GENTLE GIANT Octopus - UK EARLY VERTIGO SPACESHIP 1972 LP with SUPER SOUND.

	£		32
	$		42

ONEADAYRECORDS – Simply Delivering Quality Music to the World.

Postage: UK £4.75 (£1 per extra record). Europe (including Russia) £12.50 (£2 per extra record). Rest of World £16.50 (£3 per extra record). All boxes signed for in quality, safe packaging – I NEVER use mailing envelopes that offer virtually no protection at all. More details on this nearer the end of the listing.

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 ‘4-day’ rule for non-payment. I try to keep my P&P prices as low as possible even yet another Royal Mail price hike, I will never compromise on solid, safe packing that is invariably a little heavier.

Artist or Band: GENTLE GIANT

Album Title: Octopus.

Producers: Gentle Giant

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: The Advent of Panurge; Raconteur Troubadour; A Cry For Everyone; Knots.

Side 2: The Boys in the Band; Dog’s Life; Think of Me With Kindness; River.

Label/Format: Vertigo – early second issue Spaceship format with matt, smooth surfaces (Please see my label scans).

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

Cat Number: 6360 080.

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: 128 grams. Average for the time.

Country of Manufacture: England.

Rarity: Moderately scarce: Gentle Giant were not a commercial prog band, and being honest, I have seen far fewer Spaceship pressings than the first Swirls.

Original Year of Release: 1972

Matrix Nos: 6360080 1Y//1 420 1 3 8 / 6360080 2Y//1 420 1 1 1 2

Musicians: Gary Green / guitars, percussion; Kerry Minnear / all keyboards, vibraphone, percussion, cello, Moog, lead and backing vocals; Derek Shulman / lead vocals, alto saxophone; Philip Shulman / saxophones, trumpet, mellophone, lead and backing vocals; Raymond Shulman / bass violin, guitar, percussion, vocals; John Weathers / drums, percussion, xylophone .

Brief Info: The band’s fourth album and all appeared on the Spiral format for Vertigo prior to all being repressed on the new Spaceship format after the Swirls changed. Gentle Giant were always more challenging than many of the progressive bands of the early 1970s. Complex music patterns with many time and structure changes - you either love or loathe them, but for sure they were original and had their own unique very polished sound. They usually appealed to fans of Yes, King Crimson, van der Graaf Generator and similar bands. ‘Octopus’ had another superb Roger Dean cover in the UK but a very different design on the US version. This one in particular is never too easy to find with a decent cover and a fine playing record. Finding the sleeve devoid of heavy rubbing is hard, that has little, but the original owner decided to preserve the vulnerable spine with clear tape. This dried out and simply fell-off, but has left a quite gentle line near the spine folds, so clearly this is not for the cover perfectionists. The record has a few light marks, but these are virtually all ignored and the record plays with terrific sound. A superb production that takes you almost into the recording studio itself, an impressive copy overall, and one for those who want to enjoy the early analogue experience without the likelihood of shelling-out larger sums on a Spiral copy.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT: but with fine edge tape residue lines near the spine folds. An unlaminated gatefold format with matt, smooth surfaces. Printed and made in England and this appears just the same as the Swirl covers. It has prized Roger Dean artwork.

Cover Front: Another quality design by one of rock’s most famous graphic artists, this front looks impressive. The fine tape line on the left has only very modest visual impact and simply looks like a laminate end. Unusually, the front has little wear with amongst the least rubbing I have ever seen. Any marks (the tape residue apart), are very few and faint as are any creases which there are barely any of. Deep and still quite fresh colour, viewed full-on, few will show less real wear.

Cover Back: All very similar: the tape residue maybe shows a little more and a gentle rim rub trace near the top top edge, but probably the least that almost could be found. For rubbing, this is one of the most prone in the whole early Vertigo cover range and rarely will less be found.

Cover Inner Gatefold: Little short of as-made with NO tape marks or issues worthy of mention.

Top Edges: Two tiny tip-ins apart on a couple of chips (by original owner), these edges have little else to fault.

Bottom Edges: Very light patchy rubbing, a small moderate rub on the back near the right corner.

Right Edge(s), and Type: The front has a real tucked and folded edge that has little wear at all. The back opening edges are mainly sharp (the inside one very sharp), this is cut a fraction short of the back in manufacture, so it has natural protection. The outside a little thickened as seen viewed end-on. No trimming or enhancements guaranteed.

Spine and Text: A splendid spine overall and way better than average. With hardly any rubbing even to the folds, this is a very solid example. Robust and straight with minimal compression or tilt. Folded close to square, so the edges meet up closely together and near parallel. All text and graphics are present and unworn and that makes a pleasant change on this Spiral cover. The odd tiny tip-in on the very tip of the top corner (but look hard).

Corners: All corners are neat and crisp with very fine shape, a little very tip enhancements made by original owner, but only very small and quite neat.

Cover Summary: A strong all-round example of this quite unforgiving 1970’s cover, even with the fine and quite light tape residue marks, it will still prove quite difficult to find much better. A few mild blemishes but how many of these Spiral-era covers avoid any? This attractive item should please many collectors but clearly, not the perfectionists.

The Inner Sleeve: EXCELLENT(++): A Polydor-style lined inner with little to fault at all. Clean, fresh, few creases with two crisp window circles and all edges unsplit with no repairs.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT(–): visually with some mostly fine surface marks, one shows more, but pretty much ALL are superficial and non-sounding. Still a fine copy that is clean, shiny, intense black and solidly pressed. Like the cover, not for the visual perfectionist, but if sound quality is paramount over a few gentle hairlines or minor scuffs, this will please many 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 miniscule sound present on any record.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This prog-gem record plays a full grade above it’s fine visual grading with hardly anything to fault. Strong, distortion-free sound, all frequencies are sharp and clear - sound quality is very high with a wide dynamic range and very detailed sound – this is a geniune high-fidelity recording so typical of Gentle Giant. Any surface sounds are minimal indeed, and even with a few light surface marks, this is one of the cleanest and best-sounding ‘Octopuses’ I have ever heard. Practically devoid of any noteworthy pops or clicks and this is an exceptional clean pressing for a fairly difficult album. Gentle Giant albums, like King Crimson and VDGG, were roller coaster rides between loud and quiet passages. Few records this age and complexity will ever play these types silently, it’s a near impossible ask. This one makes a great fist of it and is certainly one of the best examples of this title I have heard, certainly for a considerable time. A very clean performance with little unwanted and I enjoyed this one immensely. Of course there will be odd light sporadic tick or crackle, the vinyl format can rarely ever play as silent as the digital formats. Few copies will outperform thisstill early pressing significantly I feel sure. Nothing of any real note spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this wonderful record, the lack of any groove wear and pressing noises or distortions are always a welcome bonus on such intricate material. This copy will prove difficult to find significantly better for sound and can be highly recommended.

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/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 Terrarium 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 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.

NOTE: First Time Bidders: Please ask me first.

PLEASE NOTE: I now exercise my right to open a dispute after the Ebay rule of FOUR days if no payment is received. I will then cancel the dispute to end the, 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 and they take the Ebay consequences (a strike or removal from the system). 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] = £8. (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 [£50 maximum]) = £12.50 (enhanced Royal Mail insurance is an optional extra £3). Add £3 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’.