KRAFTWERK Autobahn - RARER Vertigo Orig UK 1974 N/M LP

	£		25
	$		33

ONEADAYRECORDS – Delivering Quality Music to the World

Please see my Detailed Packing Description Further Down & All Shipping Costs and Options.

Artist or Band: KRAFTWERK

Album Title: Autobahn.

Producers: Ralf Hütter & Florian Schneider.

Sound Engineer: Connie Plank.

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Autobahn.

Side 2: Kometenmelodie 1; Kometenmelodie 2; Mitternacht; Morgenspaziergang.

Label/Format: Vertigo – original spaceship format with the large catalogue numbers (Please see my label scan).

Label Conditions: Both very clean, fresh looking and attractive with only very light, few and faint spindle marks and no wear around the hole area. Without any doubt, this very early pressed copy has hardly been played.

Cat Number: 6360620.

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

Country of Manufacture: England.

Rarity: Moderate scarce as a first issue.

Original Year of Release: 1974

Matrix Nos: 6360620 1Y // 1 420 03 1 6 & 6360620 2Y // 1 420 03 1 6

Run-Out Groove Etchings: ‘BILBO’ [on both sides]

Musicians: Ralf Hütter – vocals, electronics; Florian Schneider – vocals, electronics; Klaus Röder – violin, guitar; Wolfgang Flür – percussion.

Brief Info: Universally admired and respected pioneers of electric music, Kraftwerk’s influence can never be underestimated. Very experimental and challenging in their early days when Krautrock was in it’s infancy. Their big breakthrough came in 1974 with this groundbreaking album, side one of ‘Autobahn’ is a twenty minute electronic car journey down the fast roads of Germany. More success followed with ‘Radioactivity’, ‘Trans Europe Express’ and ‘Man Machine’ the band even had several hit singles including the abridged version of this title song and the robotic ‘Show Room Dummies’. This album saw Kraftwerk getting ‘popular’. Coldplay’s frontman Chris Martin confesses his latest album was inspired by the unique melodies of Kraftwerk and he is a huge fan. The two original stalwarts are again ever present, Ralf Hütter & Florian Schneider and again Autobahn has wonderful use of electronics and superb catchy melodies that become fastly addictive. This vinyl copy boasts amazing super-fi sound quality and many channel-to-channel pyrotechnics, this is an amazing listen via headphone. An astonishing full frequency range recording that also opened the public’s ear to invest more in better equipment – this along with Mike Oldfield’s ‘Tubular Bells’ and Floyd’s ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ are still to this day used as test pieces for high-end equipment. A great early pressed UK copy that includes the original format blue embossed cover and one for a change, has little to fault. So many are seen very grubby, rubbed or creased (or all three), the record is little short of mint and plays beautifully with no crackle on the quietier passages of side two. A copy that should please most fans of this unique and important band.

This Cover’s Potential for Wear: High.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT(++): a single unlaminated format with matt finish. All the white front detail is embossed except the spiral logo, the back is smooth. Printed and made in England by Robor.

Cover Front: Clean and fresh looking and devoid of the usual issues seen on this earliest-made cover. Any rubbing or marks are few and very faint indeed as are any of the tiny few fine creases that register little. A faint record rim impression is just seen near the top edge but few ever avoid this as the bare minimum, the lack of real genuine penetrating ringwear is a huge bonus on this one.

Cover Back: The back is nigh-on identical, it has a ‘Downtown Records’ sticker near the bottom right corner. These are often seen on records from this part of the UK, they can be removed, but I always choose to leave them alone especially on matt covers. Both sides have a pair of very faint manufacture gripper lines that run parallel and aligned. These natural and hardly unusual press lines are very fine and light.

Top Edge: Practically unworn.

Bottom Edge: Very light and faint patchy rubs only just seen on the blue areas. Both edges are very straight too.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean, sharp with little wear and no trimming guaranteed. Record enters on this edge.

Spine and Text: Solid, mainly straight with just a little compression nearer the top. The odd tiny surface chip and faint rub trace on the fold but amongst the least I have seen on this uncompromising cover. The text is present and unworn and the blue surface remains clean.

Corners: Tiny tip rubs only and all retain excellent or better shape.

Cover Summary: A very strong and pleasingly attractive all-round example of this unforgiving mid-70’s cover, one that will prove very difficult to find much better. This super item should please many, if not most collectors.

The Inner Sleeve: EXCELLENT(++): the Polydor-style lined inner is in super condition also. Slight creasing near bottom left corner and very mild glue darkening on the same seam. Little else to fault with unsplit edges, pristine crisp windows and neat opening edge.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: MINT(-): a superb visual copy that is super clean, shiny, intense black and quite solidly pressed. A copy with minimal plays on all the evidence with any surface marks tiny, few and ultra fine – hardly any really. 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 ‘Krautrock’ classic 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 immensely high with a wide dynamic range and very detailed sound. Superbly engineered by legendary Conrad Plank, this will prove a real workout for any worthy system. The stereo imagery is top-class throughout and most will know the main title song well. Any surface sounds are minimal indeed, this with some of side two being very quiet but this pressing is up to the job and no pops or clicks were noted . Few copies will outperform this very early pressing significantly 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, almost certainly in a non-smoking environment. Nothing spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this wonderful record. 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.

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 promp 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 stiffners 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 will now offer any item to the runner-up after the mandatory Ebay 3 days if no contact is made by the winning bidder unless prior notice of any delay is given beforehand. The same applies if no payment is received within the mandatory 7 days so any bidder who has just lost out can still email me to reserve the item as priority second chance – it’s always worth asking.

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 [£40 maximum]) = £9. (insurance optional extra £3). Add £2.50 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 [£39 maximum]) = £13. Add £4 per extra LP. (insurance 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’.