Deep Purple Shades Of Deep Purple Mono Lp Pre Y b Test Pressing Insanely Rare

PLEASE CLEAN THOROUGHLY BEFORE PLAYING GENERAL:HERE WE HAVE WHAT HAS TO BE THE RAREST AND MOST COLLECTABLE OF DEEP PURPLE S LPs.
THIS IS A PARLOPHONE MONO TEST PRESSING OF THEIR FIRST UK OFFERING, SHADES OF DEEP PURPLE AND SO BY DEFINITION IS THE EARLIEST POSSIBLE PRESSING, PRE-DATING EVEN THE EXTREMELY HARD TO FIND YELLOW AND BLACK LABEL MONO ISSUE.
THESE WERE INITIALLY RELEASED IN ONLY SMALL AMOUNTS AND TO FIND ONE IS HARD ENOUGH IN ITSELF, NEVER MIND A TEST PRESS LIKE THIS.
ONLY A HANDFUL WOULD HAVE EVER BEEN MADE IN ORDER TO CHECK SOUND QUALITY/MIX ETC AND FOR PROMOTIONAL PURPOSES.
SOME OF THESE MAY WELL HAVE BEEN PASSED TO BAND MEMBERS AND THE PRODUCTION TEAM.
WHY SO FEW? I HAVE KINDLY BEEN GIVEN PERMISSION TO SUPPLY THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION WHICH WAS OBTAINED BY SOMEBODY ELSE: NOT THIS LP CAME FROM AN EX PRODUCER WHO WORKED FOR VARIOUS RADIO STATIONS RECORD COMPANIES THROUGHOUT THE 1960s AND 1970s..............THE PRODUCER ALSO STRESSED TO ME THAT 50 COPIES WOULD HAVE BEEN THE ABSOLUTE MAXIMUM EVER MADE - AND IT IS MORE LIKELY THAT ONLY 10-20 COPIES WERE MADE.
THE REASON IS FAIRLY SIMPLE.
UNLIKE TODAY, IN THE 1960s RADIO AIRPLAY STATIONS WERE VERY STRICTLY CONTROLLED IN THE UK.
THERE WERE FAR FAR LESS THAN 50 RADIO STATIONS IN THE UK - AND ONLY 3 OR 4 NATIONAL STATIONS.
HENCE THE FACT, THIS LP WAS ONLY SENT TO A VERY FEW RADIO STATIONS IN THE HOPE OF RADIO AIRPLAY - AND IT IS FAR MORE LIKELY THAT ONLY 20-30 COPIES WERE EVER MADE SO THERE YOU HAVE IT.
IF YOU CONSIDER THE FACT THAT QUITE POSSIBLY ONLY 20-30 WERE EVER MADE, SOME OF WHICH HAVE SURELY BEEN LOST/TRASHED ETC, THEN THIS HAS TO BE THE ULTIMATE ADDITION TO ANY DEEP PURPLE COLLECTION.SLEEVE: A PLAIN WHITE CARD SLEEVE PROBABLY GL WITH FLIPBACKS AND A BLACK AND WHITE PICTURE OF THE BAND PASTED ON THE FRONT.
ALTHOUGH INTACT WITH NO TEARS OR SPLITS, IT IS QUITE GRUBBY AND SHOWS SOME EDGE/CORNER.
THER IS ALSO A NAME IN BLUE BIRO IN THE TOP RH CORNER.
VINYL: THIS HAS CLEARLY BEEN PLAYED QUITE A LOT AND AS A RESULT DISPLAYS A FAIR AMOUNT OF SURFACE MARKING ON BOTH SIDES.
MOST OF THIS IS SUPERFICIAL NEEDLE/SLEEVE MARKING, BUT THERE IS A DEEPER SCRATCH ACROSS EACH SIDE AS WELL.
THESE DO GIVE RISE TO THE OCCASIONAL POP AS WELL AS A FEW CLICKS, MOST OF WHICH ARE BACKGROUND AND DON T REALLY AFFECT THE OVERALL LISTENING EXPERIENCE.
THERE IS ALSO SOME LIGHT BACKGROUND CRACKLE/HISS, BUT AGAIN A LOT OF THIS IS NOT REALLY NOTICEABLE ABOVE THE MUSIC, UNLESS YOU ARE SPECIFICALLY LISTENING OUT FOR IT.
A PROFESSIONAL DEEP CLEAN MAY WELL IMPROVE THIS.
THERE IS ALSO A SHORT SKIP ON SIDE 1.
THE OVERALL SOUND QUALITY THOUGH IS PRETTY GOOD, DESPITE THE MARKING.
THE MATRIX NOs ARE XEX 689-1 AND XEX 690-1.
THERE ARE NO STAMPER CODES.
THE LABELS ARE PLAIN WHITE PAPER, ONE OF WHICH IS STAMPED SIDE ONE .
BOTH ARE SOMEWHAT DISCOLOURED AND HAVE NUMEROUS SPINDLE MARKS.
MAKE THE MOST OF THIS OPPORTUNITY TO GET YOUR HANDS ON THIS RIDICULOUSLY RARE ITEM AS YOU MAY NOT GET ANOTHER.
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