TONTON MACOUTE Orig UK 1971 VERY RARE RCA Neon EX+ LP

	£		135
	$		179

ONEADAYRECORDS – Delivering Quality Music to the World.

Artist or Band: TONTON MACOUTE

Album Title: Tonton Macoute.

Producer(s): Tonton Macoute.

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Just Like Stone; Don’t Make Me Cry; Flying South in Winter.

Side 2: Dreams; You Make My Jelly Roll; Natural High part I; Natural High part II.

Label/Format: RCA Neon - Beautiful Neon design on side one and intense black, glossy finish text format on side two. (Please see my label scans).

Label Conditions: Both very clean and attractive and the text side retains a lovely glossy shine finish with minimal traces of any handling. Hardly a spindle mark to be seen, another one from the DJ collection recently purchased.

Cat Number: NE4 (AGBS 0519).

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: 129 grams. [These days, many modern Audiophile reissues are pressed on super-heavyweight 180 gram vinyl. Only a small percentage of ‘vintage vinyl’ was ever pressed this heavy. Records pressed in the 1960s averaged around 135 to 145 grams. Records pressed in the 1970s were usually lighter and averaged more around 115 – 125 grams. Some records pressed around 1973 were very thin and light due an oil crisis and shortage around this time. Some records were even issued on recycled vinyl from this period and sounded poor with crackle and surface noise evident from the very first play. If any record I buy is deemed ‘recycled’, I will never offer it, I have a very simple test to detect these records if I suspect this to be the case other than audible imperfection. Some records from this period were even pressed on other materials the most notable was ‘Dynaflex’, used by RCA around this time. Although inferior to vinyl, this at least mostly sounded reasonably acceptable but pressings on this material were wafer thin and flimsy. Beyond the 70s, many records often became thinner and lighter still but most played fine but were never quite the quality as from the ‘Golden Era’]. (This was based on ‘average’ weights for 50 records from these eras.

Country of Manufacture: England.

Rarity: Rare and on a highly collectable label that had only small runs. Neon was RCA progressive off-shoot and only a few titles were ever issued on it and most all sold very poorly making all the titles elusive and rare.

Original Year of Release: 1971

Matrix Nos: AGBS 0510-1E / AGBS 0510-2E

Musicians: Chris Gavin - bass guitar, electric and acoustic guitars; Dave Knowles - alto and tenor saxophones, flute, clarinet, electric saxophone, vocals; Paul French - organ, electric piano, piano, vibes, vocals; Nigel Reveler - percussion.

Brief Info: Following the trend of the bigger labels to introduce a spin-off label to promote unknown ‘progressive’ acts, RCA introduced Neon that included one of the most beautiful logos to adorn any record. Eleven albums were issued on this label in the UK before it folded with hardly any title selling in any significant numbers. Some have now become massively rare and highly elusive and sort-after. The ‘Spring’ album is one of the most prized, an album a friend paid 50p for in a bargain deletion bin in the early 70s - now changing hands for £700+ in near mint conditions. Tonton Moucoute is another rare gem on this prized label - a one-off album that blends progressive rock with jazz elements. A wonderful album and one that remains quite melodic within this genre - with better promotion surely it would have sold better? Alas, like the label and other acts on it, it was doomed to failure and copies of this album rarely surface and rarely in fine condition. This one has an attractive cover with any wear mainly confined to the edges. Many of these obscure poor sellers that could not be given away back in their day had large price reduction stickers applied and many covers were written off in less than subtle attempts to remove them. We have all seen these rare covers with the massive stickers tears and horrible damage as up to quarter of the cover is sometimes pulled away. So few were sold at ‘full price’ hence finding intact covers so difficult. The record looks hardly even played and sounds fantastic and this is not an easy one. The only tiny mark of significance lies right at the end of the album and has two or three mild clicks as the music fades away into the run-out grooves. The unlined black Neon inner is also included, and apart from a corner crease, this too is in fine condition - most suffer bad tears and splits and this has been avoided. This genuinely rare jazz-prog album will prove difficult to find much better overall.

This Cover’s Potential for Wear: High.

Cover Grade and Format: EX(-), close EX especially given to the fragile nature of its finish. Not dissimilar to the Vertigo spiral covers and we all know what they wear like. An unlaminated gatefold format. Printed and made in England by the E. J. Day Group.

Cover Front: Attractive with minimal wear. Light surface marks are only really apparent with angled viewing and there is hardly any rubbing or creasing. Generally very clean with no ring marks and retaining a high degree of freshness. Tiny traces of edgewear just encroach into view, but this is being somewhat critical. A very fine front for this elusive sleeve.

Cover Back: All very similar again with just the faintest trace of a ring arc near the top-right. A few tiny trace marks and odd small surface crease but little else .

Cover Inner Gatefold: Both faces superb with barely any traces of wear, marks or creases - superb infact.

Top Edges: Light patchy rubbing.

Bottom Edges: Light to light+ patchy rubbing, moderate near right corners.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean, sharp on front edge, less so on the back entrance edge that has mildly thickened but remains unfeathered.

Spine and Text: The vulnerable spine remains in very fine condition overall. Solid, straight, uncompressed and square, both right edges meet up perfectly together and parallel. A little mostly mild rubbing in places on the actual fold but few will ever avoid some. In terms of wear here, it’s only very light, just slightly more near the bottom corner. All text is present and pretty much unworn.

Corners: All corners have rubbed but not excessively ranging from light+ to moderate. Most retain fine shape with minimal erosion.

Cover Summary: With no writing or sticker tears, which these these types so often suffer, this remains a strong all round example of this rare and delicate early 70’s cover, one that will prove very difficult to find much better. This still attractive item should please many collectors but not the perfectionists. How many near perfect examples will still exist will be few, of that I am certain.

The Inner: Guaranteed the genuine Neon black unlined inner and in EX condition, without the moderate crease on one corner I would have graded Mint(-). No edge splits and clean, so unusual to find these this nice. Most Neon inners are ripped or torn to shreds or missing altogether.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: Probably undergraded at EX+. A very fine visual copy that is super clean, shiny, intense black and very solidly pressed. A copy with minimal plays on all the evidence. As mentioned above, a tiny mark at the very end of the final song with a couple of light clicks as the music fades away into the run-out grooves. This tiny mark may must be visible on my label scan on side two (the text side). Any marks are ultra fine as hairlines or ultra faint paper scuff, these have no sound of course. Visually a super record that should please most collectors.

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 snippetts 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 miniscule sound present on any record.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This rare prog record plays up to its high visual grading with practically nothing to fault. Strong, distortion-free sound, all frequencies are sharp and clear - sound quality is very high with a wide dynamic range and very detailed sound. My experience of this label is top pressing quality cannot be guaranteed, infact most I have heard have been crackly with inherent surface sound. Maybe RCA cut back the quality of vinyl knowing these had little commercial potential and resulting low sales, I don’t know but they do seem to fall below the very best standards on occasions. This is my first copy of this album and it plays superbly and did NOT disappoint in any way. Any surface sounds are minimal indeed and no other pops or clicks were noted and this is an exceptional clean pressing for what is a challenging album with some quieter passages and most of all of these play as listeners would want - quiet. Few copies will outperform this clean pressed example significantly I feel sure. Nothing really spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this wonderful record, a somewhat ‘lost’ prog gem. This 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 with Ittok Mk IV arm and Ortofon Samba Moving Coil cartridge (tracks at 1.8 grams). Amps: Naim Nait 5i with Project USB phono stage and Chord interconnects. Speakers: B&W 704 Floorstanding 3-way Monitors (bi-wired). All records I offer on Ebay are cleaned on a professional Moth vacuum machine before play-grading for the cleanest and best possible sound and will include a brand new lined inner and protective cover too.

First-time, zero-rated bidders, who do not ask permission to bid, will be cancelled immediately and blocked – NO exceptions. For winning bidders who I consider excessively slow to make contact or submit payment, I will use my right to block future bids. If any bidder who wins in the final seconds is present to do so, surely they can at least email me to inform of intention and payment method? If swift or promp payment is a problem, please do not bid.

POSTING & PACKING: What You Get: I now offer the fastest possible posting, mostly the very next day after payment is received or within 48 hours maximum. All records are posted in professional boxes (NOT mailers) with the record(s) 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 TWO thick stiffners for even extra protection. The cover will be placed within a BRAND NEW heavy duty soft protective sleeve and the actual record will be professionally cleaned on my Moth Pro vacuum system to give ultimate clean grooves and playing surfaces and the best possible looks and ultimate sound quality. Printed address labels are used for clarity and well as sender label. 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. Customers requests or special needs for P&P will be respected if at all possible but NOT surface mail abroad. I never make profit on posting and offer probably the best-value and safest shipping possible. I will invoice any winning bidder as soon as possible after the auction ends, with the total costs including ‘standard’ or ‘optional extra insurance’ P&P – ALL UK and Russian packets go out non-negotiable Recorded Delivery. My ‘loss’ or ‘damage rate’ is less than 0.1 per percent based on over 4,000+ items sold in over 7 years of Ebay trading and I consider that pretty exceptional.

PLEASE NOTE: I will now only send packets to Russia with Recorded Delivery at a cost of £7 per single LP. If this is unacceptable to Russian collectors, please do not bid. I only want my records to arrive safely and this gives packets a better chance to do so. Also ALL UK packets will be sent with either Recorded or Special Delivery as standard (both have to be signed for). All shipping costs and rules can be found after my description. If they are not acceptable, please do not bid.

NOTE: First Time Bidders: I will cancel ALL first-time bidders with no feedbacks or excessive negatives who do not ask me if its OK to bid first – NO EXCEPTIONS.

Please Note: I will now offer any item to the runner-up after the mandatory Ebay 3 days if no contact is made by the winning bidder unless prior notice of any delay is given beforehand. The same applies if no payment is received within the mandatory 7 days so any bidder who has just lost out can still email me to reserve the item as priority second chance – it’s always worth asking.

SHIPPING COSTS & OPTIONS:

Posting & Packing: UK & CHANNEL ISLANDS all now sent Recorded Delivery:

1 LP (First Class Recorded Delivery with Standard Royal Mail Insurance) [Signed For] = £4 (OPTIONAL).

1 LP (Special Delivery with Standard £500 Maximum Insurance) [Signed For, Next Day] = £7 (OPTIONAL).

Posting & Packing: ALL EUROPE & SCANDINAVIA (NOT RUSSIA, see below) (Airmail Only):

1 LP (Small Packet Standard with Standard Royal Mail Insurance) = £5.

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with included Insurance to Item’s ‘Sold’ Value, £500* Maximum) = £9 (OPTIONAL).

Posting & Packing: RUSSIA (Recorded Only, if this is unacceptable, please do not bid):

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ only £7) = £9 (OPTIONAL extra insurance as above).

Posting & Packing: ALL OVERSEAS (non-European) e.g. USA (any part); Australia; Canada; Japan and other Far East; (Airmail Only: I NEVER use Surface Mail):

1 LP (Small Packet Standard with Standard Royal Mail Insurance) = £8.

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with included Insurance to Item’s ‘Sold’ Value, £500* Maximum) = £13 (OPTIONAL).

* If Rules allow for that country.

PLEASE NOTE: I always get a Royal Mail ‘Proof-of-Posting’ receipt for ALL packets that are sent out and I am happy to prove this to any customer who wishes to see it via email.

Payment Conditions:

I prefer PayPal or cheque from UK winning bidders. I can accept PayPal from overseas bidders.

The customer can choose their method of shipping with the exception of second class or surface mail overseas – these I will NOT use. The winner bidder chooses his/her posting method and if uninsured is chosen, its their decision and they have to stick with it, I can accept no responsibility if an item is lost in the post. I can only try to claim at standard levels if no enhancement is chosen (£39).

Potential Bidders: Please do not bid if you have negative feedback unless checking first, I will cancel any bids I feel are timewasters. 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 minus the Posting and All Ebay costs as long as the item detail has been read and understood. I will not refund if any defect detail is clearly stated on the advert and missed by the buyer. If any overseas collector does not understand anything in my listing, please email and ask me to help.

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 neccessarily 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’.