Sold Date: September 14, 2017
Start Date: September 4, 2017
Final Price: $23.45 (USD)
Bid Count: 2
Seller Feedback: 10630
Buyer Feedback: 10

Balkan Phonograph Records 10-inch 78 RPM record No. 814 has a confusing set of credits, apparently stating the titles in both Albanian and Greek, and also inter-mixing both Roman and Greek scripts. The music seems more Greek than Albanian to me, but then, what do I know? Both sides are instrumentals.

Unfortunately, my Greek isn't as good as it used to be, but, because my Albanian is even worse, let's ignore the Albanian titles (even though they are on top) and focus on the Greek. 

So, on Side One, the Greek title (to the best of my transliteration) is "Manousaki - Choros Tsakistos - Berati" (which I believe are the names of dances from southern Albania and the Epirus region of northern Greece). The musician credit, in Roman script, is "Klarino Solo, Konitsa." I'm unsure in this case whether Konitsa was the name of the clarinet player, or whether this was played by an unnamed musician from the Greek town of Konitsa, which is not far from the Albanian border.

Side Two has the same "Konitsa" musician credit, and the Greek version of the tune's title is "O Minouses - Horos" (another dance name?) 

Visually, it looks to be in only about G+ or VG condition, not as shiny as it used to be, and with a lot of visible surface wear, including a hairline crack that extends from the outer edge to more than halfway across the playing surface. It plays through without jumping or skipping on my Audio-Technica turntable, but with noticeable background noise. Because of variations in tracking ability and needle weights, I can offer no guarantees as to how well it will play on your equipment.

There is also an ownership sticker on one of the labels.

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Good luck, bidders!

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