Galliard Strange Pleasure UK 1st Press Uber Rare Nova Ex/Ex

	£		150
	$		199

Galliard Strange Pleasure
 Very Rare UK 1st Press 

Artist or Band: GALLIARD

Album Title: Strange Pleasure.

Producer(s): Phil Wainman.

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Skillet; A Modern Day Fairy Tale; Pastorale; I Wrapped Her in Ribbons; Children of the Sun.

Side 2: Got to Make It; Frog Galliard; Blood; Hear the Colours; I Wanna Be Back Home.

Label/Format: Deram Nova - original orange stereo format with matt, smooth surfaces.

Label Conditions: Both clean, fresh and attractive with spindle marks on the light side of moderate and most being only fine and faint as seen under angled light. An impressive copy of this rare record that offers superb sound for most of its entirety.

Cat Number: SDN 4.

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: 150 grams. A typical heavy Decca-pressed record.

Country of Manufacture: England.

Rarity: Rare: one of the Decca Nova classics that sold in tiny numbers and seldom seen or offered.

Original Year of Release: 1969

Matrix Nos: ZAL-9183.P-1W / ZAL-9184.P-1W

Stamper Codes: 1 B / 1 U [with ‘B’ and ‘U’ being the very first and second stampers on Decca records]

Musicians: Andrew Abbott - bass; Geoff Brown - vocals; Dave Caswell - trumpet, D-trumpet; Richard Pannell - guitar, electronic effects, 12 string guitar, lute, backing vocals; Leslie Podraza - drums; John Smith - alto, tenor and soprano saxophones.

Brief Info: A very scarce album on a highly collectable prog label. Galliard blend genuine prog-jazz-rock with folk and mediaeval touches and it works perfectly. Some highly complex musicianship including some of the most frenetic brass arrangements ever to be included on a ‘rock’ album. On the opening song ‘Skillet’ there is a murderous horn riff that literally could rip the cloth from your speakers – it’s manic and quite brilliant. The album features several brass-driven songs but don’t be put off, this is highly infectious and for those with taste for horns will love it. For me, this is one of the very best albums on the very sort-after and collectable Deram Nova off-shoot label that mainly specialist in new and progressive acts. It only lasted for around a year, hence most-all albums on it are rare and very much in demand. An album issued in both mono and stereo, but are equally rare. This copy is strong: the cover has little wear but the back is a little wavy, but not excessively so. The record for most all offers superb clean sound with just a little very brief crackle on a couple of short moments on the final song of side one. This I feel an inherent pressing blemish as the few other copies I have heard were the same. Still a magnificent album and a lovely example that does it high justice, finding copies is hard enough, finding pristine ones is nigh-on impossible. This lesser-known album I found a real joy.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT: (or very close to). A single format with the front laminated with Clarifoil. This covers all the closed edges and ends on the back via the spine edge. The main back panel is matt and unprotected with the mono/stereo peep-hole indicator, there filled in with the blue stereo-code inner sleeve. Printed and made in England by Senol Printing Ltd. This includes the Decca-style polylined inner.

Lamination & Front: The front looks very clean and impressive. With very shiny, fresh and clear laminate that has no lifting and minimal traces of dulling even under angled light. A fine trace around the rim of the record being quite critical. There is a laminate crease near the bottom left corner with only fairly modest visibility when viewed full-on, anothers are very few and small, and apart from one, much lighter. Superb artwork is seen to near maximum advantage, the intenseness of the green graphic is simply fantastic. No waviness on the front and it will prove hard to find much better.

Cover Back: In terms of wear, marks or ageing, very minimal, and the lack of creasing and ringwear both plus-points. The peep-hole neat and crisp and overall, still an attractive back.

Top Edge: Straight with barely any wear and retaining surface smoothness.

Bottom Edge: Largely the same.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean, sharp with hardly any wear, minimal thickening or burring even viewed end-on, this also guaranteed untrimmed or enhanced in any way. The fine natural unlaminated strip on the front shows little wear or grubbiness at all. Record enters on this edge.

Spine and Text: A very fine spine: solid, straight with  a little  compression. The text is centred slightly high of centre and perfectly unworn under the solid and uncracked laminate. Again, all other copies I have seen have had high text.

Corners: Small tip creases on a couple but all remain neat and sharp with very little real wear.

Cover Summary: Still a strong all-round example of this very rare early 1970s cover, one that will prove difficult to find much better. 

The Inner Sleeve: EXCELLENT: a Decca-style blue inner that denotes a stereo record inside. It has a very clean and clear lining and two pristine window circles. It has only gentle darkening of the seam adhesive, minimal creasing and all edges unsplit with no repairs. This is UK patented with ‘Foreign patents pending’ text.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT: or close to, with surface marks mostly very fine and faint as seen under bright angled light. No penetrating scratches with clean playing surfaces with fine shine on a solidly pressed record. A copy played a few times, but generally with care. Fine surface marks or blemishes will rarely be avoided on records of this age and genre, they were rarely purchased by hi-fi connoisseurs but mainly younger, more adventurous types who bought them for entertainment – that is what records were all about, let’s face it. Visually still a lovely 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 B&W speakers that include the legendary tweeter from their awesome Nautilus range that reveals every blemish or miniscule sound present on any record.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This rare and elusive record mostly plays even above it’s very fine visual grading with little to fault bar the aforementioned very brief crackle on ‘Children of the Sun’ that has also been apparent on all other examples I have heard. So a possible pressing blemish?, and I do know how rare that would be on any Decca record. The crackle, is more like clipping where the soaring vocals get so intense it almost gets to saturation point, so it may just occur from normal usage? I can hardly imagine any example will withstand this intensity of sound with no minor stressing, but here it really is very little and brief anyway. This very challenging and complex recording offers strong and powerful sound at times with some gentle quieter passages as well, it’s a bit of a rollercoaster ride. Any surface sounds are minimal overall and it will take an exceptional copy to better it significantly. Very little of note spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this wonderful record, my first copy for ages and I had very few at all. My last one was a mono that had several sound issues, this one has hardly any and I feel that is quite some achievement. Not quite for the visual and sound perfectionists, but as I have stated before, on the genuine rarer titles a little compromise has to be given sometimes as they show so infrequently. With almost all this album sounding terrific, it is one I can still strongly recommend. If absolute perfection is mandatory, better wait for the near impossible, this copy will take some beating.

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 VPI-17 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 ,1 linner. 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 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. The boxes and ultra thick double-wall stiffeners 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 10,000+ items sold in over 12 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 stiffeners cannot be bent by hand, so what chance 2 inside a box? 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.

My Guarantee: If any winning bidder is not satisfied with their purchase I will offer a complete refund. If any overseas collector does not understand anything in my listing, please email and ask me to help. Thank You.

Happy Bidding!