ONEADAYRECORDS – Simply Delivering Quality Music to the World in Quality, Safe Packing.

Postage: UK £4.75 (£1 per extra record). Europe (including Russia) £12.50 (£2 per extra record). Rest of World (including ALL parts of the USA) £16.50 (£3 per extra record). All boxes signed for in quality, safe packaging – I NEVER use mailing envelopes that offer virtually no protection at all – in fact I think these things should be banned as records WILL arrived damaged in them at some time. More details on my packing nearer the end of the listing.

Posting to Russia: Yes, I do post to Russia. But delivery can take up to 4 to 6 weeks from the UK. So please be patient. I will submit a tracking number to the winning bidder, and when the packet arrives there it can be followed online using the Russian post website.

ALSO: I now apply the Ebay ‘4-day’ rule for non-payment to keep things moving – cash-flow is important to any small business. I will always keep my P&P prices as low as possible, and even after yet another Royal Mail price hike from April this year, I have NOT raised my prices and will never compromise on solid, safe packing that is invariably heavier than most you will get. My P&P offers probably the best value-for-money for vinyl records available, and I even will pay for full insurance on any record that sells for over £100 at NO extra cost – that is UK and abroad. Also I aim to post the very same day after payment is received. You WILL see the difference when my packet arrives.

Artist or Band: THE ALAN PARSONS PROJECT

Album Title: I Robot.

Producer(s): Alan Parsons

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: I Robot; I Wouldn’t Want to Be Like You; Some Other Time; Breakdown; Don’t Let It Show.

Side 2: The Voice; Nucleus; Day After Day (The Show Must Go On); Total Eclipse; Genesis Ch.1. V.32.

Label/Format: Arista (Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab) original master recording with matt, smooth surfaces.

Label Conditions: Both immaculate: ultra clean, fresh and attractive with barely a spindle trace to be seen. This another record from the same lot as the Pink Floyd ‘Wish You Were Here’ Nimbus Supercut I am currently offering. This has hardly been played and sounds amazing.

Cat Number: MFSL 1-084.

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: 108 grams.

Country of Manufacture: RECORD: Japan. COVER & INSERT: US.

Rarity: Quite rare: these MFSL audiophile pressings were limited and not seen or offered often outside the United States. Specialist super-fi records made with precision and great care using virgin top-quality vinyl. These were strictly limited and never mass-produced. The difference in audio quality is vast, these records play with ultimate fidelity and dynamic range and devoid of crackle and pressing issues that blight so many regular records. They were cut directly from the original master tape. As I have stated before: if all records had been manufactured to this standard, the decline of the vinyl record would probably not have happened as rapidly as it did during the the 1980s and beyond. These super-fi records are highly short-after by audio purists and they simply make a worthy system excel. This beauty hardly played and sounds amazing, a regular example of this album will hardly get close.

Original Year of Release: 1977

Matrix Nos: MFSL-1-084-A3 H131 / MFSL-1-084-B1 H111

Run-Out Groove Etchings: SR ORTOFON EXP Audio/OSN.4 / SR 2 ORTOFON

Musicians: Alan Parsons – guitars, keyboards, Projectron and vocoder; David Paton – bass, acoustic guitars; Stuart Tosh – drums, percussion, Ian Bairnson – electric and acoustic guitars; Eric Woolfson, Duncan Mackay – keyboards; B.J. Cole – steel guitar; John Leach – cimbalom and kantele; Lenny Zakatek, Allan Clarke, Steve Harley, Jack Harris, Peter Straker, Jaki Whitren, Steve Davies and Dave Townsend – vocals.

Brief Info: Alan Parsons is an audio engineer, musician, and record producer. He is credited with the production of several major albums, including The Beatles’ ‘Abbey Road’, Let It Be, also Pink Floyd’s massive seller ‘The Dark Side of the Moon’. This album was his second following the quite successful ‘Tales of Mystery and Imagination’. Another concept type progressive rock album losely based-on Isaac Asimov’s science fiction Robot trilogy and exploring themes of artificial intelligence. As before, it features a host of quality backing musicians and guest vocalists. Parsons himself produces and engineers, it was again recorded at Abbey Road Studios, so no surprise this album sounds fantastic – but on this MFSL precision pressed, and NOT mass-produced copy, it simply sounds AMAZING. Hardly played, then only with utmost care on a high quality system, this will really get the air moving and your system flowing into overdrive.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT: but actually looks better still. An unlaminated gatefold format with matt, smooth surfaces. Printed and made in the U.S. and includes the large gatefold insert sheet that explains what MFSL records are all about.

Cover Front: A heavy-duty, thick card sleeve, these can be somewhat prone to wear, but this has little. The front has the odd tiny edge or corner dink with any rub traces bordering on minuscule. Great artwork seen to near maximum advantage, this has aged little. Note also: the red ‘ORIGINAL MASTER RECORDING’ strapline on the top (of both sides).

Cover Back: The back is largely the same, any rub traces again tiny and faint. The lack of ringwear on such covers is unusual, but most welcome.

Cover Inner Gatefold: The inside spread looks practically as made – the odd tiny edge or corner blemish apart.

Top Edges: Minimal rub traces, any seen near the ends, but only very small. No splits, mostly very straight.

Bottom Edges: A little gentle patchy rubbing, few of these storage edges will show less. Again, no splits.

Right Edge(s), and Type: The front has a real edge and has barely any wear The back inside entrance has mild thickening seen viewed end-on, the inside one, practically as made. No trimmed or enhancements guaranteed.

Spine and Text: Solid and robust, straight with no compression and folded square, so the edges meet up quite closely together and parallel. All text is perfect and unworn and even the vulnerable fold hinges retain practically all ink.

Corners: Mainly light tip rubs on the right ones, very fine to excellent shape retained.

Cover Summary: A strong all-round example of this quite unforgiving and wear-prone thick-card cover, one that will prove very difficult to find much better. This attractively clean item should please many, if not most collectors.

The Inner Sleeve: EXCELLENT(++): a flimsy super-soft inner sleeve used by this company for ultimate surface protection of the record. The odd natural semi-crease, but this practically as made with no splits.

The Booklet: MINT(–): the gatefold card insert promotes the limited edition masters from MFSL. Also inside, details about the Original Master Recorded Cassettes, never seen those before. The back the most interesting with text explaining the details about the production of these audiophile products. This is practically as made.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: PRACTICALLY MINT: a stunning looking record with complex groove patterns telling ‘vinyl readers’ what to expect in terms of sound quality. A beautiful visual copy that is ultra clean with super-shine and freshness. These were not heavily pressed, but the quality is immense. A copy hardly even played on all the evidence with any surface traces practically non-existent, even viewed critically under bright angled light. Visually an immaculate record that should please 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 top-quality prog-rock album plays up to it’s gorgeous visual with nothing to fault. Strong, distortion-free sound, all frequencies are sharp and clear - sound quality is immense with a massive dynamic range and very detailed sound. A master-class in audio sound quality from one of the finest producers and engineers. Surface noise? What surface noise? – this record plays like the master tape is was cut from – this a stunning piece of hi-fidelity listening. Few standard copies will even approach this. Manufactured without due care on time using the best quality material, and I just wish all records were like this. Barley played and nothing spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this wonderful record. Classic prog for the sound purist – this is why music lovers pay big money for quality systems. This scarce MFSL will prove near impossible to find better and of course, merits my highest possible 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.

Equipment Used for Play-Grading: I now play-grade ALL the records I offer (unless clearly stated to the contrary) on the following equipment:

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 10,000+ items sold in over 12 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] = £4.75

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]) = £12.50 (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]) = £16.50 (£17.50 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’.