DAVID BOWIE SELF TITLED 1969 PHILIPS SBL 7912 1st UK PRESS - READ DESCRIPTION

	£		249
	$		330

All my items have a full money-back guarantee - if it's not as described you can return it for a full refund.

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This is an original 1st UK pressing from the time of first release in 1969. It is not a reissue.

Please note that this IS the true first UK pressing: I've seen a lot of inaccurate information written by people selling the so-called 'unassigned credits' version, claiming that it is the first pressing because the publishing credits for most of the songs 'hadn't yet been assigned to Essex Music'. This is false: Essex Music only ever owned the publishing rights to three of the songs on this album. The 'unassigned credits' version is a repressing which came out in 1970 (we can tell this because it has the revised THIN Philips logo labels which weren't introduced until 1970). The first pressing - the one listed here - has the wide Philips logo, but the labels incorrectly show the publishing for all titles assigned to Essex Music Int., even though, at the time, Bowie retained the publishing rights (copyright control) to all but two of the tracks. This mistake on the labels was corrected with the 1970 repressing to show the correct publishing information. [Incidentally, the rights for all the remaining tracks except 'Memory of a Free Festival' WERE assigned the following year, but to Titanic Music, NOT to Essex Music!]

The gatefold sleeve shows various signs of age, wear and use. There is wear to the edges and corners, and the spine is very worn (see photos). There are also a couple of patched areas on the front cover top right corner, which I've shown close-up in the photos. This is far from perfect and has lots of signs of wear and age etc and some careful restoration, but despite these issues I would say that this is still a presentable example.

The record has clearly been well-played and not particularly well cared-for. The labels have lots of spindle trails showing that the record was played many times and the vinyl has numerous marks and signs of play and use to both sides, but for the most-part it plays better than might be expected from its appearance.  However, there is an area where the vinyl is 'buckled' (probably from something heavy falling on it?) and this causes problems with playback on both sides for the area of the record affected. I've shown this for both sides in the final two photos. On side one it is in track two and the needle sticks several times so that it has to be moved along by hand. On side two it is in track two and the beginning of track three. Here the vinyl skips forward many times although manual intervention is NOT needed on this side. Apart from these obvious problems, the playing surfaces give the impression of a record that was played a lot, wasn't handled carefully and wasn't well cared-for. There are visible and obvious marks to both sides, including scratches and scuff marks as well as numerous other lesser marks.  Needless to say, there is inevitable crackle and clicks at various points throughout the LP, but there were also points where I almost completely forgot about it as the music took over. Regardless of how well (or otherwise) these parts play, the two areas mentioned above where the stylus skips or sticks cannot be overlooked and mean that, in my opinion, the album is not really very enjoyable to listen to. I would say that this is a copy for display or as a collection filler and I am grading the vinyl as Poor to Bad. 

Detracting features not covered above:  None.

All photographs are of the actual item for sale. Please look at the photos and ask any questions before you bid or buy.

Where gradings are given these are based on the UK Record Collector grading system (see below) and are visual gradings only, unless the listing specifically states that it is a play-grading.

I use the UK RECORD COLLECTOR GRADING SYSTEM. This grading system differs from some other grading systems, in particular the Goldmine grading system. Please make sure that you are familiar with the UK record collector grading system before you bid.

Mint: The record itself is in brand new condition with no surface marks or deterioration in sound quality. The cover and any extra items such as the lyric sheet, booklet or poster are in perfect condition. Records advertised as Sealed or Unplayed should be Mint.

Excellent: The record shows some signs of having been played, but there is very little lessening in sound quality. The cover and packag­ing might have slight wear and/or creasing.

Very Good: The record has obviously been played many times, but displays no major deterioration in sound quality, despite noticeable sur­face marks and the occasional light scratch. Normal wear and tear on the cover or extra items, without any major defects, is acceptable.

Good: The record has been played so much that the sound quality has noticeably deteriorated, perhaps with some distortion and mild scratches. The cover and contents suffer from folding, scuffing of edges, spine splits, discoloration, etc.

Fair: The record is still just playable but has not been cared for prop­erly and displays considerable surface noise; it may even jump. The cover and contents will be torn, stained and/or defaced.

Poor: The record will not play properly due to scratches, bad surface noise, etc. The cover and contents will be badly damaged or partly missing.

Bad: The record is unplayable or might even be broken, and is only of use as a collection-filler.

Plus (+) or Minus (-) are added where items fall between gradings. I only ever use one plus or minus.

P&P costs as follows:

UK:

First LP or 12" record = £5.50, each additional item no extra P&P charge.

First 7" record = £3.95, each additional item no extra P&P charge.

Europe:

First LP or 12" record = £18.95, each additional item = an extra £2.20 P&P charge.

First 7" record = £13.95, each additional item = an extra £1.40 P&P charge.

Rest of the world:

First LP or 12" record = £29.50, each additional item = an extra £3.10 P&P charge.

First 7" record = £18.95, each additional item = an extra £1.80 P&P charge.