SHOCKING BLUE - INKPOT PINK ELEPHANT NL 1972 1st Press EX vinyl

	£		59
	$		78

SHOCKING BLUE -

INKPOT

PINK ELEPHANT

 1972

1st Press NL

 1972 Ultra Heavy vinyl

Machined First UK press matrices the earliest possible issue.

ORIGINAL NL PINK ELEPHANT FIRST PRESSING (JUNE 1972)  IN EXCELLENT CONDITION (barely played, two or three light spindle traces on the labels, at most) AND DELIVERING BEAUTIFULLY CLEAN, NEAR SILENT AUDIO THROUGHOUT - WHICH IS INCREDIBLY DIFFICULT TO FIND AS THE LP HAS MANY VERY QUIET MOMENTS WHICH ARE COMMONLY SPOILT BY EXCESSIVE SURFACE NOISE - BUT THIS IS ONE OF THE FINEST AND CLEANEST SOUNDING COPIES I HAVE HEARD IN A WHILE  - FANTASTIC COPY AND THEY REALLY DON'T COME MUCH BETTER , MOST COPIES HAVING BEEN PLAYED TO DEATH AND NOT LOOKED AFTER. THIS BEAUTY HAD A VERY CAREFUL OWNER WHO RESPECTED HIS VINYL.

Sleeve:  VG++.  On account of a small colourfill towards the spine. The sleeve is in great condition otherwise with very minimal edge wear and beautiful rich colours. One small scuff on the spine. This was the last of the great Shocking Blue albums with just compilations issued after this one. Still sounding very much like the garage beat/psych of the late 60s. This sunk straightaway as the times were moving on into glam territory. These are all quality compositions mainly by Robby van Leeuwen. Actually a very hard album to come by on the original Pink Elephant label.

Vinyl: EX.  Both surfaces retain their original deep, glossy sheen and are practically unmarked and shine like new. There are one or two very light and superficial hairlines from inner sleeve retraction but these have no audio consequence - the record sounds sensational!!
 Outstanding audio delivery in all respects with a crystal clear, deep, rich, warm and detailed sound and on playback at a loud volume (which is how I always listen to my LPs prior to listing and it's always an immense pleasure to return to this one) there are no scratches, no sticks or jumps, no clicks or pops and barely any surface noise (really hardly anything worth a mention and to be incredibly picky, maybe just a touch on the run-ins). This is a beautifully clean pressing (and I must emphasise again how difficult it is to find a copy which plays this well). The whole LP sounds absolutely stunning and plays to an extremely high standard with superb clarity, no groove-wear and no distortion and is very strictly graded a strong EX for audio  - great copy!! Of course, NO skips, NO jumps, NO ticks.

Shocking Blue was founded in 1967 by Robbie van Leeuwen. The group had a minor hit in 1968 with "Lucy Brown is Back in Town". After Mariska Veres took over the vocals, the group charted a world-wide hit with the song "Venus", which peaked at No. 3 in theNetherlands in 1969. The song reached No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in February 1970. It subsequently sold 350,000 copies in Germany, and topped the U.S. chart for three weeks, the first song from the Netherlands to do so. It sold over one million copies there by January 1970, and received a gold record awarded by the Recording Industry Association of America. Global sales exceeded five million copies.h The song was based on "The Banjo Song" (1963) by The Big 3.

Other hits include "Send Me a Postcard" in 1968/69 and "Long and Lonesome Road" (often mistakenly named as "Long Lonesome Road") in 1969. Shocking Blue's songs also received quite a large amount of radio airplay on Dutch channels.

"Venus" was followed by "Mighty Joe" (flip-side "Wild Wind") in 1969 and "Never Marry a Railroad Man" (flip-side "Roll Engine Roll") in 1970, which both sold over a million records.[1] Later songs - including "Hello Darkness" (1970), "Shocking You", "Blossom Lady" and "Out of Sight, Out of Mind" (1971), "Inkpot", "Rock in the Sea" and "Eve and the Apple" (1972) and "Oh Lord" (1973) were successful in Europe, Latin America and Asia, but failed to chart in the U.S..

NIRVANA covered the Shocking Blue song "Love Buzz" as their debut single in 1988, and it also appeared on their 1989 album Bleach.

Important : International postage will be registered and insured if over GBP 20.00.  These fees in England have gone up significantly last May. Please wait for my invoice before paying. Postage will be according to Royal Mail rates. Postage is NOT a money spinning exercise for me.

***This is a unique prime investment opportunity!!! Finding this classic album in any condition at all is nearly impossible!!! This is  a great and seriously collectable super album!!  You will buy into a piece of  superb NL beat history.*** 

             This is a unique investment opportunity!!! The next psych album to go completely through the roof. Finding this album in any condition at all is nearly impossible so late in the day. Get this while you still can. This value of the album is only going to go one way ... up and up ... until it will be totally unavailable at all for a reasonable price.

This an excellent investment opportunity!!! Any questions please ask me and I will try to answer soon.

This is a unique investment opportunity!!! The next prog album to go completely through the roof. Finding this album in any condition at all is nearly impossible so late in the day. Get this while you still can. This value of the album is only going to go one way ... up and up ... until it will be totally unavailable at all for a reasonable price.

Important : International postage will be registered and insured if over GBP 20.00.  Please wait for my invoice before paying. Postage will be according to Royal Mail rates. Postage is NOT a money spinning exercise for me.

Though there are rarely ever any problems with my items, I always try my very best to describe everything exactly!  PLEASE REMEMBER to contact me FIRST,  if you have any problems at all, before you leave feedback and star ratings, so I get a chance to turn any negative experience into a positive one!  I can always happily sort anything out for you, if you let me know you have a problem!  This way no one has to leave Negative/Neutral feedback - and we both walk away happy! Similarly with the amount of stars, anything less than a full 5 * rating is effectively detrimental to a seller's rating as lower ratings will incur higher Final Value Fees  and lower priority in the bidlists eventually making it unattractive to list items on Ebay at all. I know of at least one major previous Ebay seller who has decided not to list via Ebay again. Please do NOT bid if you cannot give me at least 1 chance to sort everything out to your FULL satisfaction in the unlikely event of a problem.  Thanks again!!

This an excellent investment opportunity!!! Any questions please ask me and I will try to answer soon.