RAMASES Space Hymns Rare UK Vertigo Spiral Poster Cover

	£		76
	$		101

Hi, I am Mike, I am 46 and have been a music collector and enthusiast for over 33 years now. We all wish we could turn back the clock and buy those wonderful brand new records from the 60s and 70s, but alas, this is not possible; so I always try to offer the finest and most accurately described and graded records I can find. No vinyl/music lover really would choose to buy second-hand, but this is only way now to own these valuable, prized and ellusive items now. 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, hence the name - time rarely allows for more as I Play-Grade virtually every record I offer in their entirity, not just bits to guess a grade (on a Rega 3 deck with Ortofon cartridge) - 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 reader – 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. 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 or sticks or writing on covers or labels unless clearly stated to the contrary. Thanks for your interest and Good luck – MIKE.

Please Note: I will now offer any item to the runner-up after the mandatory Ebay 3 days if no contact is made by the winning bidder. The same applies if no payment is received within the mandatory 7 days so any bidder who has just lost out can still email me to reserve the item as priority second chance. Item wants are always welcome - email me with anything needed, you never know - I may just have a copy in stock. I by quality single items and collections also (Email me please if you have quality items for sale).

Debutant Bidders: Many sellers refuse first time buyers: I do not follow this practice (everybody has to start somewhere), but I would appreciate any first timer letting me know their intentions of their intended payment method and very prompt communication, preferably before any bid or soon after the auctions ends. This gives confidence that their intentions are honourable, and I in return guarantee extra special good feedbacks to get zero rated Ebayers off to a flying start to help them with future transactions. NOTE: I WILL NOT ACCEPT BIDS FROM UNREGISTERED USERS, I will cancel them immediately, and sorry, I cannot give valuations on people’s personal items just for their own curiosity, no item can be accurately valued blindly.

Please read all the information carefully - these adverts take an age to compile properly - so it’s well worth a few minutes of your time to read the details thoroughly. I really cannot take any responsibility if any bidder fails to read any facts that are clearly stated in the advert - Thankyou.

Artist or Band: RAMASES

Album Title: Space Hymns

Track Listing: Life Child; Hello Mister; And the Whole World; Quasar One; You’re the Only One; Earth People; Molecular Delusion; Balloon; Dying Swan Year 2000; Jesus Come Back; Journey to the Inside.

Label/Format: Vertigo (Full Spiral on side one and small spiral with outline Vertigo side two).

Label Condition: Beautiful clean examples that show only light+ spindle traces and no wear whatsoever around the centre hole. A very small, and very light stain on side two just to left of the spiral logo, but this is very light indeed, that apart the label is a stunning pure white and looks real nice. This copy looks only modestly played on all the evidence. (Please see label scans for all information needed).

Cat Number: 6360 046.

Mono or Stereo: Stereo (not issued in mono).

Country of Manufacture: England, UK

Rarity: Very scarce these days and this has never been common. Another of the real obscure Vertigo Spiral issues that would not have sold in large numbers. Finding this album at all now is difficult enough and finding one in anything like attractive condition is a real challenge.

Original Year of Release: 1971

Matrix Nos: 6360044 1Y 1 420 11 8 and 2Y 1 420 11 7. There is a small other number too which is 04/04

Brief Artist & Album Info: Apart from the four Black Sabbath albums, this is probably my favourite other Spiral album, a brilliant spacey album from a band that became better known as 10CC. This is a pretty strange album but very easy to listen too. Brilliantly titled Space Hymns, because this is what this is, progressive psych songs about aliens, space travel, the universe, first contacts, the second coming and hypothesis concerning the atom and the universe, a very original record and quite unique. A spectacular fold out poster cover too and probably one of the most difficult covers ever to find in top condition. Most owners of this rarity would have mounted this on their walls - please check out my pictures to see why - this one suffers badly, ringwear, tearing, rubbing and splits are almost the norm. This one is not perfect by any means, but so far is the best I have had to offer. It looks like is has been mounted, but carefully. There are no pin hole in this one but light traces of blue tack can just be made out. A full cover description is below. The record looks real nice and appears almost unmarked and I would guess number of plays is minimal, it comes in its spiral inner also which is a little ruffled and a little faded compared to some (probably as a result of being kept out of this cover for some time). But this is a nice package for this Spiral rarity and I regard this now as one of the tough ones to find. Vertigo spirals were a progressive specialist label, many sold few copies and many from the catalogue ended up in bargain bins and were only pressed once. I would imagine this would have been a relatively poor seller, it really does not show up that often. Musically this is wonderful and way ahead of many other bands on this label. If you have never heard Ramases you could be in for a rare treat, I would be happy to bet many Spiral collections are missing this vital album. Well its here, and its a nice one with a very respectable cover, one day I may find a perfect one, but probably not in this lifetime.

Cover Grade and Format: A difficult one to grade really, I would say between VG++ to EX. Its a multi-foldout poster format (it expands to 6 times its normal size, so around 3 x 2 ft when fully opened). Cover printed and made by Howards of Slough. VO Price Code in box on back cover. Like most Spiral covers its unlaminated, fragile and very prone to wear (to say the very least). I give a slightly indefinite grading because the ‘purple’ side is really lovely with little wear or marks at all. The spectacular space ship side has more wear, most light and of course this has the almost mandatory edgewear, again not too excessive. The hugely important factor I feel is the lack of any significant ringwear and this is very unusual. This delicate items looks nice and for me is above average.

Cover Front: Good colour and no significant creasing or ringwear. Some mild rubbing, odd chip and some surface marks but I still feel better than most around.

Cover Back: One of the very best examples I have ever seen for this back, this always seems to attract heavy ringwear and rubbing but this one has only light rub traces and a few small chips and marks. Again better than most.

Cover Gatefold Inner: Most of the other multi-faced inners are fine and showing fewer wear traces. There is a little creasing on the foot of one ‘page’ and odd marks, as stated the purple sides are real nice. The folds one this cover, like most have some light ‘fold wear’ but again not too bad here. Please study the pictures, they are totally untouched up or enhanced, but my flash will sometimes flatter a little as some marks can disappear in the brightness, they give a pretty accurate indication of what this cover is like.

Top Edge: Some rubbing and very mild fray traces.

Bottom Edge: Similar again but less so.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Similar again, this acts almost as a double spine. Record enters on the top edge.

Spine and Text: Moderate rubs but the text is largely intact and any erosion is minimal.

Corners: The main corners have moderate rubs are you might expect but still not looking bad really.

Cover Summary: Do covers come any more wear-prone than this? Well the spectacular artwork nearly always made this ‘wall worthy’ and it never helped either. I have never, ever found a EX+ or better version of this one and if they can be found they will be very rare. Minus the edgewear this would be a strong one and this aint half bad anyway. I have been told by a few collectors, some records lack a cover at all - written off by use as wallpaper.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EX+ A super looking copy with just the odd faint surface traces, nothing sounds as pops or ticks. Clean and shiny and jet black. A copy with minimal plays on all the evidence. There is a very gentle wave when turning on the deck, this has no affect on play whatsoever and no sound at all, and will not even trouble a budget deck let alone anything better. In other words its not dead flat, just a very mild up and down for the arm. Visually a very nice record that should please most collectors again.

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This rare record plays generally well with crisp clear sound and no distortion or sound degrading at all. No pops or ticks and any surface sounds are mild and pretty infrequent. There is the odd light sound on the occasional quiet passage but generally this is quite mild unless perfection is demanded. This record has a spectacular production and must rank as one of the very best Spirals in terms of sound quality. A vast dynamic range with some interesting groove patterns on the record. A strong copy I feel has been treated with respect and not abused or overplayed. Most collectors should like this one.

Mono vs Stereo, an overview: Always a matter of opinion which is better or more important. For any serious collector where there is a choice e.g. Beatles, Stones, Hendrix etc. both are essential. True Stereo albums give great imagery and presence whereas mono albums usually are more dynamic, louder and present the detail more clearly. Mono albums are far harder to find in genuinely top playing condition. Most were heavily played, particularly the truly great bands and artists, often covered in mark and scratches, many severe and labels that were a mass of spindle marks. The majority were played on vintage and unsubtle decks with heavy tonearms and thick styli (often sapphire, not diamond, that chipped more easily) that rendered heavy wear in a very short time to many a fine classic record. Wear to the delicate groove walls, particularly the innermost tracks to the labels were most vulnerable where the tracking angle became more severe and the backdrag actually stripped the delicate groove walls. This resulted in surface noise and mild/moderate distortion or worse. These old decks tracked by sheer weight and little of any refined engineering. Next time you see such a deck at a local record fayre, feel the weight of the arm, it almost makes you wonder how any records survived at all. The point of this paragraph is emphasise that when a truly clean, lightly played and great sounding 60s mono album (or stereo come to that) is offered, treasure it, because for sure they are truly getting vary rare and precious - beware - demand only play-graded records. As a general guide to rarity, mono was the far more common format from 61–65; Around 66–67 the balance was roughly equal, then from 68-69 the balance swung more to stereo, making monos from these dates far scarcer, even rare - this guide is important and effects values greatly.

Album Played For Grading: Yes.

Final Summary: Yes Ramases were: Eric Stewart (Lead guitar and moog); Lol Creme (Lead guitar and moog); Kevin Godley (Drums and flute); Graham Gouldman (Guitar and bass) and Martin Raphael (Sitar) - Ramases and his wife Sel sing all songs. Rarely, if ever recognisable as the popular chart toppers they later became, this fine set of 11 songs is more X-Files than ‘I’m Mandy, Fly Me’ and most progressive rock fans will love this rare set. It will not appear that often so it may just your chance to fill that missing Spiral gap. Good Luck again – Mike.

Payment Details please read carefully:

UK First Class: = £2.50; Recorded Delivery (Recommended) = £4.00 Special Delivery (Next day, insured up to £250), the best service available = £6.00

Europe Air Mail: = £4 Insured: £8.00

Overseas, non-Europe e.g. USA, Japan, Australia etc. Airmail:= £7; Insured with recorded delivery (where available) = £11.00

Singles: (Packed to the high standards of the LPs)

UK First class: = £2.00 Insured: £4

Europe Air Mail = £3.00 Insured: £5.50

Overseas, non-Europe (as above) Airmail £3.50 Insured: £6.00

Doubles add extra £1, triples add extra £2. Box sets add extra £3 (£4 overseas and Europe)

Any item that sells for over £85 will be sent Special Delivery in the UK at no extra cost. Items over £125 get the same service Overseas. This is gives peace of mind for the winning bidder and myself for valuable items. Reduced postage of course for multiple items.

The winner bidder chooses his/her posting method and if uninsured is chosen, its their decision and they have to stick with it, I can accept no responsibility if an item is lost in the post. I can only try to claim at standard levels if no enhancement is chosen (£28). PLEASE NOTE: I will NOT use surface mail, its too slow, with a higher risk of loss and damage.

Mailing Details: Please note I do not profit on postage (my packing standards are high and the package weighs a little more. All records are sent in plastic covers with the record taken out of the sleeve and sent in professional mailers with FOUR professional stiffners for extra protection (if space allows), I do NOT use old cardboard boxes or cereal packets for protection. More expensive items are also inserted into a de-luxe heavy duty padded bag AS WELL to give that extra protection. I truly want ALL my items to arrive to their destination in the same condition they leave me. I will also include in most cases a brand new lined inner, but will include the original inner if available and in a condition to be given.

I accept cash for payments worldwide in UK Pounds Sterling, Euros or US Dollars - but this at the senders own risk. Please send registered and insured if this method is chosen. I cannot accept responsibility if any cash payments do not turn up. This system is very reliable and rarely goes astray. The same goes for any shipped uninsured item, I can only try to claim for any undelivered or damaged article at basic insurance levels if no enhanced insurance is requested and paid for (unless the value threshold is high enough for me insure as standard, see above)

Overseas bidders please note conversion rates for Pounds to Dollars and Pounds to Euros will be charged at 1.7 to cover PayPal or cash conversion costs.

PLEASE NOTE: Any PayPal user can now pay me with UK Sterling if they wish with no need to convert to US dollars (although they still can if they wish to). Any instant PayPal transaction from anywhere in the world will mean the item will be sent immediately - it makes deals fast and very efficient.

Potential Bidders: Please do not bid if you have negative feedback unless checking first, I will cancel any bids I feel are timewasters. I now only accept PayPal, International money orders or cash from overseas bidders (UK Sterling, US dollars or Euros). Cash, cheques, postal orders and PayPal are fine from the UK. I allow maximum 3 days for communication and 7 days for payment to arrive - if this does not happen I will relist the item and may send negative feedback unless an explanation is given. Fast deals get great feedback from me. Any questions - please ask. Please keep watch on my Ebays, I have other interesting items coming very soon. Thanks for looking.

My Guarantee: As listening to every single record I offer all the way through is difficult timewise, can I make it clear if any winning bidder is not satisfied with their purchase I will offer a complete refund minus the Posting and All Ebay costs as long as the item detail has been read and understood. I will not refund if any defect detail is clearly stated on the advert and missed by the buyer. I still endeavour to play all the items in their entirity for grading if at all possible and is usually the case.