FACES – Rod Stewart – Ooh La La – UK 73 N/M LP + Poster

	£		48
	$		64

Artist or Band: FACES

Album Title: Ooh La La.

Producer(s): Glyn Jones.

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Silicone Grown; Cindy Incidentally; Flags and Banners; My Fault; Borstal Boys.

Side 2: Fly in the Ointment; If I’m On the Late Side; Glad and Sorry; Just Another Honky; Ooh La La.

Label/Format: Warner Bros – Custom format on side one and original traditional green format on side two.

Label Conditions: Ultra clean and attractive with only very light spindle marks. This has all the hallmarks of a hardly handled or played record reitterated by stunning clean playing surfaces and beautiful clean sound. (Please see label scan).

Cat Number: K 56011.

Mode / Speed: Stereo / 33.3 rpm.

Weight of this Record: 130 grams. [These days, many modern Audiophile reissues are pressed on super-heavyweight 180 gram vinyl. Only a small percentage of ‘vintage vinyl’ was ever pressed this heavy. Records pressed in the 1960s averaged around 140 to 150 grams. Records pressed in the 1970s were usually lighter and averaged more around 115 – 125 grams. Some records pressed around 1973 were very thin and light due an oil crisis and shortage around this time. Some records were even issued on recycled vinyl from this period and sounded poor with crackle and surface noise evident from the very first play. If any record I buy is deemed ‘recycled’, I will never offer it, I have a very simple test to detect these records if I suspect this to be the case other than audible imperfection. Some records from this period were even pressed on other materials the most notable was ‘Dynaflex’, used by RCA around this time. Although inferior to vinyl, this at least mostly sounded reasonably acceptable but pressings on this material were wafer thin and flimsy. Beyond the 70s, records often became thinner and lighter still but most played fine but were never quite the quality as from the ‘Golden Era’]. (This was based on ‘average’ weights for 20 records from these eras. Later pressings were usually lighter still).

Country of Manufacture: The label clearly states UK but the cover was printed in the US. Probably contracted out their because this is a ‘working’ cover. Complex die-cut parts and it actually moves (please see the mouth and eyes in close-up). Intricate and quite fantastic, this is often seen damaged but this has none and still works to perfection. The scarce giant poster is also included.

Rarity: The price guides suggest moderately common but I rarely seen this around now especially with the superb poster in immaculate unmounted condition. For sure when it is seen its often trashed. These ‘gimmick’ covers with moveable parts suffer badly with damage or ‘deconstruction’ for those curious years ago. All the cut out and moveable parts for the eyes and mouth on this one are in superb damage-free condition and this makes this one a far more scarce in real terms.

Original Year of Release: 1973

Matrix Nos: This copy has dual matrixes. K-56011 A1 / K-56011 B1 (and) BS 2665 40314-1 / BS 2665 40315-1

Brief Artist & Album Info: One of the great early 70s British rock bands featuring Rod Stewart, Ian McLagan, Ronnie Lane, Ron Wood and Ken Jones. Formed from the remnants of the Small Faces and proving very popular, this was their fourth album. By this time Stewart’s solo career was thriving and the Faces almost became his backing band for his albums too. Issued with its famous ‘Moving Face’ cover with moveable eyes and mouth parts, this is seldom seen in strong condition. This one is fully intact and still works perfectly (yes, I had to demo it – carefully and took a quick picture to prove the point, please see this in close up). A great, somewhat sleazy gatefold inner too – American made, I feel certainly they are were – it’s a fine example, a little ageing and minor discolour, odd tone spot but few avoid it totally. The inclusion of the huge lyric poster is a massive bonus, most of these found often have this poster missing. The record is immaculate as is the sound and this excellent package should please most of Stewart’s many fans.

This Cover’s Potential for Wear & Damage: Very High+: ‘Working’ gimick covers with no protection are amongst the most prone to wear and damage of all.

Cover Grade and Format: Close EX, probably (-) with mild discolour to the front. It’s unlaminated with a complex internal construction with moveable eye and mouth parts that will work perfectly. Working is easy and poses no risk to cover, simply, but gently pull down the front top edge and the parts move. A gatefold format, printed in the US. Nice to see all the cut out parts and windows looking so neat and undamaged. There are also two die-cut small holes that infer this cover was made to be hung like a picture, both are neat and perfect too.

Cover Front: Having such a vast amount of white and having the potential for overhandling and use of the moving parts, this will rarely be seen devoid of grubbiness, especially around the edges where curious hands will work the cover. As mentioned above, it has a couple of small tone spots on the front and mild discolour to the white areas but it’s almost natural ageing. Barely any real wear at all and the face is very clean and totally unworn or damaged (and works perfectly by pulling up the front flap against the sleeve’s top edge to move the eyes and reveal the teeth). All the intricate cut out edges are precise and sharp with no burring or thickening and this is never easy. This has barely a crease to be seen. The cut-out eye holes are as new and this cover’s delicate front will be hard to find a great deal better.

Cover Back: The back has little discolour and looks really strong and nice to the eye. One crease near the bottom edge area shows little, no ringwear or significant rubbing.

Cover Inner Gatefold: Classic sleaze - check out the boys’ eye direction - and looking very attractive, just a crease from the single thickness card, again showing little. Colourful and cheeky, wonderful gimmick covers from a bygone age.

Top Edges: Mild rub traces and mild toning in places.

Bottom Edges: Virtually unworn and looking terrific and very sound and strong.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean, sharp with barely any wear again. Record entered on right outside edge. The lack of feathering or thickening to these fine edges is remarkable.

Spine and Text: Similar to the right side but this has a traditional type spine sandwiched between the layers. It’s also in stunning condition, again no feathering or damage. Solid, straight, uncompressed and square, all text is perfect and unworn, very sharp indeed and vividly fresh.

Corners: Minimal traces of wear, couple of mild tip creases, shape remains very neat for all.

Cover Summary: Classic gimmick ‘Moving Face’ cover, one of the most famous of its type. This is a fine, attractive example, naturally aged yes, few are seen pure white these days. It should please many collectors.

The Lyric Poster: Mint(-) unmounted (no pin holes, cellotape marks etc) and looking as clean and fresh as manufacture day. Pure white and unmarked, all the foldlines are rock solid and unstressed and this has no other creasing at all. All edges razor sharp and no marks to either side. A truly immaculate example of this highly elusive large poster.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: Mint(-) or very close too, an ultra faint surface trace mark on side one only. A superb visual copy. Super clean, shiny, intense black and quite heavily pressed. A copy with minimal plays on all the evidence. Visually a super record that should please many collectors. This includes its original unlined inner sleeve which is also in lovely neat condition – it’s barely aged at all.

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 snippetts 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 super record plays up too its high visual grading with nothing to fault. Strong, distortion-free sound, all frequencies are sharp and clear - sound quality is high with a wide and deep dynamic range and detailed sound. No noteworthy surface sounds and no pops or clicks were noted, few copies will play better than this. A copy clearly lightly played and carefully handled. Nothing really spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this popular album. This copy will prove difficult to find significantly better.

End Piece: Nice cover, slightly aged yes but undamaged, immaculate poster and lovely clean album first pressed record. Rod Stewart albums were very special and Faces albums were justifiably popular. Great packaging, sadly these working covers designs have long disappeared, its a delight to see all those delicate parts so clean and wear-free and still working perfectly. This delicate complete example can be strongly recommend to most collectors.

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 programmes. 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 with Ittok Mk IV arm and Ortofon Samba Moving Coil cartridge (tracks at 1.8 grams). Amps: Naim Nait 5i with Project USB phono stage and Chord interconnects. Speakers: B&W 704 Floorstanding 3-way Monitors (bi-wired). 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 promp payment is a problem, please do not bid.

POSTING & PACKING: What You Get: I now offer the fastest possible posting, mostly the very next day after payment is received or within 48 hours maximum. All records are posted in professional boxes (NOT mailers) with 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 TWO thick stiffners for even extra protection. The cover will be placed within a BRAND NEW heavy duty 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. Printed address labels are used for clarity and well as sender label. 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. Customers requests or special needs for P&P will be respected if at all possible but NOT surface mail abroad. I never make profit on posting and offer probably the best-value and safest shipping possible. I will invoice any winning bidder as soon as possible after the auction ends, with the total costs including ‘standard’ or ‘optional extra insurance’ P&P – ALL UK and Russian packets go out non-negotiable Recorded Delivery. My ‘loss’ or ‘damage rate’ is less than 0.1 per percent based on over 4,000+ items sold in over 7 years of Ebay trading and I consider that pretty exceptional.

PLEASE NOTE: I will now only send packets to Russia with Recorded Delivery at a cost of £7 per single LP. If this is unacceptable to Russian collectors, please do not bid. I only want my records to arrive safely and this gives packets a better chance to do so. Also ALL UK packets will be sent with either Recorded or Special Delivery as standard (both have to be signed for). All shipping costs and rules can be found after my description. If they are not acceptable, please do not bid.

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 & OPTIONS:

Posting & Packing: UK & CHANNEL ISLANDS all now sent Recorded Delivery:

1 LP (First Class Recorded Delivery with Standard Royal Mail Insurance) [Signed For] = £4 (OPTIONAL).

1 LP (Special Delivery with Standard £500 Maximum Insurance) [Signed For, Next Day] = £7 (OPTIONAL).

Posting & Packing: ALL EUROPE & SCANDINAVIA (NOT RUSSIA, see below) (Airmail Only):

1 LP (Small Packet Standard with Standard Royal Mail Insurance) = £5.

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with included Insurance to Item’s ‘Sold’ Value, £500* Maximum) = £9 (OPTIONAL).

Posting & Packing: RUSSIA (Recorded Only, if this is unacceptable, please do not bid):

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ only £7) = £9 (OPTIONAL extra insurance as above).

Posting & Packing: ALL OVERSEAS (non-European) e.g. USA (any part); Australia; Canada; Japan and other Far East; (Airmail Only: I NEVER use Surface Mail):

1 LP (Small Packet Standard with Standard Royal Mail Insurance) = £8.

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with included Insurance to Item’s ‘Sold’ Value, £500* Maximum) = £13 (OPTIONAL).

* If Rules allow for that country.

PLEASE NOTE: I always get a Royal Mail ‘Proof-of-Posting’ receipt for ALL packets that are sent out and I am happy to prove this to any customer who wishes to see it via email.

Payment Conditions:

I prefer PayPal or cheque from UK winning bidders. I can accept PayPal from overseas bidders.

The customer can choose their method of shipping with the exception of second class or surface mail overseas – these I will NOT use. The winner bidder chooses his/her posting method and if uninsured is chosen, its their decision and they have to stick with it, I can accept no responsibility if an item is lost in the post. I can only try to claim at standard levels if no enhancement is chosen (£35).

Potential Bidders: Please do not bid if you have negative feedback unless checking first, I will cancel any bids I feel are timewasters. 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 minus the Posting and All Ebay costs as long as the item detail has been read and understood. I will not refund if any defect detail is clearly stated on the advert and missed by the buyer. If any overseas collector does not understand anything in my listing, please email and ask me to help.

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 neccessarily 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’.