SEX PISTOLS N.M.T.BOLLOCKS LP VERY 1st UK PRESSING;+7"

	A$		468
	$		310

FORMAT:     …vinyl LP…
LABEL:         VIRGIN .
CAT. #:          V-2086  .
DATE OF RELEASE:   1977 .
PRESSED IN:    UK .
ORIGINAL FIRST PRESSING?   ...Yes, it VERY CERTAINLY is......

COVER: (EX-)...

VINYL: (EX-)...this is a visual grading...it has some light marks, but these do NOT affect play adversely, at all - they merely constitute 32+ years of movement within its paper inner sleeve...it plays beautifully (very close to mint, in fact!)...

LABELS: (Side One: MINT / Side Two: MINT)...

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YOUR QUESTION:

How do I know this is the first pressing?

MY ANSWER:

From August 1974 to May 1978 I managed a record store in Sydney, which dealt ONLY in records imported from the UK, USA, Jamaica, and Germany. We dealt with one supplier in each country only. From early 1976 our supplier in the UK was Caroline Exports, which was based on the bottom floor of the warehouse occupied by the Virgin Records label in London (somewhere south of the Thames but I can't remember exact address - it'll be in my old address book which I still have somewhere in storage - I'd know it if I heard it, feel free to refresh me). Caroline was, of course, Virgin's export division.

The manager of Caroline became a close contact of mine, being that I used to phone him personally right from the beginning, on every Thursday evening our time (Thurs morning in London) in order to be told that week's new releases (they were always released on Thursdays back then, and I used to get free phone calls via a 'mole' I had in the phone company here...it was awesome...the other couple of import stores here used to order by mail, and they'd get their new releases about 3 or 4 weeks after they'd appear in the UK...we'd get ours a mere 6 days later, on the following Wed.) Anyway, in Sept '77 I spent a month in London, going to a tonne of punk gigs and having a freakin' riotous time, many of them thanks to the Caroline export manager. The imminent release of the Pistols album was all the talk out at Caroline/Virgin when I was out at their offices. One day after I'd gone out there for lunch, he took me upstairs to see the Pistols LP artwork - Jamie was still at lunch so he simply showed me the virtually finished artwork on one of those slightly sloping artists desks...at the time it felt like a minor privilege, but in retrospect now, that was some pretty crucial art, in the grand scheme of all things punk'n'legendary. Back to the point...I asked (more like demanded) that he'd let me know the minute the Pistols album was ready so we could have it sent out same day. He agreed. I came back to Australia.

A couple of weeks later on Thursday 13th October, I called him as per usual and was told that the first batch of LPs had just arrived that morning, and although it wasn't immediately due for release in the UK, he could ship me out 200 the next day (he said they'd just gotten a few pressed first and the bulk of the stock was still being pressed and would be arriving the next week) -  so, anyway I'd be first in Australia (by far) to stock it...but not only that, he said, and I quote (word for word as far as I remember it - I was pretty excited and it kinda stuck with me): "You're the very first store that I'm sending any to. None are going out till next week to anyone else." Every week when new releases arrived in store for the first time, I wrote each of them down in a book, which I still have somewhere in storage (it's a goldmine of precise release date info!), and the Pistols LP arrived on Wed 19 Oct. 1977. It had the plain pink back cover and did NOT include a poster AT THAT TIME, nor was it sealed with a 7" of "Submission" inside it. The only time in ALL our communication, that the Caroline manager actually went to the rather vast expense of calling me, was to tell me "We'vefuckedup, and there should have been this extra song on the LP, so we've had to press up a whole bunch of it on a one-sided 7" to appease the band, and I'm gonna put 200 of them in with your shipment this week, free of charge, for you to give out to anyone who bought the LP already, and to include with the LPs you have left." And that's what he did. The single arrived on Wed 26 Oct. It wasn't until the following day that the LP was released in the UK.

This is one of those very first 200 LPs, along with a copy of the one-sided "Submission" 7" single (Virgin VDJ-24...condition: EX-).

The 7" is still in the very same plain white die-cut paper sleeve it was sent out in. Likewise, the LP still has the same white inner sleeve it came in (the 3 seams of the inner sleeve have a high quality clear tape on them to prevent seam splits - the tape does NOT leave a stain, and has been on there since 1977).

The matrix numbers in the LP run-off grooves are: V-2086.A-1  and  V-2086-B-1...(NOTE: it is definitely a dot between the 6 and the A on Side One).

Now you may choose NOT to believe any of this, or regard it with some speculation, and I'm perfectly OK with that, and understanding of it even...and I'm not gonna beg you to believe it...but I do promise you this is very much the truth...and the person who ends up with this will indeed have one of those very first pressings, regardless of any other info you may have that copies of the LP sealed with the 7" and poster were the first ones ever issued (as nice as it would be to have one of them!!).

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If you have any concerns about the accuracy of my gradings, please check my feedback for the odd nice comment from some satisfied folk out there.... (and hopefully you may be able to join their ranks).

You can pay in US$'s or UK pounds or EURO's or Australian dollars.

CLICK ON view sellers other auctions ABOVE FOR SIMILAR ITEMS - I list lots of punk / garage'n'psych (60s –> 90s) / power pop / guitar pop / soul & R'n'B / some occasional original 50's rock'n'roll & rockabilly plus industrial/experimental rarities from down this way - vinyl mostly, and posters, some CDs - (admittedly you’ll find all sorts of other guff too)...

Thanks for considering this item. Best of luck if you decide to bid...Cheers, Jules.

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The Small Print

(it's a good idea to read this)

POSTAGE:

: first class airmail to UK, all of Europe, Israel / South America / Central America / Africa / Continental Asia (Russia, Turkey, etc.): AU$19.95

: first class airmail to Japan / Asia-Pacific (China, Thailand, Korea, Singapore, India, etc.): AU$15.95

: first class airmail to New Zealand: AU$13.95

: within Australia: AU$7.50

Combining Postage

...take note:
..postage costs come down considerably per LP/12" if you happen to win more than one...(for instance, to the UK/USA/Europe, etc., winning extra LPs/12"s means adding AU$6.90 extra postage for the second, and even less for a third....or AU$2.00 within Australia for each extra LP)...

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