FLASH (1st) RARER Orig UK 72 Sovereign 1st Press N/M LP

	£		48
	$		64

ONEADAYRECORDS – Delivering Quality Music to the World.

Please see my Detailed Packing Description Further Down & All Shipping Costs and Options – NOTE: I now apply the Ebay ‘4-day’ rule for non-payment.

Artist or Band: FLASH

Album Title: Flash.

Producer(s): Derek Lawrence.

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Small Beginnings; Morning Haze; Children of the Universe.

Side 2: Dreams of Heaven; The Time It Takes.

Label/Format: Sovereign – rarer genuine first pressing with the Gramophone Co Ltd rim text (Please see my label picture).

Label Conditions: Both hugely attractive: very clean, fresh and with only very light, quite fine and faint spindle marks and no wear around the hole area. Another hardly played prog classic from the quality collection recently purchased. A one-owner-from-new example only played very sparingly on top quality stereo equipment.

Cat Number: SVNA 7251.

Mode / Speed: Stereo / 33.3 rpm.

Warps: Assume all records I offer have no warping of any significance and all tracking is easy and effortless and should play on all turntables and even ‘budget’ decks.

Weight of this Record: 128 grams. About average for it’s era.

Country of Manufacture: England.

Rarity: Very first pressings with the earlier stampers are scarce. In this condition even more so. Side one of this copy has the prized 1 G mother/stamper – the very first batch ever.

Original Year of Release: 1972

Matrix Nos: SVNA 7251 A-2G / SVNA 7251 B-1G

Mothers / Stampers: 1 G / 1 0

Musicians: Colin Carter - lead vocals, percussion; Peter Banks - electric, acoustic, Spanish guitars, hooter, ARP synthesiser; backing vocals; Ray Bennett - bass guitar, backing vocals, lead vocal, acoustic and rhythm guitars; Mike Hough - drums, cymbals, percussion, badinage; Tony Kaye - organ, piano, ARP synthesiser.

Brief Info: Debut album for this top quality progressive band. Formed by Peter Banks, formerly of Yes, this album has a very similar sound and style to his former employers. Made more so by the appearance of Tony Kaye, also formerly of Yes. It still seems unclear if Kaye was actually an official member of Flash, but more a ‘guest’. He then went on to form Badger. This is a supreme copy, the very cheeky gatefold cover has the stunning shine and lustre of an almost new copy and the record practically the same. Never so easy to find with the Gramophone rim text, later pressings had this changed, as per Harvest et al. to EMI credits, this is a very early cut and sounds magnificent. With an almost uncanny Yes sound, this is sure to delight fans of their more famous prog superstars.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT(++): a modest corner crease off my full Mint(-) grading. A gatefold format with the outside laminated, inside is smooth and matt. The laminate ends on the bottom edges of the inside cover. Printed and made in England by Garrod & Lofthouse.

Lamination – Front & Back: Stunning shine, clarity and freshness – this gleams and looks hugely attractive. Even under light, minimal traces of any friction rubs or dulling and record rim impression on the back is very mild. A less than moderate surface crease near the top right of the back and a few of the usual edge fine hairline types that few covers ever avoid totally. Marks or blemishes are very few and faint – under light, a very fine gripper mark is just seen parallel each side within manufacture. Knowing the print and manufacture trade well, I have seen these many times and is totally normal. These so faint they are hardly worthy of mention, but the more discerning may wonder what they are (should they indeed spot them). The really good news news is all the laminate is fully adhered with no lifts or blisters at all – this makes a considerable difference to the overall appearance as does the fact this one is folded square. The edges almost flush and parallel. A lovely, slightly risque cover seen to full effect when opened fully.

Cover Inner Gatefold: Both faces little short of perfect with NO pulling to those laminate ends on the bottom edges. Only the first-made covers had this detail, most are seen ending short or tucked.

Top Edges: Unworn, slight ‘weight’ curve to the top area which is quite natural after nearly 40 years or so.

Bottom Edges: Both immaculate as made, all retain full laminate retention.

Right Edge(s), and Type: The front has very slight thickening and burr traces seen viewed end-on. This one has opened which I decided to leave alone. Sometimes covers can bow and curl if re-adhered with glue and I feel better to leave it be as it quite neat as it is. The back entrance is very clean, sharp with no wear or feathering and guaranteed untrimmed.

Spine and Text: The construction style of this spine means even when opened only a few times, it will form a central recess, and this one has. This means the text sinks a little into this natural crease and often the laminate cracks and peels, so many of these spine types are totally devoid of laminate altogether. Any cracking to the laminate to this one is light and, somewhat unusually, the laminate is unpeeled and retained. Solid, reasonably straight with natural opening compression. All text is present and unworn as is the graphic, but as stated already, sunken into the perfectly natural central crease. All-but unused or opened covers will avoid this spine recess crease.

Corners: All retain very fine to excellent shape with any tip rubbing or wear minimal and small.

Cover Summary: A very strong, and very attractive all-round example of this cheeky and colourful 70’s cover, one that will prove very difficult to find much better. The shine and lustre of the laminate has to be seen for real to be appreciated. This beautiful item should please most collectors.

The Inner Sleeve: EXCELLENT: this came to me inside a heavy-duty polylined inner – if this is the original, I am not sure. Being honest, I do not get too many albums on Sovereign which was a fairly small subsidiary of EMI. Anyway, this has aged a little with moderate darkening of the front left seam edge and light adhesive darkening. A couple of small ink blots within manufacture too. The window circles are very crisp and neat and the lining ultra clear and crease-free. All edges unsplit with no repairs and hardly any creasing to the paper.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: MINT(-): a superb visual copy that is very clean, shiny, intense black and very solidly pressed with two gorgeous Sovereign labels. These being darker than repressings with the original Gramophone rim text as mentioned above. A copy with minimal plays on all the evidence and typical from this very well preserved collection with any surface marks few, tiny and faint – even under light, little to fault at all. Visually a super record that should please most-all 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 B&W speakers that include the legendary tweeter from their awesome Nautilus range that reveals every blemish or minuscule sound present on any record.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This superb, very early pressed record plays up to it’s high visual grading with nothing to fault. Strong, distortion-free sound, all frequencies are sharp and clear - sound quality is very high with a wide dynamic range and very detailed sound. Any surface sounds are minimal indeed and no pops or clicks were noted and this is an exceptional clean pressing. Few copies will match or outperform this much more elusive first pressing I feel sure. Both channels are clean and sharp, I am certain this record has been played very lightly and has been clearly well stored and carefully handled, within a non-smoking environment. Nothing spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this wonderful record – if you like Yes – you will love this too. This copy will prove very difficult to find significantly better and can be strongly recommended.

Now one of the most established sellers on Ebay and still offering the finest and most accurately described and graded 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 as I can all items I offer for sale with all the relevant information I can think of to help any potential bidder and collector. You may notice I only submit records sparingly on Ebay - on average ONEADAY, a couple more at weekends if time permits, hence the name - time rarely allows for more as I Play-Grade virtually every record I offer in their entirety, not just bits to guess a grade - visuals alone do not always tell a true or full story. I will 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 its good. I get just as much pleasure offering a relatively common record in stunning near mint condition as the real rare items. All the pictures I use for your guidance are taken with a digital camera or scanned - they are NOT improved, cleaned-up or made better looking than they are with camera trickery or enhancing with digital programmes. What you see is what you get and scanned labels will give a more accurate representation of the genuine colour than flash photography where light is variable. I cannot guarantee total accuracy for colours however but most will be very close. If any picture I take looks more flattering than the actual item for any reason, I will clearly state the fact in the advert and vice-versa. I hope the item below is to your liking - any questions can be emailed and I will do my very best to answer you. I am enthusiastic, and have a fair degree of knowledge about many genres and I promise quality items - bid with confidence - excellence comes as standard and so does Near Mint regularly. Please assume all records I offer have NO jumps, sticks, 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 Rondo Red moving coil cartridge (tracks at 2 grams). Amps: Naim Nait 5i with Project USB phono stage and Chord interconnects. Speakers: B&W 704 Floorstanding 3-way Monitors (bi-wired with QED Silver terminated cable). All records I offer on Ebay are cleaned on a professional VPI-17 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 D5000 SLR Digital 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.

I now offer the fastest possible posting, often the very next day after payment is received or within two to three days maximum (unless on holiday). I only use FIRST-CLASS Mail. The record’s cover will be placed within a BRAND NEW soft protective sleeve and the actual record will be professionally cleaned on my new VPI-17 Pro vacuum system to give ultimate clean grooves and playing surfaces and the best possible looks and ultimate sound quality. You will NOT get tired, dull looking, dust infested records inside worn and foggy covers with tatty inners from this seller and that’s a promise and guarantee. All records are posted in professional boxes (NOT Mailers, these do not offer any real protection). The record(s) are REMOVED from their main cover to avoid edge splits and placed within a brand new polylined inner. The record’s original inner will be included if available. The boxes are then reinforced with at least TWO, ULTRA THICK stiffeners for maximum extra protection – these are FOUR TIMES thicker than commercial stiffeners and are custom-made for oneadayrecords. Really rare and expensive albums will even be Double Boxed if deemed necessary and possible. When larger boxes are used, the thick record and stiffener ‘sandwich’ is then thickly embedded into bubble-wrap to bulk out the record inside the box to centre the item inside to reduce the risk of damage still further. Printed address labels are used for clarity as well as a sender label. Customers requests or special needs for P&P will be respected if at all possible but ‘Signed-For’ posting is NOT an option anymore. I do not profit on posting and the cost of this lavish packing is NOT even charged for, I offer probably the best-value and safest shipping possible for ultimate confidence. The boxes and ultra thick double-wall stiffeners and bubble wrap make a near impregnable fortress for safe shipping and this is used inland and overseas for ALL my records, not just the rare and expensive. I will invoice any winning bidder as soon as possible after the auction ends. My ‘loss’ or ‘damage rate’ is less than one in two thousand based on over 7,000+ items sold in nearly 10 years of Ebay trading and I consider that pretty exceptional. The only damage rate acceptable for this seller is ZERO and I think my packets will offer just that. It would take a vicious postman or postal service to damage these for sure. Even one of these stiffeners cannot be bent by hand, so what chance 3 or 4 inside a box? Oneadayrecords is a MAILER-FREE ZONE. I discount of course for multiple purchases with a maximum of FIVE records per box (one double can sometimes be included subject to total weight). I will not respond to questions on shipping costs as all the details are included here and on ALL of my adverts. Details below:

NOTE: First Time Bidders: Please as me first.

PLEASE NOTE: I now exercise my right to open a dispute after the Ebay rule of FOUR days if no payment is received. I will then cancel the dispute to end the, 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 and they take the Ebay consequences (a strike or removal from the system). 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.

1 LP (Special Delivery with Standard £500 Maximum Insurance) [Signed For, Next Day] = £7.50. (this includes insurance of £500). Add £2 per extra LP.

Posting & Packing: EUROPE & SCANDINAVIA. (Airmail Only):

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£46 maximum]) = £10. (Royal Mail insurance is an optional extra £3). Add £3 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 [£46 maximum]) = £14. Add £4 per extra LP. (Royal Mail insurance is an optional extra £3)

Payment Conditions:

I prefer PayPal or cheque from UK winning bidders. I can 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 3 days for communication and 7 days for payment to arrive - if not I will relist the item or offer to the runner-up. Fast deals get great feedback from me. Any questions - please ask and thanks for looking.

My Guarantee: If any winning bidder is not satisfied with their purchase I will offer a complete refund. I will not refund if any defect detail is clearly stated on the advert and missed by the buyer, so read the item description carefully. If any overseas collector does not understand anything in my listing, please email and ask me to help. Thank You.

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, actually 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.

The Argument for Vinyl Original sound and mix (mono mixes are rarely available on CD), high quality sound on clean copies (played on a hi-end dedicated analogue system – breathtaking sound!), beautiful, large format covers, artwork, inserts and even full size posters etc; huge investment potential, and the pleasure of owning ‘the real thing’.