CAN feat. HOLGER CZUKAY OPENER ULTRA-RARE SEALED ORIG '76 UK LIBERTY/SUNSET LP

$

47

WE CURRENTLY HAVE   MORE THAN 1,000  LISTED ITEMS

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·       CAN  –OPENER –  ULTRA-RARE ORIGINAL BRITISH-ONLY RELEASE  - ORIGINAL 1976 SUNSET/LIBERTY RECORDS STEREO LP SLS-50400

·       ORIGINAL U.K. PRESSING

*** ULTRA-RARE STILL SEALED GUARANTEED ORIGINAL FIRST UK PRESSING (NOTE: THE ALBUM WAS APPARENTLY SEALED BY THE AMERICAN DISTRIBUTOR AS AN IMPORT FROM GREAT BRITAIN***

PLEASE NOTE: THIS ITEM COMES FROM THE INCREDIBLE, SINGLE-OWNER COLLECTION WE ACQUIRED A WHILE AGO, IN WHICH ITEMS ORIGINALLY BOUGHT BY THE OWNER FROM THE MID-'60s to THE MID-'70s WERE KEPT STILL SEALED IN A NEAR-LABORATORY, TIME-CAPSULE CONDITIONS AND IN PRACTICALLY CLIMATE- AND HUMIDITY- CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT.  CONDITIONS OF SOME OF THESE ITEMS RANGE FROM IMPECCABLE TO TRULY UNBELIEVABLE. SOME OF THESE BEAUTIFUL MUSEUM PIECES LOOKED SO PERFECT THAT WE HAD TO REINSPECT AND RE-EXAMINE THEM A FEW TIMES TO MAKE SURE THEY ARE NOT RECENT REISSUES (REST ASSURED THEY ARE NOT -- THESE ARE ALL 40-50 YEAR OLD STILL SEALED ORIGINAL FIRST PRESSINGS AS YOU MAY NEVER FIND AGAIN!!)

·       GUARANTEED ORIGINAL BLACK SUNSET/LIBERTY LABEL WITH BLUE "SUNBURST" LOGO AND PALE BLUE MARGIN ON THE LEFT-HAND SIDE

·       THE THICKNESS OF THE VINYL, THE APPEARANCE AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE COVER, LABEL’S LOGO AND OTHER PERIPHERAL ELEMENTS OF THE COVER, ARE ALL PERFECTLY CONSISTENT WITH THE ORIGINAL, FIRST PRESSING OF THIS TITLE.

·       TWO “BREATHE” (AIR) HOLES NOTED ON THE SHRINK WRAP

·       THIS IS THE ORIGINAL, AUTHENTIC, FIRST U.K. PRESSING; THIS IS NOT A REISSUE, AN IMPORT, OR A COUNTERFEIT PRESSING.

·       ORIGINAL, THIN CARDBOARD COVER (EUROPEAN STYLE)

·       ORIGINAL LAMINATED COVER

·       FAIRLY THICK VINYL PRESSING On the scale from 1 to 10 (1 being the least, and  10 being the most severe), we assess the thickness of the vinyl as 7.

(►PLEASE SEE THE IMAGE OF THE COVER, LABEL OR BOTH, SHOWN BELOW)

(Note: this is a REAL image of the ACTUAL item you are bidding on. This is NOT a "recycled" image from our previous auction. What you see is what you’ll get.  GUARANTEED!)

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The title of this 1976 Sunset Records / Universal Artists compilation of Can tracks works on at least three levels – first, it suggests an accessible introduction to the music of this influential but often ignored or difficult-to-pigeonhole Cologne unit, formed as it is from their mid-period legacy; secondly, it’s an amusing pun on the band’s name (mercifully, in spite of being quite good-humoured chaps, this was the only time they – or their labels – saw fit to make lighthearted fun of their name); finally, when combined with designer Paul Henry and photographer Trevor Rogers’s sleeve image of an open Campbells condensed soup can, there’s an inextricable link to Warhol’s semi-ironic brand of pop-art. So there you have it – best of, joke or artistic statement; take your pick.

Opener was compiled by journalist and major Can fan Duncan Fallowell and Tim Read and features eleven classic cuts ranging from the impossible funk of ‘Moonshake’ to the screwy clank of ‘Spoon’. Fallowell offers gushing sleevenotes which I’ve provided below (he co-wrote ‘Dizzy Dizzy’, included here, and so represents a somewhat biased viewpoint) and the rear has that typically Seventies approach of turning the sleeve over to pictures of the band – ranging from Michael Karoli and Holger Czukay looking like extras from Easy Rider to Irmin Schmidt and Jaki Liebezeit looking like hippy professors; Damo Suzuki just looks suave – plus brief details of their respective roles. Among the facts quoted: Karoli was a pupil of Czukay and saw The Who play in Torquay; Schmidt studied under Karlheinz Stockhausen and Luciano Berio; Suzuki busked round Europe playing one chord on a guitar while improvising on top. Czukay is described functionally as the bassist and engineer, while Liebezeit’s multi-cyclical drumming is heralded as the defining factor in Can’s music. You can imagine how oddly compelling that sleeve might have been to someone flicking idly through the racks of LPs in an HMV in 1976.

So it was for me, albeit twenty years later, when I alighted upon this record in Time Records in Colchester. I bought this either just before or just after Sacrilege, and it served as my proper introduction to the music of Can. I’d been aware of them since I first read through the Mute Documentary Evidence brochure that inspired this site and my love of the label, but Opener offered the first real opportunity to get my head into their music; I fell in love with it instantly, and I used to play thus a lot, often late at night on a Sunday ahead of the following day’s lectures and classes.

I hadn’t listened to this probably since I left university in 1998 until I played it yesterday whilst selecting LPs to listen to with my youngest daughter (six). She described Opener as ‘weird but good’ and grooved along to ‘Moonshake’ like it had been recorded today.

Duncan Fallowell liner notes

Can was launched on an unsuspecting audience in autumn 1969, to a totally polarised critical reception. Their ability to arouse such strong confused feelings, for and against, was in itself a statement of their dynamism, confused because they were an enigma, could not be fitted to the current scheme of things, nothing was known of them as individuals. They are still the most unsettling of the German rock groups. Cologne is not Germany’s wildest city. This is why Can live there. Their studio, once a castle, now occupies an old cinema a few miles out of the city. Visitors are few – but never turned away, and in this easy practical atmosphere the band work. Can do not record numbers so much as discover songs or patterns in the process of recording. The timbre of their music, on record at least, has softened with their later albums from which this is compiled, and their music became more accessible. The key to Can’s music is not where it comes from or what the ingredients are, but how it works, how it moves and that’s to be discovered by listening.

Track listing:

A1. Dizzy Dizzy

A2. Moonshake

A3. Sing Swan Song

A4. Come Sta, La Luna

B1. Spoon

B2. I’m So Green

B3. Vitamin C

B4. Future Days

 (EXCERPT FROM AN ONLINE REVIEW BY MATT SMITH)

TO SEE IF WE HAVE OTHER LISTED ITEMS BY THIS GROUP OR ARTIST ►  CLICK HERE

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·       CONDITION:

·       RECORD

 (IMPORTANT NOTE: unless otherwise noted, ALL records are graded visually, and NOT play-graded!; we  grade records under the strong, diffuse room light or discrete sunlight)

(a)          THE ALBUM IS STILL FACTORY SEALED AND IS BELIEVED TO BE PERFECTLY MINT. Please note: sealed items are assumed to be mint and are sold as-is, as we have no way of inspecting them. For our policy on still sealed records ►click here (PLEASE READ BEFORE PLACING A BID).

(b)            The record is pressed on a RELATIVELY  thick, inflexible vinyl. This is NOT a thin, flimsy ('dynaflex' type),  vinyl, but not the thickest, most rigid vinyl, either.

(c)           Of course, this is a full-bodied ANALOG recording, and not an inferior, digital recording!!!

·       COVER

COVER IS NEAR MINT, STILL SEALED ; HOWEVER, WE ARE UNABLE TO GRADE IT NEAR MINT DUE TO MINOR FLAWS LISTED BELOW; WE GRADE THIS COVER AS EXCELLENT OR VG+++

The following flaws or imperfections are noted on the cover:

-        Cover has a visible 'curly' (wavy)  warping across both panels (front and back); this might self-correct over time after the disc has been unsealed and shrink wrap removed and album stored properly for sufficiently long amount of time)

-         The laminated cover has a few air 'bubbles' and wrinkles in lamination (this is a common problem with most laminated 50’s and 60’s covers

-        Cover has a visible "wrinkle"(crease)  in one of the corners.

-         Cover shows some light yellowing on both sides, apparently from aging.   (nothing significant)

NO OTHER IMPERFECTIONS ON THE COVER:

-        No split seams

-        No ring wear

-        No cut-out (drill) holes.

-        No cut-out corners

-        No saw-marks or indents

-        No dirt/dust rubbing stains (friction marks caused by rubbing against other covers)

-        No writing

-        No stamps

-        No tearing: no chips, dents or nicks on the seams

-        No peel-off marks

-        No stains

-        No mold or mildew spots

-        No stickers or labels

-        No water damage

-        No razor marks, scratches, pressure marks, lines, streaks, or  cuts.

-        No wax, glue, paint or liquid drops on the cover

-        No glue traces or wax residue.

-        No bar codes

-        No RIAA stamps or stickers. 

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POSTAGE & SHIPPING:

We offer THREE postage rates for both Domestic and International Mail: Media Mail, Priority Mail and Express Mail for domestic, and First Class, Priority International Mail, and Express International Mail for international orders. INTERNATIONAL CUSTOMERS PLEASE NOTE: WE RECOMMEND that you pay for USPS International Priority Mail OR International Express mail when making a payment in order to obtain tracking information, which is NOT available for First Class International shipments.

INTERNATIONAL POSTAGE rates vary from country to country. For SPECIFIC international and domestic postage rates ►click here. While you can be rest assured that ►our packaging is careful, sturdy and impact-proof, please note that damage, loss or theft in transit is always possible, and in the case of some countries even PROBABLE. To discuss this potential problem and ensure flawless delivery, please contact us thru eBay BEFORE placing a bid.

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OUR REFUND POLICY :

WE OFFER UNCONDITIONAL MONEY-BACK GUARANTEE WITHIN 14 DAYS FROM THE RECEIPT OF THE MERCHANDISE, NO QUESTIONS ASKED (THE BUYER PAYS FOR THE RETURN POSTAGE); Still sealed items MUST be returned sealed in order to be eligible for a refund Some restrictions apply. Please read our complete refund policy before placing a bid. ►Click here  for the full text of our policy

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