TITUS GROAN – RARE ORIG UK 1970 ORANGE DAWN EX++ LP, GREAT COVER, SUPERB SOUND.

	£		369
	$		488

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, 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.

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.

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: TITUS GROAN

Album Title: Titus Groan

Producer(s): Barry Murray

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: It Wasn’t For You; Hall of Bright Carvings: Theme, In The Dusty High-Vaulted Hall, The Burning, Theme.

Side 2: I Can’t Change; It’s All Up With Us; Fuschia.

Label/Format: Dawn – original orange format with matt quite smooth surfaces.

Label Conditions: Both very clean, fresh and attractive with a few spindle marks on side one, only a tiny few fine ones on two, there is no wear around the hole area. This record in superb condition, and equally well pressed. As many collector will know, Dawn Records often have pressing issues, but this is NOT one of them, this copy plays with fantastic sound.

Catalogue Number: DNLS 3012

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 this Record: 144 grams.

Country of Manufacture: England

Rarity: Very scarce, even more so this outstanding condition. The album selling in relatively meagre numbers, and as stated already, pressing quality is always a concern for this small subsidiary label, part of Pye. But this one has no pressing faults or inherent pressing noises. Simply: it plays superbly and was a thrill to play-grade. But those are not the only difficult issues with this brilliant prog album. The cover, a non-laminate dark brown format, is rarely seen without heavy rubbing, ring wear and creasing. Most that surface are tatty, badly aged and pure ugly. This one has been mostly cover-protected and only shows patchy rubbing on the storage edges. The front, back, inside and spine are superb, exactly as-seen in my pictures. Indeed, every element of this copy could prove a major upgrade for fans and serious collectors. By a considerable distance, the best one I have seen or heard to date. Such surviving examples are rare.

Original Year of Release: 1970

Matrix Nos: DNLS 3012 A-3 *T / DNLS 3012 B-3 *T

Mothers / Stampers: E 1 / G 1

Musicians: Stuart Cowell – Guitar, Organ, Piano; John Lee – bass guitar; Tony Priestland – Saxophone, Flute, Oboe; Jim Toomey – Drums, Percussion.

Brief Info: A brilliant one-off heavy prog-rock classic that sold in very small numbers and quickly deleted. It was not repressed for years and went decades out-of-print. Titus Groan were a four piece band, named after Mervyn Peake’s gothic fantasy novel. Their sound includes superb reed by Priestland and combines progressive rock blended with jazzy influences. Issued on the very collectable prog off-shoot label Dawn, this is seldom seen or offered, and rarely in this fantastic all-round condition. A very rare opportunity – do not this one.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT(+): and in context arguably better with the all main areas superb. An unlaminated gatefold format with matt, smooth surfaces. Printed and made in England, includes the original heavy-duty polylined inner sleeve.

Cover Front: Wow! – this really is one to hold and admire. Very prone to all forms of wear and rarely seen better than Very Good (and that often optimistic). This has hardly any rubbing to very unforgiving dark surface with mere traces on the very bottom edge fold, even this is minimal. Large areas of dark colour rarely survive looking like this. Hardly any hint of creasing and minimal handling traces to the very revealing surface. The superb orange graphic is little short of pristine as seen in close-up.

Cover Back: The back is even more vulnerable with a thick heavy record pressing against it since 1970 – but against all odds, this has no ring wear and barely even a trace of rim impression. Slightly more rubbing on the bottom edge fold, but little more than that. No creasing or fading, again clean and fresh. How many will ever be offered without ring wear? – I doubt if many will still exist as such.

Cover Inner Gatefold: Absolutely superb again, this has barely anything to fault as the close-ups will emphasise.

Top Edges: Both straight, flush and flat, minimal light very patchy rubbing only, in context, hardly any.

Bottom Edges: Light to moderate, less patchy rubbing. Clearly stored on these edges, so the dark ink has scant change of avoiding some rubbing over the course of 47+ years.

Right Edge(s), and Type: The front edge is closed with a real folded edge, that is barely rubbed at all. Just the inside card end shows tiny burr traces. The back entrance edges are clean, mostly sharp with very little wear. Any thickening or burring minimal and light as seen viewed end-on. All are guaranteed untrimmed, indeed the outer back edge is not flush with the inside in manufacture to emphasise and prove the point.

Spine and Text: Amazingly, the spine is little short of as-made with barely any surface rubbing. Even the folds hinges have no wear or scuffing either – that will rarely be seen on any unprotected darker gatefold cover, let along this one. It remains very solid, straight with no compression, also folded square, so the edges meet up very closely together and parallel. All text is perfect and unworn with no fading or creasing. Any doubters, check out my spine picture.

Corners: Light (spine ends) to moderate (others) rubbing which few can hope to avoid totally. Very fine to excellent shape retained (the spine ones better still) with no knocks.

Cover Summary: An exceptional example of a rare, very wear-prone cover that simply draws attention as soon as its seen. Okay, some bottom edge rubbing, but that given the standard of the more interesting parts of this classic prog sleeve, it almost pales into insignificance (as far as I am concerned). A superb example of this very fragile and ruthless unforgiving early 1970’s cover, one that will prove immensely difficult to find better. This beautiful item should please many, if not most collectors. This has huge upgrade potential and a rare opportunity.

The Inner Sleeve: NEAR EXCELLENT: only marked down for the usual ageing of the seam adhesive around the sides and fairly light consistent paper darkening. It retains its very clear and fresh polylining as seen through two pristine window circles. Some natural crinkle but no hard creasing as such, all edges unsplit with no repairs. This is UK patented with ‘Foreign Patents Pending’ text.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT(++): arguably better. A fantastic visual copy that is very clean with equally fine shine and heavily pressed. A copy with minimal plays on all the evidence with any surface traces few, very light and faint as seen critically under bright light. No penetrating stylus scratches, viewed in average room light, barely anything even registers. Visually a beautiful, cleanly pressed Dawn record that should please 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 equipment, all listed further down.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This major prog-rock rarity 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, barely anything heard and this is an exceptional clean pressing with no tracking issues*. No inherent pressing rasps, noises or sound degrading at all, as stated further up, many collectors will know Dawn pressing quality could be a lottery. Well this one hits the jackpot, it was a pure joy to play-grade. Few available (or any) copies will outperform this significantly I feel sure. Few pressed, fewer even sold and quickly deleted on a relatively short-lived label (especially on the first orange format). Both channels are clean and sharp, I am certain this record has been played very lightly and has been generally well stored (storage edges accepted) and carefully handled, almost certainly in a non-smoking environment. Nothing spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this wonderful record. 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 2.2 grams. Records are a ‘contact’ format, and few will avoid the odd minor sound blemish.

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 the item being offered with no digital enhancements. 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. 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 Black moving coil cartridge (tracks at 2.2 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 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 17­ 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. 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’.