ENYA Watermark SUPERB NEAR MINT 1988 LP, STUNNING COVER, INNER, RECORD & SOUND.

	£		26
	$		34

ONEADAYRECORDS – Simply Delivering Quality Music to the World in Quality, Safe Packing.

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: ENYA

Album Title: Watermark

Producer(s): Nicky Ryan, Ross Cullum & Enya

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Watermark; Cursum Perficio; On Your Shore; Storms in Africa; Exile; Miss Clare Remembers.

Side 2: Orinoco Flow; Evening Falls…; River; The Longships; Na Laetha Geal M’óige.

Label/Format: WEA with matt smooth surfaces.

Label Conditions: Both very clean, fresh and attractive with just a faint spindle trace on side one. This beautiful record appears barely even played.

Catalogue Number: UK WX 199 [243875-1]

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: 114 grams.

Country of Manufacture: Pressed in Germany for the UK market. By the mid to late 1980s, few UK pressing companies still existed and many new albums were pressed in Europe, usually Germany or The Netherlands specifically for UK retailers. This a case in point as the cover and record include the unique UK catalogue number.

Rarity: Scarce on vinyl, by the end of the 1980s, the digital CD market had largely taken over the market with fewer of the popular titles made or sold on vinyl.

Original Year of Release: 1988

Matrix Nos: R/S Alsforf 243875-1-A & R/S Alsforf 243875-1-B [both machine punched and very clear]

Musicians: Enya – vocals, keyboards, synthesisers; Davy Spillane – low whistle, Uilleann pipes; Neil Buckley – clarinet; Chris Hughes – rototoms, African hand drums.

Brief Info: Born Eithne Pádraigín Ní Bhraonáin in Ireland, but far better known as Enya. She began her career in the Irish Celtic folk-rock band Clannad along with her sister Moya. In 1982 she left the band and pursued a solo career. ‘Watermark’ was her second album after a self-titled debut on BBC Records, that received some attention from the television series ‘The Celts’. It provided a springboard for ‘Watermark’ that quickly established her as a major act and it sold impressively in many countries. The debut was then renamed ‘The Celts’ from the TV series and also sold better. ‘Watermark’ is a superb album, beautifully recorded with her enchanting multi-tracked vocals and mixed musical styles mixing elements of Celtic and ambient. What a delight to here this fantastic album on near mint vinyl that appears hardly even played. Cleanly pressed from a top-quality German manufactured record made for the UK market, this unmissable for fans. The cover and inner sleeve are little short of immaculate as well and clearly have been cover-protected from new.

Cover Grade and Format: MINT(–): a single unlaminated format with shiny coated surfaces. Printed and made in Germany by Record Service GmbH, Alsdorf. This includes the graphic lyric card inner sleeve.

Cover Front & Back: Stunning artwork by graphic artist Laurence Dunmore is seen to nigh-on maximum advantage on this gorgeous cover. Bar the odd edge hairline surface crease, this is as close to as-made as they ever get now. Cover-protection has ensured all surfaces are virtually unworn with intense bright, vivid colour and freshness. The varnished surfaces have no sticker marks and retain supreme glossy shine. This cover is for connoisseur fans and collectors – such quality art (and sound) the wonderful thing vinyl always retains over all other formats.

Top Edge: Straight and virtually unworn with text as per the spine.

Bottom Edge: No wear again.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Still very sharp with any thickening traces minuscule. Record enters on this edge.

Spine and Text: Solid, straight with barely any compression and no fading. The text is unworn as is the main surface and folds. NOTE: the UK: WX 199 catalogue number emphasising this is a ‘UK’ market copy.

Corners: Any tip rubs tiny and ultra light, near mint shape retained with no knocks.

Cover Summary: A truly stunning all-round example of this magnifcent 1980’s cover, one that will prove very difficult to even match, let alone find better. This gorgeous item should please all collectors.

The Inner Sleeve: PRACTICALLY MINT: an unlined card graphic/lyric inner sleeve that could easily pass for new. Put simply: I cannot find anything to fault.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: NEAR MINT: a grading I will very rarely use, even if merited sometimes. But this record is fantastic and appears hardly even removed from its cover, let alone played. A fantastic visual copy that is very clean with equally fine shine and solidly pressed. A copy barely even run-in in vinyl terms with sound to match. Barely a blemish worthy of mention and visually a beautiful record to match the gorgeous cover that should please 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 much-loved album that almost instantly bought Enya to worldwide fame, plays up to it’s high visual grading with barely anything to fault. Offering strong, distortion-free sound, all frequencies are sharp and clear – sound quality is immensely high with a wide dynamic range and very detailed sound. Any surface sounds are minimal indeed – I barely even a heard a trace of anything unwanted – and this is a very clean pressing with no tracking issues* or inherent pressing noises. The production very open, dynamic and with ultimate vinyl warmth and detail, one to show your hi-fi with with pristine vocal and instrumentation. No detail spared – you can even hear the keys on the clarinet being pressed on ‘On Your Shore’, and the depth of the sound on ‘The Longships’ is breathtaking (play this at volume). Few available copies will match, let alone outperform this early first pressing I feel sure. Both channels are clean and sharp, I am certain this record has been played very lightly, evidence strongly suggests, hardly at all in fact, and has been expertly stored and handled within a non-smoking environment. Nothing spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this lovely record, this was my first experience of this on vinyl for years and it gave me that rare tingle factor on audition. It will prove near impossible to find better and merits my highest possible recommendation.

* 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.