FRANK ZAPPA Chunga's Revenge RARER Orig UK 1970 N/M LP
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Description
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: FRANK ZAPPA
Album Title: Chunga’s Revenge.
Producer(s): Frank Zappa.
TRACK LIST:
Side 1: Transylvania Boogie; Road Ladies; Twenty Small Cigars; The Nancy and Mary Music parts 1 to 3.
Side 2: Tell Me You Love Me; Would You Go All the Way?; Chunga’s Revenge; The Clap; Rudy Wants to Buy Yez a Drink; Sharleena.
Label/Format: Reprise – original deep tan RSLP format. (Please see my label scan).
Label Conditions: Both very clean, incredibly fresh and attractive with only two or three light spindle marks on side two, side one has barely a trace at all. No wear around the hole rims and this lovely copy looks hardly even played, just the way Zappa’s fans (like me) want them.
Cat Number: RSLP 2030.
Mode / Speed: Stereo / 33.3 rpm.
Weight of this Record: 150 grams. A very impressive weight for this first issue, the later Kinney pressings became significantly lighter.
Country of Manufacture: England.
Rarity: The original RSLP versions with the more limited green covers are elusive, especially in top conditions. More are found with the red cover and the green version was never available with the Kinney repressings. Although issued in 1970, this album was never issued on the tri-coloured Reprise labels and was one of the first made on the new format. Seldom seen without significantly worn covers, this does not wear well unless carefully handled and stored. The genuine first pressings of this gem were heavy pressed and usually inflicted deep, penetrating ringwear to the cover back which is VERY difficult to avoid, often eating right into the card leaving white circles. This one is exceptional as I hope my pictures show. The record is near immaculate and plays with pristine sound quality. The earliest pressings also offer the best sound possible. A little more open and detailed than the Kinney issues that are little more ‘muddy’ and muted in comparison (if your system is revealing enough). Clearly one for the Zappa connoisseur, if I had not already got this in my own personal collection in similar super condition, this would not be going anywhere.
Original Year of Release: 1970.
Matrix Nos: RSLP 2030 A1 / RSLP 2030 B1
Musicians: Frank Zappa - guitar, vocals, harpsichord, Condor, drums, wood blocks, temle blocks, boo-bams, tom-toms etc; Ian Underwood - rhythm guitar, piano, electric piano, pipe organ, electric alto sax with wah-wah pedal; tenor sax grand piano; Max Bennett - bass; Aynsley Dunbar - drums; Jeff Simmons - bass, vocal; George Duke - keyboards, organ; Sugar Cane Harris - organ; Flo & Eddie (Mark Volman & Howard Kaylan) - vocals.
Brief Artist & Album Info: Zappa’s third ‘solo’ outing after the controversial disbandment of the original Mothers of Invention line up. Chunga’s Revenge introduced singers Flo and Eddie (ex-Turtles Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan, a duo who later sang backing vocals for T Rex), also featuring several players from the previous solo album - the masterpiece which was Hot Rats from 1969. This album, never one of his most acclaimed, but for me highly underrated, contains many gems and several classic instrumentals. The best being the title track which features Ian Underwood on electric sax that gets the full wah-wah treatment. The beautifully melodic and catchy jazzy track Twenty Small Cigars, actually an out-take from ‘Hot Rats’ and the glorious guitar-driven ‘Transylvania Boogie’ with it’s gypsy rhythms. ‘Road Ladies’ describes the pleasures (and diseases) from the groupies around at this time. Chunga’s is a varied album and again never short of experimentation. Sugarcane Harris, a violinist plays organ on the title track and Frank himself plays all the percussion on the Varese inspired piece ‘The Clap’. This ultimate first issue with rarer cover variant is just a sheer pleasure to hold, view and play.
This Cover’s Potential for Wear: Very High: this is immensely difficult to find devoid of rubbing and ringwear. The original covers with the heavy records are even more prone.
Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT(+): at least. An unlaminated gatefold format with matt surfaces and was printed and made in England by MacNeill Press Ltd. Always a pleasure to see the rarer ‘greens’ looking this nice.
Cover Front: “A gypsy mutant industrial vacuum cleaner dances about a mysterious night time camp fire. Festoons. Dozens of imported castanets, clutched by the horrible suction of its heavy duty hose, waving with marginal erotic abandon in the midnight autumn air”. So states the front cover of one of Frank’s most famous covers with the huge yawn taken by Phil Franks. Not intentionally taken to be used on an album cover, but when Zappa saw the picture, he liked it and decided to use on this set. Here seen in superb condition and devoid of the usual wear and grubbiness most seen to attract. Very clean and still retaining an unusual freshness with any surface marks, creases or rub traces tiny, few and faint. One of the best I have seen for ages, the lack of fading on the spine area is also great news. Light exposure over time seems to often wash this out making it appear off-white. No such issue here and this famous front, now over 40-years-old, will take some beating.
Cover Back: Along with Burnt Weeny Sandwich and possibly the Freak Out double set, the most ringwear prone Zappa back cover made. I can barely remember seeing this ultra dark purple ink with no ringwear, but this is as close as it probably ever gets. The colour remains very rich and strong and unfaded and again with barely any creasing and no grubbiness. The faintest of rim impression can just be seen near the top, but (for a change) little ink has been disturbed or eroded and what a superb looking back this is. A small pressmark just side one’s times and a super-fine hairline seen on Zappa’s red jacket on the left picture of the man. The lack of rubbing to this dark in is incredibly unusual and, like the front, sets a very high standard.
Cover Inner Gatefold: Both inner faces are close to perfect and the Cal Schenkel artwork with it’s RSLP number looks fantastic.
Top Edges: Some mainly light, patchy rubbing.
Bottom Edges: Similar to above, just a little more on these resting edges.
Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean, sharp with minimal traces of wear and guaranteed untrimmed. Record entered on the back edge.
Spine and Text: In terms of real wear, this has barely any, just a little light rubbing to the very top and bottom. This has not faded, gretyed or washed-out like many seen, it still has it’s green colour. Solid, straight, uncompressed and folded square, both right edges meet up perfectly together and parallel. This looks very nice indeed and retains all it’s text.
Corners: All corners have moderately light rubbing. All retain very fine shape.
Cover Summary: You can only admire this one. If you know your Zappa well, you will already know how shabby this cover is often seen. This is one to hold and enjoy, not hide away awaiting a better one, so very difficult like this, it should please most collectors.
The Inner: EXCELLENT(++): only marked down due to light glue darkening on the seams which all remain secure. Two neat windows, this one is unlined and has barely any creasing or marks. A delicate thin paper inner that has withstood the test-of-time near perfectly.
Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: MINT(-): and arguably undergraded even at that. A superb visual example with barely even any surface traces, just the odd whispy removal trace seen with scrutiny under light. Super clean, shiny, intense black and heavily pressed on high quality vinyl. This has ultimately clean playing surfaces and sounds fantastic too. Visually a wonderful first-press example that should please all collectors who simply want a 41-year-old record that looks and plays like new.
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 miniscule sound present on any record.]
Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This outstanding record plays up to its high visual grading with nothing to fault. Strong, distortion-free sound, all frequencies are sharp and clear - sound quality is high and is as good as it gets. Possibly not one of Frank’s greatest productions but a quality system easily bring out the hidden details and nothing will ever beat a first-pressed copy. Devoid of surface sounds and no pops or clicks were noted and this is an exceptional clean pressing. Few copies will match or outperform this original I feel sure. Both channels are clean and sharp, I am certain this record has hardly been played and has been clearly carefully stored and handled. Nothing spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this top-grade Zappa record. This copy will prove near impossible to find better and unreservedly recommended.
End Piece: The back cover explains the vocals on this album are a preview for the following album - 200 Motels, it was the start of a new chapter in Zappa’s career, many fans were not sure at first - the original Mothers of Invention were much loved by their fans. Many found it unforgivable to disband them although several members still recorded with the new line-ups. This album is was a pathway to the transition, and is an important stepping stone - if you missed this ‘solo’ album first time round, try it now, you are unlikely to hear a much cleaner pressing. With the rarer green cover and in super condition and near mint record, it hardly gets better.
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.
Equipment Used for Play-Grading: I now play-grade ALL the records I offer (unless clearly stated to the contrary) on the following equipment: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.
First-time, zero-rated bidders, who do not ask permission to bid, will be cancelled immediately and blocked – NO exceptions. For winning bidders who I consider excessively slow to make contact or submit payment, I will use my right to block future bids. If any bidder who wins in the final seconds is present to do so, surely they can at least email me to inform of intention and payment method? If swift or prompt payment is a problem, please do not bid.
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: I will cancel ALL first-time bidders with no feedbacks or excessive negatives who do not ask me if its OK to bid first – NO EXCEPTIONS.
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. If you cannot pay, DO NOT BID.
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: Please do not bid if you have negative feedback unless checking first, 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’.