The Smiths 3 RARE Original 1980s German Pressing Vinyl Album LPs Morrissey

	£		185
	$		245

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The Smiths - 3 German Original 1980s Vinyl LPs - 1984 - 1988

Catalogue nos. RTD 25, RTD 45 and RTD 90 - Rough Trade Deutschland

This auction is for three German releases of Smiths vinyl albums from the 1980s which are pressed on the 'Rough Trade Deutschland' label and are now seen less and less often for sale; these are the debut LP, 'The World Won't Listen' and 'Rank'. There are various subtle differences in the sleeves and labels which are unique to these pressings. The pressing of 'The Smiths' debut LP from 1984 has deep blue labels, unlike other pressings, and the catalogue number 'RTD 25' as well as the 'GEMA' and 'LC5661' credits. The original inner sleeve is present, and is printed in a different tint to the other pressings with the 'RTD 25' catalogue number printed upon it; it also opens from the top to access the record, rather than from the side. The outer sleeve has the band name printed in a light 'blue/green' tint on the front, and has the track names on the reverse printed in the same colour. In addition, the address for Rough Trade Deutschland is printed at the bottom on the rear of the sleeve. The labels for 'The World Won't Listen' have the German catalogue number 'RTD 45' printed on them, as well as the 'GEMA' credit. The 'All Rights Reserved' text at the base of the label is printed in white in German rather than English. The original inner sleeve is present, and similar to other pressings but printed on altogether thinner paper. The outer sleeve has the 'RTD 45' catalogue number on the reverse, with no barcode, and has additional 'Rough Trade Deutschland' address credits in black at the bottom. 'Rank' has a different shade of light yellow labels, unlike the more familiar orange colour, and the 'RTD 90' catalogue number with the 'GEMA' credit. The silver inner sleeve is similar to other pressings, but has had the 'ROUGH 126' catalogue number removed from the top right (and it is even possible to see faintly where this has been removed from the original proof); additionally the mouth of the sleeve is straight-edged rather than having the 'scoop' cut-away on other pressings. The gatefold outer sleeve for 'Rank' has the dual 'RTD90' and 'MD 7900' catalogue numbers printed in the top right on the reverse for the Dutch and German markets respectively. Similarly the distribution and licensing details near the bottom on the reverse list both the Dutch 'Megadisc' and German 'Rough Trade Gmbh' credits, so it is clear that the same outer sleeve would have been used for both pressings. In addition, the original brown and white printed merchandising card, which would have been put inside early copies of the LP, is still present and intact (see photos). It is interesting to see that original t-shirts, posters and badges were available with 'Rank', 'Strangeways Here We Come' and 'Meat Is Murder' designs; and even the 'London' flexidisc which was given away with the 'Catalogue' magazine around the same time. A 'Rank' t-shirt was available for 21 DM at the time, and the 'London' flexidisc 7" a mere 5 DM. The records themselves have the matrix numbers hand-etched into the run-out groove in each case, namely 'RTD 25 A/B', 'RTD 45 A/B' and 'RTD 90 A/B', which are first pressings. Original pressings of these German vinyl LPs rarely appear for sale, presenting a rare opportunity to own three collectable examples at once.

The vinyl and labels for the 'debut' LP are in excellent condition, with some superficial surface marks on the glossy vinyl in a few places; the record has been played but well looked after. The inner sleeve has no seam-splitting or creases, but has a very small name written neatly in pen in the top left corner and is also in excellent condition. The outer sleeve has no significant creases, but has some mild to moderate 'corner wear' in places and there is also one instance of edge wear in one place at the bottom. Overall, the outer sleeve looks very presentable and collectable and is somewhere between excellent and strong excellent condition. The vinyl and labels for 'The World Won't Listen' are in excellent condition, but with quite a number of superficial surface marks on the vinyl. The inner sleeve has some mild seam-splitting in the bottom and one of the side edges, but otherwise has no creases, marks or damage. The outer sleeve has just one minor crease towards the top left corner and some mild to moderate 'corner wear' in places; it is overall in strong excellent condition and looks highly presentable. The 'Rank' LP is in strong excellent condition, and is close to near mint with just some very minor superficial surface marks in places on the highly-glossy vinyl which has clearly been played very little. The black and silver inner sleeve has no seam-splits or creases and is in strong excellent condition. The very nice gatefold outer sleeve is also in strong excellent condition and close to near mint, with no creases or signs of seam-splitting in the edges. All of the edges are sharp and unworn, and there is barely even any 'corner wear' to speak of; an extremely nice example of this rare German pressing. The original promotional merchanise card is in strong excellent condition also, with no marks or damage anywhere. Please see the accompanying photos for more detail; note that the 'Ebay ID' lettering is just on the pictures and not on the items themselves.

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