ISSUE ALERT
While the "issue" is not highly significant, this 60 year old copy does have some low level noise but not mistracking!
This album is sooooo hard to put your hands on (take a look at places such as discogs) however if you like your vinyl to look pristine ... "nothing to see here, best for you to move right along" ... opportunity missed.
To be frank, these gals are just a few years before "my time", I was barely a teen in 1965 and in NZ the music scene was dominated by British acts, not the Americans. However I remember that one song "Leader Of The Pack" - such a great song of young, tragic love ... heart wrenching...
THE SHANGRI-LAS - Leader Of The Pack
Red Bird
Cat# RB 20-101
Matrix coding (etched)
SIDE A: RB-20101-A
SIDE B: RB-20101-B.
Pressed by ASTOR (Australia)
1965
MONOAURAL RECORDING!
Australian release
Gatefold cover is in very good condition, no personal writing externally, no tears, no seam splits and only very light handling wear to the edges. The front top right corner has one of those dreaded "retail price sticker" remanents remaining which I dare not try to remove, more often than not removal results in lifting of the print as well! The rear is in pretty good shape too, a minute tear on the top seam but not near the edge. For a 60 year old piece of cardboard, pretty impressive. If you don't know the Shangri-Las story, it is all explained on the rear cover - happy reading!
New plastic inner sleeve
Vinyl is in good (minus) condition, this means that I have visually inspected the record under a white halogen light source and I can see a number of very light ~ light scratches or scuff marks on either side. Just looking at the vinyl is not a great way to judge the condition, especially with this old "harder" vinyl (I love the old vinyl, it appears to be much more durable than modern plastics) so I then played the vinyl (both sides) ENTIRELY and there are NO significant issues with surface noise or clicks/pops, yes a click here and there (low level) with probably the worst (medium level) click event being over on Side 2, track 4 where I heard 4~5 revolutions of increased level clicks (from a scratch) but that was all. Absolutely NO mistracking on either side. Enjoyable listen of this very popular group of their day, a real step back in time - I also noticed that pretty well all the material on Side 2 is live performances.
New outer protective plastic sleeve
TRACKS: Give Him A Great Big Kiss, Leader Of The Pack, Bull Dog, It's Easier To Cry, What Is Love, Remember (Walking In The Sand), Twist And Shout, Maybe, So Much In Love, Shout, Good Night My Love Pleasant Dreams, You Can't Sit Down
Remember this, they were young girls at this time (just 16 ~ 17 years old) Amazing! Not so amazing were those hairstyles! Goodness Gracious!
