ALICE COOPER Billion Dollar Babies RARER INTACT/COMPLETE UK 1973 EX LP & COVER.

	£		71
	$		94

ONEADAYRECORDS – Simply Delivering Quality Music to the World in Quality, Safe Packing.

Postage: UK £4.95. Europe (including Russia) £12.95 (£1 per extra record). Rest of World £19.95 (£2 per extra record). All my records are sent in boxes and the price of them has increased over time and these are my first price increases for nearly 10 years. Royal Mail prices have also gone up again. I will never compromise on 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: ALICE COOPER

Album Title: Billion Dollar Babies

Producer(s): Bob Ezrin

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Hello Hooray; Raped and Freezin’; Elected; Billion Dollar Babies; Unfinished Sweet.

Side 2: No More Mr Nice Guy; Generation Landslide; Sick Things; Mary Ann; I Love the Dead.

Label/Format: Warner Bros – original deep green format with matt surfaces fairly smooth surfaces.

Label Conditions: Both very clean, fresh and attractive with only light, fine and quite faint spindle marks and no wear around the hole area.

Catalogue Number: K 56013

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: 126 grams.

Country of Manufacture: England

Rarity: Moderate, this sold quite well after the success of the ‘School’s Out’ single. However, condition is a huge factor for this. The cover is incredibly fragile and parts are often removed, lost or damaged. Finding copies intact e.g. without the inside cards removed, the band that holds the note untorn, the inner unsplit or very grubby, and the note itself uncreased or ripped, is far more difficult.

Original Year of Release: 1973

Matrix Nos: K 56013 A2 / K 56013 B2 (machine punched)

Run-Out Groove Etchings: PN / PN

Musicians: Alice Cooper – vocals, harmonica; Glen Buxton – guitar; Michael Bruce – rhythm guitar, keyboards, backing vocals; Dennis Dunaway – bass, backing vocals; Neal Smith – drums, backing vocals. Guests: Donovan – vocals on ‘Billion Dollar Babies’, Steve ‘Deacon’ Hunter – guitar, Mick Mashbir – guitar, Dick Wagner – guitar, Bob Dolin – keyboards, David Libert – backing vocals, Bob Ezrin – keyboards.

Brief Info: The classic and best ever shock horror show band ever, without doubt, the original and best incarnation for the Alice Cooper band. A school days hero of mine, I eagerly got the bus to Colchester after finishing school just to pick up a copy of this one on first day of issue back in 1973. I still very much treasure the early albums of this man and he proved my stepping stone to discovering my life-long hero Frank Zappa who himself discovered Cooper and gave him his first chance to record. This was album number six, it became his most successful to date, it peaked at No 1 in the United States and UK and includes four hit singles that includes the brilliant ‘Elected’, a remake of an earlier song ‘Reflected’ that featured on the rare Straight debut album ‘Pretties for You’. This is arguably the king of the macabre’s greatest and most complete set ever. The packaging is quite spectacular and lavish, but also delicate. This sleeve would have cost more than average to produce with its graphic card inner sleeve, inserts, push out cards and embossing – I remember this album being more expensive than most when purchased all those years ago. His famous stage act that included live snakes and grizzly props including the infamous guillotine scene when performing the gruesome ‘I Love the Dead’. The baby picture inside with the ghoulish eye make-up caused outrage (with some) at the time. Her name is Lola Pfeiffer, daughter of Alice’s PR person in the UK. Side one’s finale ‘Unfinished Sweet’ will send shivers down the spine if, like most, you hate visiting the dentist. It opens with a classic remake of ‘Hello Hooray’ made famous by Judy Collins, in a very different style of course. This album, like his stage show, is pure rock theatre and few did it better than Alice and this early original band. This is a very fine copy which is complete and as intact as they are likely found these days.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT: or very close to, just finding one mostly intact is challenging. An unlaminated gatefold format with matt smooth surfaces. The coin and jewel circles front and back are embossed. The inside with 11 perforated cards and a large strip for holding the included billion dollar note. Printed and made in England. Includes the card unlined, graphic/lyric inner sleeve. The album’s credits are inside the inside left storage area beneath the cards which is printed in green.

Cover Front: A very fine looking front with little to fault to the main surface. There is a very fine surface crack on the top left fold near the top – this a very common trait for this cover due to the entrance area and is often much bigger than this small blemish. There is also a tiny corner tip rub on the bottom left. Overall, this is one of the most attractive fronts I have seen for this cover in some time. The lack of creasing, fading and sticker issues are all good news.

Cover Back: The back is also impressive and close to as-made. Under light a couple of light gripper marks are present in manufacture, almost certainly to to do with the embossing process as they are circular and often seen on this area of this back cover. Purely natural and nothing to do with misuse or wear. They hardly even register with normal viewing (but I will mention what I see).

Cover Inner Gatefold: The inside is clean and again attractive, the cards have never been split or removed. Hence they remain largely intact with only two or three perforations pulled – they remain flat and still solidly connected to the main cover. So many who bought this album, pulled them all apart leaving the large open square which exposed the green print and text beneath. There is a very small and fine surface split on the top of the left hinge fold near where the record enters, but this is very minor compared to most I have seen and few will avoid this as almost the barest minimum. This left side is superb looking and will be hard to find better. Moving over to the right side: this face is also superb and the retaining strip for the huge banknote is immaculate and totally undamaged.

Top Edges: Both straight, flat and flush with barely a trace of rubbing at all.

Bottom Edges: Similar again with just the odd tiny surface rub.

Right Edge(s), and Type: The front has a real tucked and folded edge that has little wear. The back is also closed as the record is stored inside. This has thickened a little viewed end on.

Spine and Text: Solid, straight with minimal compression and folded square, so the edges meet up closely together. Unusually, no tilt or crushing and with minimal wear to the surface or text as-seen. The lack of light fading also a plus.

Corners: Any rubbing to the square left corners are small and quite light. I have mentioned already the fine small surface split near the top, with due care, this should remain the same and is overall still solid. The four rounded corners are still quite crisp with any thickening reasonably light, certainly much neater than most seen.

Cover Summary: A fine all-round example of this lavish, but immensely fragile 1970’s cover. This for me one of the finest gimmick covers ever and always hard to find attractive, complete and virtually intact. A few blemishes, but still clean and attractive, and with the cards still solidly in place and attached, it will not prove easy to find much better. One to please many collectors.

The Inner Sleeve: NEAR MINT: another part that can age badly. This is little short of immaculate and the very best I have seen since I bought a new copy back in 1973. The graphics are superb with nothing to fault, and all edges are solidly intact with no splits or repairs. The top deeply recessed opening is crisp and undamaged, these were not lined. The lack of grubbiness and ageing is a massive plus for an inner that rarely avoids it. One of the most famous and controversial rock pictures seen to virtually perfect advantage.

The Billion Dollar Note: EXCELLENT(++) not rare, it came with all early copies, but seldom seen this clean and fresh. Crisp edges, also neatly folded in manufacture. Printed on both sides as seen in my pictures, another crucial element to the set in very impressive condition with any blemishes minuscule.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT: arguably better, a very fine visual copy that is very clean with equally fine shine and solidly pressed. A copy appearing little played on all the evidence with any surface marks light, fine and faint as seen critically under bright light. No penetrating stylus scratches, a few fine hairlines that do nothing, viewed in average room light, little even registers. Visually a very fine 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 equipment, all listed further down.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This classic album plays even above it’s high visual grading with little 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 light, overall a fine clean pressing with no tracking issues*. I have always found the most challenging song is the quiet piano track ‘Mary Ann’, but even this plays well compared to most I have heard. Few available copies will outperform this early pressing significantly I feel sure. Both channels are clean and sharp, I am certain this record has been played only lightly and has been quite well stored and carefully handled, almost certainly in a non-smoking environment. Little of any note spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this. It could prove difficult to find significantly better and can be strongly recommended.

* 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.

Payment Conditions:

I prefer PayPal from­ 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.