BILL HALEY and HIS COMETS Bill Haley's Chicks VERY RARE ORIG UK 1959 STEREO LP.

	£		40
	$		53

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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 – in fact I think these things should be banned as records WILL arrive damaged in them at some time. Here, you get what you pay for – SAFE PACKING in BOXES using 7mm DOUBLE-WALL STIFFENERS. Full details nearer the end of the listing.

Posting to Russia: Yes, I do post to Russia. But delivery can take up to 4 to 6 weeks 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. I will always keep my P&P prices as low as possible, and even after yet another Royal Mail price hike from April this year, I have NOT raised my prices and will never compromise on solid, safe packing that is invariably heavier than most you will get. My P&P offers probably the best value-for-money for vinyl records available, and I even will pay for full 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. You WILL see the difference when my packet arrives.

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. I do not like this practice as it is most often used to phish out the price to beat. Ebay does not approve and neither do I – so only bid on my items if you want them.

Artist or Band: BILL HALEY and HIS COMETS

Album Title: Bill Haley’s Chicks

Producer(s): Milt Gabler

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Whoa Mabel!; Ida, Sweet as Apple Cider; Eloise; Dinah; Skinny Minnie; Mary, Mary Lou.

Side 2: Sweet Sue, Just You; B.B. Betty; Charmaine; Corrine, Corrina; Marie; Lean Jean.

Label/Format: Brunswick with matt, textured surfaces, note also, this is a very rare stereo copy.

Label Conditions: Both in truly amazing condition, very clean, fresh and attractive with only a tiny few light, fine and faint spindle marks on side one, and hardly any on two, there is no wear around the hole area. This incredible age record appears very little played and sounds fantastic.

Catalogue Number: STA 3011

Mode / Speed: Stereo (yes true) / 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: 162 grams. A typical heavy-pressed record from Brunswick, a subsidiary of Decca Records and made in an era of quality.

Country of Manufacture: England

Rarity: Finding any big-name popular artist record of this immense age in this condition is rare. But hardly any people bought stereo records in the 1950s in the UK. A format still very much in its infancy, even in the United States, this one of the earliest stereophonic records I have ever had. I doubt if many of these were even pressed.

Original Year of Release: January 1959

Matrix Nos: 7-6644-1K / 7-6645-1K

Mothers / Stampers: 1 B / 1 U [first mothers and first and second stampers in the sequence]

Musicians: Bill Haley – rhythm guitar, most lead vocals; Franny Beecher – lead guitar; Billy Williamson – steel guitar, vocal on ‘BB Betty’; Johnny Grande – piano; Al Rex – bass guitar; Ralph Jones – drums; Rudy Pompilli – tenor saxophone, clarinet.

Brief Info: Album number eight for one of the kings of rock n roll. As seen in the song titles, all the tracks include a girl’s name and is a brilliant example of his smooth rock n roll/rockabilly style. What an amazing find, this ultimate first issue UK record, in super-rare stereo, is in the most fantastic condition and plays accordingly. The playing surfaces show hardly any marks and the grooves unworn or ruined by any vintage record players, the sound and stereo mix is simply ahead of its time. A fantastic historic piece of rock n roll nostalgia by one of its true greats. The ultra flimsy thin card cover has survived the years well, but a little blemishing or ageing nigh-on unavoidable, check out those brilliant curved arc flipbacks on the back side. Few of these would have been manufactured or purchased in stereo, and fewer still will survive in this fantastic condition. The historic deep maroon labels look absolutely sublime, and a prize piece for label connoisseurs. The pink text ‘Stereophonic Record’ text inner sleeve is also included fully intact and only very gently aged. For fans of Bill Halley and his Comets, this is a near dream-piece and strongly recommended.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT(–): a single thin and flimsy format with front laminate. This covers all the folds and ends on the back via the spine and two large, curved arc centred flipbacks. The main back panel is matt and smooth, the ‘spine’ text is printed on the back cover itself under the laminate. Printed and made in England by F.R.B. and is dated-coded 5/59 (May 1959), that is some age for a long-playing record cover, and few will survive almost fully intact without often major damage or wear. The polylined inner sleeve is included as-seen

Lamination & Front: What a classic piece of rock n roll nostalgia, this is cover art from a bygone age. Firstly, the laminate is fully intact with no peeling and the only hint of lifting is near a moderate crease near the bottom left corner area. I can hardly emphasise just how thin and flimsy this 58-year-old card is, definitely not a cover to be held in one hand. The laminate retains excellent shine with minimal hint of any dulling. A small surface scuff below the the top woman’s right hand and a moderate, but small crease on the top right corner tip. The two mentioned creases apart, any others are mostly fine and light and largely confined to the edges or close to the sides. Hence the artwork remains impressive and attractive to view, this has suffered no fading. A little thickening and burring to the right entrance edge, but how many will not have being honest? This is the correct ‘stereophonic’ prefix catalogue number cover, this will be very rare in its own right. These old covers mostly seen in tatters, this has more than survived, it still looks very nice, and any wear it has I think it has earned.

Cover Back: With most of any wear on upper corner tips, it should speak well of the rest. There is an identification number ‘29’ to the left of the catalogue number near the top right and any grubbiness modestly light put in true context. The two large flipbacks are solidly intact and neat, lovely to see those arc types without damage that were soon to be a thing of the past. There is minimal creasing to the main matt panel with hairline types to the laminate on the flipbacks, these mostly on the lower one. All the ‘spine’ text information is safely preserved under the spine edge laminate end area. I consider this back, along with the front to be impressive, enough to politely remind of age, and that as many collectors like them.

Top Edge: Very thin and under-strength for storing a heavyweight record long-term, so with just a tiny nick split to the very right tip end, this has fared very well indeed. Still quite straight with almost entire laminate retention that remains smooth and the surface white.

Bottom Edge: Reasonably straight with a few small surface scuffs, very good for a storage edge that had to bear the weight.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Against the odds, still quite sharp with very little wear. Any thickening or burring minimal and light as seen viewed end-on and a little on the front as stated. Record enters on this edge that is guaranteed untrimmed or enhanced. These edges have no tearing.

Spine and Text: Again thin and flimsy, these had no text with a plain white surface. Still quite solid, with any bowing modest, it lays quite flat on a solid flat surface. The laminate intact with no peeling, some patchy fine surface cracks are near impossible to avoid over these amount of years.

Corners: A moderate but quite small crease on the top right (front only) corner tip with a small split to the top (approx 1 cm only). Any tip rubs or other creases small and light with fine shape largely retained with no major knocks.

Cover Summary: Arguably, age is only scant excuse for wear and damage, but in the real world, it has to be a factor. The older a cover is, the more its likely to be handled and moved around, so this fragile piece has really survived its time pretty well. These vintage format sleeves mostly seen in tatters, this one intact and still attractive, it should please many collectors, and a rare stereo numbered one as well.

The Inner Sleeve: EXCELLENT(+): more than justified and also a real vintage, rarer dedicated ‘stereophonic’ inner sleeve. Made with thick paper, robust and strong, and they had to be. This again has a ‘29’ identification number written on one top corner and the artist’s name opposite on the right. It has two immaculate window circles, the soft polylining is the semi-transparent type. The white paper has darkened a little to again politely remind of age and has largely avoided creasing. The pink text explaining the delights and perils of the new stereo mode, even to how it looks different to the standard mono versions. All edges unsplit with no repairs. This is British patented with ‘Foreign patents pending’ text. Do not under-estimate the rarity of these vintage dedicated stereo inner sleeves, amongst the first made for this mode, they are audio history in their own right and seldom seen in this lovely condition.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT(+): arguably better. A superb visual copy that is very clean with equally fine shine and heavily pressed on robust, top-quality vinyl made by Decca. A copy with minimal plays on all the evidence with any surface marks very few, mostly very light as seen critically under bright light. No penetrating stylus scratches, viewed in average room light, hardly anything even registers. No chipped, heavyweight or worn old stylus have been near this record and 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: Classic rock records of this immense age are thing of genuine beauty when found this clean. This even pre-dates the first Beatles album by a few years, and most will know the state those are found in. This rare stereo copy 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 very high with a wide dynamic range and very detailed sound. Any surface sounds are minimal indeed and this is an exceptional clean pressing with no tracking issues*. Few available copies will outperform this super-early pressing significantly I feel sure. Both channels are clean and sharp, I am certain this record has been played very lightly and has been carefully handled and sparingly used. Nothing spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this wonderful record. It 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 2.2 grams.

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 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 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 it’s 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 programs. Room light factors can make things vary sometimes, that is hard to control, especially in winter. 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 Quintet Black moving coil cartridge (tracks at 2.2 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 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, better quality packaging costs, I offer probably the best-value and safest shipping possible for ultimate confidence. The boxes and ultra thick double-wall stiffeners 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 minuscule in over 14­ 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. Oneadayrecords is a MAILER-FREE ZONE – they offer next-to-no-protection, and should be banned, no ‘professional’ should consider using them in my opinion. 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). All postage costs are below and at the top of the listing.

NOTE: First Time Bidders: Please ask me first.

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 withdrawals. 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 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’.