Item Description
David Bowie: The Man Who Sold the World Mercury 6338 041 UK 04/1971 Format: LPRelease notes: Textured Dress Cover Collector s notes: This is the UK original of the album in the in famous dress cover or drag cover .
It has a textured cover and a black label.
The album has been counterfeited three times.
There is an Italian issue from the early 1980s there is contradictory information concerning the exact year .
The Italian issue is easy to identify: the manufacturers didn t even try to imitate Mercury labels, but used light yellow labels without the word Mercury on them.
The cover is different, too: the picture is cropped, so that Bowie s feet touch the right-hand margin of the cover, which is not the case with the original.
The wear on the cover is printed and the cover isn t textured.
There is also a Japanese counterfeit from the 1970s.
This release has got black labels like the original, but a silver rim around the labels, R 1971 instead of P 1971 on at least one side, and an inappropriate space in the copyright text that runs around the label.
On the label next to the date 1971, there is a circled R.
The genuine label has a circled P.
The cover is textured, but in a different way than that of the original, and the picture on the front is cropped, so that Bowie s feet touch the margin.
Finally, there s a 2014 counterfeit probably from Europe .
Arguably, this is the best one: the cover picture is not cropped, so that the old rule of thumb that only original issues have the complete picture doesn t work anymore.
Furthermore, the cover is slightly textured, albeit in a diffent way than the original.
There are numerous other differences to the original the label moulding, for instance , but, as so often, the easiest way to identify the counterfeit are the matrix numbers: whereas the original has machine-stamped matrix numbers, the 2014 re-issue doesn t have any matrix numbers at all.
This is a genuine first pressing, of the original 1971 copy of this very rare album, which I have owned since first purchasing in 1971.
The disc is in excellent condition apart from small scratches on side B: Tracks 2 3.
These are noticeable after a lot of looking but do not effect the sound quality.
The sleeve front and back covers are in excellent condition with no fading.
Due to the very soft card used there is some scuffing around the spine and edges - see photographs.
Under a very bright light you can also notice spindle marks on both sides.
Disc labels on both sides are bright and clean with no wear, damage or unwanted writing.
The successful bidder may want to discuss alternative shipping arrangements.
Due to the rarity of the album there will be no possibility of replacement should the item become lost or damaged in transit.
