ALICE COOPER Pretties For You RARER ORIG UK 1969 EX++ STRAIGHT LP, HARDLY PLAYED

	£		131
	$		174

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Postage: UK £4.75 (£1 per extra record). Europe (including Russia) £12.50 (£2 per extra record). Rest of World (including ALL parts of the USA) £16.50 (£3 per extra record). All boxes signed for in quality, safe packaging – I NEVER use mailing envelopes that offer virtually no protection at all, and records WILL arrive damaged in them at some time as most record buyers will already know. Here, you get what you pay for – SAFE PACKING in BOXES using 7mm DOUBLE-WALL STIFFENERS including full side protection and bubble wrap, the records removed from the covers of course. All this very safe packing means I lose money on every box I post, but safe delivery is, and will always be paramount. You WILL see the difference when my packet arrives. Also, I will pay for insurance on any record that sells for over £100 at NO extra cost – that is UK and abroad. Also I aim to post the very same day after payment is received if possible. PLEASE NOTE: I will NOT send any item, no matter what its value without a Royal Mail or courier tracking number. ALL my items must be signed and trackable to comply with Ebay delivery rules. Please do NOT ask me to make any exceptions to this rule as no country offers 100% reliable service without it.

Posting to Russia: Yes, I do post to Russia. But delivery can take longer from the UK. So please be patient. I will submit a tracking number to the winning bidder, and when the packet arrives there it can be followed online using the Russian post website.

ALSO: I now apply the Ebay ‘2-day’ rule for non-payment to keep things moving – cash-flow is important for any small business.

ANY ITEM or ITEMS TO BE PAID WITHIN A MAXIMUM OF 6 DAYS or they will be cancelled – NO EXCEPTIONS.

FINALLY: Late payers, non-payers and ‘0’ bidders will now be blocked or cancelled at my discretion, as will any bidder who cancels a bid. Please only bid on my items if you want them.

Artist or Band: ALICE COOPER

Album Title: Pretties For You

Producer(s): Credited to Alice Cooper on the cover. Likely contributions by Frank Zappa.

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Titanic Overture; 10 Minutes Before the Worm; Sing Low, Sweet Cheerio; Today Mueller; Living; Fields of Regret.

Side 2: No Longer Umpire; Levity Ball; B.B. on Mars; Reflected; Apple Bush; Earwigs to Eternity; Changing Arranging.

Label/Format: Straight with matt, very gently textured surfaces.

Label Conditions: Both in supreme condition, very clean, fresh and attractive with any spindle traces minuscule. This elusive album appears hardly played.

Catalogue Number: STS 1051

Mode / Speed: Stereo / 33.3 rpm.

Warps or Lateral Movement: Assume all records I offer have no significant warping or lateral movement to cause sound or tracking issues. All should play fine even on budget turntables.

Weight of this Record: 157 grams. A heavyweight record for a Straight album.

Country of Manufacture: England

Rarity: Rare, a virtually unknown new underground American act at the time and few even noticed. Only a tiny run pressed in the UK and deleted very quickly before being repressed in 1973 as the ‘School Days’ double set with ‘Easy Action’ in a totally new design cover.

Original Year of Release: 1969

Matrix Nos: STS 1051 A1 / STS 1051 B1 [machine stamped]

Musicians: Alice Cooper – lead vocals, harmonica; Glen Buxton – lead guitar; Michael Bruce – rhythm guitar, backing vocals and one lead vocal, keyboards; Dennis Dunaway – bass guitar, backing vocals; Neal Smith – drums, backing vocals.

Brief Info: The debut Alice Cooper album and initially issued on Frank Zappa’s new Straight label. Predictable, it sold poorly, just about scraping into the American album chart at 193 before disappearing. It fared far worse in the UK where it was barely even noticed, deleted and lost in the mist-of-time with very few even pressed. Alice Cooper, in their early days were a long-haired psychedelic underground act and few here would have shelled out on this one – how many record shops would have even stocked such a record? Zappa heard the band live, and he once said on interview, that the audience were walking out of their gigs. So Frank thought, with a reaction like that, they must have something going for them and gave them a contract on his fledgling label. They made three albums on Straight – the first two are elusive and went largely unnoticed – the third ‘Love it to Death’ did do better. Straight and Bizarre Records were a label founded by Zappa for outsider acts that had little chance of commercial success or even getting a contract anywhere else. Few bands or artists on these labels sold at all well with odd exception and both labels folded in the early 1970s. We all know Alice Cooper went on to considerable success, but the first two albums with scant promotion and probably zero air-play, are rare and elusive, especially UK copies. This record appears hardly played and is well pressed on heavy vinyl. The cover has aged a little but still a reasonably fine example of a wear-prone cover. Many American printings had the woman’s underwear censored by a sticker, the UK print was uncensored.

Cover Grade and Format: VERY GOOD(+): an unlaminated gatefold format with matt, smooth surfaces. Printed and made in England by E. J. Day Group, includes the plain white inner sleeve.

Cover Front: Wear-prone and genuine English-made examples rarely seen. The front has only mild patchy grubbiness or toning traces, mostly near the sides. Minimal creasing or rubbing with no sticker issues. As stated, the UK versions never had the sticker censoring of the woman’s underwear. So overall, lightly aged, but no major issues or faults.

Cover Back: Generally very similar with any marks, creases or grubbiness/ageing little and light. The lack of ugly ringwear and heavy rubbing are major pluses on this one.

Cover Inner Gatefold: Slight traces of rubbing with the odd light surface crease, little else.

Top Edges: Straight and flat with any rubbing little, patchy and light.

Bottom Edges: Even less rubbing with most on the right ends.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Mostly sharp with any thickening very little and light. Record enters on the back edge.

Spine and Text: Solid, still mainly straight with light compression and flattened a little towards the top. Folding is neat with the edges still quite flush. Some light patchy surface rubbing with a little text worn as-seen. However the majority is still present and still quite easily read.

Corners: Any tip rubs quite small and light, fine to very fine shape mostly retained with no heavy knocks.

Cover Summary: A strong all-round example of this rare original UK-manufactured 1960’s cover, one that will prove difficult to find much better. Lightly aged with a little mild wear, but seldom found at all, so this should please many collectors.

The Inner Sleeve: EXCELLENT: a plain white unlined inner that has aged little with all edges naturally intact. Both window circles crisp and undamaged, the paper still quite fresh. This includes the ‘PATENTS APPLIED FOR’ text.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT(++): an impressive visual copy that is very clean with equally fine shine and heavily pressed. A copy with minimal plays on all the evidence with any surface marks very few, light and faint as seen critically under bright light. No penetrating stylus scratches, viewed in average room light, hardly anything even registers. Visually a super record that should please many, if not 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 snippets or joining grooves to check for sound quality and quietness – I play from the beginning to end via clinically revealing equipment, all listed further down.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This ‘lost’ UK-pressed underground album plays even above it’s high visual grading with hardly anything to fault. Offering strong, distortion-free sound, all frequencies are sharp and clear – sound quality is high with a full dynamic range and detailed sound. Any surface sounds are minimal indeed and this is a very clean pressing with no tracking issues* or inherent pressing noises. Hardly commercial and quite experimental, this was never going to sell well. Few available copies will outperform this early first UK pressing I feel sure. Both channels are clean and sharp, I am certain this record has been played very lightly and has been carefully handled. Nothing of any note spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this lovely record. Seldom found in this hardly used condition, this record will prove very difficult to find significantly better and can be strongly recommended.

* As played-graded on a high-end Linn LP12 Sondek turntable with Ittok Mk II arm and Ortofon Quintet Black moving coil cartridge tracking at 2 grams. Records are a ‘contact’ format, and few will avoid the odd minor sound blemish.

I am one of the most established sellers on Ebay, trading since 2001 and offering the finest 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 all elements of the items I offer for sale. You may notice I only submit records quite sparingly on Ebay as I Play-Grade every record I offer in their entirety – also on higher-end equipment – not just bits to guess a grade – visuals alone do not always tell a true story. I will try to 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 it’s good. I get just as much pleasure offering a relatively common record in near mint condition as the real rare items. All the pictures I use for your guidance are the item being offered with no digital enhancements. Room light factors can make things vary sometimes, that is hard to control, especially in winter. I hope the item below is to your liking – any questions can be emailed and I will do my best to answer you. I am enthusiastic, and have a fair degree of knowledge about many genres and I promise quality items. Please assume all records I offer have NO jumps, sticks, major 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 Quintet Black moving coil cartridge (tracks at 2 grams). Amps: Naim Supernait 2 with Project USB phono stage and Tellerium Black interconnects. Speakers: B&W 805 Nautilus (bi-wired with Tellurium Black terminated cable) with REL subwoofer. All records I offer on Ebay are cleaned on a professional Nessie 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 D7500 DSLR 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.

PLEASE NOTE: I now exercise my right to open a dispute after the Ebay rule of TWO days if no payment is received. I will then cancel the dispute to end the bid, 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 as will any suspicious bids or bid bid retractions. 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] = £4.75

1 LP (Special Delivery with Standard £500 Maximum Insurance) [Signed For, Next Day] = £7.50. (this includes insurance of £500). Add £1 per extra LP.

Posting & Packing: EUROPE & SCANDINAVIA. (Airmail Only):

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£50 maximum]) = £12.50 (enhanced Royal Mail insurance is an optional extra £3). Add £2 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 [£50 maximum]) = £16.50 (£17.50 for double sets). Add £3 per extra LP. (enhanced Royal Mail insurance is an optional extra £3)

Payment Conditions:

I prefer PayPal or cheque from UK winning bidders. I only 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 2 days for communication and 7 days for payment to arrive – if not I will relist the item or offer to the runner-up.

My Guarantee: If any winning bidder is not satisfied with their purchase I will offer a complete refund if the item is returned in the same condition is was sent e.g. as per the listing pictures.

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, 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.