Ramones Rocket Russia LP MISPRINT PROMO LP & GLOSSY BIO PHOTO Leave

$

130

PLEASE NOTE: I WILL ONLY GRADE AN OPENED LP NEAR MINT (NM) IF I CAN GUARANTEE IT HAS NEVER BEEN PLAYED (i.e. I AM THE ORIGINAL OWNER).  OTHERWISE, NEAR MINT MINUS (NM-) IS THE ABSOLUTE HIGHEST GRADE I WILL ASSIGN AN OPENED LP.


I'm often asked to name my all time favorite band and for many years I was convinced I would never be able to whittle it down that far.  If it was based on the number of songs I loved by an artist then it could have easily been the Beatles or Black Sabbath.  But then one day it dawned on me listening to this LP.  My all time favorite band was a combination of the two.  I listened to the Beatles and marveled at the songwriting but when I listened to the Ramones it was an enormous rush that I FELT and that's what rock and roll (and music in general) is about.  It was gutter subculture cloaked in addictive, sugary verses and choruses served in 2 minute blasts of white hot atomic energy with no use for a solo.  I've never counted the number of Ramones LPs I have collected over the last 40+ years but suffice to say it needs to be trimmed down so I'm auctioning some of the rarest stuff.  This set is easily one the crown jewels in my Ramones collection.  It comes from a collection I bought many years ago from a former Apple Tree Records store employee in downstate Illinois.  His collection included some of the most incredible promotional punk items I have ever seen.  First the LP.  The cover has the MUCH rarer white custom-typed rectangular promotional sticker in the top right hand corner with the title text at the bottom misspelt as Rocket Ro Russia!!!  Matrix numbers in the dead wax identify this as a first pressing from the Capitol Records Pressing Plant in Los Angeles (the other two were Winchester and Jacksonville).  Includes the original glossy black & white printed inner sleeve with complete lyrics.  Vinyl is VG+ with some light paper scuffs on side 2 and cover is VG+ with a small seam on the top.   Now for the real reason you're reading this.  Inside this promotional LP was one of, if not THE earliest Premier Talent Agency glossy 8" x 10" publicity photos of the band ever taken!!  Notice how the typesetting for their names at the bottom is quaintly misaligned, with Dee Dee's name printed much higher than the others.  It has the Premier Talent Agency logo in the bottom right hand corner with their 54th street New York address, phone number and the legendary Frank Barsalona (who was instrumental in shaping the music industry) listed as president.  Barsalona would go on to sell Premier to the William Morris Agency and help found the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.  He remains the only agent to ever be inducted (in 2005).  This set is for serious collectors only.  An incredible artefact from punk's first wave.  These first promotional white sticker pressings rarely surface and copies with original glossy publicity photos never come up for auction so don't sleep.  You won't see a lot like this by the Beatles of punk ever again.  Long live the Ramones, my favorite band of all time.


I USE GOLDMINE GRADING:  MINT (SEALED)
NEAR MINT: LOOKS UNPLAYED VG++:  VERY VERY MINIMAL SIGNS OF USE
VG+:  AVERAGE SIGNS OF USE, NOTHING DEEP, SUPERFICIAL VG:  STILL AN OK RECORD, NOISE BETWEEN SONGS
GOOD: WORN BUT PLAYS FINE WITH DISTRACTING NOISE POOR:  FILLER COPY ONLY.  LOTS OF SCRATCHES