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 arrive damaged in them at some time. Here, you get what you pay for – SAFE PACKING in BOXES using 7mm DOUBLE-WALL STIFFENERS. Full details 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 ‘2-day’ rule for non-payment to keep things moving – cash-flow is important for 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.

FINALLY: Late payers, non-payers and ‘0’ bidders will now be blocked or cancelled at my discretion. As will any bidder who cancels a bid. I do not like this practice as it is most often used to phish out the price to beat. Ebay does not approve and neither do I – so only bid on my items if you want them.

Artist or Band: GRACIOUS

Album Title: Gracious

Producer(s): Hugh Murphy

TRACK LISTING:

Side 1: Introduction; Heaven; Hell.

Side 2: Fugue in D Minor; The Dream.

Label/Format: Vertigo – Original first issue Spiral format with matt surfaces.

Label Conditions: Both very clean, fresh and attractive with spindle marks only light (side one) and fractionally more on side two. These mainly fine and faint as seen under angled light. No wear around the hole area and side two still very white and appearing little handled with no grubbiness.

Cat Number: 6360002.

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: 135 grams. A ver good weight for this early Spiral.

Country of Manufacture: England

Rarity: Rare: one the more elusive and seldom offered Spiral titles that sold in tiny numbers. Finding copies without major cover issues and clean is bordering on impossible. Those of the tiny few that will exist will rarely be offered on the open market. Also copies little played with minimal visual blemishes to the record or labels is a challenge. Lastly this album offers immense sound with a top production, copies that hold all that intact will be few also. Well this copy does, and the cover and inner are in very fine – not pristine – condition.

Original Year of Release: 1970

Matrix Nos: 6360002 1Y // 1 420 1 1 4 & 6360002 2Y // 1 420 1 2 2

Musicians: Paul Davis - vocals, 12 string, tympani; Martin Kitcat - Mellotron, piano, electric piano, harpsichord, vocals; Alan Cowderoy - guitar, vocals; Tim Wheatley - bass; Robert Lipton - drums.

Brief Artist & Album Info: Yet another difficult and challenging album from the highly collectable Vertigo Spiral catalogue. Like so many in the Swirl series, this is another rare record and up there with the most difficult to find in decent condition. Quality and very original music that has some classical elements within their complex blend of prog-rock. This is the first one of these I have had for some considerable time. Graphically plain looking on the outside, but the texturing is intricate and lovely. The inside VERY different, no texturing, but a spectacular graphic. An all-round very fine example, one to please many fans of this most sort-after and collectable label.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT: or very close to. This I feel being very critical of a cover that has little chance of avoiding often severe grubbiness and considerable rubbing. An unlaminated gatefold format, the front and back heavily textured with a highly complex raised, various sized patterned dot design. The inside is smooth. This cover may look at first glance pretty basic, but nothing could be further away from the truth. The outside faces are immensely intricate and quite possibly unique. Printed and made in England, uncredited. Includes the Swirl inner sleeve.

Cover Front: Grubbiness, staining and toning are the main enemies of this cover that has thousands (no exaggeration either) of raised bubble-like surfaces, these range from tiny dots to large ones – and all inbetween. They will invariably get grubby over time, few will avoid it. Here any is modest and terms of this cover relatively light. So some traces and a little more near the very edges where handling takes an affect, but this front will take a lot of beating. There is barely any hint or rubbing or creasing, the black graphic parts are all pristine. No staining, any hint of toning tiny and faint. And no sticker tears either, a cover massively intolerant of them.

Cover Back: The back is very similar again, a tiny white enhancement possible on the top edge, but look hard to see it. Again barely any creasing and no ringwear. The boxed VO price code (top right) is pristine as is all the actual text. This includes the original ‘Warning’ text which states: ‘WARNING Copyright subsists in all Vertigo recordings’. So both front and back have mild grubbiness, but in context, this really is possibly as close to as light as it almost realistically gets.

Cover Inner Gatefold: The inside is very different indeed as can be seen – we go from black and white and sparse graphics, to a spectacular vividly coloured woman. Here seen to almost perfect advantage –the only small blemish a tiny enhanced pull near the right bottom edge on her arm. Such covers have a regular tendency to pull, any minor adhesive smear in manufacture means the cover sticks and these issues are seen often. Clearly the discerning previous owner decided to improve it. This small ‘flaw’ apart, a classic Vertigo centrefold with barely anything else of note to fault. Being very clean, fresh and unaged or creased, any tiny surface blemishes minor and faint.

Top Edges: Slightly darkened with minimal trace of any wear or rubbing. Both quite straight and flush.

Bottom Edges: The actual folds show little wear at all. Some thickening to the inside card panel ends which are a fraction longer than the folds in manufacture. So being the storage edges, these have scant chance of avoid this as a minimum.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean, all mainly sharp with little wear, any thickening very little and light as seen viewed end-on. Record enters on this back edge, all guaranteed untrimmed or enhanced.

Spine and Text: Again a little darkened and fairly consistent with the rest of the outer cover but wear is minimal overall, there is a tiny central chip. Overall, solid, straight with minimal compression and folded square, so the edges meet up flush and parallel. The really good news is all text is present and unworn which on this cover is almost the best news possible for this perilous area.

Corners: The corners show little wear at all and remain crisp and very neat with no knocks or dinks. Excellent shape retained.

Cover Summary: A contender for the hardest in the Swirl catalogue to find in anything like top condition. Unless cover-protected from new and never removed or handled, it had little to no chance – and few ever were – few even sold. So I really consider this one to be a very nice, still attractive example, not for perfectionists, but realistically, it will prove challenging to find a great deal better. One that politely reminds of it’s great age and fragility with the tiny inside blemish. And unless a snowy white, pristine example is demanded – and good luck with that – I think this will please many, if not even most collectors.

The Inner Sleeve: EXCELLENT(++): a superb Swirl inner, the early type with the polylining. This one has hardly aged with any of the usual seam adhesive browning minimal and very light. Any creasing very fine and light as well. Two pristine window circles and the lining clear and still quite fresh. No edge splits or repairs, a really lovely inner and these are at a real premium these days.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT(+): at least, and a strong contender for the extra (+). Any surface marks are ultra fine and whispy and only show with scrutiny under bright angled light. There are no stylus scratches at all, I am sure this has been played very little at all, confirmed by superb sound throughout. Two very clean surfaces with excellent shine and very solidly pressed. This early Spiral prog classic will prove very difficult to find better and could even prove a significant upgrade for some.

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 rare Spiral record, the eighth in the UK series, plays even above its high visual grading with very little to fault. Offering strong, distortion-free sound, all frequencies are sharp and clear - sound quality is very high with a wide dynamic range and very detailed sound with no tracking issues*. Any surface sounds are minimal and this is a very clean pressing for a fairly difficult album. The lack of groovewear or distortion is great news and this is a challenging recording with great production, imagery and intense, full-on sound. This copy has lost none of its audible clarity and focus, my play-grade proved immensely pleasing, this being my first vinyl listen for a long time. Few copies will outperform this significantly I feel sure. Little, indeed if anything spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this wonderful rare prog record. It will prove very difficult to find significantly better for looks and sound and can be strongly recommended.

* As played-graded on a high-end Linn LP12 Sondek turntable with Ittok Mk II arm and Ortofon Quintet Black moving coil cartridge tracking at 2.2 grams.

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 as I Play-Grade every record I offer in their entirety – also on higher-end equipment – 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 it’s 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. Room light factors can make things vary sometimes, that is hard to control, especially in winter. 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 Quintet Black moving coil cartridge (tracks at 2.2 grams). Amps: Naim Supernait 2 with Project USB phono stage and Tellerium Black interconnects. Speakers: B&W 704 Floorstanding 3-way Monitors (bi-wired with Tellurium 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, better quality packaging costs, I offer probably the best-value and safest shipping possible for ultimate confidence. The boxes and ultra thick double-wall stiffeners 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 minuscule in over 14 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. Oneadayrecords is a MAILER-FREE ZONE – they offer next-to-no-protection, and should be banned, no ‘professional’ should consider using them in my opinion. 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 TWO days if no payment is received. I will then cancel the dispute to end the bid, 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 as will any suspicious bids or bid withdrawals. 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] = £7.50. (this includes insurance of £500). Add £1 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 £2 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’.