BLOSSOM TOES We Are Ever So Clean V. RARE ORIG UK EX++

	£		343
	$		455

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Artist or Band: THE BLOSSOM TOES

Album Title: We Are Ever So Clean.

Producer(s): Giorgio Gomelsky.

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Look At Me I’m You; I’ll Be Late For Tea; The Remarkable Saga of The Frozen Dog; Telegram Tuesday; Love Is; What’s It For; People of the Royal Parks.

Side 2: What On Earth; Mrs Murphy’s Budgerigar; I Will Bring You This and That; Mister Watchmaker; When The Alarm Clock Rings; The Intrepid Balloonist’s Handbook, Volume One; You; Track For Speedy Freaks (or Instant LP Digest) .

Label/Format: Marmalade (Please see my label scans).

Label Conditions: Both in little short short of as-made conditions: ultra clean, fresh and attractive with only a mere couple of ultra light and faint spindle traces each side (but look very hard) and no wear around the hole area. Side two has, for what on this label, is not unusual manufacture adhesion crinkle – bizarrely, this almost gives the orange area affected an orange peel type look. If record labels could talk (well this IS a psychadelic album), they too would say, “We Are Ever So Clean”.

Cat Number: 607001.

Mode / Speed: Mono / 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: 145 grams. A very good weight for this and any record.

Country of Manufacture: England.

Rarity: Very Rare: and getting massively difficult to find in mono or stereo. A poor selling psych classic that went almost over-looked at the time. Pink Floyd's 'Piper' is deemed by many as 'rare', but compared to this album, it's relatively common, that charted and sold quite well, this almost disappeared into immediate obscurity. The country immersed in ‘Peppermania’, few new acts making real psychedelic music at this time got noticed and this is now massively in demand by serious collectors of the genre. Like Kaleidoscope, whose music was fairly similar, this has almost been lost in the mist of time and rarely will a hardly played copy surface to be offered on the open market. An English treasure of wonderful pop-psych and heard to near perfection in the mode of the time, mono. With just a couple or three light clicks each side, and these pretty much on the joining grooves, and the music ultimately clean, sharp, focused and devoid of crackle or distortion, will a better mono original be made available? Also the cover is stunning and is close of reminding of new and even includes the original inner sleeve. This from a friend’s prestige collection [after a tough day’s negotiating] and my very first one ever in mono. No damaging Dansettes with blunt tipped pickups have ruined this beauty, even on my LP12 this gave a stunning performance and this simply sounds perfect for it’s era. A copy even the most discerning purist can consider, I can hardly imagine a much better mono one will ever be offered. The price guides suggest the stereo pressing is rarer, well possibly but little in it I feel sure. What is for absolute certain, the mono copies are far FAR harder to find in this type of condition. Few people at the time purchased mono records to play on stereo equipment, hence copies with no groove wear or distortion are at a real premium. I hope my pictures reitterate the quality on offer here.

Original Year of Release: 1967

Matrix Nos: 607001 A 1 1 1 ? / 607001 B 1 1 1 3 [these are error corrected]

Musicians: Brian Belshaw: Bass, Vocals; Jim Cregan: Guitar, Vocals; Brian Godding: Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals; Kevin Westlake: Drums. Orchestration by David Whittaker.

Brief Info: Every now and then, something I deem extra special and very memorable comes along, and a true case-in-point here with this outstanding piece of 1960s psychedelia. A British four piece band that came and went largely unnoticed in 1967 to 1969, they made just two albums. This being the first and far more psychedelia than the more rocky second – both are rare. Very difficult to find and so highly regarded, this has near legendary status within the English pop-psych genre What makes this even more appealing is the fact it’s on one the most visually attractive 1960s labels, Marmalade – what better label for psych music than this? My first mono copy ever and I could wait forever to find another as nice. A pleasure from beginning to end with any audio blemishes minuscule. For collectors seeking this ‘lost’ album treasure, well (to say the least) a very rare opportunity. Stating a mono copy in this superb all-round condition is rare is using the term ‘rare’ correctly, this sold very poorly, will another show up like again? – you decide.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT(++), and a mere whisker off Mint(-): a fully laminated single format. Printed and made in England by the Upton Group.

Lamination: Front & Back: When I can state the only blemish of any note on the entire front and back cover are a few ultra fine and light surface creases, mostly near the top right front corner and showing little, it should, I hope, reitterate quickly this is a pretty special very rare cover. Okay, it’s laminated, but laminae ages and develops it’s own inherent problems. Not on this one: all remains fully adhered with no lifting and very clear too with a superb shiny sheen with any surface marks tiny and very fine. Not a deep gloss finish like some laminates but this is more subtle. Laminate does have varying degrees of shininess like different paints and varnishes do. This is simply practically as issued for freshness and pure good looks. A near 44-year-old cover that has not aged at all and is still as white, clean and fresh as when made back in the ‘Summer of Love’ year of 1967 – the greatest ever year in popular music. Classics were issued, some were noticed, some were over-looked, and this, sadly was one of them. Even when critically scrutinised under angled light, this has few marks at all, even hairlines are conspicuous by their absence and the same for friction rubs and dulling of which there is barely even a trace. Record impression? What record impression?, barely a trace again and the back is almost Mint and truly stunning. I have even zoomed-in on the band member’s artwork on the front just to show how unblemished this cover is. A tiny raised spot on the front and a few faint surface creases – little else on a practically museum-quality example. YES, this is EVER SO CLEAN.

Top Edge: The top edge has little wear as such but the laminate is not present leaving an exposed white surface, hence it barely even notices. With little degrading of the white colour and still quite straight, this is still in very fine condition. The only reason why I graded EX(++) rather than my highest grading of Mint(-) on covers this fantastic age. Being quite honest, I would not be sure it was even present even from new or could it even be natural shinkage?

Bottom Edge: Looks little short of as made with full shiny laminate retained.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean, ultra sharp with no wear whatsoever and guaranteed untrimmed. Record enters on this edge.

Spine and Text: An absolutely pristine spine that is simply as made: solid, straight, uncompressed and square, the ends gently tapered in manufacture. All text is perfect and unworn under the solid and uncracked laminate that is totally scuff free and ultra clear.

Corners: Any tip rubbing is tiny and being white, barely even registers. All retain excellent to practically pristine near mint pointed shape.

Cover Summary: A real beauty, a work of art and setting a standard most covers this age would dream of. With so few of these even sold or existing, only a small percentage of those will have been treasured and stored to this level. This truly beautiful item should please most-all collectors. Even grading Excellent(++) is being extremely harsh.

The Inner Sleeve: EXCELLENT: an unlined plain white inner made with thin paper, hence being unsplit makes for another rare piece to this set. Mildly darkened to just remind of it’s vintage but with few creases and practically unmarked or browned by adhesive ageing, this is just so right for this record.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT(++), A superb visual copy that is very clean, shiny, intense black and quite heavily pressed. A copy without any doubt at all, hardly played, NO piledriver stylus have ruined this priceless gem. A couple of tiny marks with a couple of light clicks each, mainly on the joining grooves, practically all the music plays with stunning clean mono sound. Any surface marks . Visually an exceptional, little played mono record that should please most collectors again.

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 B&W speakers that include the legendary tweeter from their awesome Nautilus range that reveals every blemish or minuscule sound present on any record.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This psych diamond plays even above it’s high visual grading with practically nothing to fault. As stated, three or four light clicks each side, most-all between a couple of songs. The songs plays beautifully and that is no understatement. Strong, TOTALLY 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 barely even register and this is an exceptional clean pressing. NO unwanted ‘mono’ noises from either speaker, e.g. single channel crackle caused by uneven wear to the groove that most serious collectors will be more than familiar with. The sound is simply wonderful, fully focused and precise with not even a trace of high frequency clipping or stressing. Few copies will match, let alone outperform this early pressing I feel sure. If only all vintage monos could perform like this… alas few ever do, especially when played on highly revealing clinical stereo equipment they were hardly really designed for. With both channels so clean and sharp, I am certain this record has been played extremely lightly and has been clearly well stored and carefully handled within a non-smoking environment. Nothing spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this wonderful record. This copy will prove immensely difficult to find significantly better and can be strongly recommended. A very special album and one of my rarest for some considerable time.

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 - on average ONEADAY, a couple more at weekends if time permits, hence the name - time rarely allows for more as I Play-Grade virtually every record I offer in their entirety, 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 its 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 taken with a digital camera or scanned - they are NOT improved, cleaned-up or made better looking than they are with camera trickery or enhancing with digital programs. What you see is what you get and scanned labels will give a more accurate representation of the genuine colour than flash photography where light is variable. I cannot guarantee total accuracy for colours however but most will be very close. 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 - bid with confidence - excellence comes as standard and so does Near Mint regularly. 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 Rondo Red moving coil cartridge (tracks at 2 grams). Amps: Naim Nait 5i with Project USB phono stage and Chord interconnects. Speakers: B&W 704 Floorstanding 3-way Monitors (bi-wired with QED Silver terminated cable). All records I offer on Ebay are cleaned on a professional Moth vacuum machine before play-grading for the cleanest and best possible sound and will include a brand new lined inner and protective cover too.

First-time, zero-rated bidders, who do not ask permission to bid, will be cancelled immediately and blocked – NO exceptions. For winning bidders who I consider excessively slow to make contact or submit payment, I will use my right to block future bids. If any bidder who wins in the final seconds is present to do so, surely they can at least email me to inform of intention and payment method? If swift or prompt payment is a problem, please do not bid.

PACKING - THIS IS WHAT YOU GET - PLEASE SEE MY TYPICAL PACKING BOX PICTURE.

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 Moth 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 thick boxes (NOT Mailers or Cruciforms, these do not offer maximum protection). The record(s) 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 THREE or EVEN FOUR 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. 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. Please see my picture of a typical finished box packet that will now be used on ALL transactions as from now. I do not profit on posting and the cost of this lavish packing is NOT even charged for, I offer probably the best-value and safest shipping possible for ultimate confidence. These boxes and ultra thick double-wall stiffners and bubble wrap 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 less than one in two thousand based on over 7,000+ items sold in nearly 10 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. Even one of these stiffners cannot be bent by hand, so what chance 3 or 4 inside a box? Oneadayrecords is a MAILER-FREE ZONE. I discount of course for multiple purchases with a maximum of FOUR records per box (one double can sometimes be included subject to total weight). I will not respond to questions on shipping costs as all the details are included here and on ALL of my adverts. Details below:

NOTE: First Time Bidders: I will cancel ALL first-time bidders with no feedbacks or excessive negatives who do not ask me if its OK to bid first – NO EXCEPTIONS.

Please Note: I will now offer any item to the runner-up after the mandatory Ebay 3 days if no contact is made by the winning bidder unless prior notice of any delay is given beforehand. The same applies if no payment is received within the mandatory 7 days so any bidder who has just lost out can still email me to reserve the item as priority second chance – it’s always worth asking.

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.

1 LP (Special Delivery with Standard £500 Maximum Insurance) [Signed For, Next Day] = £7.50. (this includes insurance of £500). Add £2 per extra LP.

Posting & Packing: EUROPE & SCANDINAVIA. (Airmail Only):

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£40 maximum]) = £9. (insurance optional extra £3). Add £2.50 per extra LP.

Posting & Packing: ALL OVERSEAS (non-European) e.g. USA (ANY PART OF); 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 [£39 maximum]) = £13. Add £4 per extra LP. (insurance 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: Please do not bid if you have negative feedback unless checking first, 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 re-list 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’.