HEP STARS Jul Med 1967 ORIGINAL XMAS LP pre-ABBA like Beatles Fan Club 45s HEAR

$

50

HEP STARS "JUL MED HEP STARS" LP

ORIGINAL 1967 LP ON THE Swedish OLGA label, STEREO LP0 06

COVER in GOOD shape due to a tear on the front - otherwise it'd be EXCELLENT but the tear knocks it down

VINYL looks fine, one or two superficial scuffs at most, plays VG+ with some light crackle and a few scattered pops.

Here we are, only three albums in for young pre-Abba Swedish upstarts the Hep Stars, and already they have the nerve to record an album of nothing but Christmas songs!  Ahh but then again, when your future consists of becoming the most successful pop act in the world during the Seventies, well then I guess you can do pretty much whatever the heck you wanna do.  And how’s this for an even bigger surprise?  Jul Med Hep Stars (Christmas With the Hep Stars) just might be their best record!  It plays out like an album-length version of a the Beatles 1967 Christmas message, and the between-song conversations with the band would probably be a lot more entertaining if I understood Swedish.  I don’t, so I have to make do with just the songs themselves, and like the Beatles parallel, they’re often funny, often veddy British sounding, and often even a little bit psychedelic.  “Christmas Today” with its trippy echoed-out vocal effects and lighthearted sense of fun sounds like an early test-run for the Fab Four’s “Christmas Time Is Here Again”, and it came out the same year!  Coincidence?  Elsewhere, the very Carnaby Street sounding Yuletide jaunt “Christmas On My Mind” is vintage 1967 popsike, and like the Beatles, shows that even the Hep Stars were starting to experiment with backwards tapes.  Some more traditional, slower Swedish holiday carols are played straight, and come out sounding beautiful in a Scandinavian percoset-induced snowy fairyland kinda way.  And there are a few covers of global classics like “White Christmas” and “Silent Night” for those who collect them all.  The beautiful Victorian era album cover adds to the magic.  Jul Med Hep Stars is, with its playful vibe and good nature, what the British would soon call “toytown pop.”  And if you compare it with the Beatles’ 1967 Christmas fan club release, it’s remarkably similar.  No surprise really.  One group would go on to ask “Does Your Mother Know?” while the other would reply “Your Mother Should Know.”

HEAR IT!

PLEASE NOTE I NO LONGER SHIP TO ITALY DUE TO A CORRUPT POSTAL SYSTEM (THERE, NOT HERE).  BUYERS FROM ITALY AGREE TO PAY FOR GLOBAL PRIORITY MAIL INSURED ONLY!

The less exciting stuff

Media mail shipping with delivery confirmation starts at $4.00 in the US, with each additional record only $1 additional shipping.  Overseas shipping has, unfortunately, gone way up in the fast few months, which translates to $15 for the first LP to Canada ($3 each one thereafter) and $24 for the first LP everywhere else in the world, with each add'l LP an extra $5 (so it pays to buy more, nudge nudge wink wink).   I accept payments through Paypal. 

I try to grade as best as I can, and I list as many blemishes/imperfections I can find (writing, ringwear, scuff marks, etc.) – Also, please note that I DO listen to these albums – I may not listen to every track, but my grades are based on LISTENING, not just looking at it, since chances are you’ll be listening to the record you buy, not just looking at it.  Most of the albums I sell are the ones I’ve enjoyed for years – and I treat my records with kid gloves.  But sounds speak louder than words, so check out the sound clips below – they’re from the actual record you’re bidding on. 

SHIPPING AND PACKAGING

Listen, I buy a bunch of records too (when I’m not getting outbid at the last second, which is more often than not) – and I know what it’s like to get a rare, one-of-a-kind album packaged dangerously in a flimsy bubblewrap package.  I hate that too.  So rest assured, I ALWAYS package albums with stiff cardboard reinforcements, same for 45s.  And yes, the records are removed from the sleeves (for albums).  I ship out once a week, every Friday, because I have a regular day job.  But I’d be willing to give that up if you’d all be so kind as to bid my items up to stupidly high amounts. 

 For more security and international tracking, you may request GLOBAL PRIORITY MAIL - but bear in mind the cost of this service is upwards of $30.  For expensive items, however, it may be well worth it.  Unfortunately, there isn’t a cost-effective way of tracking parcels to foreign countries yet, and shipping times vary depending on your country’s postal system.   Italy in particular seems to be really bad at delivering packages quickly, or delivering packages at all, now that you mention it.  I will always email you when your package ships, but once it’s on its way, please don’t ask me when it will arrive because I don’t know.  If the world’s postal systems can ever agree on a universal tracking system that’s affordable, I’ll be the first to use it.

NOW IT’S YOUR TURN…

I will always leave positive feedback for successful transactions, and would appreciate the same in return.  All I ask of you is the following – please pay for your items within 14 days of the close of auction.  Compared to other sellers, that’s a generous amount of time, so if you don’t pay within 2 weeks, then I have to assume something’s wrong.  You’ll get an Ebay payment reminder at that point, and possibly a decapitated horse head in your bed.  If, after 30 days, you still haven’t forked up the cash, I’ll relist the item and yell at you if I ever see you in town.