CLIFF RICHARD SHADOWS ALADDIN Rare Stereo UK LP MINT-

	£		32
	$		42

CLIFF RICHARD & THE SHADOWS - ALADDIN AND HIS WONDERFUL LAMP

STUNNING SOUNDTRACK LP IN **STEREO** 1964

CATALOGUE NUMBER : SCX 3522

MATRIX NUMBERS: YAX 1178-1 / YAX 1179-1

STAMPERS: 1R / 1R

VERY FIRST PRESSING BATCH

AN ABSOLUTELY PRISTINE EXAMPLE OF THIS CLIFF RICHARD ALBUM, WHICH WILL BE EXPLAINED FURTHER BELOW.

CLIFF AND THE SHADOWS CUT A LOT OF VINYL IN THE EARLY SIXTIES, MAINLY DUE TO HAVING SOLO CAREERS, JOINT CAREERS, AND BEING INVOLVED IN MOVIES.

THEREFORE AT THE TIME THAT THIS WAS PRESSED IN 1964 IT WAS REGARDED AS CLIFF'S 12TH ALBUM SINCE 1958.

MOST OF THESE EARLY PRESSINGS WERE PURCHASED IN THE MONO FORMAT, VERY MUCH LIKE THE BEATLES EARLY ALBUMS IN FACT. STEREO WAS WHAT THE RICH PEOPLE HAD AND THEREFORE ONLY A VERY SMALL AMOUNT OF STEREO PRESSINGS WERE PURCHASED, AS MOST OF US PAUPERS BOUGHT MONO AS IT WAS CHEAPER AND A STEREO COPY WOULD BE NO BETTER ON OUR MONO RECORD PLAYERS.

LET ME TAKE TIME OUT TO REMIND YOU ALL EXACTLY WHAT THAT WAS LIKE WHEN YOU BOUGHT YOUR BRAND NEW CLIFF OR BEATLES LP. YOU HASTILY REMOVED IT FROM THE SLEEVE, AND ATTACHED IT TO THIS MECHANISIM ON YOUR RECORD PLAYER CALLED AN AUTOCHANGER SPINDLE. THERE IT SAT BALANCED ON THIS METAL SKEWER ABOUT 6 INCHES ABOVE THE TURNTABLE HELD IN PLACE ONLY BY THIS QUESTION MARK SHAPED ARM WHICH CLONKED DOWN ON TOP OF THE VINYL.

YOU SWITCHED THE SPEED TO 33 RPM, AND FLICKED THE START LEVER UPWARDS. THE TURNTABLE STARTED TO TURN AND AS IT DID, THIS METAL SPIKE ON WHICH YOUR BRAND NEW LP WAS IMPALED STARTED TO MOVE UP AND DOWN A BIT, AND AS IT DID SO THE LP WOULD ALSO SHIFT A LITTLE. A METAL LEVER WOULD RELEASE THE DISC FROM ITS LOFTY POSITION AND IT WOULD COME CRASHING DOWN ON YOUR ALREADY SPINNING TURNTABLE, NO DOUBT SCRATCHING THE SURFACE AS THE TWO ITEMS MET, NOT WITHSTANDING THE SCRATCHING THE SPINDLE HOLE WAS TAKING FROM THE METAL SPIKE AS IT PASSED THE LENGTH OF THE SPINDLE.

NEXT THE ARM OF THE RECORD PLAYER WOULD LIFT ITSELF INTO THE AIR, SWING ACCROSS TO SOMEWHERE NEAR THE START OF YOUR RECORD IF YOU WERE LUCKY AND COME CRASHING DOWN ON THE VINYL .

IS IT ANY WONDER THAT MOST 60'S LP'S ARE TOTALLY KNACKERED.

AS I PREVIOUSLY MENTIONED NOT MANY PEOPLE HAD DECENT RECORD DECKS WITH FINELY TUNED AND BALANCED WEIGHTING, BUT THOSE THAT DID GENERALLY ARE THE ONES WHO YOU WANT TO BUY THEIR OLD RECORDS FROM, AND IN PARTICULAR IF THEY HAD A STEREO SYSTEM.

ANYWAY I DIGRESS, BACK TO THE STUNNING EXAMPLE THAT IS THIS LP.

THE SLEEVE

IF I SAID THIS SLEEVE WAS MADE IN THE SAME VEIN AS BEATLES FOR SALE YOU WILL PROBABLY KNOW WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT. THIS REALLY MEANS THAT THE LP IS INSERTED INTO THE SLEEVE FROM INSIDE THE GATEFOLD AND NOT ON AN OUTSIDE EDGE. THIS USUALLY MEANS DISASTER FOR THE SPINE AND INSERT EDGE. THIS IS DUE TO THE LP NOT BEING SQUARE IN THE SLEEVE WHEN THE FLIMSY FRONT IS CLOSED RESULTING IN THE SPINE GETTING SPLIT TOP AND BOTTOM OVER A PERIOD OF TIME.

THIS ONE IS ABSOLUTELY AS PRISTINE AS YOU COULD GET. THE FRONT SLEEVE AS MENTIONED ID VERY FLIMSY AND WOULD NORMALLY CREASE, BUT THIS ONE IS JUST PERFECT. NO CREASES AT ALL AND THAT IS REMARKABLE. THE WHOLE SLEEVE ON THE OUTSIDE FRONT AND BACK IS LAMINATED, AND THE BACK HAS A GREAT UNBLEMISHED PICTURE OF CLIFF LEANING AGAINST A LARGE OAK DOOR. THE SPINE IS PERFECTLY FLAT AND LEGIBLE, AND NOT TORN OR WORN IN ANY WAY. INSIDE THE GATEFOLD THERE IS A SMASHING PICTURE OF THE SHADOWS IN COLOUR, AND A FULL TRACK LISTING, LETTER FROM NORRIE PARAMOR. THE WHOLE THING IS AS PERFECT AS COULD BE.

THE INNER SLEEVE IS THE ORIGINAL EMITEX INNER AND IS IN EXACTLY THE SAME MINT CONDITION.

I HAVE TO GRADE THIS SLEEVE MINT-. IT IS 40 YEARS OLD AND LOOKS BRAND NEW.

THE LABELS

ORIGINAL BLUE AND BLACK COLUMBIA LABELS WHICH ARE IN THE SAME STAGGERING CONDITION AS THE SLEEVE. THE BLUE IS UNWORN AND THE BLACK IS JET BLACK. THE SILVER LETTERING IS PERFECT.

THE SPINDLE HOLE IS TOTALLY UNWORN, AND I HAVE COUNTED 2 SPIDER LINES WHICH TELLS ME THAT THIS LP HAS ONLY HAD A COUPLE OF PLAYS IN IT'S 40 YEARS. IT HAS BEEN VERY VERY CAREFULLY HANDLED.

ALL OF THE FIRST PRESSING INDICATORS ARE PRESENT. APART FROM THE MATRIX AND STAMPER NUMBERS, THE LABELS HAVE THE "SOLD IN THE UK" STATEMENT, AND "COLUMBIA GRAMOPHONE CO." RIM WORDING, AND FINALLY "RECORDING FIRST PUBLISHED IN 1964"

THESE LABELS ARE MINT

THE VINYL

A SUPERB EXAMPLE OF EARLY 60'S EMI VINYL. TOTALLY GLOSSY AND VERY CLEAN. LOOKS "AS NEW"

THERE ARE NO VISIBLE HAIRLINES OR HANDLING MARKS, AND EVEN UNDER INTENSE ILLUMINATION YOU ARE ONLY ABLE TO SPOT A COUPLE OF WHISPY LINES, WHICH ARE ABSOLUTELY MINUTE

THOSE THAT KNOW ME UNDERSTAND MY FIRST TEST WHENEVER I SELL ARECORD, AND THAT IS TO PLAY THE THING WITH THE VOLUME VERY HIGH. I AM LISTENING FOR ANY SIGNS OF DISTORTION CAUSED BY WORN STYLUS, OR A STYLUS THAT HAD A FAR TOO HEAVY TRACKING WEIGHT ON IT. THIS WOULD IN BOTH CASES CAUSE GROOVE WEAR AND ULTIMATELY DISTORTION TO THE SOUND. I KNEW THERE WOULDN'T BE ANY, AND I AM PLEASED TO REPORT I AM CORRECT.

I AM OF THE OPINION THAT YOU CAN'T BEAT THE SOUND QUALITY OF THESE EARLY PRESSINGS, AND THE MIX AND PRODUCTION OF THIS LP IS JUST SUPERB. GUITAR NOTES THAT SOUND CRYSTAL CLEAR AND VOCALS THAT SOUND LIKE THE SINGER IS IN THE SAME ROOM AS YOU. A GREAT STEREO SPLIT AS WELL.

LASTLY THE RECORD STARTS WITH NEAR SILENT RUN IN GROOVES AND CONTINUES IN THIS WAY THROUGH ALL OF THE LINKING TRACKS.

THERE IS NO NASTY BACKGROUND CRACKLE, AND WHILST I DID HEAR VERY OCCASIONALLY A LIGHT BIT OF BACKGROUND STATIC, AND THE ODD LIGHT POP, THE PERFORMANCE OF THE VINYL IS QUITE READILY MINT MINUS.

I AM OF THE OPINION THAT THIS IS A VERY FINE COLLECTIBLE GRADE ALBUM, THAT WILL NEVER NEED UPGRADING