WINGS Venus and Mars RARER ORIG UK 1975 NEAR MINT LP – IMMACULATE & COMPLETE.

	£		67
	$		89

ONEADAYRECORDS – Serving-up a Christmas & New Year Feast of Entertainment

I would like to wish all my customers, regulars and newcomers, a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR

Over the Holiday Period, I am offering some interesting Christmas ‘Crackers’ – the theme this year being ‘Rock Classics’ – ENJOY!

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. PLEASE NOTE: I will NOT send any item, no matter what its value without a Royal Mail or courier tracking number. ALL my items must be signed and traceable to comply with Ebay delivery rules. Please do NOT ask me to make any exceptions to this rule as no country offers 100% reliable service without it.

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: WINGS

Album Title: Venus and Mars

Producer(s): Paul McCartney

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Venus and Mars; Rock Show; Love in Song; You Gave Me the Answer; Magneto and Titanium Man; Letting Go.

Side 2: Venus and Mars (Reprise); Spirits of Ancient Egypt; Medicine Jar; Call Me Back Again; Listen to What the Man Said; Treat Her Gently – Lonely Old People; Crossroads Theme.

Label/Format: Capitol with matt, quite smooth surfaces.

Label Conditions: Both immaculate, very clean, fresh and attractive with no spindle marks at all. Another from a collection purchased from new by one owner and appearing hardly played.

Catalogue Number: PCTC 254

Mode / Speed: Stereo / 33.3 rpm.

Warps: Light arm movement noted on rotation, it should cause no issues to any turntable worthy of a name. On my LP12, it had no issues or sound.

Weight of this Record: 134 grams.

Country of Manufacture: England

Rarity: Moderate, but finding complete examples in this condition is very difficult.

Original Year of Release: 1975

Matrix Nos: YEX 945-1U / YEX 946-2U

Mothers / Stampers: 4 RP / 1 HM

Run-Out Groove Etchings: ‘A PORKY PRIME CUT’ / ‘M. ROOM’

Musicians: Paul McCartney – vocals, bass, guitars, keyboards, piano, percussion; Linda McCartney – keyboards, backing vocals, percussion; Denny Laine – vocals, guitars, keyboards, percussion; Jimmy McCulloch – guitars, vocals, percussion; Joe English – drums, percussion; Geoff Britton – drums; Kenneth ‘Afro’ Williams – congas; Allen Toussaint – piano; Dave Mason – guitar; Tom Scott – saxophone.

Brief Info: The fourth Wings album and first on Capitol Records, it is one of my favourites. It received favourable reviews on issue and sold very well worldwide. Lavishly packaged, not in a dissimilar way to Pink Floyd’s ‘Dark Side of the Moon’, with a heavyweight gatefold cover, a graphic card inner sleeve, two large posters and two ‘crack back’ stickers, both very different. Although a popular album with considerable sales, few will survive in this stunning complete condition. The record appears hardly played (if indeed at all), the cover stunning, both posters unmounted as-made, and the stickers unused or even creased. The stickers in particular are often missing, torn or creased, and seldom found looking Mint as these. The record is beautifully recorded and produced and sounds superb. I have on occasion heard copies of this that have inherent pressing issues, but apart from a couple of light crackles – blink and you miss them – this has nothing else and was a joy to play-grade. A copy in age-defying condition and cover-protected from new by the one owner who appears to have hardly even handled the record or contents.

Cover Grade and Format: MINT(–): a thick quite heavy unlaminated gatefold format with matt, smoth surfaces. Printed and made in England, uncredited. Includes the card graphic inner sleeve, two large posters and two stickers.

Cover Front: Immaculate as-made, the very best I have ever seen, I really cannot fault anything.

Cover Back: Same again, there may appear a tiny mark on the text near the bottom of ‘Letting Go’, but this is a tiny printing plate flaw and NOT a rub or mark, entirely natural.

Cover Inner Gatefold: Immaculate again and still with a nice ‘spring’ on opening, indeed it will not lie fully open (unless forced), and obviously decided against that.

Top Edges: Both thick, solid and straight. Very gentle rub traces only, indeed this being the only real hint of ‘wear’ on the entire cover.

Bottom Edges: Almost as-made, light rubbing at the very right ends.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Both edges are open for storage of record and posters. All four edges are very clean, ultra sharp and devoid of any thickening. A couple of tiny guillotine spots where the thick card has not quite trimmed to perfection, a common trait and a minuscule manufacture trait which is common. All are guaranteed untrimmed or enhanced.

Spine and Text: A perfect mint spine as-seen. Solid, very robust and straight with no compression and folded square, so the edges meet up very closely together and near parallel. All text is perfect and unworn and perfectly centred.

Corners: All the vulnerable corner tips are immaculate again with not even a trace of a knock or dink. No wear with mint retained.

Cover Summary: This is certainly one to remember, I have rarely seen another to compare to this. These thick, matt gatefolds rarely survive like this. The one owner from new cover-protected this cover and that fact is immediately apparent. Put simply: this comes very close to reminding of new and should please most collectors. Indeed, it could prove an ultimate upgrade for fans and collectors.

The Inner Sleeve: EXCELLENT: an unlined card graphic inner sleeve. A fine example with only fine edge hairline creases and a very small rim rub on the bottom of each side. A quite thick record inside around 43 years makes this a natural trait. Both surfaces clean, the wide recessed top opening crisp and neat with no edge splits, any edge rubbing minimal and light.

The Posters: Both PRACTICALLY MINT: two large posters, they are quite matt finished with plain white backs, both are unmounted (e.g. no pin holes or tape marks). Fresh, clean and attractive with barely any creasing or traces of handling. All folds are strong and neat as when made. These will prove difficult to find better.

The Stickers: Both PRACTICALLY MINT: two very different FasPrint ‘Crack Back’ sticker, one round, the other long and thin. These are again immaculate with barely anything to fault. These so often missing altogether and rarely seen looking as-made. Even the very vulnerable long ‘Comparative sizes of sun and planets’ one has avoided creasing, and rarely do. Being this length, they so often catch in the main cover’s fold and bend. This has been avoided with due care and attention storage. The surfaces and backs are pristine and totally unused.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: NEAR MINT: a superb visual copy that is very clean with equally fine shine and solidly pressed. A copy appearing hardly played on all the evidence with any surface traces minuscule. Not entirely flat on rotation with gentle movement, but as stated above, it should cause no issues for even budget turntables. The record plays iimpressively throughout. Visually a super record that should please many 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 impressive Wings album plays mostly up 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 – a couple of faint crackle traces only purely within the pressing – blink and you miss them, and little else to fault on what is a very fine clean pressing with no tracking issues*. As stated above, I have heard a few copies of this with inherent pressing issues, but this has almost avoided any of real note. Few available copies will outperform this early pressing significantly I feel sure. Both channels are clean and sharp, I am certain this record has been played very lightly (if indeed at all) and has been very well stored and carefully handled, almost certainly in a non-smoking environment. Nothing of any real note spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this wonderful record. It will prove very difficult to find significantly better and can be strongly recommended. Complete copies like this are seldom found now.

* 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 Nessie 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 Nessie 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’.