SCARECROW - Orig UK PRIVATE PRESSING COMPLETE

	£		183
	$		242

ONEADAYRECORDS – Delivering Quality Music to the World

Please see my Detailed Packing Description Further Down & All Shipping Costs and Options – NOTE: I now apply the Ebay ‘4-day’ rule for non-payment.

Artist or Band: SCARECROW

Album Title: Scarecrow.

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Politician; Reasons for Living; Love’s Confusion.

Side 2: Lonely Man; Reflections; Journey.

Label/Format: Spilt Milk – a very rare private pressed label, seldom seen or offered. (Please see my label scans).

Label Conditions: Both practically as made – very clean, fresh and attractive with barely a spindle trace to be seen.

Cat Number: SMFM 11278.

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: 135 grams.

Country of Manufacture: England.

Rarity: Very Rare: using the term correctly – the price guides are a joke. A very limited edition private pressing of 1000 units. The inside of the cover has this information and is clearly seen on my close-up picture being 0441. Not only is this original rock album rare, this one has survived in superb condition and includes the rare pair of stickers and double-sided insert in Mint condition. Lastly, this also includes it’s original cellophane stickered cover that will rarely, if ever be seen, again, see my close-up of this elusive area. A totally complete and guaranteed original example with the triple gatefold cover that opens out to poster-size with six printed areas one side, the back side is all white. This also in very impressive, little worn condition. My first ever and a prized item within the rock collectors field.

Original Year of Release: 1978

Matrix Nos: SRT + 78 + CVS + 187 + A / SRTX + 78 + CVS + 187 + B

Musicians: Bill Puplett - guitar; John Stewart - second guitar, backing vocals; Dick Williamson - bass guitar; Dave Rumsey - drums.

Brief Info: A popular touring guitar-drive rock band of the mid-70s but failing to get a recording contract – they nearly made it to Phonogram, but it fell through after a row. They took their name from the Pink Floyd song featured on the ‘Piper at the Gates of Dawn’ album from 1967. This 45 minute live album was recorded at The Marquee and The Brecknock over two nights of the August bank holiday of 1978. It has no overdubs and recorded via the mixer direct on to a Rebox A77. The sound is impressive and heard to maximum potential via this barely played original privately pressed record. Without doubt a talented act that wrote original songs, but never destined to get a contract. Their reputation was high and they proved very popular when regularly playing live. This album was pressed in 1000 units, how many actually sold to the general public is uncertain, but without doubt, less than those pressed. For a tiny private issue, it had fairly lavish packaging – the cover does have that hand-made look and feel, but was a triple gatefold format as seen on my pictures. It initially came in a stickered outer sleeve and included two Scarecrow stickers and a double-sided insert sheet – all included here, making this a very rare complete original example that is numbered 0441 (as seen on my close-up picture). Pressing quality is high and this plays with little unwanted – the odd minor sporadic click apart, as good as they will ever get with barely any crackle and no pressing noises or distortion. Comparisons?, well traces of Uriah Heep and Wishbone Ash, but this band were quite original and certainly deserved recognition, but alas, no contract came their way.

This Cover’s Potential for Wear: High: a fairly flimsy, poster-style cover and prone to all forms of wear.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT(+): a conservative grade for what appears to be a hand-made cover. Plain matt smooth card, a double gatefold format that opens out to a full poster size of over 3 x 2 feet. Included are the very rare Scarecrow stickers, the insert sheet and the stickered outer cover. Includes a plain white inner sleeve.

Cover Printed Side Opened: The front has a little mild toning on the right edge but little else on show anywhere. Still clean and even fresh with a little creasing near the corners but the folds strong and unsplit. Few white covers like this will avoid grubbiness and darkening, this has barely any at all and looks very pleasing. Quite basic in construction, but still quite spectacular in it’s own kind of way with impressive artwork and band drawings. Few will survive much better than this and another from this small superbly looked-after records I recently purchased.

Cover Back Opened: Nothing printed but the white fairly soft card is barely marked, darkened or aged at all. This poster-style cover has never been mounted e.g. no pin-holes or tape marks at all.

The Edges: All the folds are strong and very secure, mild scuff rubbing to the ‘spine’ edge that has no text printed. Any burring or thickening to the single thickness edges is minimal indeed and all considered, have survived very well indeed with a strong and high degree of neatness. The record is stored between the central fold area.

Corners: A little mild tip creasing and small mark is near impossible to avoid on such a cover and this has a few small ones. All retain fine to very fine shape.

Cover Summary: Rarely will a private pressed album feature such an interesting and large cover. It may fairly basic in design and construction, but it is impressive nonetheless. This lovely item should please many, if not most collectors.

The Scarecrow Stickers: MINT(-): both still shine as new and have never been removed from their backing. Any creasing barely registers and the backing is simply Mint as made. You are very unlikely to ever find these elusive stickers better.

The Insert Sheet: MINT: nothing to fault. This is guaranteed original and printed on both sides of this very thin, flimsy paper. Totally uncreased with no tears and as clean as when it left the printing process.

The Original Outer Protective Sleeve: EXCELLENT: it has crinkle of course being immensely thin and lightweight. How many of these will still survive or be offered with this set? It still has it’s ‘? NOT SOLD OUT AFTER ALL THESE YEARS ?’ sticker on the front. This has a little mild darkening but little else to fault. This frail cellophane cover has no splits with only mild fogging traces when held to light. Try finding it better, try finding it at all.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT(++): a super visual copy that is very clean, shiny, intense black and very pressed. A copy with minimal plays on all the evidence with any surface marks few, light and faint. Remember, this is a private pressing, not a highly refined and quality-checked Decca album. Visually a super record that should please most 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 minuscule sound present on any record.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This well-made private pressed record plays up to it’s high visual grading with little to fault. Strong, distortion-free sound, all frequencies are sharp and clear - sound quality is very high with a full dynamic range and detailed sound. A budget tiny label privately made record that was recorded live with no overdubs. Well I have heard many contract live albums sound way WAY inferior to this and this really captures this fine band well. Any surface sounds are minimal indeed with just the odd minor sporadic light click noted here and there – nothing substantial at all and all considered, this is a very impressive record that would put some small, official labels to shame. Few copies will outperform this one significantly I feel sure. I would assume this made available at the band’s gigs and few will ever surface to be offered, and ever fewer in such superbly looked-after condition. Both channels are clean and sharp, I am certain this record has been played very lightly and has been clearly well stored and carefully handled, almost certainly in a non-smoking environment. Nothing spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this wonderful record. This COMPLETE copy will prove very difficult to find significantly better and can be strongly 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 QED Silver 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 7,000+ items sold in nearly 10 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 3 or 4 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). I will not respond to questions on shipping costs as all the details are included here and on ALL of my adverts. Details below:

NOTE: First Time Bidders: Please as 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.

1 LP (Special Delivery with Standard £500 Maximum Insurance) [Signed For, Next Day] = £7.50. (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 [£46 maximum]) = £10. (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 [£46 maximum]) = £14. Add £4 per extra LP. (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’.