THE BLOSSOM TOES We Are Ever So Clean – RARE ORIG UK 1967 MONO MARMALADE EX+ LP.

	£		403
	$		534

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’ – lovely albums – some rare – 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 (£2 per extra record). All boxes sent FIRST-CLASS & TRACKED in quality, safe packaging – I NEVER use mailing envelopes that offer virtually no protection. Here, you get what you pay for – SAFE PACKING in BOXES using 7mm DOUBLE-WALL STIFFENERS with extra 7mm side protection and bubblewrap.

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. I will always keep my P&P prices as low as possible, and even after yet another Royal Mail price hike from April this year, I have NOT raised my prices and will never compromise on solid, safe packing that is invariably heavier than most you will get. My P&P offers probably the best value-for-money for vinyl records available, and I even will pay for full 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. You WILL see the difference when my packet arrives.

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: 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 - matt, smooth surfaces. Side two has natural manufacture crinkle.

Label Conditions: Both in little short of as-made: ultra clean, fresh and attractive with only a couple of 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 Marmalade an orange peel type look.

Catalogue 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: 137 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 unnoticed at the time. The country immersed in ‘Peppermania’, few new acts making psychelic 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 little played copy surface to be offered on the open market. An English treasure of wonderful pop-psych and both record and cover in very fine condition. With just a brief few light ticks each side, this mono rarity has generally survived the era well – the music is ultimately clean, sharp, focused and devoid of crackle or distortion, such records will seldom surface totally unscathed. Being somewhat critical, not for absolute perfectionists who want ‘pristine’ whatever the cost, but this pop-psych diamond will prove immensely difficult to find better and copies this clean seldom surface for sale.

Original Year of Release: 1967

Matrix Nos: 607001 A 1 1 1 8 / 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: 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 more psychelic than the more rocky second – both are very rare. Equally difficult to find in finer conditions, especially the mono. These are so highly regarded and have 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? A pleasure from beginning to end with any audio blemishes few and very brief – how many fast approaching 50 will not have the odd blemish or two?, that simply being honest. For collectors seeking this ‘lost’ album treasure, a very rare opportunity.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT(++): a fully laminated single format. Printed and made in England by the Upton Printing Group. Includes the plain white inner sleeve.

Lamination: Front & Back: When I can state the only blemish of any note on the entire front and back cover is a little very fine surface creasing mostly near the top right front corner and showing little, it should, I hope, reitterate quickly this is a pretty special seldom-seen cover. Okay, it’s laminated, but laminate 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 lovely fresh shine. Not quite a deep gloss finish like some laminates but this is slightly more subtle. Laminate does have varying degrees of shininess like different paints and varnishes. This is practically as issued for freshness and pure good looks. A near 50-year-old cover that has barely 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 (for me anyway). 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. One tiny raised spot is under the laminate on the front near the top edge, so perfectly natural and present from new. I have zoomed-in on the band member’s artwork on the front just to show how unblemished this cover is. This is very impressive and will prove beyond difficult to match or find better. YES, this is EVER SO CLEAN and could prove a massive upgrade for some collectors.

Top Edge: Straight with any traces of wear light with mild rubbing more towards the right. Some fine laminate loss, but as the surface is plain white, this shows little.

Bottom Edge: Looks practically as-made with full shiny laminate retained with no scuffs or wear.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean, very sharp with barely any hint of wear and guaranteed untrimmed or enhanced. Record enters on this edge.

Spine and Text: An absolutely pristine spine that is simply as-made. Solid, straight, uncompressed and square, the ends nipped in manufacture. All text is perfect and unworn under the solid and uncracked laminate that is totally scuff free, ultra clear and unaged. This also very well centred on quite a narrow depth as seen, curiously, the catalogue number is printed twice.

Corners: Any tip rubbing is tiny and being white, barely even registers. All retain excellent to practically pristine near mint pointed shape with no dinks noteworthy creasing.

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 highly attractive item should please most-all collectors and will rarely be found better.

The Inner Sleeve: EXCELLENT: an unlined plain white inner made with thin paper, hence being unsplit another plus. Mildly darkened to politely remind of age, but with very few creases and no tears, this has also fared well.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT(+): arguably better for a mono record this vast age. A super visual copy that is very clean with fine shine and solidly pressed. A copy without doubt, little played, no piledriver mono stylus have ruined this lovely rare Marmalade record. A couple of tiny marks with two or three of light ticks each of which some on the joining grooves, practically all the music plays with stunning clean mono sound. Under bright light, a couple of very fine hairlines have no affect on sound at all and few records of this era or mode will escape with so few blemishes. Any dulling purely within the pressing itself, viewed in normal room light conditions, this is a beautiful piece. We all know the horrendous conditions most records of this type are usually seen in. Visually close to exceptional, a little played mono psych classic that should please many, (and due to rarity) possibly most collectors. As stated further up, not quite for the absolute purist who only want ‘perfect’ at any cost, but such examples are nigh-on impossible to find these days.

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 major psych rarity plays even above it’s high visual grading with very little to fault. As stated, a tiny brief few light clicks each side. Practically all the music plays beautifully and that is no understatement. This offers 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 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 hugely impressive, 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. Any 50-year-old mono record without the odd click or two here-and-there or minor mark can be considered pretty rare. Even with modest usage on old very heavy tracking mono record players, the sound degrades, so ones hardly played become even more crucial – and this shows scant evidence of usage. I am certain this record has been played very little and has been clearly well stored and mostly carefully handled within a non-smoking environment. Little of any real note spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this wonderful record. Remember, even very clean looking mono records can hide groove wear and distortion, only a full play-grade will reveal such issues, and this has none. A tiny few brief clicks only, little else, this copy will prove immensely difficult to find significantly better and can be strongly recommended. A very special album for UK psych collectors, not quite pristine, but such elusive items seldom show up a great deal better – a rare opportunity.

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 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 programmes. 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 - 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 Quintet Blue moving coil cartridge (tracks at 2.2 grams). Amps: Naim Supernait 2 with Project USB phono stage and Tellerium Black interconnects. Speakers: B&W 704 Floorstanding 3-way Monitors (bi-wired with Tellurium Black terminated cable). All records I offer on Ebay are cleaned on a professional VPI-17 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 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 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 14 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 – they offer next-to-no-protection, and should be banned, no ‘professional’ should consider using them in my opinion. 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’.