Item Description
VENUS AND MARS Paul McCartney, 1975 Sitting in the stand of the sports arena, Waiting for the show to begin, Red lights, green lights, strawberry wine, A good friend of mine, studies the stars, Venus and Mars, are alright tonight.
VENUS AND MARS REPRISE Paul McCartney, 1975 Standing in the Hall of the great Cathedral, Waiting for the transport to come, Starship 21ZNA9.
A good friend of mine, studies the stars, Venus and Mars, are alright tonight.
Come away on a strange vacation, Holiday hardly begun, Run into a good friend of mine, Sold me her sign, reach for the stars, Venus and Mars, are alright tonight.
PAUL McCARTNEY/WINGS: Venus And Mars UK LP.
VERY FIRST PRESSING, 27th MAY,1975.
ON THE UK, EMI OWNED SILVER BLACK CAPITOL LABEL: PCTC 254 Not quite without colour, underneath Made In Gt.
Britain on the right side of the centre holes are the two snooker balls in the album s artwork theme of red yellow.
They appear on the labels, the cover and all the wonderful inserts etc.
both of the posters, the card inner sleeve, the circular sticker and the second sticker showing the planets and the sun.
NO LONGER ON APPLE OR PARLOPHONE, BUT EMI S MAITRIX AND STAMPING CODES WERE THE SAME FOR ALL THEIR LABELS, DISTINCTIVELY EMBOSSED LETTERING DIGITS ARE IN THEIR USUAL POSITIONS: MAITRIX: YEX 945 - A - 1U / YEX 946 - B - 3U For once stamping codes take a back seat to the maitrix configurations, EMI pressed in strictly controlled batches and they began with A - 1U /B - 1U end digits.
Rare to find a genuine Mint first pressing with -1U on both sides, so is this record with A -1U unchanged on Side 1 and only two increment s on Side 2 to B - 3U.
1 digits swiftly increased as the manufacturing headed towards meeting the scheduled volume required, believe it or not, the 1973 Band On The Run album was still selling in numbers in the Spring of 1975, still riding high in the charts and would remain there until 1976 So Paul was following up the phenomenum few mortals could invisage, but he had a little bit of experience with his former band to fall back on to handle that EMI STAMPING CODES: GGD 1 / GGD 4 Now the stamping codes can be examined and taken in conjunction with such a low maitrix, this record was sourced from the first mother on Side 1 and the fourth mother on Side 2.
They can be seen in close up pictures that include the Mastering logo unique to the very first pressings, luckily near the maitrix or I could not have really compiled any more pictures In fact I had a real problem fitting all the details into the pictures, I had to exclude a second mastering logo, but getting 20 pictures down to the twelveavailable on ebay, involved making sacrifices.
The items compiled together are more than I have attempted before, but I was happy with resulting displays, this is about identifying UK very first pressings, text is more than sufficient for the second mastering logo and priority belongs to one of the most talented sound engineers Britain ever produced in the good old analogue era.
I had to compile the maitrix, the two posters together, the spine title with the inside of the cover, but I feel showing both sides of genuine very first issue only, Venus Mars stickers in one picrture, worked much better than two individual pictures.
GEORGE PECKHAM MASTERED THE STUNNING SOUND ON VINYL FOR COUNTLESS RECORDS, FROM JOHN LENNON TO LED ZEPPELIN, AND NOT FORGETTING GEORGE HARRISON S RECORDS GEORGE PECKHAM WAS A SLIGHTLY PLUMP SCHOOLBOY AND HIS CRUEL NICKNAME Porky WAS SCRIBED INTO RUN-OUT GROOVES AS HIS LOGO.
USEFUL TO IDENTIFY THE FIRST PRESSINGS HE MASTERED, THIS HAS THE MOST COMMONLY FOUND GEORGE PECKHAM HAND ENGRAVING ON SIDE 1: A Porky Prime Cut.
ON SIDE 2 THE OTHER SCRIBED LOGO M.
Room Master Room APPEARS ON MOST APPLE EMI VINYL.
TWO FIRST ISSUE INDIVIDUAL Venus And Mars POSTERS , EACH MEASURING APPROXIMATELY 30 x 20.
THESE FIRST PRINTED HAD MORE OF A CREAM COLOUR, AS THE PRESSINGS PROGRESSED INTO RE-ISSUES, THE COLOUR WAS LIGHTENED TO WHITE, WITH OF COURSE THE TWO COLOUR SNOOKER BALLS IN RED YELLOW.
THEY WERE TWO OF THE PICTURES I FELT ESSENTIAL TO SHOW FOR SUCH FANTASTIC, UNUSED CONDITION WITH ONLY THE ORIGINAL PRINTER S FOLDS AND A FEW RIPPLES.
BOTH ARE IN UNAGED, Never Left The Cover SINCE MAY,1975, MINT- CONDITION.
TWO STRICTLY FIRST ISSUE INDIVIDUAL STICKERS, WHEN YOU TURN THEM OVER THEY ALONE WILL HAVE: CrackBack - Patented Fasprint - Permanent c with brown diagonal lines with illustrated pictures accompanying instructions to, bend on the lines to access the sticky backing.
These are identical to the backing on the first issue only of Pink Floyd s 1973 Dark Side Of The Moon, in fact, there are many similarities to the packaging and inserts in the first issue UK Venus And Mars Dark Side Of The Moon.
The stickers posed the same question to buyers, where shall I stick them? Record shops often stepped in and took that question out of the hands of buyers, ultimately both albums had at least the circular album title sticker placed on the front right top corner.
That was not intended by EMI and only the same year s Pink Floyd LP, Wish You Were Here circular sticker was factory stuck onto the black opaque plastic covering in 1975.
STICKER 1.
CIRCULAR WITH TWO SNOOKER BALLS AND THE FULL LP TITLE, Wings Venus And Mars Are Alright Tonight IS PRINTED AROUND THE RIM IN CIRCULAR FASHION.
STICKER 2.
THE MAP OF THE PLANETS FROM THE SUN DEPICTING THE COMPARITIVE SIZE OF THE PLANETS TO SCALE, SO ONLY A SMALL PART OF THE SUN S RIM IS SEEN ON THE BOTTOM OF THE THIN LONG STRIP.
THE TOP HEADING IS AGAIN, Wings Venus And Mars Are Alright Tonight The planets and the sun are in colour, if you look closely Venus and Mars have been deliberately coloured in deeper colours and I believe the larger planet Venus, inspired the snooker balls artwork s format.
Of course Earth is between them if a straight line is drawn, by using perspective, the larger Venus yellow snooker ball looks bigger than the Mars red ball and that ties the inspiration of the song and the artwork.
It was certainly not a coincidence, although Hipgnosis only took the picture for the centre of the gatefold cover, Linda took the picture of the snooker balls that became a repeated theme on all the items.
BOTH STICKERS ONLY HAVE FAINT IMPRESSIONS OF THE POSTERS, ALL FOUR INSERTS WERE FIRST PLACED INSIDE THE LEFT SIDE OR FRONT COMPARTMENT OF THE GATEFOLD COVER, IN MINT- CONDITION, WELL....MINT REALLY.
ALL THESE FIRST ISSUE AND IN FACT, ALL EMI 1973 - 1975 INNER SLEEVES WERE UNIQUELY SHAPED.
THEY WERE MADE FROM HEAVY DUTY CARDBOARD, FROM THE FRONT VIEW WITH THE TOP OPENING RECORD ACCESS CUT OUT SECTION, THE BOTTOM LEFT CORNER IS AT 90 DEGREES OR FINISHED SQUARE.
THE BOTTOM RIGHT IS AT 45 DEGREES OR MITERED,THE TOP PAIR OF CORNERS ARE ALSO FINISHED DIAGONALLY.
There was nothing that deviated from that for genuine first UK pressings, the same was true the 1973 Band On The Run LP inner sleeve.
Once again Pink Floyd are another example because EMI stuck to the same format for Harvest, Parlophone, Harvest Apple, Capitol and Stateside.
Wish You Were Here was also released in 1975 with this same precise design, if the shape is not as described and pictured above in the galley picture, it will be a re-issue for any EMI related label s first pressings.
The top opening is perfectly crisp from the lack of handling, so all to tell is a record impression and relating to the exact position of the record s position on either side, just the slightest brushing from storage.
Certainly not from wear or use, just the effect of gravity placing the extra emphasis on the central edges.
By that I do not mean the usual split on the bottom centre, or the side s centre positions , I am referring to two inches above the actual edge or seam as it is mistakenly called, the seams are on the sides, which are as perfectly secure as the bottom centre.
VERY FIRST ISSUE PICTURES INNER SLEEVE IN ONCE USED, UNSPLIT, UNAGED MINT- CONDITION.
ALL THE FIRST ISSUE 1975 UK GATEFOLD COVERS ALSO HAD UNIQUELY SHAPES AND WERE CONSTRUCTED FROM MASSIVELY HEAVY CARDBOARD.
The printer was uncredited but I am 99 cetain it was Garrod Lofthouse, few gatefold covers have a sloping shape but it was possible because albums like McCartney and Ram were as first pressings.
Unlike those albums, sad to say, in 1975 Venus And Mars was not laminated but there was a thin sheen protective top surface, that was soon worn away in the first months of purchase, the cover lost it s rigidity and most of the top surface s ink and the printing, usually in a large circular shape, ring wear took hold almost immediately, then over these last 39 years, a once beautiful cover developed a battered and bedraggled appearance.
The sloping shape was squashed out of shape and the spines lost the central titles, I am only discussing the genuine first pressings because re-issues had a shiny topping on really thin cardboard, the inners were just as thin and also shiny.
I tried to show that shape in my pictures but the one at an acute angle with full sunlight, had to go in favour of a clearer shot to illustrate how there is not even a hint of rubbing on this entire cover, let alone any ring wear, even the slightest of slight standing in storage amounts to next to nothing.
That includes a natural cardboard line near the front top, approximately central to the lettering of the vertical album title, not a crease or wear because the printing was made on top of it and all the ink is perfect.
I try my best to provide every possible item, regardless of how a cover was made nearly 40 years ago, but it does get ridiculous when everything here is in such astounding condition.
The gatefold has never ben fully opened.I do not ease open covers as rare as that, just to get better pictures, so no picture of the outside flat and the inside is shown as far as the cover would comfortably open, amazing for a 1975 gatefold cover THE FIRST ISSUE GATEFOLD COVER IS IN STUNNING MINT- CONDITION, AMONG THE FINEST I OR ANYONE ELSE HAS OFFERED FOR SALE ON EBAY AS A GENUINE VERY FIRST EDITION....FEW ARE THE RECORD WAS PURPOSE BOUGHT TO PRESERVE, NOT PLAY, A CASSETTE WAS BOUGHT FOR THAT PURPOSE.
The matt black labels are like brand new, the centres have no spindle traces and the vinyl is also gleaming like brand new.
THE RECORD IS IN UNPLAYED, MINT CONDITION.
SIDE 1 Venus And Mars Rock Show Love In Song You Gave Me The Answer Magneto And Titanium Man Letting Go SIDE 2 Venus And Mars Reprise Spirits Of Ancient Egypt Medicine Jar Jimmy McCulloch /Colin Allen Call Me Back Again Listen To What The Man Said Treat Her Gently/Lonely Old People Crossroads Theme Tony Hatch WINGS: Paul McCartney - vocals, bass guitar, guitars, keyboards piano Denny Laine - guitars keyboards vocal Linda McCartney - keyboards, percussion vocals Jimmy McCulloch - guitars vocals Joe English - drums percussion Kenneth Afro Williams - conga Dave Mason - guitar Tom Scott - saxophone Allen Toussaint - piano keyboards Geoff Britton - drums All Songs Written by Paul McCartney Except Where Credited.
Recorded In November 1974, January February 1975, At Sea Saint , New Orleons Wally Heider, L.A.
Produced By Paul McCartney I feel like I have just finished a long description, I have really and with an unplayed record I will keep this far briefer than usual.
In 13 years trading on ebay I have only offered a standard UK first pressing of Venus And Mars for sale three times, for other sellers that will not mean much, but for me that is highly significant.
A huge selling much loved album that made it to No.1, makes no difference 39 years later....if like myself you are only interested in top condition first pressings of solo or the former Beatles albums.
A loved album equals heavy plays and just look at that track listing, Paul s song writing between 1970 1975 was just unbelievable, how could even an acknowledged musical genius keep producing such fantastic melodies? I m easily side tracked if the subject of music arises, of all the Paul McCartney/Wings albums, Wildlife, Band On The Run and Back To The Egg also have the toughest first issue covers for condition I have dealt with.
Looking like new was only possible for any of them if loving care is lavished on protecting covers, inner s, inserts and of course, the records, and once again I am very proud to be able to offer an incredible mint condition first UK pressing of the great Venus And Mars.
In 1975 there was no such thing as a shrink wrapped UK Venus And Mars, but once again this is as close as it gets to that.
The one original owner bought the vinyl album to store away, we might do this in 2014 but back 1975, he was one of the few who immediately placed the album into a plastic outer sleeve, it was a 1970 s hard plastic type that only just about accommodated a gatefold cover.
Those who who were around in 1975 buying records, will know them well, at least four times thicker than available today.
With such a mega heavyweight and thick cover bulging with two large posters and a cardboard inner sleeve thicker than some album covers, an extremely tight fitting one initially.
The cover naturally breathed out once inside and standing on a shelf in a cupboard, forcing the hard plastic sleeve s outside seams to groan, creak and thankfully, give the exact space necessary to not compress the cover.
If anything the cover was shaped to do precisely that because the shaping affected the top and bottom edges where the outer plastic s seams were at their tightest, in other words the centre of the cover needed to expand the plastic the most.
A fine balance was struck, there it remained perfectly secured inside from May, 1975 to me buying it all those decades later, it s very much like shrink wrapping, by not being factory sealed the right side s open side provided extra breathing space required.
To me this was like a dream scenario, I regularly buy and sell unplayed records but usually the covers will have positive storage traits, not this time, any fractional standing signs are too trivial to take seriously for a matt gatefold.
The spine was spared the usual heavy scuffing, that picture was kept for one reason, a full view of the outside opened out was not possible because it has never been fully opened Hard to believe but true, the picture of the inside is opened as far as it will go without applying any pressure, maintaining that as new feel and appearance is my priority, not a better picture.
If you look at the picture of the spine s album title, you can see how pure white the spine s central Venus And Mars lettering is, plus for once there is not even visible impressions from the record on the outside or inside of the cover, like a tim epeice perfectly preserved, the plastic outer sleeve never placed any pressure on the cover.
Obviously this was much thicker cardboard than the flimsy variety used for Band On The Run, but Venus And Mars had two posters, the two stickers were thin enough not to add to the bulky contents.
Of course the stickers in this cover are the very first editions only with the rarer CrackBack Fasprint backing, with the same brown diagonal lines as found in the 1973 first issue only, Dark Side Of The Moon, that also had two stickers.
My descriptions do not involve copy and pasting someone else s album reviews from internet sites, I disagree with most websites and text books anyway, even by my standards this was not exactly a conventional way to present an album on ebay, but I gave every conceivable pressing and printing detail in my main headings.
Most of that was unknown about first issues and I prefer to treat every record or memorabilia I buy and sell, as individual items.
Great to be able to trace the whole history of why and how this came to be an unplayed album, right from the day it was bought in the last week of May, 1975.
The extreme rarity of a Mint, rare unplayed UK very first pressing of Venus And Mars, speaks for itself really, as I said before, only the 4th I have sold in our 13 years trading on ebay.
I should also include a few years ago, when I sold an authentic and extremely rare pre-production, EMI Test Pressing with white labels, incidentally, the stamping codes exclusive to any EMI Test Pressing or Demo, is G1 / G1.
That was too early for labels, inner sleeves, posters stickers and even a cover, the reason preventing me offering more copies is simply because of how badly worn the vast majority of genuine first pressings are for both covers and records.
First pressings have very special sound, right from the acoustic guitar intro to Venus And Mars on Side 1, the entire album is an audio feast of fantastic sound.
From this unplayed record you can hear exactly how Venus And Mars was intended to be heard in 1975, just stunning Venus And Mars Roy R M RECORDS.
My lifetime s love of music and records began at a very young age, the arrival of the Beatles and the 1960 s decade in general had a very profound effect.
It was only natural to bring all my first hand experience of collecting vinyl into becoming a professional record seller.
Over twenty years ago now we entered into the wonderful atmosphere of record fairs with the highest possible standards set.
When the Internet became the world s new market place for vinyl, in 2001 it was time to join ebay.
Those standards were rigidly adhered to as they will always continue to be, the basics of honesty and integrity were very much part of the era the music I love originated in, so here is our friendly and very efficient service we are proud to provide EVERY RECORD IS FULLY PLAYED AND COMES WITH A NO ARGUMENT MONEY BACK GUARANTEE.
I USE GOOD OLD COMMON SENSE AS WELL AS A GLOBALLY ACCEPTED GRADING TERMINOLOGY FROM THE U.K.
RECORD COLLECTOR PRICE GUIDE BOOK.
THERE IT CLEARLY STATES Sound Quality AFFECTS EVERY GRADING LEVEL AND THAT IS THE ONE AND ONLY POSSIBLE WAY TO ACCURATELY GRADE RECORDS.
i.e.
COMBINING A STRICT VISUAL INSPECTION WITH VERY CLOSELY LISTENING TO EVERY SECOND, UNLESS PERHAPS IN THE CASE OF GENUINELY UNPLAYED VINYL.
EVEN THEN WE STILL TAKE FULL RESPONSIBILITY FOR A RECORD WHEN A CUSTOMER RECEIVES EITHER A SEALED OR AN UNPLAYED RECORD.
MY DESCRIPTIONS WILL ALWAYS BE 100 HONEST AND TOTALLY ACCURATE ON ALL GRADINGS FROM V.G.
VERY GOOD , TO THE ULTIMATE MINT CONDITION.
ANY QUESTIONS ON OUR ITEMS ARE WELCOMED AND WILL BE PROMPTLY REPLIED TO.
WE ARE FULLY EXPERIENCED AT SHIPPING WORLDWIDE AND NO EFFORT IS SPARED TO PROTECT RECORDS AND COVERS ETC.
WE WELCOME BIDDERS FROM ANY COUNTRY IN THE WORLD.
ALL RECORDS ARE REMOVED FROM THEIR SLEEVES AND PLACED INTO NEW PROTECTIVE CARD SLEEVES AND THEN PLACED INTO NEW, HEAVYWEIGHT PLASTIC OUTER SLEEVES.
THE GREATEST ATTENTION IS PAID TO MAKING THE PACKAGING EXTREMELY STRONG SECURE.
EVERY POSSIBLE EFFORT IS MADE TO ENSURE A SAFE DELIVERY AND WE ONLY USE THE VERY BEST QUALITY PACKAGING MATERIALS, THE COST OF THE ITEM IS IMMATERIAL, EVERY RECORD IS TREATED EXACTLY THE SAME.
WE DO NOT TREAT POSTAGE AS A MONEY MAKING PROJECT, POSTAGE IS LESS THAN COST, USING ONLY PROFESSIONALLY PACKED BOXES WITH SUBSTANTIAL PROTECTIVE PACKAGING THAT DOES WEIGH A LITTLE EXTRA.
UNDER PAYPAL EBAY S GUIDELINES, ALL RECORDS WILL BE SENT VIA A FULLY INSURED TRACKABLE SERVICE.
We have kept all our charges at the same level for years now, but due to the Post Office s new price increases, regretfully we will have to increase the cost of LP s, however, singles will remain unchanged.
Ebay were aware of that happening and have increased their minimum postal cost for LP s to 7.00, that figure has been enforced by the UK Post Office and it will become our UK First Class, Recorded Delivery cost for albums up to the value of 46.
For LP s valued above 46, the cost will be 9, we are unhappy about either increase but our high standard of packaging has meant in 12 years of ebay trading, there has not been one record damaged, we are determined to maintain that in the present and future.
IN THE UK RECORDS UP TO THE VALUE OF 46 WILL BE SENT RECORDED DELIVERY, OVER 46 WILL BE SENT SPECIAL DELIVERY.
FOR THE REST OF THE WORLD ALL RECORDS WILL BE SENT VIA INTERNATIONAL SIGNED FOR.
POSTAGE COST FOR LP s UK: UP TO VALUE OF 46, FIRST CLASS RECORDED DELIVERY 7.00 UK: OVER VALUE OF 46, FULLY INSURED SPECIAL DELIVERY 9.00 EUROPE: FULLY INSURED VIA INTERNATIONAL SIGNED FOR 15.00 USA,JAPAN REST OF THE WORLD FULLY INSURED VIA INTERNATIONAL SIGNED FOR 20.00 POSTAGE COST FOR EP s 7 UK: UP TO THE VALUE OF 46 FIRST CLASS RECORDED DELIVERY 3.00 UK: OVER THE VALUE OF 46 FULLY INSURED SPECIAL DELIVERY 6.00 EUROPE: AIR MAIL VIA INTERNATIONAL SIGNED FOR 10.00 USA, JAPAN ETC.
AIRMAIL VIA INTERNATIONAL SIGNED FOR 12.00 PAYMENT DETAILS.
WE WILL SEND ALL WINNING BIDDERS AN INVOICE WITH THE FULL PAYMENT AND POSTAL DETAILS, AS NEAR TO THE AUCTION ENDING AS POSSIBLE.
OUR AIM IS TO MAKE YOUR PURCHASE SMOOTH AND TROUBLE FREE.
FOR UK BUYERS WE ACCEPT: PAYPAL, CHEQUES, POSTAL ORDERS BANK WIRES.
FOR OVERSEAS BUYERS WE ACCEPT: PAYPAL, INTERNATIONAL MONEY ORDERS IN POUNDS STERLING ONLY.
OR BANK TO BANK WIRE TRANSFERS.
WE WILL NOT MAKE FALSE STATEMENTS ON CUSTOMS DECLARATION FORMS AND WILL ALWAYS CONDUCT ALL OF OUR BUSINESS WITH TOTAL HONESTY.
AS MUCH AS WE SYMPATHISE WITH THE WAY SOME COUNTRIES CHARGE SUCH HEAVY IMPORT DUTIES, WE WILL NOT LIE.
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