WORLD OF OZ ORIGINAL 1969 German DERAM LP RUBBLE TOYTOWN PSYCH POP GEM LISTEN

$

91

THE WORLD OF OZ "THE WORLD OF OZ" LP

ORIGINAL 1969 LP ON THE German DERAM label, STEREO SML-1034

THIS GERMAN PRESS HAS STUNNING STEREO SOUND!

COVER IN NEAR MINT shape, beautiful!

VINYL plays NEAR MINT!  A total keeper!

If there were ever an album that sought to be the soundtrack to the sinister underpinnings of a colorful faroff land like Oz, this is the one - the self-titled album by UK band The World of Oz, from 1969 on the German Deram label, in glorious STEREO sound.  This is a band that perfectly encapsulates the Looking Glass lysergia of late 60's English popsike - take all the elements of your favorite British toytown songs - you know, the ones with the sounds of little girls laughing behind the trippy children's nursery rhyme melodies - the Small Faces "Itchykoo Park" and the entire second side of "Ogden's Nutgone Flake"...Traffic's "Hole in My Shoe"...the Bee Gees "Red Chair Fadeaway"...the Kinks "Wicked Annabella"...Pink Floyd's "Mathilda Mother"...the Hollies "Pegasus"...now imagine a whole album of those sounds and that's what you have here - a world of bluebirds, unicorns and muffin men, and that sinister dark forest where the Hum Gum Tree lies waiting to lure the curious children.  There's lots of childlike wonder and frivolity in the World of Oz, but there's also evil, and there's also apparently quite a few hookah pipes, judging from the trippy Eastern sounds herein.  The album starts with the grandiose "Muffin Man", a classic bit of bouncy UK toytown popsike that serves as the lure to draw you in to Oz.  Strings laugh and dance, reeds and woodwinds flutter, and the harmonies are pure pillows of sound.  And so you enter the World of Oz, and for a while things look pretty nice.  Then, four songs later, the hidden dangers begin to make themselves known.  "The Hum-Gum Tree" tells the tale of dreaded forest that adults warn their children not to play in.  But kids don't listen, do they?  The song perfectly plays on the quickly changing whimsy of children - trepidation in the opening verse, with tiptoeing cellos and tension-filled vocals...quickly EXPLODING into pure fear as the forest responds with thundering music...followed by a beautiful sunshine popsike catchy upbeat chorus when the kids realize that the forest isn't so bad after all.  Elsewhere, the band creates perfect popsike in "King Croesus" and "Mandy-Ann", songs that should already be familiar to those of you who've purchased volumes of Rubble in the past.  But the band really gets mystical on the final two songs - "Like A Tear" is quite trippy Eastern psychedelia that floats on a bed of tablas with gentle acoustic guitar, faroff distorted wah wah guitar and the breathy hushed vocals of a mystic guru teaching.  The verses are wrapped in purple smoke, hazy and indistinct, with only the pure catchy pop chorus breaking briefly through the ether.  "Willow's Harp" follows and concludes the journey, and it's another mystical tabla trip, although this time the sound is less ethereal and more upbeat, a happy ending if you will.  There's some groovy wah wah guitar  here, but the sound is mainly acoustic and light - what you might get if you crossed one of the upbeat songs on Love's "Forever Changes" with the soaring choruses and intricate orchestration of the Moody Blues "Days of Future Passed" and blended in the mystical progressive sounds of early UK Nirvana.  Classic stuff, and a hit for the band in Holland, and they should know about taking trips to other lands.  If you ask me, the World of Oz's world is closer to spirit to the Looking Glass World of Alice, a great big children's dream world filled with subtle and sinister booby traps.  But it's a trip worth taking, and a world worth exploring.  As Jonathan King (who's been to the moon, mind you) writes in his liner notes, "It is a long but rewarding journey to the World of Oz.  You will arrive at its gates and discard your burden...Everything is nature...all is fresh and good.  Walk, and listen to the minstrels.  Sing if you like, watch your happiest dreams gambol in front of you...Willow's harp plays, and you are you.  Who knows what you may find in the World of Oz."  

HEAR IT!

PLEASE NOTE I NO LONGER SHIP TO ITALY DUE TO A CORRUPT POSTAL SYSTEM (THERE, NOT HERE).  BUYERS FROM ITALY AGREE TO PAY FOR GLOBAL PRIORITY MAIL INSURED ONLY!

The less exciting stuff

Media mail shipping with delivery confirmation starts at $4.00 in the US, with each additional record only $1 additional shipping.  Overseas shipping has, unfortunately, gone way up in the fast few months, which translates to $15 for the first LP to Canada ($3 each one thereafter) and $24 for the first LP everywhere else in the world, with each add'l LP an extra $5 (so it pays to buy more, nudge nudge wink wink).   I accept payments through Paypal. 

I try to grade as best as I can, and I list as many blemishes/imperfections I can find (writing, ringwear, scuff marks, etc.) – Also, please note that I DO listen to these albums – I may not listen to every track, but my grades are based on LISTENING, not just looking at it, since chances are you’ll be listening to the record you buy, not just looking at it.  Most of the albums I sell are the ones I’ve enjoyed for years – and I treat my records with kid gloves.  But sounds speak louder than words, so check out the sound clips below – they’re from the actual record you’re bidding on. 

SHIPPING AND PACKAGING

Listen, I buy a bunch of records too (when I’m not getting outbid at the last second, which is more often than not) – and I know what it’s like to get a rare, one-of-a-kind album packaged dangerously in a flimsy bubblewrap package.  I hate that too.  So rest assured, I ALWAYS package albums with stiff cardboard reinforcements, same for 45s.  And yes, the records are removed from the sleeves (for albums).  I ship out once a week, every Friday, because I have a regular day job.  But I’d be willing to give that up if you’d all be so kind as to bid my items up to stupidly high amounts. 

 For more security and international tracking, you may request GLOBAL PRIORITY MAIL - but bear in mind the cost of this service is upwards of $30.  For expensive items, however, it may be well worth it.  Unfortunately, there isn’t a cost-effective way of tracking parcels to foreign countries yet, and shipping times vary depending on your country’s postal system.   Italy in particular seems to be really bad at delivering packages quickly, or delivering packages at all, now that you mention it.  I will always email you when your package ships, but once it’s on its way, please don’t ask me when it will arrive because I don’t know.  If the world’s postal systems can ever agree on a universal tracking system that’s affordable, I’ll be the first to use it.

NOW IT’S YOUR TURN…

I will always leave positive feedback for successful transactions, and would appreciate the same in return.  All I ask of you is the following – please pay for your items within 14 days of the close of auction.  Compared to other sellers, that’s a generous amount of time, so if you don’t pay within 2 weeks, then I have to assume something’s wrong.  You’ll get an Ebay payment reminder at that point, and possibly a decapitated horse head in your bed.  If, after 30 days, you still haven’t forked up the cash, I’ll relist the item and yell at you if I ever see you in town.