THE CLAYTON SQUARES THERE SHE IS - ULTRA RARE DEMO! DECCA F 12456 EX+

VINYL ALBUM GRADING/CONDITION

Guidelines for assessing the grading / condition of used records (based on Goldmine Grading for Records)

MINT (M): Perfect! This record looks like it has just left the manufacturer, with NO flaws what so ever. It looks as though it had never been handled. No scuffs or scratches, blotches or stains. No stickers address labels, writing on the covers or labels. No tears or seam splits. No wear to the cover or record period! Age of the record has nothing to do with it.

NEAR MINT or NM, M- : this record appears virtually flawless A very minor scuff and very little else can appear on the vinyl. It should play without any noise over the flaw. The flaw is very hard to see. The cover looks as close to perfect with only minor signs of wear and or age. Minor impressions to the cover (due to the outer edge of the vinyl resting inside) may be acceptable, however the artwork is be as close to perfect as can be.

EXCELLENT or EX or VG++ : minor scuffs which are only slightly visible. There may be more than a few scuffs and NO Scratches COVER: Artwork is still as close to perfect as can be. Some impression to the cover (minor outer ring wear) but no ink wear! Some slight creases to the corners, but not wrinkled and obtrusive to the eye. The corners can show white (where the artwork pasted slick was) meaning, slight wear. No seam splits or writing on the cover or taped repairs can make this grade.

VERY GOOD PLUS or VG+ record shows wear, surface scuffs. The vinyl still has a great luster, but the flaws will be noticeable to the naked eye. If the flaws don't cause any surface noise, the vinyl can still make the VG+ grade. COVERS: A virtually clean cover, but may have small writing on it.The artwork looks clean with slightly more aging. The back of the cover usually gives away the age of the cover. Flat white paper will be somewhat yellow yet no stains or mildew from water damage. Some minor wear to the seams or spine, but no tears or holes popping through. The corners will be slightly dog eared yet no crackly bends, defacing the artwork. In essence, a VG+ cover should have no more than 3 flaws mentioned.

VERY GOOD or VG: this record is a record that is good enough. They are not really going to look very good, but it will STILL play very good. there will almost always be some surface noise when they are played. The Dynamics should still be excellent, overpowering the surface noise. A VG record will appear well have been played but still have some luster. VG covers will look worn, used. There may be some seam splitting . There will be some ring wear, where the ink has begun to wear off. Giving the cover a look of snow falling. If the artwork looks snowy all over, it is less than VG condition. There may be some writing on the cover (still, no Large letters in magic marker). It will look aged and more yellowish due to contamination's in the air (sometimes looking like cigarette smoke). Still it should be decent.

GOOD or G A good record will look very well played, dull, grayish and possibly abused. However a Good record should still play. It will have distractingsurface noise. Such as crackle that is continuous or some hiss. Will also have some loss of dynamics caused from grooves being worn. It should play without any skips or any obtrusively loud pops or repeated clicks, caused by deep scratches. Good means that it will play with some form of decency, so one can still enjoy the music even though you can still hear noise caused from the wear. A Good cover will have just about everything wrong with it. It will have seam splits (possibly taped repaired, but only with scotch tape. No duct tape or masking tape repairs. These are big turn offs. May have magic marker writing on the cover but still if they are in huge letters, it is a big turn off.In essence, the cover will looked virtually trashed, but some artwork will still be noticed. If the artwork is worn, it is POOR and the cover is worthless.

On a scale from 1 (Poor) to 10 (Perfect) the above gradings are equivalent to:
MINT - 10, Near Mint - 8, E

The Clayton Squares

The Clayton Squares were an obscure 6 piece Liverpool mod-ish r&b band who cut just two amazing 45's in their short career from '65-'66.  They were also reputedly once almost the home of one Ian McLagan, who given a choice between them and The Small Faces by robber baron Don Arden chose the latter!  This is yet another "Anorak Thing" American oddity here as this band were virtually unknown in their home country and yet someone thought it prudent to release it here (the record was their U.K. debut as Decca F 12250 in October 1965)!


















"Come And Get It" is a brilliant uptempo groover propelled by some quirky horns and those weird percussion (is that a cowbell I hear?) and a very soulful vocalist.  The whole thing epitomizes that U.K. 60's '65-'66 soulful r&b I'm always on about in the blog (like The Gass, The St., Louis Union, The Quik, The Eyes of Blue, etc).  Rocking uptempo shit kids, check it out below and decide!  It takes me back to the mid 90's when I was trying to pull this girl (unsuccessfully) but I did succeed in turning her onto this monster tune via one of the many mix tapes I'd share with folks! I'm going to own up and tell you I can't recall what the flip was like which tells me it wasn't very good, to make up for that I'll post links to both sides of their next and last 45 "There She Is"/"Imagination" (U.K. Decca F 12456, July 1966).

















As criminal as it may sound NONE of their tracks have been properly (ie "legally") reissued and sadly ignored by Decca/Deram when they did their "Freakbeat/R&B/Beat/Mod Scene" CD compilations!

Hear "Come and Get It":

http://youtu.be/iL7bhRiKpio

Hear "There She Is":

http://youtu.be/Mk4Txz9nevQ

Hear "Imagination":

http://youtu.be/MoiPdc8aiSY Posted by Wilthomer at 12:54 PM Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to Facebook Labels: The Clayton Squares