Japanese "King" blue note reissue - Awful surface noise - WTF?

Hi guys,

Picked a copy of "Dial S for Sonny" today. It's a 1977 Japanese pressing by King. This one to be exact:
Sonny Clark - Dial "S" For Sonny

It was said to be in mint condition. It looks in mint condition. But boy is it noisy. Serious crunchy crackles in the starter grooves before the music. And then whenever you get a bass solo, or some other quiet passage - the noises are still there, throughout the record. Both sides!? I gave it a good clean, but no improvement. What's weird is: holding it under a lamp - I'm buggered if I can see any scratches or other problems. It's glossy and flawless looking. If I was to rate it without hearing it, I would have said Near Mint.

So I conclude this has to be a problem in the quality of the vinyl. Something I have never heard of, or encountered when it comes to King pressings of Blue note.

Anyone else had any bad Kings?

Cheers,
Dan