JOY DIVISION Closer SCARCE EARLY UK 1980 EX+ LP. STUNNING NEAR MINT COVER/INNER.

Sold Date: December 29, 2019
Start Date: December 22, 2019
Final Price: £48.00 (GBP)
Bid Count: 19
Seller Feedback: 8912
Buyer Feedback: 180


ONEADAYRECORDS – Serving-up a Christmas & New Year Feast of Entertainment

I would like to wish all my customers, regulars and newcomers, a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR

Over the Holiday Period, I am offering some interesting Christmas ‘Crackers’ – lovely albums – some rare – ENJOY!

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, and records WILL arrive damaged in them at some time as most record buyers will already know. Here, you get what you pay for – SAFE PACKING in BOXES using 7mm DOUBLE-WALL STIFFENERS including full side protection and bubble wrap, the records removed from the covers of course. All this very safe packing means I lose money on every box I post, but safe delivery is, and will always be paramount. You WILL see the difference when my packet arrives. Also, I will pay for 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 if possible. PLEASE NOTE: I will NOT send any item, no matter what its value without a Royal Mail or courier tracking number. ALL my items must be signed and trackable to comply with Ebay delivery rules. Please do NOT ask me to make any exceptions to this rule as no country offers 100% reliable service without it.

Artist or Band: JOY DIVISION

Album Title: Closer

Producer & Engineer: Martin Hannett

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Atrocity Exhibition; Isolation; Passover; Colony; A Means to an End.

Side 2: Heart and Soul; Twenty Four Hours; The Eternal; Decades.

Label/Format: Factory with matt, quite smooth surfaces.

Label Conditions: Both very clean, fresh and attractive with any spindle traces tiny and faint, hardly any at all.

Catalogue Number: FACT 25

Mode / Speed: Stereo / 33.3 rpm.

Warps or Lateral Movement: Assume all records I offer have no significant warping or lateral movement to cause sound or tracking issues. All should play fine even on budget turntables.

Country of Manufacture: England

Weight of this Record: 121 grams.

Rarity: The early pressed ‘original’ Joy Division albums are now becoming increasingly scarce and still highly prized and sort-after. The first two albums have notoriously wear- and age-prone covers and finding very fine all-round copies is always difficult. This is a standard black vinyl (non-translucent) pressing that plays very well. And, as seen, has an amazing clean, hardly worn cover and inner sleeve. It being the cleanest, freshest example I have seen in decades, and probably the very best I have had to offer to date, it really is exceptional and rarely seen as such.

Original Year of Release: July 1980

Matrix Nos: FACT 25 A1 / FACT 25 B-1

Run-Out Groove Etchings: ‘OLD BLUE?’ [one side one]

Musicians: Ian Curtis – vocals, guitar; Bernard Sumner – guitar, synthesisers, bass; Peter Hook – bass guitar, guitar; Stephen Morris – drums.

Album/Band Information: Like ‘Unknown Pleasures’, this is another classic, it was Joy Division’s second album and a stunning follow up to the groundbreaking debut. Both the band’s only two full studio albums are definitive gems that should be included in any serious collection. Fronted by Ian Curtis, a man whose vocal intensity made Joy Division so unique. Rarely has a singer sounded more troubled, moody and at times, desperate, he suffered badly from epilepsy. All his emotion on this album was real which makes both albums all the more chilling. But amongst the darkness their is a beauty to the the band’s music and the listening experience is never bleak. Joy Division had an original sound with drums and bass high in the mix and they often lead, being more dominant than the guitar and keyboards. The lyrics are deeply complex and Curtis would not discuss their meaning. This timeless record proudly stands up there with the all-time greats and always features in any list compiled by critics and buyers alike. A masterwork of rarely-rivalled intensity, power and darkness, it sold quite well and peaked at No 6 in the UK album charts. The final song, ‘Decades’ goes beyond beautiful and I have rarely heard the mellotron sounding so wonderful or put to better use. If any listener is not moved by this haunting song, they simply don’t like music or have no soul, this is simply hypnotic and beautiful, few could fail to be moved. This album has refused to aged and with several modern bands sounding quite similar, I recommend the younger vinyl fan to listen to Joy Division. A vinyl gem and as powerful as the likes of The Doors, Velvet Underground and Patti Smith’s first albums. Ian Curtis, one of the last truly great vocalists, a desperate man demanding to be heard, tragically taking his own life after the conclusion of this album. I still remember the day: I was listening to John Peel’s 10 o’clock radio show when he announced his death. John was almost too choked to talk and just played the music for a while. He was really that great, Closer demands to be heard and enjoyed forever. Joy Division’s legend and popularity fails to diminish, their records are much sort-after and even a full length feature film – ‘Control’ – was released covering their formation and works up to Curtis’s death. Like their music, this too was a very moving experience. This a very fine and appearing little played black pressing that includes a fantastic fresh, clean, barely worn cover and inner sleeve (no splits). The next paragraph was written by Colin Larkin about this groundbreaking release, it features in the Virgin top 1000 albums book, it was voted No. 68 best album of all time:

“The news of singer Ian Curtis’s suicide still hung in the air when this album was released. Given the deep introspective nature of Joy Division’s music, his death invested ‘Closer’ with an even greater pessimism. Yet there is a fragile beauty in its content and if Curtis’s voice seems more distant, it complements the sparse textures created by mesmerizing synthesiser lines and occasional, highly effective, piano. Slow, hypnotic tempos increase the sense of brooding mystery and if the few faster songs provide musical relief, their lyrics prove equally tortured. Eerie, yet compulsive, ‘Closer’ confirmed Joy Division’s pre-eminent place in rock’s pantheon.”

Cover Grade, Format and Contents: MINT(–): grading this less would be doing this amazingly preserved cover full justice. A single unlaminated format made with soft card with matt lightly textured surfaces. The inner sleeve also textured, printed and made in England by Garrod & Lofthouse. A plain white inner was also found inside on purchase. It is likely the main cover was the same. There are variants to this cover, some were more textured than others, some were even smooth and later ones, with more shiny surfaces. The matt textured ones are the earliest.

Cover Front & Back: Wear-prone hardly covers this one. This is totally age-defying condition and cover-protected for decades. A thing of genuine beauty when found like this. Any blemishes minuscule, a hint of toning on the bottom edge where the manufacture’s adhesive darkens with age, any smear trace will do this, but this has little else to fault. Ultra clean, fresh and uncreased, lacking the usual grubbiness, yellowing and browning most seem to acquire. The texturing quite pronounced with a rough feel to the fingertip. It will take a remarkable example to better this.

Top Edge: Straight and unworn.

Bottom Edge: Straight with the odd tiny traces of toning – and I am talking very small indeed.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean, sharp with any thickening minuscule. Record enters on this edge.

Spine and Text: Practically as-made. Solid, straight with any compression gentle and very light. The text is unworn.

Corners: Any hint of tip wear minimal and faint, a trace of a tiny semi-crease on the bottom front right that hardly registers. Better than excellent shape retained with no knocks.

Cover Summary: A very strong all-round example of this very fragile 1970’s cover, one that will prove very difficult to find much better. This beautiful item should please many collectors.

The Inner Sleeve: PRACTICALLY MINT: again matt and textured, these were not lined, this is little short of immaculate with any blemishes again minuscule. Super-fresh and clean with no creasing, rim impression or grubbiness. And crucially, NO edge splits, pressure marks or repairs. They do not get better than this.

The White Inner Sleeve: EXCELLENT(+): a plain solid white unlined inner with the ‘PATENT Nos. 1,125,555’ text. Just one corner crease with all edges naturally intact. Not sure if this was part of the original album, or the owner put this inside to protected the record and the card inner sleeve.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT(+): a very fine visual copy that is very clean with equally fine shine and solidly pressed. A copy with minimal plays on all the evidence with any surface marks few, light and faint as seen critically under bright light. No penetrating stylus scratches, viewed in average room light, hardly anything even registers. The odd gentle superficial scuff and a couple of tiny pressing spot marks that omit a couple of three clicks, but little else at all. This record plays impressively clean apart and was a joy to play-grade. Visually a lovely record that should please many fans and 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 equipment, all listed further down.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This classic album plays mostly above it’s high visual grading with 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. Any surface sounds are minimal indeed and this a mostly very clean pressing with no tracking issues* or inherent pressing noises bar a couple of tiny aforementioned spots with a couple of three clicks. An album that often did have pressing issues or faults, but this has little to fault overall. Few available copies will outperform this early black vinyl pressing I feel sure. Both channels are clean and sharp, I am certain this record has been played very lightly and has been clearly well stored and carefully handled within a non-smoking environment. Little of any note spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this lovely record. It will prove difficult to find significantly better 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. Records are a ‘contact’ format, and few will avoid the odd minor sound blemish.

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 the item being offered with no digital enhancements. 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. 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 805 Nautilus (bi-wired with Tellurium Black terminated cable) with REL subwoofer. All records I offer on Ebay are cleaned on a professional Nessie 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 Nessie 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 17­ 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. 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’.