reported in musical circles until the early 1990s. It is still really hard to find any kind of info on this elusive fantastical superprog team!!!

EVERYBODY (well, all the hip dudes) knew who is was because of ‘Space Hymns’ and the fact that he really stood out in a crowd, but few got close. He was a very intelligent and older man, shit, I was in my early 20?s and he must have been the same age that I am now, and he didn’t ever suffer fools gladly and cut quite a presence. He was a big fit man, as before he was into the central heating game, he was a PT instructor in the Army, and therefore still very fit!!!

They moved into a new town house (with Ram’s mother!!), I think it was in Stanley Road in Felixstowe, very shortly after meeting them. Louise and I lived 500m away in Montague Road, so we were kinda neighbours for a bit, and started to really get to know each other. Ram, the randy old sod, was VERY interested in my missus, as she was a kinda beefier version of Sel and quite a lot younger, but he ALWAYS behaved with impeccable manners and our relationship went from strength to strength. We were about a lot before ‘Glass Top Coffin’ was recorded, we used to listen to him play the tunes on his guitar that went on the album and say whether we liked them or not… my fave is still ‘Saler Man’.

He was really upset by the cover of the album. I saw the first proofs and they weren’t at all what he envisaged. The cut-out was meant to show a man falling backwards into space into the Horsehead nebula, which when you open up the album revealed that bird. Well, he didn’t like what they had done, but the artwork was completed and the record company said, that’s that!! So Ram persuaded the record company to let him scratch (literally) the litho plates before the cover went to press. He sanded down that little circle that is lighter in the man’s head that forms a part of that bird’s shoulder, and it did look marginally better. His vision was that the man would look like he was in a space suit with helmet on, etc, etc… (Paul Hollyer).

Vinyl: EX. A splendid vinyl and not played much at all. There are only a couple very light hairlines. I have listened to the entire LP and totally enjoyed it. The stereo seperation is beautiful and the depth of this recording is truly amazing!! There are NO  clicks, jumps or ticks. I have had this once before and that one was great as well, but this one beats it by some considerable distance. This will be a fantastic upgrade for the serious collector.  The winner will be delighted.

Gatefold sleeve: EX+. Another fantastical Vertigo sleeve with a die-cut. The design is absolutely splendid and a joy to behold and observe!! A lovely sleeve which has been very well cared for. Fully intact without any creases or marks. It has only very minimal storage wear on the bottom edge. The spine is fully legible and the colours of the sleeve are rich. Light "micro" corner bumps. The die-cut is perfect, I have never seen that before. This is as good as it gets and an absolute upgrade!! There is NO writing and NO smudging.

    Important : International postage will be registered and insured if over GBP 45.00.  Fees in England have gone up significantly (again) last April. To Russia  and Italy I will have to insist on registered postage, whichever the price. Please wait for my invoice before paying. Postage will be according to Royal Mail rates. Postage is NOT a money spinning exercise for me and I usually end up having to pay more than I charged.

Though there are rarely ever any problems with my items, I always try my very best to describe everything exactly!  PLEASE REMEMBER to contact me FIRST,  if you have any problems at all, before you leave feedback and star ratings, so I get a chance to turn any negative experience into a positive one!  I can always happily sort anything out for you, if you let me know you have a problem!  This way no one has to leave Negative/Neutral feedback - and we both walk away happy! Similarly with the amount of stars, anything less than a full 5 * rating is effectively detrimental to a seller's rating as lower ratings will incur higher Final Value Fees  and lower priority in the bidlists eventually making it unattractive to list items on Ebay at all. I know of at least one major previous Ebay seller who has decided not to list via Ebay again. Please do NOT bid if you cannot give me at least 1 chance to sort everything out to your FULL satisfaction in the unlikely event of a problem.  Thanks again!!