GROUNDHOGS Thank Christ… RARER ORIG UK 70 LIBERTY BLUE

	£		62
	$		82

ONEADAYRECORDS – Simply Delivering Quality Music to the World.

Postage: UK £4.25. Europe (including Russia) £12. Rest of World £16. ALL signed for in quality, safe packaging – I NEVER use mailing envelopes.

NOTE: I now apply the Ebay ‘4-day’ rule for non-payment. I try to keep my P&P prices as low as possible after the very significant Royal Mail price increases and will never compromise on solid, safe packing.

Artist or Band: THE GROUNDHOGS

Album Title: Thank Christ For The Bomb.

Producer(s): Tony McPhee.

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Strange Town; Darkness is No Friend; Soldier; Thank Christ For the Bomb.

Side 2: Ship on the Ocean; Garden; Status People; Rich Man, Poor Man; Eccentric Man.

Label/Format: Liberty – rare original blue format.

Label Conditions: Both very fresh, clean and attractive. Spindle marks on moderate but quite fine with very modest visibility, seen more under light. But have no fears, this very impressive first issue plays superbly and is a lovely all-round copy.

Cat Number: LBS 83295.

Mode / Speed: Stereo / 33.3 rpm.

Weight of this Record: 130 grams. A good solid weight for this record.

Country of Manufacture: England.

Rarity: Quite rare on the blue label. Only available for the briest of time and most seen are on the black label that followed shortly after.

Original Year of Release: 1970

Matrix Nos: LBS 83295 A 1 12 4 / LBS 83295 B 1 1 1 5

Brief Artist & Album Info: The third and my personal favourite by this hard-rock trio, less bluesy than the previous two albums, this is The Groundhogs at their very best, a conceptual type album with a distinctive progressive edge. The subject matter is more than obvious from the title and cover, it features their best known line-up of Tony McPhee on vocals and guitar; Pete Cruickshank on bass and Ken Pustelnik on drums. Brilliantly powerful rock with McPhee again blazing away on guitar – this man for me was up there with the very best. Also great packaging with a classy heavily textured gatefold E. J. Day sleeve which unfortunately is very prone to all forms of wear. This came from a small private collection and was purchased from new. A very fine all-round copy and now getting difficult to find on the blue label, this was a delight to play and has a long-time favourite for many years.

Cover’s Potential for Wear: Very high+: yellow is one of the most revealing colours for blemishes and marks and that too with unprotected, textured outer sides and somewhat soft card. All makes for a highly wear-prone cover that is seldom seen even a decent very good, especially the earlier examples.

Cover Grade and Format: NEAR EXCELLENT: especially given the format – I have seen a number of these very tatty indeed, often with huge sticker tears and torn or split edges due to the soft and quite thin card. An unlaminated gatefold format with the front and back textured. The inside is smooth. Printed and made in England by the E. J. Day Group.

Cover Front: A few light marks and a couple of tiny surface chips near the bottom edge, but generally clean with a fine degree of freshness. Barely any rubbing or creasing and any grubbiness to the revealing yellow surface very light and little. Given all the facts, this front sets a quite high standard – the lack of sticker marks or tears always a bonus.

Cover Back: The back is impresisve and has even fewer marks or blemishes than the front. So often affected by deep penetrating ring wear, this has none at all, and barely with any rim impression.

Cover Inner Gatefold: Any grubbiness or marks are tiny, very few and faint and this centrefold looks really nice.

Top Edges: Any rubbing is very gentle and light, hardly anything shows really. Both edges straight and lie flat too.

Bottom Edges: A little more moderate rubbing, again it shows less than most on light surfaces.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean, quite sharp with little wear and guaranteed untrimmed. A few small burr traces on the back opening, but minimal thickening and overall, quite neat.

Spine and Text: A fine spine: so many are seen eroded and threadbare. Solid and quite thick and straight with only a little modest compression. Folded squarely with the edges meeting quite closely together and parallel. To see this with practically all the text intact and present is unusual but the proof is seen on my close-up picture. Mild discolouration, but with all the text unworn, that is a huge bonus and never easy.

Corners: Light to moderate tip rubs with to very fine shape retained. Most wear on the spine bottom but hardly major.

Cover Summary: Soft textured card will in most cases mean significant wear – this has resisted generally well with only just enough to gently remind of it’s considerable age. It still sets a solidly high standard and it will please many collectors.

The Inner Sleeve: NEAR EXCELLENT: a plain solid white unlined inner that has aged only modestly. One corner crease with any marks or discolouration light, all edges unsplit with no repairs. This includes the ‘PATENT APPLIED FOR’ text and is guaranteed original.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT(–): with some mainly light and fine surface marks that have barely any affect on the very fine sound this record offers. It has been played a few times without doubt, but the audio quality remains very clean and impressive. Retaining a lovely shine, freshness and solidly pressed, this record was never exposed to heavy tracking old mono record players, hence the fairly modest surface marks are superficial and of little to no audio consequence. It will please many vinyl fans, but not the highly discerning visual 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 miniscule sound present on any record.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This rock classic plays above it’s more than very respectable visual grading with very little to fault. It offers strong, powerful sound and with no distortions or pressing flaws. All frequencies are sharp and clear and tracking is effortless with no problems whatsoever. Audio quality is high with a full dynamic range and very detailed sound, McPhee’s guitar is hugely impressive and the backing is top class with real drive and clout. This is still one of the lesser-lauded rock gems from this productive period. Quite why McPhee is ranked up there with the all-time guitar-greats is beyond me. His playing on this album is simply stunning and there is not a bad second on this excellent material. A couple of overseas customers bought this album from in the past who were less than familiar with The Groundhogs – they were totally blew away by it and quickly wanted more. Many still regard ‘Split’ as their best, but I feel this is even better – both are stunning albums. Although this has a few mostly very light surface marks, there are barely any traces of surface sounds and no pops or significant clicks were noted, few original blue label copies will play a great deal better than this. Nothing of any note spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this wonderful record which merits strong recommendation.

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 Terrarium Black 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 8,000+ items sold in over 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 2 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). All postage costs are below and at the top of the listing.

NOTE: First Time Bidders: Please ask 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] = £4.25

1 LP (Special Delivery with Standard £500 Maximum Insurance) [Signed For, Next Day] = £8. (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 [£50 maximum]) = £12 (enhanced 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 [£50 maximum]) = £16 (£17 for double sets). Add £3 per extra LP. (enhanced 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’.