TONY GALLA In Love classic MONSTER Northern Soul org 45

$

451

artist // title:
TONY GALLA // "In Love" (A-side)
format: vinyl 7" single

This is an original USA commercial pressing of Swan 4275. It is not a reissue. It is the BLACK label version with "Don't Drop Out". Based on what I know about the Beatles 45s on Swan, label variations don't correspond chronologically. I say this because I once saw a claim that the white label/red print stock issue of this was the earlier pressing. Well, although the white label may scarcer (and may not... I've found an equal number of both versions locally) I think it's simply a case of the pressing plant using whatever labels they had laying around. NOT case of one coming before the other. Anyway, I highly doubt this had a second pressing, period. It was not a hit! In fact, it was a fluke that it was released at all... this type of music was not what this band was known for. Tony Galla And The Rising Sons were a local bar band (Buffalo, NY) who became Raven (good garage/R&B private press LP, bad major-label rural/blues LP).

This is 100% an original 1960s pressing. It's a stock (non-promo) press. The B-side, "Guys Go For Girls" is pure teen pop but it's "In Love" you'll be wanting this for. You wouldn't be reading this if you didn't already know that it's a highly sought-after, always-in-demand Northern Soul MONSTER. Very mod-sounding piano (like early Moody Blues), good organ, great vocal effort... a great mod dancer.

A note on grading: I'm a fulltime professional record seller; have been for many years. I've sold about 5000 records on eBay, almost all have been on my other account. I've had only one complaint re: grading (the Buyer agreed the record was correctly graded VISUALLY, but he felt that it played with more noise than he expected; a full refund was offered but he declined).
I mainly concentrate on collecting and selling LPs and I'm very comfortable grading them. Many of my buyers, and most of the dealers and collectors in my area, feel I'm TOO TOUGH on my grading! Okay, but when it comes to 45s, I'm not so comfortable. I'm relatively new to 45 collecting. I compared my grading with some 45 dealer's gradings (GOOD dealers, mind you... not bozos), and my grading seemed to be overly conservative. I realized I can't apply my strict LP standards to 45s and loosened up a little, yet I've still been getting feedback indicating I'm under-grading. So, while I'll continue to give my 45s a letter grade to the best of my ability, I'm going to describe them in plain, unambiguous terms which hopefully will be more accurate and universal.

I have examined this record under strong, revealing lighting.

LABELS are NM to NM-. These black labels usually resist wear pretty well, and this one is no exception.

VINYL: OK, I really hate putting letter grades on off-condition stuff... stuff that's less than Excellent. Everyone (pretty much) agrees on the meaning of NM but the lower grades no longer have much standard meaning! So instead I'll say- vinyl has lots of light marks. None deep. Looks like it spent a bit of its life without a sleeve. IN LOVE has more of these surface marks and some loss of gloss, while the B-side has more gloss and less of these "all over" hairlines but a couple of more visible (larger) scuffs. Of course, there's nothing feelable with even a careful fingernail. Both sides sound great to me... there's some loss of high end, and moderate distortion, about average for a well-used but decent Sixties 45. On IN LOVE this is mostly on the instrumental intro, after that the band kicks in fully and it sounds truly excellent! And I've never heard a NM copy, so maybe there's always some distortion. But- for what it's worth- I burned both sides to CDR for my archive. Besides the obvious -of course no skips or jumps, not even any ticks- the sound was VERY nice and enjoyable. Easily very usable for a DJ situation.
The more I think about it, I really really don't want to put a letter grade on this. If I was forced (at gunpoint) I'd say it's at least a VG ... but in this case, VG would NOT mean an "eBay VG" (no gloss left/ never been in a sleeve/ garbage). VG would mean Very Good. Actually better than a Goldmine's definition of VG; that allows a mark you can feel, which this does NOT have. I think many would grade it VG+.
Let's go with: a nice record, a great way to get a really rare one, but if you're building a world class North Soul collection of NM vinyl, you'll need an upgrade some day. In the meantime, you'll enjoy having this. OK?

There's no writing, stamps, address labels, stickers, tears, gouges, chips, drillholes... anywhere on this item.

If you really need to, I can play this for you over the phone, by prior arrangement. It is, of course, 100% GUARANTEED to be as described both visually and sound-wise. The last word on the grading of this item- please check our feedback before bidding!

Note: I usually accept PayPal under any circumstances. But for this auction only I WILL NOT ACCEPT CREDIT CARD PAYMENTS, except through BidPay. If your Paypal account is set up for it you can pay me by NON-Credit Card (eCheck from your bank account, or funds from a PayPal account). I offer plenty of other payment options, so it shouldn't be a problem. I just can't afford to pay an extra fee of $10+ out of my own pocket by accepting Credit Card payments on this auction.

Foreign Airmail- A single 45 is: Canada $3.50, Europe/South America $6, Asia /Australia $6.50. Only $0.50 for each additional.

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