THEM - The Angry Young Them - RARE UK 1965 UNBOXED EX+ MONO LP. SUPERB SOUND.

	£		220
	$		292

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 arrive damaged in them at some time. Here, you get what you pay for – SAFE PACKING in BOXES using 7mm DOUBLE-WALL STIFFENERS. Full details 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 ‘2-day’ rule for non-payment to keep things moving – cash-flow is important for 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, non-payers and ‘0’ bidders will now be blocked or cancelled 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: THEM

Album Title: The Angry Young Them.

Producer(s): Tommy Scott, Bert Berns, Dick Rowe.

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Mystic Eyes; If You and I Could Be As Two; Little Girl; Just a Little Bit; I Gave My Love a Diamond; Gloria; You Just Can’t Win.

Side 2: Go On Home Baby; Don’t Look Back; I Like It Like That; I’m Gonna Dress in Black; Bright Lights, Big City; My Little Baby; (Get Your Kicks On) Route 66.

Label/Format: Decca – unboxed mono format with matt, smooth surfaces.

Label Conditions: Both very clean, fresh and attractive with any spindle traces minuscule with no wear around the hole area. Possible ultra fine ‘crease’ lines possible on side one, the super fine indeed and can just be felt by the fingertip. Almost nit-picking fine and minor, finding mono labels this little use or abused on such albums will prove very difficult indeed.. Both are age-defying and gorgeous.

Cat Number: LK 4700.

Mode / Speed: Mono / 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: 140 grams. A typical top-quality Decca record and pressing.

Country of Manufacture: England.

Rarity: Rare: although most know the name Van Morrison these days, few did back in 1965, and this record sold poorly.

Original Year of Release: 1965

Matrix Nos: ARL-6819-3A / ARL-6820-4A

Mothers / Stampers: 1 BU / 31 B1 (SMA)

Musicians: Van Morrison – vocals, harmonica, tenor sax; Peter Bardens – keyboards & organ; Billy Harrison - guitar; Alan Henderson – bass; John McAuley - drums, piano, harmonica.

Brief Info: Formed in Northern Ireland in 1964, and fronted by the charismatic and powerful voice of Van Morrison. They made just two albums and are considered one of the most influential mid-60s bands of the British Beat invasion. Sounding quite similar to The Rolling Stones, but unlike their Decca counterparts, failed to get any major albums sales. This after two superb hit singles in the UK with ‘Baby, Please Don’t Go’ and ‘Here Comes the Night’. Included on this legendary album are the American hit ‘Mystic Eyes’ and the Morrison masterpiece ‘Gloria’, a song covered many times, none better than by Patti Smith on her sublime ‘Horses’ album. Morrison left the band in 1966 and they folded soon after in this form. Both albums are scarce and elusive, finding them in hardly played condition even more so. This one has a super cover – note a very young Peter Bardens just to the right of Morrison – later to play many years in prog-rock band Camel. The vintage mono record fantastic and offering little short of pristine sound – this too play-graded on very sensitive stere equipment listed in full nearer the bottom of this piece. So another rare opportunity for collectors, this album is simply magnificent. Why is failed to sell here is a mystery, although it faired a little better in the United States, that version with a different track listing.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT(+): and arguably looks even better. Only marked down a fraction for a very small few mild laminate creases. A single format, made with typically very thin card. The front being laminated with Clarifoil, this covers all the edge folds and ends on the back with a wider strip than average on the spine. The main back panel being matt and unprotected. Printed and made in England by James Upton Ltd, includes the Polylined Decca inner sleeve, this one dat-coded 046 (April 1966).

Lamination & Front: The Clarifoil laminate retains a deep and impressive shine with genuine freshness and clarity. With card as thin as this, some rim impression is inevitable, but this is quite light as is any dulling seen on this area, mostly seen under angled light. A couple of light surface creases and a few edge hairline types mainly on the spine. Apart from the deeply impressive shine, there is no laminate lifting, that being a trait of Clarifoil and few of these vintage Decca covers seem to avoid it totally. This front has hardly aged at all, and the early band picture looks fantastic with little to detract from its beauty. Two of the better-known members in Van Morrison and Peter Bardens (later of Camel), look and were so young.

Cover Back: The back is in superb age-defying condition, still very white and fresh with minimal traces of grubbiness, and barely any hint of yellowing or darkening. Again a little rim impression, but only very light. All evidence strongly suggests the record has hardly been removed from the cover for decades, so mild rim impression is almost the least to be expected. The darker strip seen on the spine edge is the laminate end, this unusually has no end grime-line, but with a few fine creases. Less usual to see these as wide as this also. An very impressive clean back that gives few clues to age, it complements the lovely looking front perfectly.

Top Edge: Smooth, unworn with no scuffs or chips, minimal hint of bowing either, another trait of these early Decca covers.

Bottom Edge: Largely the same again.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean, mostly very sharp with minimal traces of wear, thickening or burring. Record enters on this edge that is guaranteed untrimmed or enhanced.

Spine and Text: Solid, but thin, straight with minimal compression. All text is perfect and unworn under the solid and unpeeled laminate that just has the odd one or two super-fine hairline laminate ‘cracks’.

Corners: A small rub on the top front right, little else, any wear gentle and light. Very fine shape or better retained.

Cover Summary: A very strong all-round example of this very fragile 1960’s cover, one that could prove very difficult to find much better. Most will know the poor and worn-out conditions these thin card Decca covers are most-often seen in these days. Rarely are they seen this shiny and with such clean backs, this is a beautiful item. Being scarce and elusive, especially in comparison to similar era and label types like The Rolling Stones et al., this will seldom show up better. It should please many, if not most collectors.

The Inner Sleeve: NEAR EXCELLENT: a little darkened with age and fairly mild seam adhesive browning. One corner crease, often done deliberately to reduced the risk of the record sliding out. A small pen mark near the top opening but two neat window circles and the polylining still quite clear. All edges unsplit with no repairs. British patented with ‘Foreign Patents Pending’ text. Date-coded 046 (April 1966).

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT(+): and appearing very little played. This grading is beyond conservative, an extra (+) is practically justified. A very fine visual copy that is very clean with fine shine and very solidly pressed on top-quality, robust Decca vinyl – still for me, the finest ever manufacturer of vinyl in the UK. A copy with minimal plays on all the evidence with any surface trace marks few, very light and faint as seen critically under bright angled light. Any mild inner bag dulling slight, and I am sure this has not seen light-of-day since my purchase for decades. There are NO penetrating stylus marks and this vintage beat classic will rarely show up looking better. As I often state on such records: most will know the shocking conditions most of these and similar beat-era albums show up in. Trashed worn-out scratched vinyl battered by Dansettes and their arms and pick-ups tracking at unthinkable (in modern terms) weights. This has probably never been on such a machine and suffered no such usage (or abuse). Visually a super record that should please many, if not most 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 minuscule sound present on any record.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This magnificent album and copy plays even above it’s high visual grading with barely anything to fault, this also being play-graded on a very revealing stereo system that it was never really designed for. It offers strong, totally distortion-free sound, all frequencies are sharp and clear - sound quality is very high with a wide dynamic range and detailed sound. The production, a bit like the early Stones albums, quite raw, but just so ‘right’ for the era. Morrisons quite full-on vocals can be ruined by over-playing or a blunted stylus, but here Them sound just the way the producers wanted him to – with no wear to singing or backing. Any surface sounds barely registered and no pops or clicks noted, this a typical quality Decca record, exceptionally clean with no tracking issues*. Few copies will match, let alone outperform this early unboxed pressing I feel sure. Both channels are clean and sharp with no single channel mono noise when being played on a two channel system, I am certain this record has been played very lightly and has been generally well stored and carefully handled, almost certainly in a non-smoking environment. Nothing spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this wonderful record – Them albums are very scarce, and even rare in this condition. 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 Blue moving coil cartridge tracking at 2.2 grams.

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 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 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 it’s 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. Room light factors can make things vary sometimes, that is hard to control, especially in winter. 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 Quintet Blue moving coil cartridge (tracks at 2.2 grams). Amps: Naim Supernait 2 with Project USB phono stage and Tellerium Black interconnects. Speakers: B&W 704 Floorstanding 3-way Monitors (bi-wired with Tellurium 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, better quality packaging costs, I offer probably the best-value and safest shipping possible for ultimate confidence. The boxes and ultra thick double-wall stiffeners 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 minuscule in over 14 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. Oneadayrecords is a MAILER-FREE ZONE – they offer next-to-no-protection, and should be banned, no ‘professional’ should consider using them in my opinion. 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 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 withdrawals. 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] = £7.50. (this includes insurance of £500). Add £1 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 £2 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’.