AUDIENCE Friends, Friends, Friend SCARCE ORIG UK 1970 EX+ LP PLAYS SUPERBLY.

	£		55
	$		73

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. 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 trackable 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 longer 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.

ANY ITEM or ITEMS TO BE PAID WITHIN A MAXIMUM OF 6 DAYS or they will be cancelled – NO EXCEPTIONS.

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. Please only bid on my items if you want them.

Artist or Band: AUDIENCE

Album Title: Friend’s Friend’s Friend

Producer(s): Audience

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Nothing You Do; Belladonna Moonshine; It Brings a Tear; Raid.

Side 2: Right On Their Side; Ebony Variations; Priestess; Friends, Friends, Friend.

Label/Format: Charisma – original pink scroll format with matt, very gently textured surfaces. .

Label Conditions: Both in superb condition, very clean, fresh and attractive with only a tiny few very fine and light spindle marks. This record, pressed by Philips, plays with fantastic clean sound throughout.

Catalogue Number: CAS 1012

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: 125 grams.

Country of Manufacture: England

Rarity: Scarce.

Original Year of Release: 1970

Matrix Nos: CAS 1012 A//2 1 1 4 & CAS 1012 B//2 1 2 2

Musicians: Tony Connor – drums, percussion, piano; Trevor Williams – bass guitar; Howard Werth – acoustic guitar, banjo, lead vocals; Keith Gemmell – tenor sax, clarinet and flute.

Brief Info: The second album by this impressive prog-rock band. Their first was briefly issued just to be withdrawn and deleted, that has become very sort after and collectable. Musically, this one blows it away and it is long overdue this four piece band got the recognition they deserve. Musically, they remind me of early Jethro Tull, Blodwyn Pig with elements of Van der Graaf Generator. With superb reed blowing from Keith Gemmell, a top pressing is essential, and with Charisma, it’s never guaranteed regardless of looks. This copy was a genuine pleasure to play-grade with hardly anything to fault at all. The wear-prone cover is also very nice.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT(–): an unlaminated gatefold with matt, smooth surfaces that include the original B&C credit logo inside. Printed and made in England by the E. J. Day Group, this includes the 1970 date-coded inner sleeve.

Cover Front: Generally impressive with very colourful artwork, but delicate and seldom without often heavy wear. The only blemish of note is a very small sticker pull and mark, the previous owner neatly penned in the small tear to make it less visible. Being so small, it it only a light blemish. A little light edge rubbing here-and-there, but little else on this vulnerable surface that still looks very impressive. The general lack of rubbing and creasing puts this way above average (the small sticker mark apart).

Cover Back: Practically as per the front minus the sticker issue. The lack of ring wear is a considerable plus.

Cover Inner Gatefold: Superb, with hardly anything of any note to fault.

Top Edges: Both straight, flush and flat with patchy light to moderate rubbing.

Bottom Edges: Moderate, less patchy rubbing on these vulnerable storage edges.

Right Edge(s), and Type: The machine cut ends have darkened but remain mostly sharp with very minimal traces of thickening. Record enters on the back edge and all guaranteed untrimmed.

Spine and Text: Solid, straight with any compression light, there is tilt to right. No text printed on this one and the graphic shows little wear up to the ends that have rubbed with the most at the top. The odd tiny chip or two but this is still strong and even the vulnerable folds have avoided wear which is more unusual.

Corners: Moderate tip rubbing with mostly very fine shape retained with no knocks.

Cover Summary: This is a well-known ‘difficult’ cover and seldom seen without considerable wear. For looks, the main areas, including the spine, are attractive and show far less than most. As stated, the smallish sticker mark on the front has been neatly enhanced ( NOT by myself ), clearly the original owner preferred it that way. So not for the highly discerning cover purist, but it will never prove easy to find much better and should please many collectors.

The Inner Sleeve: EXCELLENT(++): only marked down for natural paper darkening, so politely aged as most are at very best. That apart, it has little to fault and importantly, it has the 1/0470 (April 1970) date-code, so manufactured a month before issue in the UK. A polydor lined inner that has two pristine window circles and clear fresh polylining. All edges unsplit with no repairs.

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

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This brilliant prog-rock album plays even above it’s high visual grading with barely 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 and this is an exceptional clean pressing with no tracking issues* or inherent pressing noises. With plenty of reed blowing in the songs, a top pressing becomes even more crucial, and this was a genuine delight to play-grade. Few available copies will match or outperform this very early first pressing I feel sure. Both channels are clean and sharp, 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. Yes, the cover has a small sticker mark/enhancement, but they happened years ago from stickers that were not designed to be removed, the this matt cover often suffers accordingly from them. Nothing spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this wonderful record. It will prove very difficult to find significantly better and can be strongly recommended. This is one of the cleanest and fault-free copies I have heard in many years.

* 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 grams. Records are a ‘contact’ format, and few will avoid the odd minor sound blemish.

I am one of the most established sellers on Ebay, trading since 2001 and offering the finest 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 all elements of the items I offer for sale. You may notice I only submit records quite 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 story. I will try to 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 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. I hope the item below is to your liking – any questions can be emailed and I will do my 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, major 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 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 D7500 DSLR 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.

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 bid retractions. 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 only 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 2 days for communication and 7 days for payment to arrive – if not I will relist the item or offer to the runner-up.

My Guarantee: If any winning bidder is not satisfied with their purchase I will offer a complete refund if the item is returned in the same condition is was sent e.g. as per the listing pictures.

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, 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.