On offer here is a superb very early UK-pressing of DAVID BOWIE, "Hunky Dory" (1971). Unlaminated sleeve printed by Robert Stace. Glossy orange RCA-labels. Chrysalis/Titanic credits on label. No Mainman credits! Lyric insert.

This is a great copy of David Bowie's "Hunky Dory". The earliest and extremely rare version had a sleeve with laminated front, and the record had glossy orange RCA-labels without any Mainman-credits. The copy on offer here has a sleeve with unlaminated front, and the record has glossy orange RCA-labels without any Mainman credits. As a matter of fact, the labels on this copy are absolutely identical to the version that came with a laminated sleeve! Only the very early pressed copies came with these glossy labels and was soon replaced by the much more common matt labels with Mainman credits.

Record: EX+

A supershiny and beautiful copy. No scratches or surface marks. Extremely close to perfect. Just superficial light, whispy lines from taking the record out from the inner sleeve. These lines can be seen only under a very strong lamp, and are invisible in normal daylight.

The record plays brilliant with a strong and crystal clear sound. No jumps, sticks or tracking issues. Only some light surface sounds here and there in the quiet parts. RCA-pressings from this period often suffered from irritating crackle and pops even when fresh from the record shop. The copy on offer here is above ordinary RCA-standard, and it would be difficult to find a copy that plays better than this one.

The labels have absolutely NO spindle marks at all, and are beautifully shiny and perfectly clean. No writings or stickers.

Hand ecthed matrix numbers:

A1 APRS-5947-4E            
APRS 5948 3E                  

Stamper numbers:
A1O
A4 T

Sleeve: EX+

Very fragile unlaminated sleeve. A few light wrinkles near the spine. Spine is perfectly readable. The opening edge is sharp and unworn. No seam splits. No writings or stickers. Hardly any wear, except for some very light ring wear at the top of the back and front. The lyric insert has a couple of very light creasings, but is otherwise perfectly clean and without any writings. Comes with original plain die cut inner sleeve.

Grading

Records are graded very conservatively, and visual inspections are done under a strong halogen lamp. I follow the Record Collector grading system.

 

 

Shipping and packaging

 

This record will be shipped from Sweden. 

 

Shipping cost for Standard delivery: Europe 7 GBP. United States, Canada and Japan 8 GBP.

Shipping cost for Tracked postage: Europe 14 GBP. Rest of the world 15 GBP.

 

I pack using professional mailers and stiffeners. I will remove the record from the outer sleeve to avoid seam splits.

 

 

Record cleaning and playing

 

All my records are carefully cleaned using a professional VPI 16.5 record vacuum cleaning machine for superior sound and vinyl preservation. After cleaning the record is put in a brand new lined inner sleeve. Of course, the original inner sleeve is included if existing.

The amount of surface noise, crackle etc. of course depends on the condition of the record, but also the kind of equipment used. This record has been graded using an extremely revealing top quality high end system. Turntable: Brinkmann Balance. Tonearm: Thales Simplicity. Cartridge: Dynavector XX2 Mk II, tracking at 1.9 grams.