The Who By Numbers - Viva Italia!

Ah. Another copy of Numbers. I wonder which issue this one is, because my MCA reissue, the Coral and my UK Polydor were all kinda so-so.

 

What the....? Is this some sort of counterfit?

 

Woah. This is side one of Who By Numbers? Sexy! And artsy too!

 

Holy crap. RCA! I must be dreaming....from the waist.....or something...

 

Well the vinyl is heavy, absolute minty and the grooves look VERY busy. I took it home for $5. You don't ever see this issue very often.

After listening, I still had to pinch myself. WOW!! Believe me fellas, this copy, if you're into the Who on vinyl is THEE best issue of Numbers I have ever heard - ever. I have to listen to "In Hand Or Face" again because Daltry's voice is doubled ever so slightly, and I'll check my MCA...

But sonically, this issue is buttah. I mean the bass is warm and ever-present, Moon's drumming is sweet and dynamic, Daltry is RIGHT THERE. Townshend is accrate, delicate, and poetic. If you go to Italy, LOOK FOR THIS RECORD!

I found it locally, here in Hyannis. This is the definitive Numbers. I guarantee nothing else will beat its ass. Holy mother of.... I'm still in shock.

Every other issue is POOR compared to this one. The vinyl is well made, quiet, centered perfectly, great GREAT gloss to it, cut absolutely perfectly.

This issue makes the rest sound like it must have been hard to ruin such a great mastering, because this issue makes you feel... Well, why does an Italian record sound so damn good?? Weird. Someone knew what they were doing here.

 

Hey Sckott,

I'm surprised no one ever commented on your posts here. That's got to be the prettiest LP label I ever saw! Nice score, indeed.

If you ever burn a CDR, ahem....

 

To be honest, I'd like to sometime.



For those who recognize the art, it's Botticelli's "Birth of Venus" which has stirred controversy for centuries, circa 1485. A bigger view of the painting is found at http://www.artchive.com/artchive/B/botticelli/venus.jpg.html Notice how the neck of Venus is so out of proportion.

Who would thought classic art would be linked to a Who Lp?

 

I'll bump the thread up one more time with a true story from tonight.

I walk into Spinniker, and through about 700 Lps they have in the used area, I find an original ABC/Dunhill of "Countdown to Ecstasy" with the lyric sheet, and even the inner sleeve looking barely used (the orange inner sleeve with the hubby, wife and kid in sillouette) very M-, and a very crisp vinyl copy of Keith Richard's "Talk Is Cheap", one of my favorites, looking solid M- all around.

So I go up to the counter, Randy's there and he looks curiously,
"Ya know, that's so weird".

"What?" I reply.

"A guy in here this afternoon came to sell me those same two albums, alone and you're buying them! He only had these two albums to sell. It's these same two."

I should have just gone to the pakie and bought a scratch ticket, but $5 for both albums, I doubt I would get so lucky anywhere else.

Nah!

 

Thanks for posting the pic of the actual Boticelli painting along with that of the record - does look a little better than the LP label with its spindle orifice

"I got a hole in my stomach!" (Goldie Hawn in Death Becomes Her. )

 

I don't mean to change the thread, but... can you tell me more about why the orig. "Countdown to Ecstasy" such a find? I bought it when it came out, and might even still have it!!

 

They're common, sure, but finding early Dan in mint shape is a challenge. Sonically sucky, maybe, but the original pressings are fun..

 

For those curious the Neon label was a UK RCA spin-off. It was very much like EMI's Harvest and featured a number of good progressive bands like Indian Summer, Spring(not the B Wilson produced band) and others.

 

Yeah, Mike's right. I actually thought it sounded better than the ABC "Striped circle" label copy I had, and it was in better shape. True still, the original ABC's are somewhat senstitive and very hard to find in absolute mint shape.

Unless it's BB King. I find them constantly in mint shape.

I don't want it to sound like I grabbed the motherlode in Steely Dan. It's just a damn good copy. I've been collecting Japanese pressings for some time too, and just getting a great sounding original pressing for $3 beats the pants off of getting excited over an eBay for a MFSL for $80.

I'm slowly prowling for a mint ABC black label of "Can't Buy A Thrill", and have been since 1998. It's a little tough, which makes it a little fun. For now, I have a decent German copy.
Just my 2 cents.

 

It was also a US RCA spin-off, with the same logo, but I don't think the art was on the label here.

 

I have all the ABC Dan albums and while they are not as sonically impressive as most CD versions, they have a more "authentic" sound to me, bringing back that '70's ambience.

As for "The Who By Numbers", I have an original Polydor pressing, and it sounds kickass to me(much better than the Astley version).

 

Is that the Speakers Corner?

BC

 

Mine is a Holland-Polydor with UK cover...sounds better than my US MCA black label with rainbow.

BC

 

No, not a speakers corner. It's a ".....Dorf" (I forget the pressing plant, but it's in Hannover I believe) which is a blue-sky MCA. The cutting is really, really good, but sonically, it's acceptable. No big joyous moments, but it's a clean copy. I would say, circa 1988.

Yes, the blue-sky US copies are GAWD awful in many cases. Not poor, but fairly bad. No dynamics at all, mushy. Copies are easy to find, but the gatefold in crisp condition is a nice find (when you open it, and the center fold crackles from not being open) which also has the lyric sheet, and the cover for the ABC's are also more accurate with color.

I don't own the Speakers Corner. I'd love to hear someone talk about it though.

 

Absolutely. In my experience most MCA blue sky reissues of Who and Steely Dan stuff are inferior. I do have a complete set of yellow orange Dans (except for Gaucho of course) that sound very nice. No black labels though. The Speakers Corner reproduces the black ABC label... it sounds "good but different" compared to the yellow-orange ABC.
BC

 

Alsdorf?

They cut some of those putrid WEA 180gm records (well, they weren't all bad I guess).

 

Funny, I'd been on the lookout for one, too. I finally located a really clean ABC toy blocks label copy early this summer after coming across several lesser copies. It actually sounds pretty decent. Those toy blocks copies of "Can't Buy A Thrill" aren't that common, but you'll find 'em eventually if you keep at it.

 

Arin,

I have a "toy box" WLP label of Croce's "Life and Times" which sounds very very good. I would buy Steely Dan titles on this label in a heartbeat. Comparing the Croce with Steve's disc, the vinyl is damn close to perfection, but SH's disc gets the edge b/c the vinyl is a little bright (in the mids I think?).

 

Nice Croce LP! Any idea how many other Steely Dan titles were issued with that label? I've only seen "Can't Buy A Thrill" so far. Actually, I always thought that was the only Steely Dan title with that ABC label variation. Seen any others?

 

A few days ago I found a near mint black label ABC of Steely Dan's Countdown to Ecstasy.
My copy also sounds better than my yellow/orange/purple "striped circle" label.


Thanks Sckott.

BC

 

Ben,

This is the first time I ever saw this post, so sorry I didn't reply sooner. Nice score on the "Countdown To Ecstasy"! It's one of my favorite SD albums. I've never seen one with the "blocks" label, but now I'll know to keep an eye out for one.