Rickie Lee Jones Pop Pop 2009 ORG Gray Hoffman - Excellent

$

85

Rickie Lee Jones – Pop Pop

Original Recordings Group

ORG 007

2009

180g LPx2

About the 2009 ORG edition

I bought this as a new OOP album in 2016 for the purpose of making a recording of the analog source from LP.  Only available on LP in  three versions; the original 1991 Geffen pressing (Europe), the 1997 Alto Analogue re-issue (Germany), and this 2009 ORG pressing cut by Kevin Gray and Steve Hoffman. When trying to decide which to acquire since all are long out of print I decided the effort and cost would be put towards the ORG release, especially as it was pressed on two LP's instead of one, the idea being wider spacing of grooves per track and the benefits this provides in capturing the master at it's highest capabilities.The link will take you to Michael Fremer's March 2009 review of this ORG re-issue upon its release:

https://www.analogplanet.com/content/rickies-ipop-popi-double-180g-vinyl-0

How I've handled this LP with a segment of my own philosophy

A brief note on the record care aspect of cleaning LPs.  I never allow a new record to be played without assurance that the stylus tracing the LP surface is nothing but pure vinyl underneath it, especially since my intent was to archive this as a personal recording.  Just so the potential buyer knows, I use LAST record cleaning products prior to the first play of any new LP of importance, and without reservation did so with this LP.  I've used LAST Extra-Strength Cleaner (now renamed Power Cleaner) and LAST Record Preservative for almost 40 years as well as a VPI 16.5 RCM with a non-residual cleaning fluid as a pre-cleaning regiment.  Many will find an LP being cleaned and treated (properly) with LAST a sigh of relief and welcomed benefit, yet oddly there are a minor few inexperienced and poorly informed folks about an appropriate cleaning regimen and LAST, perhaps preferring wood glue or other strange concoction over one of the first, most established and best researched product engineered by chemists for one purpose only, and whose effectiveness has more than 40 years of time to prove it indeed lives up to its claims.  I only bring this up because I'm proud to use it and if doing so goes against another's sense of propriety I honor that view by including this paragraph in this description of the LP you're about to consider. That's fine and why I’m letting the buyer decide by making full disclosure.  This is not the time or place to educate anyone on the differences between facts and myths regarding proper record care so thanks for your indulgence and I'll return to the description :-)

Grading standards

Though I have thousands of LPs, I'm not a "record collector" as in a business way.  I'm a musician and lover of music, therefore I do not read or practice Goldmine-type standards or care about them.  For me an LP is either worthy or not based on what I can see/hear and my description of that based on a scale is never going to be based on another's perception of the same see/hear condition. New sealed LP are sometimes fine and sometimes they're noisy, warped, bad labels, etc.  In my 40+ years of actively buying them, this is the world of records so therefore look at the pictures and perhaps feel comfortable knowing this LP has been inspected and play tested, and that's the subjective description I can provide.  That said, this album does indeed play wonderfully.  The LP's are flat, pressing and labels centered, and the surface noise is, as expected, most acceptably very low.  There is one track (Love Junkyard) with a single, fairly dominant pop/click.  Not a skip at all, and perhaps I shouldn't even mention it but then again, any LP with only a single notable pop or click of any

magnitude is truly remarkable, and the pop/click I'm talking about simply exists as a natural condition/consequence of any LP's surface.  You won't see it visually but can hear it.  When taking into account all four sides, that's more a testimony on how very good this LP is than noting the pop/click being a weakness.  A new sealed version could have and likely does have a dozen notable pops or clicks.  Again, I'm a music listener that qualifies with play-tested, empirical findings.  A Goldmine "standard" assures nothing by comparison, so by all means choose your own guide and allow me to report what I know based on my subjective visual and sound assessments ;-)

Pricing of LP

As of this posting I see two other Pop Pop LP's listed, one Alto single LP (sealed) for $324.00 and a different issue LP used for $179.00.  These seem to be common prices and many others when this turns up have been equally...well quite silly.  I have collectible albums and what I paid doesn't come close to the prices people want to ask for them, at least on eBay, but that's why I'm not a collector.  If one pays more than $100 for this LP used and in excellent condition by "Goldmine standards" (which is what my guess this copy could fall under) I can't say I understand that, but this is all about fun so there are no rules, right?  Though it took a little negotiating, I paid $115.00 for this sealed because I wanted the recording, but that's a stretch for me and I knew I'd resell it to keep my quest for archiving other analog music that I want moving forward, not to resell for a silly profit that ruins otherwise reasonable availability to other music and LP lovers. That said, if you are a collector that appreciates perpetuating inflated prices and choose to buy this particularly excellent used LP yet feel you underpaid, you're quite welcome, but indeed also feel free to send whatever extra money your conscious deems appropriate to my PayPal, and thank you in advance! :-)

Shipping

Free shipping only available within the continental U.S. please.  If you are outside the continental U.S. and select Buy It Now, the shipping cost will be a default $100 and must be paid immediately at the same time as Buy It Now.