VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR - H To HE - RARE UK 1970 LP

	£		94
	$		125

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: VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR

Album Title: H to He, Who am the Only One.

Producer(s): VDGG.

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Killer; House With No Door; The Emperor in His War-Room: Part 1 - The Emperor; Part 2 - The Room.

Side 2: Lost: Part 1 - The Dance of the Sand and Sea; Part 2 - The Dance in Frost; The Pioneers Over C.

Label/Format: Charisma – pink scroll with smooth surfaces.

Label Conditions: Two impressive examples: very clean, still fresh and highly attractive and with only one or two ultra faint spindle traces each side, this appears hardly played with sound to match. With close scrutiny under angled light, a little small, light dulling spots are seen, but nothing detracts from these two intensely deep pink labels which, of course have the B&C credits.

Cat Number: CAS 1027.

Mode / Speed: Stereo / 33.3 rpm.

Weight of this Record: 135 grams. A very good, slightly above average weight for this pressing.

Country of Manufacture: England.

Rarity: This is never an easy record to find in such conditions. A notoriously difficult cover and record, some early copies of this one had a pressing fault that affected play – this smooth label, EMI pressing does NOT have it and this one offers the most incredible sound quality throughout. This is a superior and cleaner pressing devoid of those irritating pressing noises and crackle.

Original Year of Release: 1970.

Matrix Nos: CAS 1027 A-1U / CAS 1027 B-1U

Mothers / Stampers: 1 GR / 1 GD

Brief Artist & Album Info: ‘H to He’ was the third album and another progressive classic. Fronted by the fairly eccentric and intense vocalist Peter Hammill, VDGG made some of the most complex and inspired sounds of the early to mid-70s. David Jackson, the saxophonist often played two simultaneously creating a mesmerising and powerful sound. These electric reeds were heavily treated and made the dual saxes sound more like eight! Musically complex using constantly changing time structures and like fellow progsters, King Crimson their albums have great highs and lows in volume. This album preceded the legendary Pawn Hearts, that still for me ranks as one of the greatest true progressive rock albums ever. A marvellous original band that were somewhat under-appreciated at the time, but adored by the few (myself included) – Hammill remains one of rock’s great exponents of originality and expression. This copy on offer is very impressive – and something of a change – it plays superbly, as near ‘perfect’ as I dare suggest for one of the most difficult ‘vinyl’ bands. Always delighted (when possible) to be able to state this. The problems I have heard and encountered with early Charisma records, especially the textured label pressings, make them a lottery. Even mint, barely played examples can hide the most horrendous pressing noises and distortion – simply pressing flaws that cannot be seen but certainly can be heard. So it is always with a certain trepidation I play even the finest looking copies. Well this one failed to disappoint and offers the most powerful, detailed and cleanest sound – I rare the EMI pressings far higher than any other. No pressing noises or crackle, simply top quality audio sound and powerful dynamics that all remain focused and precise. The highly challenging wear-prone sleeve is in very clean as well and shows little ageing and any wear mild. Cover protected for most of it’s time and generally well cared for. It has the odd small rub and small crease, but way above average as most seen are ringworn, faded and badly rubbed. Such examples come along all to infrequently, so any collector needing this legendary prog classic – do NOT lose it.

Cover’s Potential for Wear: Very high with a highly wear-prone ink and surfaces. These seldom seem to show up even EX with VG (or less) being almost the standard. Massively prone to rubbing, chipping and most of all – ringwear, few escape it.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT: and possibly undergraded in context of how badly this can and usually does wear. An unlaminated gatefold format with matt smooth surfaces. Printed and made in England by the E. J. Day Group and with the first B&C credits.

Cover Front: Very dark, rich and unfaded artwork that has just one smallish rub near the bottom right corner as can be seen. Any minor marks, small, light and faint seen under angled light and the lack of creasing a real bonus. The colour very deep and rich and this retains a high degree of freshness, and the small rub apart, one of the best I have seen.

Cover Back: Very similar – the richness of the colour and lack of large, deep penetrating ring wear is a massive bonus. A light arc trace near the bottom with the merest hint anywhere else. A smallish crease near the bottom left corner but little else and finding this better will never prove easy.

Cover Inner Gatefold: In terms of wear, barely any. The same corner crease is seen inside, again little else.

Top Edges: Both straight with barely any wear.

Bottom Edges: Minimal wear on the front with some reasonably mild rubbing to the back towards the right that appears white. The centre of back has a semi-rub.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean, sharp with minimal hint of wear. Any burring or thickening small, few and light as seen viewed end-on, both guaranteed untrimmed. Record enters on the back edge.

Spine and Text: Knowing this cover well, a much better will prove immensely difficult to find. Very solid, straight with mimimal compression. Also folded squarely with all edges meeting closely together and parallel. Again highly wear prone but this shows little more than very small rubs to the ends. All text very clean and neat and importantly, present, nigh-on totally unworn as my close-up picture will verify. The faintest clip trace to the ‘C’ in ‘CAS’.

Corners: Mainly small tip rubs are almost the very least that can be expected. Fine to very fine shape is retained.

Cover Summary: A very fine example of one of rock’s most difficult, dark covers and incredibly difficult to find a B&C, E. J. Day printing with so little overall wear. Edge rubbing is near impossible to avoid as is ring wear, so in context, this has done well to avoid a great deal. I have seen some looking plain ugly with heavy creasing, fading, moderate, even severe rubbing and worse of all – heavy ringwear. This one should please many collectors.

The Inner Sleeve: NEAR EXCELLENT: guaranteed original with the retailer writing the CAS 1027 number and band on the back side. A plain solid white unlined inner with a little mild creasing around the rim shape and mild discolour to the edge adhesive. One tiny bottom edge movement split I neatly repaired to stop it getting larger, all others intact.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: NEAR EXCELLENT: a very fine visual copy that is very clean, shiny, intense black and very solidly pressed. A copy with modest plays I feel but with close-up viewing under angled light, some very fine surface marks are seen, but NO penetrating scratches at all – hence the sound qualith is very clean and impressive. Visually a very fine record that should please many collectors, but the highly discerning.

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 magnificent progressive rock classic plays even above it’s solid visual grading with barely anything to fault - a bold statement I know, but true. Strong, totally distortion-free sound, all frequencies are sharp and clear. Sound quality is astonishing with a massive dynamic range and very detailed sound. Complex sounds on a challenging album, these intricate grooves are so easily damaged by less than worthy sylus or turntables, few will play this focused and sharp throughout. Any surface sounds are very few, gentle and faint and I noted no pops or significant clicks – remember the highs and lows in VDGG’s music. Charisma records did vary in pressing quality and such is the vast range of quiet to loud, silence throughout is near impossible on vinyl, but this superior EMI pressing gives of it’s very best. Both channels are clean and sharp with very clean grooves that clearly have avoided any of the aforementioned abuse. This one was a real thrill to hear this clean and the inbuilt power and dynamics within these vintage grooves was a joy from start to finish. Silence is near impossible, but this has little to fault with any reminders you are listening to a 42-year-old record few and far between. This copy will prove difficult to find better for overall sound and I enjoyed this immensely. This 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’.