IDLE RACE Time Is VERY RARE Orig UK 71 Regal Zonophone.

	£		340
	$		451

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: IDLE RACE

Album Title: Time Is.

Producer(s): The Idle Race & Kenneth Young.

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Dancing Flower; Sad O’Sad; The Clock; I Will See You; By the Sun.

Side 2: Alcatraz; And the Rain; She Sang Hymns Out of Tune; Bitter Green; We Want It All.

Label/Format: Regal Zonophone (Please see my label scan).

Label Conditions: Both in fantastic condition: very clean, fresh and attractive with only a couple of small, light and faint spindle marks on side two and barely even a trace on side one.

Cat Number: SLRZ 1017.

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: 129 grams. About average for it’s era.

Country of Manufacture: England.

Rarity: Very Rare: and one of the rarest albums on this highly collectable label. This sold in minuscule numbers and almost sunk without trace. Without doubt, one of the most elusive albums I have yet offered on a sizeable label and try to find this record in better or lesser played condition. This is the very first one of these I have ever seen or had to offer.

Original Year of Release: 1971

Matrix Nos: YCARX 73-1 / YCARX 74-1

Mothers / Stampers: 1 G / 1 G [a prized ultimate first pressing]

Musicians: Dave Pritchard - vocals, guitar, flute; Dave Walker - vocals, harmonica, piano; Mike Hopkins - lead guitar, vocals; Greg Masters - bass guitar, vocals, electric cello; Roger Spencer - drums, percussion, vocals.

Brief Info: The third and final album by Idle Race, a band that initially featured Jeff Lynne, but by the time of this album, he had departed. A quality Midland band that were always well received by critics, their albums failed to sell and this, their only issue on Zonophone remains by far the rarest title of the three. Selling in minuscule numbers and now one of the rarest albums ever on this sort-after label, this is somewhat of a ‘lost’ mini-gem which is rarely seen or offered. This record in stunning condition, barely played with pristine sound and the ultimate first-pressed 1G/1G mother and stamper codes. The cover is incredibly delicate, but here showing only modest edge wear and little else. An overall superb copy of a genuine rarity, this is without any doubt, a very rare opportunity.

This Cover’s Potential for Wear: Very High: all the ingredients as listed below for all forms of wear.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT(+): a single format with a textured front and three rear external flipbacks that are also textured. The main back panel is smooth. Made with thin soft card and the lack of laminate protection means few will look this fine these days, all surfaces are matt finished. Printed and made in England by Garrod & Lofthouse.

Cover Front: Very little to fault on this very fragile front, few will ever better this. Ultra clean, fresh and attractive with any faint traces of rubbing seen only on the very edges in the odd small place or two. This fragile graphic will rarely, if ever be seen better than this. With any record rim impression tiny and faint and NO ringwear or ink loss worthy of mention, this is almost beyond exceptional. The superb finely textured surface has more than survived the years – the lack of speckle to the raised surface areas is almost remarkable as is the general lack of creasing. Any fine traces are (just) seen near the edges with barely any at all away from the sides, and even here, there are hardly any of real note. Any marks are tiny, few and faint also and this incredibly fragile front sets the bar very high indeed.

Cover Back: The main back panel is little short of pristine with barely a mark, crease or rub trace to be seen. How many of these will ever remain clear of ringwear these days?, this is simply fantastic. You can simply imagine how fragile the flipbacks will be. But all three are in amazing, practically unworn conditions. These are textured and very black indeed, but the lack of speckle or rubbing is remarkable, any traces are very light and faint indeed. Some light and fine surface hairline creases which few flipbacks ever avoid totally, but remember, these have no protection and are very thin and fragile. The lack of any burring to the ends is beyond incredible and there is no damage to any of them. I truly believe this could be one of the best examples of this rare cover you will ever see.

Top Edge: The edges of this cover are very thin and obviously, very delicate and wear-prone. This has mainly light and patchy rubbing, nearer moderate near the left side.

Bottom Edge: Mostly very light and faint rubbing only, again, more moderate near the left corner but only for a small area (approx 2 cm).

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean, quite sharp with little wear and no feathering or trimming. Very slightly thickened see viewed end-on. Record enters on this edge. Given the facts on card thinness and softness, this delicate edge has stood up very well.

Spine and Text: Solid, mainly straight with mild compression. Incredibly, all the text is nigh-on perfect and unworn which for a soft cover like this is again, remarkable. This and many similar style covers, often see the spines threadbare and badly rubbed and even eroded. Nothing even close to this on this very well preserved cover.

Corners: The corner tips have rubbed but not excessively as all retain very fine to excellent shape.

Cover Summary: A very strong all-round example of this immensely fragile 70’s cover, one that will prove incredibly difficult to find much better – indeed, finding this at all will prove challenging enough. This beautiful item should please most-all collectors and this given all the facts, is somewhat undergraded.

The Inner Sleeve: MINT(-): and being honest, this is practically as made with any discolouration minuscule. A plain white unlined inner that is clean, practically uncreased with no edge splits, guaranteed original and always strong indication the record has barely been removed when seen like this.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: MINT(-): a superb visual copy that is very clean, shiny, intense black and very solidly pressed. A copy played no more than a couple of times with any surface marks few, light and faint. Just faint traces on side two which I am more than certain were there from manufacture from day one, no sound at all of course. Visually a super record that should please most-all collectors again.

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 very rare Zonophone record plays even above 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 barely even registered and no pops or clicks were noted and this is an exceptional clean pressing. Few copies will even match, let outperform this ultimate first pressing significantly I feel sure. I would not think this album was pressed in any great numbers anyway, but any 1G/1G record is very special and within the first 300 off the production line. 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, almost certainly in a non-smoking environment. Nothing spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this wonderful record, my very first copy of this title ever. This example will prove immensely difficult to find better and can be strongly recommended. A very rare opportunity indeed, do not lose this one.

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.

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’.