DAVID BOWIE "Space Oddity" 1972 UK RCA w/POSTER *MINT

	£		34
	$		45

DAVID BOWIE "Space Oddity" 1972 UK RCA w/POSTER *MINT
STUNNING UNPLAYED? COPY, SENSATIONAL SHARP, CRISP AUDIO


DAVID BOWIE
Space Oddity



HERE WE HAVE A SUPERB, UK RCA RECORDS (LSP 4813) RE-PRESSING (1972) OF DAVID BOWIE'S WONDERFUL "Space Oddity" LP (Previously released as "David Bowie" in 1969 on Philips Records (SBL 7912) and selling virtually nothing the LP was re-issued after the success of Ziggy Stardust)

THE RECORD IS IN POSSIBLY UNPLAYED, MINT(-) CONDITION
BOTH THE SLEEVE AND ILLUSIVE POSTER ARE NEAR MINT

PRESSED ON QUALITY MID-WEIGHT VINYL THE LP HAS A BEAUTIFUL RICH, SHARP  SOUND - SENSATIONAL AUDIO
THE ALBUM HAS THE RCA ORANGE LABELS
RE-ISSUE MATRIX SET: BPRS 4501 - 2E (A2 AAAA) / BPRS 4502 - 2E (A1 AAV "BILBO")
AND IS HOUSED IN A SINGLE, MATTE SLEEVE, "Printed in England by Robert Stace" COMPLETE WITH THE ORIGINAL AND ILLUSIVE  POSTER AND RCA WHITE DIE-CUT COMPANY INNER SLEEVE

NOTE: THIS IS NOT AN RCA DYNAFLEX COPY (some copies of this issue were pressed on Dynaflex), BUT A PROPER VINYL PRESSING (Dynaflex was introduced by RCA Records in late 1969. Rather than using the stiff plastic material of conventional vinyl pressings, Dynaflex records used a "flexible" formulation that allowed RCA to use less material, saving money and also making the record appear to lie flatter on turntables. But they are both noisier and lack bass frequencies compared to conventional vinyl and are quite frankly rubbish and in my opinion should be avoided. (RCA eventually discontinued Dynaflex in 1980) FOR REFERENCE: THE DYNAFLEX LOGO IS ALWAYS DISPLAYED PROMINENTLY ON THE LABEL

Held to be "the first Bowie album proper", and his first deemed worthy by record companies of regular reissue, Space Oddity featured a notable list of collaborators, including session players Herbie Flowers, Tim Renwick, Terry Cox, and Rick Wakeman, as well as cellist Paul Buckmaster, multi-instrumentalist and producer Tony Visconti, and bassist John Lodge (not to be confused with The Moody Blues' bassist of the same name). Before recording for the album commenced, "Space Oddity" had been selected as the lead single based on an earlier demo. Tony Visconti saw it as a "novelty record" and passed the production responsibility on to Gus Dudgeon. Visconti thus produced all the songs on the album bar what would become, from its 1972 reissue onwards, the title track.

Still considered one of Bowie's best-known songs, "Space Oddity" was a largely acoustic number augmented by the eerie tones of the composer's Stylophone, a pocket electronic organ. The title and subject matter were inspired by Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey and introduced the character of Major Tom. Some commentators have also seen the song as a metaphor for heroin use, citing the opening countdown as analogous to the drug's passage down the needle prior to the euphoric 'hit', and noting Bowie's admission of a "silly flirtation with smack" in 1968. His 1980 hit "Ashes to Ashes" declared "We know Major Tom's a junkie".

"Unwashed and Somewhat Slightly Dazed" reflected a strong Bob Dylan influence, with its harmonica, edgy guitar sound and snarling vocal. "Letter to Hermione" was a farewell ballad to Bowie's former girlfriend, Hermione Farthingale, who was also the object of "An Occasional Dream", a gentle folk tune reminiscent of the singer's 1967 debut album. "God Knows I'm Good", Bowie's observational tale of a shoplifter's plight, also recalled his earlier style.

"Cygnet Committee" has been called Bowie’s "first true masterpiece". Commonly regarded as the album track most indicative of the composer's future direction, its lead character is a messianic figure "who breaks down barriers for his younger followers, but finds that he has only provided them with the means to reject and destroy him". Bowie himself described it at the time as a put down of hippies who seemed ready to follow any charismatic leader. Another track cited as foreshadowing themes to which Bowie would return in 1970s, in this case the fracturing of personality, was "Janine", which featured the words "But if you took an axe to me, you’d kill another man not me at all".

The Buddhism-influenced "Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud" was presented in a heavily-expanded form compared to the original guitar-and-cello version on the B-side of the "Space Oddity" single; the album cut featured a 50-piece orchestra and was also notable for Mick Ronson's debut on a Bowie record, playing uncredited guitar and handclaps midway through the song. "Memory of a Free Festival" was Bowie's reminiscence of an arts festival he had organised in August 1969. Its drawn-out fade/chorus ("The Sun Machine is coming down / And we're gonna have a party") was compared to The Beatles' "Hey Jude"; the song has also been interpreted as a derisive comment on the counterculture it was ostensibly celebrating. In 1970 Bowie cut the tune in half for the A- and B-sides of a more rock-oriented version featuring the band that would accompany him on The Man Who Sold the World later that year: Mick Ronson, Tony Visconti and Mick Woodmansey - an embryonic form of Ziggy Stardust's Spiders From Mars.

Although the opening song had given Bowie a #5 hit in the UK earlier in the year, the remainder of the material bore little resemblance to it and the album was a commercial failure on its initial release, despite some decent reviews. However the November 1972 reissue, released in the wake of Bowie's breakthrough The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars and featuring a contemporary Ziggy photo on the cover, made #17 in the UK charts and #16 in the United States.

Track Listing:
Side 1: Space Oddity / Unwashed And Somewhat Slightly Dazed / Letter To Hermione / Cygnet Committee
Side 2: Janine / An Occasional Dream / The Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud / God Knows I'm Good / Memory Of A Free Festival

LABELS: The orange labels are CLEAN and BRIGHT with NO evident spindle traces. THIS COPY HAS POSSIBLY NEVER BEEN PLAYED
VINYL Visual: The vinyl still retains its DEEP, LIKE NEW, GLOSSY SHEEN and is UNMARKED. Beautiful record. When rotating on the turntable the record has a very slight shallow warp but this has absolutely NO affect on the audio which is OUTSTANDING throughout
VINYL Audio: BEAUTIFUL, CRYSTAL CLEAR, VERY SHARP and VERY STRONG audio reproduction. TREMENDOUS BRIGHT CUT WITH SENSATIONAL AUDIO DELIVERY. There are NO jumps, NO sticks, NO scratches, NO clicks or pops and NO surface noise. ABSOLUTELY STUNNING. Plays BEAUTIFULLY THROUGHOUT to an extremely high standard with GREAT CLARITY, NO groove-wear and NO distortion (its possibly completely unplayed) and must be graded MINT(-) for audio and NOT over-graded in ANY way as I use strict RECORD COLLECTOR grading standards (please refer to my feedback and 'about me' page). BEAUTIFUL COPY OF A SENSATIONAL PIECE OF WORK
SLEEVE: The sleeve is CLEAN, BRIGHT and FRESH with NO edge/spine wear to speak of and NO surface rubbing. The spine is SHAPE with all text CLEAR and BOLD. Beautiful NEAR MINT sleeve
POSTER: The glossy 19" x 22" poster (printed on one side) is also in NEAR MINT condition. There are NO drawing pin holes/tape marks so the poster has never been on anyones wall and is CLEAN and FRESH with NO rips, tears, marks or creases

PLEASE HAVE A LOOK AT MY PICTURES - I USUALLY TAKE QUITE A FEW SO YOU CAN GET A CLEAR INDICATION OF EVERY DETAIL OF THE ITEM
I HAVE UPLOADED AS MANY PICTURES AS I CAN BUT I WOULD BE MORE THAN HAPPY TO SUPPLY ANY ADDITIONAL PHOTOS ON REQUEST
THIS REALLY IS A BEAUTIFUL COPY OF A WONDERFUL LP IN TREMENDOUS CONDITION AND I THINK YOU WOULD BE VERY HARD PRESSED INDEED TO LOCATE ONE FINER
AS WITH ALL MY RECORDS THIS HAS A LOW START PRICE AND NO RESERVE
PLEASE CHECK OUT MY OTHER AUCTIONS FOR MORE RARE AND COLLECTABLE VINYL
AND PLEASE DO NOT HESITATE TO CONTACT ME WITH ANY QUERIES YOU MAY HAVE
THANKS FOR LOOKING, CHEERS

PLEASE REFER TO MY 'ABOUT ME' PAGE FOR MORE DETAILED INFO ON MY PLAY-GRADING, EQUIPMENT USED, P&P etc AND EVEN A LIST OF SOME OF MY FAVOURITE ARTISTS/LPS

POST & PACKING
UK: 1st Class: £4.00 (Recorded Delivery)
EU: Airmail: £5.00 (Insured & Signed For: £8.50)
INTERNATIONAL: Airmail: £8.00 (Insured & Signed For: £11.50)

UK bidders: PayPal or Cheque
INTERNATIONAL bidders: PayPal ONLY

REDUCED POSTAGE FOR MULTIPLE ITEMS (EACH ADDITIONAL LP: UK: £1.00, EU & INTERNATIONAL £2.00)
I will combine postage for items purchased within any 10 day period. However, at the end of each 10 day period, all outstanding items will need to be paid for in full and will be posted to you. Any items purchased after payment will be included in the next 10 period. I am continually adding new items which may be of interest to you and it is impractical for me to allow payment to be postponed indefinitely in the expectation that you might wish to bid on future items. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation
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Guarantee: I try to be as accurate and honest as possible when describing the condition of any LP but of course if you feel that I am mistaken and the description is inaccurate I will offer a complete, no quibble refund (through Paypal) upon return of the item.
ALL RECORDS ARE PROFESSIONALLY CLEANED BEFORE DISPATCH AND PACKAGED WITH THE VINYL OUTSIDE OF THE SLEEVE TO PREVENT ANY 'KNIFING' DURING TRANSIT.
A PROTECTIVE POLY SLEEVE, QUALITY MAILER AND STIFFENERS ARE ALWAYS USED TO ENSURE THAT YOUR RECORD ARRIVES SAFELY


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 248 (GS 5.1.3 (248))