ROBOTMAN AND FRIENDS, Straight-Heart, SEALED 1983 Vinyl LP, Klaatu Pete Shelley

$

31

Artist:  Robotman And Friends Title:  Straight From The Heart Label:  Chordal Records And Tapes CIL 00001 Format:  12" 33 1/3 RPM vinyl LP Genre:  Electronic, Pop, Children's, Synth-pop, Synthwave, Soundtrack Condition:  SS/SS - New Old Stock (NOS) - Factory Sealed Overstock/Deletion/Cutout

Four auctions/purchases now ship for the same price as one!  See below.

This is a still sealed (mostly) original Canadian pressing vinyl LP from 1983.  It is unopened with a manufacturer overstock/deletion/cutout mark. This LP was apparently only released in Canada.

The overstock/deletion/cutout mark is a drill hole through the jacket in the upper right front and upper left rear corners (see images 3 & 4).  The cellophane is almost completely separated on the spine (except for a fraction of an inch on the bottom, see image 6) and for about 3-4" on the opening edge (see image 7).

"Robotman and Friends" started as a comic strip and quickly was replaced by just "Robotman" and then in 2001 it became known as just "Monty". The people who contributed to this LP had been successful before this project and many became successful afterwards.

Lead & Backing Vocals, & Keyboards are by Peter Alexander Southworth (Peter Solley - Pete Shelley) an English organist, pianist, & songwriter who was also in the groups: Chris Farlowe & The Thunderbirds (from Dec 1967 to May 1968), Fox (all 3  LPs - keyboards), Los Bravos (replaced Manolo Fernández), Paladin (both LPs), Procol Harum (1 LP - Something Magic), & Snafu (all 3 LPs).

Backing Vocals are provided by Sharon Lee Williams (Basic Black and Pearl; Northern Lights; Sway; The Hollywood Vampires); & Shawne Jackson (Sweet Blindness, The Hollywood Vampires, The Majestics).

Keyboards, Synthesizer, Electronic Drums, & Acoustic Guitar are by John Woloschuk (Chip Dale, Klaatu, Whitemail).

Drums & other Percussion is by Barry Keane (The Bat Boys; Whoever We Could Find Choir; Wishbone).

Lead & Rhythm Guitar is by Mike Francis (Canadian guitarist/producer)

Lead Vocals on several tracks are by Val Roth.

Saxophone & Flute is by Vern Dorge (Blood, Sweat And Tears - 1 LP, Nuclear Blues).

Hugh Syme who did the cover art had produced the covers for the Canadian group, Rush.  He even contributed to a number of their songs as the keyboard player and was a regular member of the Ian Thomas Band as a vocalist.

Track Listing:

1. I Wanna Be Your Robotman
2. Straight From The Heart
3. Robot's Parade
4. Roberon
5. False Love
6. Hi Tech Heart Touch
7. Hey! Stellar
8. We'll Be There
9. Oops!
10. We Are The Robots

The images provided for this auction are of the actual item for sale. They are NOT stock images or images from a previous auction.  If you would like to see additional images, simply ask and specify exactly what you would like to see and they can be added to the auction or sent via ebay message.

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Shipping Information

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All records are shipped in 200 lb test cardboard containers designed specifically for shipping records through the mail.

Note: This is a vinyl LP.

Our grading system explained: Record/Cover

Record/Jacket. A (+) or (-) following a grade is an indication of the more (-) or less (+) imperfections on a particular item.

SEALED (SS): You can be assured that the vinyl is as it was  manufactured and has never been played. The cover may have slight corner ‘dings’ or possibly a cutout mark (cutout marks  will ALWAYS be photographed and described). If we think that the cover of a sealed LP shows more than a small amount of wear we will describe the  condition with two grades such as SS/VG+ where the second grade indicates the condition of the sealed cover.

MINT (M): Mint means absolutely perfect. Nothing less can  be described as mint. Even brand new purchases may not qualify as mint. We, personally, do not believe ANYTHING is perfect so the  highest rating we give is Near Mint.  Anyone can pick up a new item and find some kind of imperfection.

NEAR MINT (NM): It should look like it was just purchased and sound the same.  Common imperfections found on items we grade as near mint would be very minor corner dings on the cover or vinyl imperfections caused during the manufacturing process that DO NOT affect play.

VERY GOOD (VG): As Rockin’ Records puts it –  "Records in very good condition should have a minimum of visual or audible imperfections, which should not detract much  from your enjoyment of owning them". Imperfections that may result in a VG rating include: Slight wear ring, possibly  evidence of a removed (or still attached) sticker, minor writing on the cover, very small seam split (less than 1 inch?). The  vinyl may have visual marks such as paper scuffs, fingernail marks, slight stacking/sliding scratches caused by records  rubbing together. Slight background static/hiss/clicks may be heard on a VG record.

GOOD (G): A record described as in Good condition will  show definite signs of wear and tear, indicating that it was not properly taken care of by its former owner. Even so, records in  good condition should play all the way through without skipping. Constant background static/hiss/clicks may be heard on a G record  but it won’t over power the music. The cover should be complete but there will be seam splits, distracting marks/writing, and/or stickers.

FAIR (F): A record described as in Fair condition will  show definite signs of abuse, indicating that it was abused by its former owner. Records in fair condition may occasionally skip  when played. Frequent over powering background static/hiss/clicks/pops will be heard on an F record. It may also  have scratches that can be felt with the edge of your little finger and can be heard as a constant ‘POP’ every time  it is encountered. It really should not be played as it will damage the stylus. The cover may not be complete and there will  be large seam splits, very distracting marks/writing, and/or stickers.

POOR (P): A record described as in Poor condition should have the vinyl  cut from around the label and the label used as a coaster. The cover can’t hold the record any more because it is totally split apart or missing pieces.

A Manufacturer Overstock/Deletion/Cutout is NOT a defective return!

In short, a cutout is a 'discontinued item'.  It is a way for the manufacturer/distributor to know  that they have chosen to no longer keep it in stock and it was sold to the distributor at a discounted price. 

Records, CDs, & Tapes that stores don't sell, can be sent back to the distributors for a full credit.  In that way, the stores can afford to stock items that they are not sure if they will sell or not.  When the manufacturer/distributor decides that they  are no longer going to carry a particular item in their stock, they mark all of their current stock of that item in a way that involves cutting part  of the cover and then they sell it all to "cutout distributors" with the understanding that these items are not returnable for full credit.

When retail stores return their stock that didn't sell, the distributor can then check to see if any of  the items are 'marked' (cutouts).  If they are marked, the distributors know this was a discounted item and are not obligated to give credit to the store for the return.

The same type of thing is done in the book trade.  If you were to go into a discount book store, you  may note that many of the books are 'marked'.  Most will have a black mark placed on the edges of the books.  Some of  them (usually the paperbacks) will have a corner of the cover or dust jacket cut off (just like a record).

The misconception with a cutout is that many people think that it means they are "seconds/defects".  That is  not the case.  Cutouts are NOT defective returns. They are overstocks. The 'mark' is intended to identify an item so that  the distributors who purchased it, cannot buy an overstock item and then return it at a later time to the record company for a 'full refund'.

THE CUTOUT MARK DOES NOT INDICATE THAT THESE ITEMS WERE DEFECTIVE IN ANY WAY.

The type of 'mark' varies among the different companies. On 45s, a full case of 45s is put on a drill  press and a hole is drilled through the box - passing through the label, vinyl, and any picture sleeve that happened to be there -  this type of mark is referred to as a 'Drill Hole - DH'. This has a MAJOR drawback in that if too much pressure is used on the  drill press, it will crack the vinyl. This practice was also used for a short time on LPs but not by many companies - Phillips/Mercury/Smash comes to mind.

On LPs, there are several methods used - all involved marking the cover in any number of ways. (sometimes more than one)

1. Drill press as above but only through the corner of the jacket. (Drill hole - DH)
2. Power saw that cuts a slit into the jacket edge - but missing the record! (saw mark - SM)
3. Power saw/Paper cutter that cuts off a corner of the jacket. (cut corner - CC)
4. Punch that punches out a hole in the corner of the jacket. (punch hole - PH)

There were other methods used less frequently (rivet in the upper left corner comes to mind) but you don't see too many of them.  The practice continues to this day with CDs. Most of the time the CD case and inside paperwork is cut through with a saw or a hole is cut through the UPC symbol.

On some rare occasions a record manufacturer would mark a jacket with a cutout type mark when a record was given away as a promotional item.   Capital Records did that in the 1970s/80s by punching a large (> 1/2") hole in the cover, usually in the upper right corner.  Others used the cut corner (CC) tactic.   However, the majority of the time you run into a cutout it was as a result of an overstock sale.