Rockets Self-Titled Debut LP German Press Ariola 26025 E- Condition Space Rock

$

52

Greetings everybody! Thank YOU very much for stopping by another of my ebay record auctions! I appreciate that you did take the time out of your busy schedule to click on my listing header and check out what I have to offer! I know that with all that's going on nowadays that time is tight-and so are funds-so I want to make sure I bring you what I hope we both believe is worthwhile. But for now, I am just happy to have you here, and I hope you will like what you see. If you like it enough that you'd like it for your own-well, that's why I'm here!  

Tonight, I wasn’t planning on doing much of any listing, as this will wind up closing on the Thanksgiving Day holiday, and I know a lot of folks (at least here in the U.S.) will be trying to keep awake after all the Turkey and L-Tryptophan overdosing! But for those who are still unable to keep away from ebay, even on holiday nights, maybe-just maybe, I’ll have something that might make the intrusion into your holiday worthwhile! I hope so, since I am always very Thankful for customers!   

This time up, I have a 1978 German Pressing LP on the Ariola Records label, label # 26025 OT, by Rockets. This is their self-titled LP, the original German pressing. The actual original pressing was 2 years prior, on a different label. This is NOT the “Rockets” that was a semi-southern, boogie-rock band who’s best song ever was a cover of the old Fleetwood Mac song “Oh Well”. Nope, this is completely different! This is some real space-rock from a band of French Canadians who all shaved their heads, covered themselves in silver paint, and wore silver outfits. Kind of a musical version of the Blue Man Group, only a few decades earlier. With a gimmick like this, looking like something that Klaus Nomi dreamed about, could the music be any good? You bet it could! This is some real spacey rock, mixed with some pop overtones, and occasionally-a dose of some disco sound as well. The music is guitar and some synth, and all the songs are sung in French. Later, they would include some songs in English, but on this, what I believe is their debut LP, all lyrics are in French. And check out the modified guitars! Devo must have taken some notes! Some of the songs are quite moody, but overall, this is a really good, albeit a bit different (for it’s time) sound, and it works REAL well! I’ve heard that Rockets have re-formed, but I don’t think they are still doing the same look anymore. Well, that’s okay, even if their heads are shaved, it still beats the Gerald Casale (of Devo) look of being a bit of a porkchop, with a horrible comb-over! The playing surface does have storage wear, and needle marks, and will need a good cleaning before playing. Still, there was no problem with the playing, the needle never skipped around, and the crackling in the background was almost unnoticeable. But the wear is visible, and though the sound was fantastic, I don’t want to be accused of over-grading. Therefore, I am only giving this my slightly less than average grading of E-. That’s my grading though, and my grading is considered non-standard. If you are thinking of placing a bid, please read the paragraph that follows this one, as it contains my gradings and their respective descriptions. It won’t take long to read, please do. The labels have some storage wear, but the text (all in German) is still easy to read. The cover, a gate fold, has storage wear, ring wear, scratches and abrasions, sticker residue, and bending at the edges. The spine and seams have wear as well, but fortunately, no splitting. If you have any questions or comments, please send them along to me, and you will receive a response. If you need more pictures or description, I can and will be happy to provide!

In case anyone's wondering, here is my scale for grading.  M  Mint.  Reserved for still factory sealed.N- Near Mint, opened, no marks whatsoever.  E+, no marks other than a smudge that i'm too lazy to clean.  E, a light mark or 2, probably won't affect play. (why "probably"?  Because everyone claims their hearing is better than the next persons'.) E-, marks or wear that will cause a little audible affectation.  V+, wear that will cause some distortion of some type.  V, V-, P, well, you get the picture.
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IMPORTANT NOTE FOR NON-U.S. BIDDERS!!!!
All items I sell will be sent with a copy of the sale form, printed up from eBay.  I will not "mark item as a gift", just so you can evade import rules.  The people at my post office know me, and they will check overseas packages for inspection.  I hope you will understand my position about this, my apologies if you are not able to comply.

Also, international bidders, the price listed for postage on my listings are for domestic mailing.  I wish I could send overseas for that price, but reality speaks different.  I place a fair price on all international postage.  Watch for the invoice if you win.

ALSO-I need to let international bidders know of a certain problem that doesn't always happen, but will arise from time to time.  All International mail sent from this region has to go through the U.S. Postal Service sorting center in Sandston Virginia, by our local airport.  This sorting center has been named the least efficient sorting center in the entire U.S. Postal Service.  They prove this from time to time by mis-routing packages.  If this happens-and I will monitor the delivery-usually it will add at least an extra week for it to arrive.  If there are any problems, please contact me first, and I will do what I must to make sure you are satisfied with the order.
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All items that are sent to a U.S. address will have delivery confirmation (at my cost) attached, as I have found that it helps...a lot!....to ensure that packages are truly en route to the customer.  This is for both of our sakes.  I will be using USPS "Media Mail" as my primary shipping method, however, if needed, and for an extra charge, I can ship with "Priority Mail", and if i can get away with it for the price, I really like 1st Class, but that's weight-dependent.

Oh yes, if you are the winning bidder, and you are in the Commonwealth of Virginia, I'm afraid you are going to have to fork over the 5.3% Virginia State Sales Tax.

Paypal is my preferred method of payment, if you need another way, please contact me before bidding.  Or, if you have any other questions about this listing, or any of my listings, please feel free to contact me.  I will answer any & all questions as quickly and concisely as possible.

Also, I do have other listings available as well, and if you would be interested in more than one item, I have no problem with holding onto wins in case you would like to combine wins to save some money instead of multiple p&h costs.

Ebay has mandated that I include a "handling time" something I had thought was already included.  I usually get records mailed out the day after payment arrives.  But I will let you know that if any listing that is paid for after Friday mornings will have to wait until the following Monday, since I do the majority of packing at work-I have my packing stuff there.  Plus-I won't hound you for payment. As long as people stay in touch, and let me know the interest is still there, don't rush on my account. I don't mind waiting a bit and usually won't send any kind of reminders until after a week-at least-has gone by.  In this economy, the last thing anyone needs is for a seller to come off like a bill collector.  I'll work with you!

I hope that there's someone out there who might like to make this part of your own collection, since that's what I'm here for!  I do appreciate that you did click on my listing and had a chance to check out the goods, thanks again for stopping by!